Clients coming for Couples Therapy have often been impacted by early developmental trauma, systemic or intergenerational trauma, or acute interpersonal trauma. Partners with early developmental trauma or acute trauma at young ages are complex to work with and take patience, and persistence from the therapist to recognize moments of exposure and self-expression in order to develop a stronger sense of self. Yet, couples therapy can be a very powerful form of therapy for alleviating shame and developing a much stronger and more integrated sense of self.
"This workshop deals with the challenges of treating clients with personality disorders, clients who, for example, fail to engage in treatment, miss sessions, feel hopeless and stuck, become angry in session, engage in self-harm, use substances, blame others, avoid homework, experience continual crises, and so on. Special attention will be paid to how to help clients get out of the ""personality disorder mode"" and into the ""adaptive mode.""
Through discussion and demonstration roleplays, we'll cover identifying clients' values and aspirations, creating positive experiences and helping clients draw positive conclusions about them, engaging clients in treatment, repairing ruptures in the therapeutic relationship, applying lessons learned from the therapeutic relationship to relationships outside of therapy, learning and using adaptive coping strategies, and developing positive (i.e., more realistic) beliefs about themselves, other people, their worlds, and the future.
Carl Jung pointed out that "Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to a better understanding of ourselves." Dealing effectively with challenging relationships and interactions requires the ability to perceive and integrate a number of different perspectives, or "Perceptual Positions." The Meta Mirror Format acknowledge the fact that, typically, clients have the most difficulty communicating with others who mirror back to them what they have difficulty relating to in themselves. This workshop will show that when clients can be helped to shift perspectives and see how the problem they are experiencing with respect to the other person is really a reflection of their relation with themselves, it can bring both significant insight and new possibilities.
This workshop will utilize basic principles of drama and play therapies in order to create opportunities for couples, families, and groups to tackle relational difficulties. Participants will learn simple strategies that seek to engage individuals in connecting with each other in more ample, embodied ways. This will be a highly experiential workshop for participants to practice and learn simple drama and play therapy activities to promote emotional connection and strengthen attachment patterns.
Our beliefs exert a very powerful force on our behavior. Our beliefs about ourselves and what is possible in the world around us greatly impact our capacity for change and healing. Limiting beliefs, or belief barriers, can act like an invisible force that interfere with our capacity to be resourceful and trap us in unhealthy patterns of behavior. Empowering beliefs help us to identify and take best advantage of potential opportunities. This demonstration will show how to identify and transform belief barriers by integrating somatic and emotional intelligence to create an empowering "belief bridge."
EFIT expands the clients sense of self and emotional balance. This session will show key moves in the EFIT Tango - the key intervention sequence in EFIT. This intervention shapes corrective emotional experiences that prime secure connection with both self and others.
Latina women tend to be stereotyped as fiery and fierce, yet the quality that consistently shines through is strength. Latinas continue to demonstrate their resilience and fortitude in every discipline and field such as science, the arts, law, politics, and of course, in their personal lives. Contemporary Latinas are moving beyond the expected roles rooted in propriety and appearances, and towards the empowered and inspiring women they are, expressing self-determination and leadership in many contexts. At the same time, there is the angst of finding, managing multiple identities, and responding to pulls from different corners of life. Familismo emphasizes on a strong family unit and Marianismo emphasizes purity, self-sacrifice, and nurturance of others. These internalized expectations can create internal struggles at key developmental decision-making points in life.