Subject, patient, client, supervisor, supervised, therapist, all of us are shaped from an essence, the stuff we are made of, the hero within. After drawing up an inventory and statement of the basic heroes that we have integrated and the stories that are the ones of our deep metaphors, we will travel and explore those resources that have contributed to our construction and our structure in productive and counterproductive ways. This workshop will offer ways to uti- lize them in our therapeutic goals for inner change.
The expectation of the therapist that therapy can be both very brief and effective is the essence of working in the very brief mode, i.e., the therapist rarely sees the client more than one or two times. Typical methods used are: the miracle question, changing personal history, guided metaphor, conversational reframing, Rossi's "moving hands," and hypnosis. Case examples will be given, and the group will be invited to participate in a brief hypnotic change experience.
The process of teaching the patient life skills is the most critical component of therapy. Effective therapists teach patients skills in order to successfully navigate through life. Everything that a therapist does is "education" in some form, and patients need practical skills in order their quality of life.
This course aims to provide a compass that helps to navigate within the different models of psychotherapy. This instrument comes in the form of a useful scheme with several levels: metaphysical, theoretical, technical and practical. Some classical models are going to be presented. Examples will be given of how to apply it to a model that the therapist recently became acquainted with, and time will be dedicated to reflect on our own clinical models.
Even a very thoughtful therapeutic strategy can leave a client and therapist spinning their wheels with much effort and little progress. It is very easy then for both to try something new only to inadvertently do more of the same. Participants will learn the methods of the therapeutic u-turn which includes lateral thinking and tailoring of a new objective. Lecture, slides and video tape examples will be used to illustrate points.
Supervisors often find themselves in the role of "supervisor" because they have been identified as good clinicians, but typically have little formal training in supervision. While clinical skills are essential, the application of those skills in supervision can be quite unique. This workshop will focus on the application of Ericksonian principles to the practice of supervision at various levels of clinical development. Practical and ethical aspects of supervision also will be discussed.
The Laws and Ethics Workshop covers emerging legal and ethical issues for mental health practitioners of all disciplines. The four-hour program addresses issues including confidentiality and privilege, note-taking, record-keeping, coping with subpoenas, the impact of professional society ethical codes on regulation of mental health practice, liability exposure with suicidal patients, and recent developments in “Tarasoff situations.”
This program focuses more closely on the needs of clinicians who fall into particularly high risk groups. Topics include confidentiality and privilege for children, coping with high-conflict divorce/custody families, the regressive impact of the regulatory environment on family therapy in particular, supervision/consultation issues that arise for professionals whose agency positions may include functions that conflict with ethical codes.