Rumination involves spinning around the same thoughts over and over again, analyzing endlessly why something happened or what to do about some situation. Rumination increases anxiety and depression levels, and perpetuates itself by the client believing that by ruminating, he or she is “doing something.” In this workshop, we’ll explore rumination and its negative effects, highlight the relationship between rumination and global cognition, and emphasize the importance of developing good discrimination skills. We’ll also consider the role of experiential processes such as hypnosis and mindfulness in treatment didactically as well as with a guided group experience.
It’s not a pretty picture. Available evidence indicates that the effectiveness of psychotherapy has not improved in spite of 100 years of theorizing and research. What would help? Not learning a new model of therapy or the “latest” so-called “evidence-based” treatment approach. And no, not attending another CEU event or sorting through that stack of research journals by your desk. A simple, valid, and reliable alternative exists for maximizing the effectiveness and efficiency of treatment based on using ongoing client feedback to empirically tailor services to the individual client needs and characteris- tics.
Many therapies involve brief lengths of treatment, including a single session. A structure will be presented for organizing the tasks and skills involved in different phases (pre, early, middle, late, and follow-through) of therapy. Numerous case examples, including video, will illustrate brief therapy techniques useful both in initial sessions and in the course of longer treatments.
Through case examples, Esther Perel, MA, LMFT will show how to effectively engage such issues as intimacy, sexuality and infidelity by creating separate spaces where each partner can explore his/her feelings and experiences along with larger relationship dynamics. We will show how to navigate privacy and secrecy, honesty and transparency, stage interventions around sexual impasses, and structure a safe and flexible therapeutic environment to work effectively with infidelity. Provide a multicultural perspective on differing notions of love, marriage and sexual behaviors, and to highlight the relationship between culture and sexuality.
Psychotherapists and clinical researchers are finding that ancient Eastern meditative techniques, originally solitary practices refined by hermits, monks, and nuns, are proving to be remarkably useful for facing interpersonal challenges. This workshop will explore how mindfulness meditation can help our clients and us develop the affect tolerance and capacity to be with and understand others that are critical for successful intimate relationships. You’ll leave knowing the three core elements of mindfulness practice, how to use mindfulness to react less personally to the inevitable ups and downs of interpersonal life, and how interpersonal mindfulness techniques can enhance therapeutic, romantic, and parent-child interaction.
Stories have the ability to engage people emotionally and to move them to change, but telling the right story and a compelling story, is an art and a skill. In this session, you will learn the structure of compelling stories and how to choose the right story for each individual client.
Ernest Rossi, PhD, Roxanna Erickson-Klein and Kathryn Rossi review the case work of Milton H. Erickson, MD in counseling, psychotherapy, therapeutic hypnosis and rehabilitation as evidence-based cognitive behavior therapy to treat anxiety, depression and trauma. This experiential workshop explores the timeless nature of the work of Milton H. Erickson, who substantially influenced the manner that psychotherapy is practiced in the 21 century.
Skills and experience, research and theory—each plays a critical role in the development of effective therapy practice. And then there is something else. When we recall the work of such figures as Milton Erickson, Virginia Satir, Carl Rogers and Carl Whitaker, we detect another layer: artistry. Surprisingly, artistry is something that can be taught, or more accurately, expanded or enhanced. Everyone has the capacity.
When working with anxious kids, your brilliance in the office means nothing if they cannot take what you offer and use it in their world. This presentation will give you eight homework assignments to engage kids from the start, and will spark your strategic creativity as you develop your own homework ideas.
The cutting-edge anxiety treatment is now pushing further into the confrontational. You will learn how to help clients purposely to seek out anxiety as their ticket to freedom from crippling fear. Practical methods enable clients to ignore the content of their obsessive worries and to explore the feeling of uncertainty rather than fleeing from it.