Somatic Modeling has to do with the organization of our physiology and "body language." Somatic Modeling focuses more on the form and deeper organization of body language than it does on its content. One of the primary objectives of Somatic Modeling is to mobilize and utilize the "wisdom of the body." A fundamental principle of Somatic Modeling is that there is information and wisdom in the body and knowledge in "the muscle." It is a way to access and take advantage of the full capacity of "the brain in our body." This session will explore how to apply Somatic Modeling as a key process for gathering information and finding resources in a therapy session.
"Although therapists certainly need a clear clinical road map informing their work with clients, a rigid reliance on and allegiance to any particular theoretical model ignores what research tells us about what really matters most in therapy. More, being overly focused on implementing clinical protocols prevents us from being truly present with our clients -- the place where real therapeutic magic resides.
Join two therapists as they trace the evolution of their thinking from being team members who helped develop the Solution Focused Brief Therapy model through today. Discover what they’ve learned about the real catalyst for change in therapy."
Even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, depression was already ranked by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the number one cause of human suffering and disability. The pandemic caused a huge spike in rates of depression giving rise to serious questions about the way we think about depression. Is it primarily a neurochemical phenomenon? Is it a product of environmental and situational influences? Or both? This conversation will explore these questions and others as well.
This workshop will focus on themes of love and dependence, love and anxiety, love and power in exploring how the interplay of these factors govern whether an intimate relationship thrives or fails. The importance of these themes for both individual and couples therapy.
What does it mean to be intraconnected? In weaving the internal and external, the subjective and objective, this workshop will reveal how modern culture, as well as how our brain is wired, may give us a message of separation as a solo, isolated self; yet a wider perspective unveils that who we are, what a deeper reality actually is, may be something more—broader than the brain, bigger even than the body—fundamental to the social systems and the natural world in which we live. We will explore the nature of how our experience of what we often call, self, emerges across the lifespan and how this journey into identity and belonging can help weave our personal reflections with scientific discussions into how the mind, brain, and relationships shape who we are.
Resilience is the ability of individuals to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions and to regain and maintain a sense of equilibrium. Achieving resilience during challenging times requires the development and strengthening of a variety of resources on different levels. These include emotional intelligence, behavioral flexibility, the ability to balance "dreamer" with "realist," and the capacity to connect with something bigger than ourselves. This session will address a number of important skills and processes that support the deepening of people's capacity for resilience – behaviorally, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.
In offering effective psychotherapy there are times for being informative and other times for being evocative. Use information when needed; use evocative means when the target is the realization of a concept, such as responsibility, motivation, or connection.
Evocative methods are used in all performing arts because the goal is to prompt a change in mood and perspective. Evocative methods will be extracted from art and applied in clinical practice.
Demonstration, lecture, practice groups.
The process of contracting for change in the initial session will be described and discussed. Methods of targeting goals will be compared and contrasted.
Madanes will tell the stories of some of her favorite therapies that are memorable because of how challenging they were, or how creative and innovative were the interventions. In these cases, she was either the therapist herself, or the supervisor observing the therapy through a one-way mirror. The audience will be challenged to discover the common thread - the strategy that all these therapies have in common.