James Hillman (2009) Hillman reveals how to bring “soul talk” back into modern psychotherapy. The case history of a client is the diagnosis, present complaint, family history, employment history, but nothing of the “soul” of the person. Dr. Hillman assures us that we can almost ignore the case history. Using “soul” talk (Longings, dreams, secrets, how a client accepts joy and sorrow) takes the session out of the box and returns a resonance to psychotherapy that it has lost.
In this experiential workshop, volunteers will be asked to describe a dream in detail and then to work on it with Dr. Gendlin. It is not necessary to tell everything; private space and silent meditation are essential. The use of Focusing will be demonstrated.
Drawing on the findings of her own mythic life and work in over 100 countries, 40 cultures, and with leaders the world over, Dr. Houston will offer a workshop rare for its ability to evoke new ways of being through the consideration of the dynamics of both old and emergent myths and stories of transformation. Participants will experience state of the art methods in experiencing sensory, psychological, symbolic and spiritual growth, and discovery in ways both practical and profound. Liberating thoughtways, shifts in perception and understanding, and growth in capacity will enable the participant to take these discoveries back to his or her own clients, communities and organizations. Full of music and high theatre, and often hilarious (Houston’s father wrote the joke, “Who’s on First?”), this workshop will explore the mystery of living in a time of whole system transition when what we can do as individuals can make a significant difference in the lives of many.
There is a vast wisdom describing the capacity for self-transformation and healing central to Buddhist psychology, now a focus of current neuroscience research as well. We will delineate the principles and clinical/therapeutic applications of mindfulness, compassion and forgiveness trainings, attunement, mental health and well being, as well as the profound shift of identity that has parallels in eastern psychology and recent neuroscience research. We will explore the wedding of a spiritual psychology of the heart in tune with clinically sound modern science.
The challenge of personal transformation is faced differently in the East and West. Typically, Eastern meditation emphasizes how to cultivate higher states of consciousness that "go beyond" ego identifications, while Western therapy focuses on how to "work through" problematic states. This workshop explores an integrative model that suggests how to use both approaches in a complementary way: sometimes "transcending, sometimes "transforming", and often doing both at the same time. The connection between meditation, generative trance, and selfrelations will be a central focus.
Participants will learn how to incorporate sensory, psychological, mythic, spiritual and unitive states to bring personal potential to social change at a community, professional and cultural level.
Stephen Gilligan (2008) demonstrates the induction of a trance with a volunteer who wants to “feel at home” with herself, but often feels disconnected and scattered. He invites intention and uses mindfulness and body movement to release the weight of fear and disconnection. Afterward, the volunteer claims the experience was “intense,” and “beautiful.”
Meditation offers useful and varied methods for brief therapy. Important scientific studies on meditation's neuroscience and clinical applications show many meditation methods are effective. Yoga, Buddhism, Daoism and Zen are described, each with its key concepts and unique approaches to mental development. Attendees learn research, theory and useful meditation methods step-by-step, including concentration, breathing, mindfulness, wu-wei, qi gong and zazen. Case examples form links to practice. Therapists will fine lasting solutions to enhance therapeutic work.
Adolescent self-harming behavior is on the rise and is one of the most challenging presenting problems school professionals, healthcare providers, and therapists will face in their clinical practice settings. In this "hands-on" practice-oriented workshop, participants will learn several distress management tools and strategies to strengthen the adolescent's self-soothing and coping capacities and family connection building rituals and therapeutic experiments to foster closer and stronger parent-adolescent relationships. Parent management skills for constructively responding to their adolescents' inevitable self-harming slips will be presented.