This workshop will focus on physical (muscular) tension in the body and relate it to emotional conflicts in the present, derived from early childhood experiences. Specific attention will be paid to temporomandibular tension and to disturbances in breathing. Asthma will be examined as an emotional problem. The dynamics of headaches will be studied, and techniques for releasing underlying tension will be demonstrated.
Human problems can be seen as "games without end; " that is, as recurring behaviors based on the continuous application of rigid rules, but devoid of rules for the change of these rules. What are such "meta-rules" and how can they be introduced?
An introduction to the brief therapy techniques developed at Mental Research Institute; sound and videotaped examples of such interventions from actual therapy sessions.
Therapy re-opens stuck people to fluidity. By faithfully connecting small but inexorable sequences of words and actions, an impelling force is created for movement into whatever feels naturally next. Through live therapeutic sessions, Dr. Polster will show how this process engenders therapeutic vitality and openness to personal fluidity.
This two-day workshop will introduce the basic theory of the therapeutic processes of Imago Relationship Therapy and demonstrate its application to conflicted couples in committed partnerships. Attention also will be given to the implications of the relational paradigm for all forms of therapy. Methods will include lectures, live demonstrations of the process and a video. This workshop will be credited towards certification for qualified therapists who wish to pursue training towards becoming a certified Imago Therapist and for non-clinical professionals who wish to become a certified Imago Educator.
This workshop presents the Generative Psychotherapy approach to human states of suffering--depression, anxiety, trauma, addiction, etc. This practical and positive approach assumes that each core human experience has equivalent potential to be positive or negative, depending on the human relationship to it; and thus focuses on how problems may be transformed to resources by skillful human connection.
This special presentation is for those licensees needing to fulfill the requirements for Spousal and Partner Abuse. Bring your cases for discussion and commentary.
Depression can be described in terms of interactive processes, both in the couple and in the family. In this perspective, the role played by the non-depressed family members in the development of depression becomes very relevant. Some useful principles for working with depressive individuals and families will be presented together with specific techniques and specific pitfalls that can be expected in the course of the therapeutic process.
The development of the capacities of the healthy real self is described along with the impairments in these capacities that ensue in the Disorders of the Self. A diagnostic system based on the Disorders of the Self is presented, its conceptual basis is explained, and it is compared with DSM IV. A central triadic psychodynamic theme of these disorders, i.e., self-activation leads to depression which leads to defense, is described.