Relaxation techniques are often used in cases of severe anxiety as well as in stress management and physical problems, i.e. headaches, hypertension, pain etc.
In this workshop participants experience 4 different methods of relaxation and receive instructions about the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Lay persons, as well as many therapists, believe that emotional expression is always beneficial. However, clinical experience indicates that this is not always so. Though appropriate expression of feelings is often crucial in therapy, some clients should not be encouraged to freely express their powerful emotions, since this has often adverse effects. In this workshop you will learn which clients under which circumstances can benefit from emotional expression and which cannot.
At what point is a client ready to leave therapy? This important question puzzles not only beginners but also experienced clinicians and its appropriate resolution determines to a large extent the ultimate success of therapy.
In this seminar we will discuss:
Early indications for a client’s premature flight from therapy
Appropriate management of issues surfacing at the end phase of therapy ( what if the client gets worse? What if the client claims that she is ultimately disappointed with therapy? Are we going to slowly wean the client or continue having regular sessions till the last minute? Are we going to schedule regular follow-ups?)
Presentation of clinical cases where therapy gets into a rut or ends prematurely.
Advantages and disadvantages of short term vs long-term therapy.
Imagery is a powerful clinical tool with a wide range of applications in medical and psychosomatic problems. Many patients experience considerable difficulty in affective expression and description of their inner states. Imagery can provide an alternative route of self expression which facilitates self-reflection and enhances communication of inner states.
Some psychotherapy schools emphasize and explore the therapeutic relationship while others take it for granted. In this workshop we will find out how a transference relationship develops early in the therapeutic process independent of the theoretical perspective espoused by the therapist and the conscious feelings of the client for the therapist. Transference reactions which are not recognized as such block the therapeutic process, so it is useful for a therapist to be able to understand and work with these reactions as well as his/her own countertransferance feelings to the client.
The aim of this seminar is to introduce students to the particular challenges posed by clients with borderline personality structure and to provide information about expressive psychotherapy, a therapeutic approach developed for borderline clients by Otto Kernberg and the mentalization approach developed by Fonagy. Case material , both written and in role-playing, will presented to illustrate the points made at the seminar. Participants are welcome to present their own cases as well.
Most psychotherapy models assume that the client has an inner world, a self and the ability to relate- regardless of how inadequate or blocked those may be.
However, clinical experience has shown that we should not assume these attributes. Particularly borderline, psychotically and psychosomatically organized clients manifest many problems in the area of mentalization and symbolization.
In this workshop we will focus on the work of Peter Fonagy and other attachment theorists to study the mentalization process which takes place during infantile life and leads to the formation of their inner world. We will also discuss clinical interventions to use with adult clients with inadequate mentalization skills, which may help them develop further those skills and deepen their inner world.
