Science measures, art impacts. We will study methods of impact used in various arts, including painting, music, writing, movies and dance. These methods can be applied in therapy where they can provide impact, making clinical work more experiential, more effective. A model will be offered and explained.
Experiential methods enliven therapy through dynamic experiences that promote dynamic realizations. We will explore methods that make therapy a visual art, recognizing the visual realizations are neurologically encoded more robustly than words, hence more easily accessed when needed. We will explore the use of gestures, objects, and even sounds to empower change. We will learn the latest advances in therapist sculpting. Lecture, demonstration, and small group exercises will be used
Clients often request changes in mood and perspective. Traditionally, changing mood and perspective is accomplished by educating clients about their patterns, encouraging them to change their behaviors and thoughts. But, experiential methods can be more immediately effective.
All art is, by definition "experiential." And altering mood and perspective is the point of it - whether drama, painting, literature, dance, or music. Movies use multilayered methods for change. The viewer is often unaware of the intricate dramatic, experiential methods that filmmakers use to exert influence.
Changing mood and perspective is central in brief therapy. Experiential methods can be more immediately effective than traditional didactic approaches. All art is, by definition, "experiential." Altering mood and perspective is the point of it - whether drama, painting, literature, dance or music. Movies use multilayered methods for change. The viewer is often unaware of the intricate dramatic, experiential techniques that filmmakers use to exert influence. Social psychology studies the way in which people are influenced outside of awareness.
Non-verbal techniques can constitute excellent companion methods to traditional testing and assessment tools, and clinical interviewing for evaluation and diagnosis of client/patient personalities, relationships and problems. In addition, they can provide additional avenues for intervening that can be utilized with many diverse populations of different ages and backgrounds, including those who may be hard to reach by verbal psychotherapeutic techniques. This workshop will demonstrate the use of these techniques and involve participants individually and interactively in their utilization so they will acquire skills to enrich their practices.
The experience of being a therapist can often seem routine, dealing with similar issues, telling well-worn stories, and applying favored methods. Yet occasionally there are moments, even whole sessions, that appear miraculous in their innovation. This workshop explores the process and mechanisms of creative breakthroughs, based on interviews with the world's most innovative clinicians.
The experience of feeling "stuck" is a common hazard of our profession and leaves therapists searching for creative solutions. Clinical creativity is never a solo process but always interactive, inseparable from the imagination and creativity of the clients. It is easy for therapists to get bogged down in literal definitions of problems that go counter to clients' idiosyncratic logic. This workshop will explore different ways of breaking through impasses by looking "outside the box" and changing the frame of reference from the literal to the world of personal meaning. Video tapes will demonstrate the use of metaphors, rituals, fantasies, writing and paradox in making a creative leap.
Despite all the earnest efforts of researchers, therapy remains at least as much an art as a science. Seasoned practitioners know that when the therapeutic process becomes too cautious and mechanical, drained of risk and creativity, clinical effectiveness suffers. But how do we avoid being paralyzed by our clients' chronic difficulties and resistant clients? How can we step outside the box and bring more of our creative and playful selves to our work? This workshop will present several guidelines for developing a creative partnership with clients that taps both therapist and client inventiveness. Through the use of videotape examples and skill-building exercises, participants will discover their own signature strengths as therapists and how best to mobilize them in session. We will discover how to use humor, stories, drama and imaginative family play and art experiments to create a therapeutic climate ripe for change in your clinical practices.