Revolutionary research in neuroscience and functional genomics documents show experiences of 1) Novelty, 2) Environmental Enrichment, and 3) Exercise (both mental and physical) can optimize gene expression, brain plasticity and mindbody healing during therapeutic hypnosis and meditation.
This presentation addresses how otherwise good people can do cruel things. They do so through selective disengagement of moral self-sanctions from inhumane conduct. At the behavior locus, worthy ends are used to sanctify harmful means by social and moral justification. At the agency locus, people obscure personal responsibility by displacement and diffusion of responsibility. At the outcomes locus, the detrimental social effects of one’s actions are ignored, minimized, or disrupted. At the victim locus, perpetrators dehumanize and blame recipients for bringing the maltreatment on themselves. These mechanisms operate at both individual and social systems levels. Disengagement of moral agency is illustrated in the workings of the corporate world, terrorism, the use of military force, application of the death penalty, and in ecological destruction that is heating the planet and making it less habitable.
DSM-V will likely organize groups of disorders, including emotional disorders, along some as yet undecided dimensions. One possible scheme will be presented that collapses current DSM-IV emotional disorders into a single unified consideration of the dimensional severity of fundamental temperaments and key features shared, to some extent, by most emotional disorders with implications for psychological interventions.
A major challenge for any skills-oriented intervention is the issue of treatment generalization. Psychotherapists cannot just “train and hope” for transfer. In this presentation, Dr. Meichenbaum will discuss and demonstrate what needs to be done before, during and after interventions to make them more effective. He will discuss specific steps that psychotherapists should take to increase the likelihood of maintenance and generalization across settings and across response domains.
EMDR has been used worldwide over the past decade as an empirically validated trauma treatment. During that time, it has become clear that it is possible to simultaneously alleviate suffering, help stop the cycle of violence, and address the devastating effects of trans-generational transmission. The clinical implications for simple symptom reduction versus personal growth and resiliency will be explored.
Dr. Kernberg will present prognostically unfavorable indications for a psychodynamic psychotherapy of narcissistic patients, and the management of the corresponding difficulties. The description of general characteristics of narcissistic personality disorder, clinical syndromes including the diagnosis, and general principles of psychodynamic therapy for them will compliment this presentation.
Dr. Kernberg will describe strategies, techniques and tactics in TFP beginning with diagnostic assessment and contracting.He will continue with main developments in transference and countertransference assessment and management. The concepts of technical neutrality and priorities of intervention will be outlined. Clinical examples will illustrate all these procedures.
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.
Few couples seem as unlikely to profit from therapy as those in which one partner as already decided to leave. Yet, even at this point, a therapist has an opportunity to turn the situation around. In this workshop, you will learn how to step in, even at the 11th hour, and help couples with seemingly intractable problems – hopelessness, ongoing affairs, and one spouse’s unwillingness to seek therapy, to resolve their difficulties, recommit to their marriage, and reclaim their lives.
Thanks to a number of recent studies, there is now solid empirical evidence for what distinguishes highly effective therapists.In this workshop, participants will learn in detail the qualities and practices that separate the great from the good. Participants also will find out about a system of feedback procedures that can be used to develop a profile of their most and least effective moments in therapy – what works and what doesn’t. Not only will attendees get a far more exact idea of their clinical strengths and weaknesses, and how to use the findings in which to improve their own practice, but they also will come away with concrete tools that will immediately boost clinical abilities and effectiveness.