This workshop will address the rapid treatment of trauma and psychosomatic disorders by utilizing an Ericksonian orientation that understands the importance of the symptom as a pathway to inner healing. The skills needed for the rapid treatment of trauma will be reviewed. The course will highlight Ericksonian methods for the immediate reorganization of transforming somatic-affective experience into new healing rhythms in the body.
Mourning the loss of a loved one is a normal and natural progress. Unfinished business often exists which holds the individual back from healthy resolution of the loss. Lack of closure may result from a sudden death with no opportunity to say goodbye or unresolved issues. Using hypnosis, we can revisit the deceased and address unfinished business, thus facilitating a resolution and healing of the relationship and allowing the mourner to move on to recovery.
Any life crisis can render a person metaphorically infertile. Using the frenzy of literal infertility as a springboard, this workshop will offer participants the opportunity, in trance, to explore personal circumstances and universal elements of infertility of any kind. The hypnotic process will aim to facilitate the creation of the eye of the storm, and aim to locate the powerful presence of the "I" which often gets shattered in the frenzied state.
Traditional therapy presumes that treating anxiety produces healthier sleep without specific intervention. By shifting therapy to focusing on sleep first via collaborating on comforting bedtime stories, clients can rapidly acquire self-hypnosis skills for their present and future. This strategic process focuses on sleeplessness first by reframing the client's anxiety metaphorically, utilizing the client's strengths and recalling natural sleep rhythms.
By tapping in on the child's natural tendency for curiosity and mastery, and utilizing the natural everyday hypnotic communication patterns within the family, it is possible to create a therapeutic "hypnotic space" within the family. The use of brief hypnotherapy from a family therapy frame can help the child/adolescent disengage from the individualistic problematic view, increasing the possibility for more lasting generative changes. Special attention will be given to the role of parents as active participants in this therapeutic process.
The presenters will describe specific strategies for naturalistic trance induction and utilization. Emphasis will be on the adaptation and application of brief Ericksonian techniques, methods of naturalistic trance induction, deepening techniques and process instructions utilized to stimulate participants into shifting their perceptual positions and thinking about things differently.
Over the past 20 years Dr. Rossi has innovatively expanded Ericksonian work by demonstrating its connections to microbiology, chemistry, physics, chaos theory and mathematics. This course will explore the relationship and relevance of Dr. Rossi's mind- body work to other forms of psychotherapy. We will learn how mind-body work utilizes and integrates many of the core processes used in the work of Winnecott, Klein, Jung, Gestalt, Masterson, Kohut and cognitive-behavioral therapy.
"Paradox" is a frequently used term, but less frequently understood and effectively used in brief therapy. This dynamic and light-hearted presentation will borrow Weber's widely accepted construct of Just Noticeable Difference to make the case for Erickson's "tipping the first domino" with pattern analysis and paradoxical intervention. This approach to psychotherapy will be demonstrated and discussed using case examples from the presenter and the participants.
Hypnotherapy has been an under-used tool in social work. However, the principles of Ericksonian hypnotherapy are quite congruent with social work especially in serving at risk populations. Examples of how to use Ericksonian hypnotherapy and evaluate outcomes with at risk populations will be presented.
Appropriate hypnotic treatment planning can facilitate the process of moving through crisis into subsequent stages of health. Physiological issues of pain and discomfort can contribute greatly in the psychological distress in patients. Participants will learn the fundamentals of solution-focused treatment planning for health-challenged populations.