Explore Ericksonian and other strategies within a framework of positive internalized habit and addiction control. Many metaphors, inductions, images, suggestions, reframings, tasks and understandings will be shared and experienced through every step of the therapeutic process in weight control, smoking cessation, and treating other unwanted habit and addictive problems.
Anxious clients adhere rigidly to erroneous beliefs and coping strategies to ward off fear that keeps them from following through on therapy interventions. The strategic approach to cognitive-behavioral therapy helps clients find the courage and motivation to challenge these old beliefs and attitudes. Practical methods enable clients to disregard the content of their obsessive worries and to explore the feeling of uncertainty rather than fleeing from it. The cutting-edge anxiety treatment is now pushing further into the confrontational. Participants will learn how to help clients purposely seek out anxiety as their ticket to freedom from crippling fear.
This workshop reveals the psychological secrets of success of elite athletes and performing artists and makes them available to therapists working with clients who wish to bust slumps or achieve excellence in any aspect of their lives - work, play or romance. Learn the psychological tactics of Lance Armstrong, Willie Mays, John McEnroe, Ali, EMINEM and Dumbo, and then learn how to put them to work for your client using hypnotic, solution-focused, strategic protocols.
This workshop addresses the treatment of acute and chronic pain related to psychological and/or somatic trauma. Special emphasis is placed on clients who present with complex symptoms such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and migraines that have proven refractory to previous treatment. Synthesis of Ericksonian strategies with EMDR, imagery and meridian therapies with Energy Psychology to help maximize self-regulation is explored and demonstrated.
Cognitive-Behavioral therapies enjoy considerable empirical support as effective treatments for depression. Actively teaching cognitive and behavioral skills is essential to these therapies. Hypnosis has been shown to enhance client skill acquisition and to manage common depressive symptoms. In this workshop, we will explore ways hypnosis can assist in treating depression.
Inspired healing rests on a foundation of skillful assessment. Tailoring the treatment to meet the needs of the client is the cornerstone of Ericksonian therapy. Equally important is the readiness of the therapist to be flexible and change the direction of therapy whenever indicated. Skillful assessment provides the knowledge that makes this type of therapy possible. When a clinician knows how to uncover information vital to understanding a client, then opportunities for healing are better recognized.
Gestalt therapy and Ericksonian hypnotherapy are experiential methods of change. In combination they can be synergistic. Psychotherapy is best when clients have first-hand experience of an alive therapeutic process. Such dynamic empowering experiences pave the way for dynamic understandings. Drs. Polster and Zeig will engage with each other and participants to examine commonalities and differences in their work in this engaging all-day workshop.
This workshop focuses on the specific use of cognitive-behavioral strategies as an adjunct to the many treatment modalities of family therapy. It offers a basic overview of the theories of cognitive-behavioral therapy, particularly as it applies to families. Participants will learn first-hand techniques and strategies for working with difficult families and how to integrate these strategies with their respective modes of treatment. Role-playing and case reviews will be used. A question and answer period will follow.
This workshop will outline the use of attachment theory in the assessment of Relationship problems, setting of treatment goals, creation of change events and moment to moment interventions in emotionally focused couples therapy.
Psychotherapy is an exploration of how individuals can forge positive, therapeutic responses to life challenges. This workshop focuses on the three core connections that allow clients to do this: (1) Positive intention and goals (“towards a positive future”); (2) Somatic Centering (“embodied presence”); and (3) Field Resources (“positive connections beyond the problem”). We will see how in a repetitive problem, all three of these connections are typically absent. More importantly, we will see how clients may be helped to developed and sustain these positive connections while engaging with challenging material—e.g., a past trauma, a present difficulty, or a future possibility. Participants will be offered multiple techniques and examples, as well as several demonstrations to illustrate this positive orientation to psychotherapy.