This presentation addresses the issues of teen anger and "acting out" from Erickson's utilization approach to treatment. Interventions psychotherapists can integrate into family therapy enhancing parent capabilities and encouraging improved relating to their teens will be presented. An experiential exercise will be provided helping attendees integrate hypnotic and strategic approaches into their treatments.
Excessive anxiety in childhood is a significant predictor of eventual comorbid depression and other conditions. This presentation will identify the cognitive processes and coping strategies that help create a cycle of anxiety, psychological isolation and depression in anxious children and families. Attention will be given to the development of specific, empirically supported Ericksonian strategies which can help shift the anxious individual and family toward malleability, creativity and adaptability.
Children and their families face many challenges that, depending on how they are managed, will have long-lasting influence either for better or worse. In this presentation, we will focus on some of these challenges and will describe some helpful interventions derived from Ericksonian approaches that have been successfully applied in a multicultural school setting.
Underachieving adolescents present a significant challenge to the therapist. Traditional therapies are often slow and may be ineffective and frustrating both to the therapist and the client. Provocative Therapy is an active humor-based therapy that often elicits significant changes quickly. Case studies will help illustrate principles and techniques therapist can use with adolescents and other client who may present a challenge.
This workshop will provide participants with innovative and supportive strength-based interventions to address the unique impact of violence and trauma on adolescent girls. A model for applying Ericksonian hypnosis and metaphor will be presented and practiced. These techniques can be used to facilitate clients in reconnecting to a healthy mind/body state by applying tools for understanding and working with the expressions of trauma such as disordered eating, suicidal ideation, self-harming, addiction, depression, anxiety and phobias in the daily lives and relationships of young women.
Few therapy approaches were designed specifically with adolescents in mind. Teenagers often describe therapy as irrelevant and boring. This approach replaces an emphasis on feelings, confidentiality, and non-judgmental support with a focus on therapist credibility, client accountability, and un-affected conversation – factors that are more affecting to these kids, many of whom never asked for our help in the first place. Participants learn how to establish themselves as credible figures to their teen clients, boldly hold those clients accountable for their choices, and build compelling conversations sentence by sentence that have genuine meaning and striking impact.
Self-esteem, self-confidence and self-concept are closely connected with the development of human identity. The enhancement of self-esteem and identity formation can be used effectively in psychotherapy with children, especially in the treatment of anxiety disorders, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and many other social difficulties. Hypnotic interventions proved to be effective in working with children and adolescents on an individual basis.
Ignoring the impact of trauma on the client's family overlooks powerful dynamics that are crucial to treatment outcome. Participants in this workshop will learn how to involve the trauma sufferer's partner and other family members as resources in the healing process. Participants will learn how to better educate clients about the typical symptoms of trauma, the stages of trauma recovery, how to help family members both soothe and set limits with the traumatized person, and the typical pitfalls families encounter - including the depleting response of "enough already" as a family member tries to heal from a trauma.
This workshop will focus on providing treatment strategies clinicians and other human services providers can use in their work with youth who are troubled by circumstances that complicate the negotiation of the "normal developmental struggles" of adolescence. A framework for understanding adolescents who are prone toward angry, aggressive and explosive behaviors will be presented. Specific strategies for enhancing effective assessment, engagement and treatment with troubled adolescents will be provided.
Many therapists dread working with adolescents because of their unpredictable high risk behavior. Although adolescents may appear disconnected and uninvolved, they are extremely sensitive to family moods, expectations and conflicts and their behavior is often a refection of what is happening in the family at any given time. This family centered approach is focused on identifying and changing the triggers both inside and outside the family that lead to destructive behavior such as substance abuse, self-mutilation, violence, depression and suicidal symptoms. Guidelines for clarifying issues, correcting distortions, opening up significant areas of communication and establishing positive interactions with family members will be demonstrated with video tapes that show the step-by-step process of change.