All therapists are performers. No matter what our theoretical orientations, clients are more influenced by us than our methods. Like the actor, the therapist’s technique is less about what we do and
Read MoreTo best serve our clients we must be able to master and share practices that promote well-being outside the therapy room. Luckily, neither therapists nor clients need to fly across the world to
Read MoreThe biggest challenge to creating a sustainable mindfulness practice plan is doing it daily, which inevitably means breaking habits that take us off track. For many women, the distractions and demands
Read MoreExpand your capacity to express yourself, even while sitting, by using a unique approach that combines Somatic Experiencing with the Alexander Technique to track your embodied sensations, so you can contain and
Read MoreThe latest research shows that our ability to be aware of our bodies impacts how we process sensations and memories, and heal from traumatic events. But therapists can’t guide clients to calm
Read MoreYoga practices can support you in embracing whatever joys and challenges you may be facing in life. In this workshop, we’ll engage in a loving practice of gentle movement, calming breath work,
Read MoreExpressive arts not only cultivate the healing powers of imagination, they also mobilize the social engagement system through play, improvisation, musicality, movement, and creativity. When integrated into therapy, they can revitalize and energize clients,
Read MoreThrough the world’s contemplative traditions, the spiritual journey usually involves an expansion of consciousness from everyday experience to an awareness of oneness with the universe. The journey’s stages begin with a heightened appreciation
Read MoreThe long-term impact of trauma and stress are more than just mental health issues: they’re at the root of almost 80 percent of chronic illnesses in our modern culture. But ancient spiritual
Read MoreYou’ve no doubt heard about Qigong, but how much do you really know about the benefits of this simple practice? Here’s your chance to directly experience its positive effects. Qigong opens up
Read MoreIf we are what we eat, then beyond the mind-body connection there’s also a food-mind-body connection. This workshop will explore the latest nutritional research to inform psychotherapeutic practice and how diet can
Read MoreIt’s important to honor all of your client’s inner parts in therapy. But accessing them to fully engage in healing work isn’t always easy. In this workshop, we’ll consider
Read MoreDo you have clients who seem to live in their heads and have a hard time sensing inside themselves? Focusing is a process that helps clients speak from their feelings, rather than about
Read MoreParts 1 & 2
By separating mind from body and the individual from the social environment, we limit our ability to address the roots of many of the
Read MorePart 1 (with Bessel van der Kolk) & Part 2 (with Janina Fisher)
Our field has made great advances in understanding the impact of trauma on developing brains and
Read MoreParts 1 & 2
The past decade has brought new understanding about the neuroscience behind anxiety and fear. But how many of us can communicate this knowledge to clients in a clear, engaging
Read MoreParts 1 & 2
Clients challenged by their children often resort to old-fashioned reward and threat strategies, from yelling to timeouts and other consequences. But the most effective parenting tool is always the relationship with
Read MoreParts 1 & 2
At its most basic level, human communication is one nervous system responding to another, searching for signals that it’s safe to connect and flooding us
Read MoreNothing defeats a therapist more than a client who’s numb or disconnected. When you ask why they’ve come for help, they may say, “I’m depressed” or “I’ve lost all hope,” but they
Read MoreFor too many children or teens, talk and even play therapy feels unhelpful at best, and stigmatizing at worst. But when we can effectively introduce mindfulness into our sessions, we empower kids to transform themselves,
Read MoreWhat does it take for therapists to expand their focus beyond the therapy room and become a more powerful force for social change? We typically have a positive impact
Read MoreOver 150 years ago, while walking in the woods, Henry David Thoreau wrote, “The thought of some work will run in my head and I am not where my body is.
Read MoreMore than one-third of Americans struggle with problematic substance use and other risky or addictive behaviors, but they often have a great deal of ambivalence about changing them. Even with clients whose issues
Read MoreParts 1 & 2
The Wheel of Awareness is a visual metaphor for the way the mind works and a tool to expand the container of consciousness. The Wheel can be used
Read MorePARTS 1 & 2
Typically, physical and psychological pain are treated separately, even when they’re deeply intertwined. Nearly half of all therapy clients suffer from chronic physical pain, which often has no
Read MoreParts 1 & 2
While we all know that success in therapy depends on the therapist–client relationship, building that positive rapport hinges on behaviors many therapists aren’t even aware of.
Read MoreParts 1 & 2
Although the field of mental health has traditionally aimed to “fix what’s wrong,” the newer subfield of positive psychology instead helps us to “build what’s strong.” In doing so,
Read MoreParts 1 & 2
It may seem too good to be true, but brain science has given us an empirically proven path to transformational change through the process of memory reconsolidation. This is
Read MoreParts 1 & 2
Social psychologists have produced a vast body of research on priming—the powerful, largely unconscious process by which both words and nonverbal clues can be used to
Read MoreToday there’s growing interest in the use of psychedelic substances, once considered therapeutically off-limits, in the clinical treatment of PTSD, depression, addictions, and a range of other conditions. The principles on which these
Read MoreEvery therapist—no matter where they practice or who they see—has heard clients express shame about their body size. Often, this shame gets brushed aside as just an unfortunate byproduct of our
Read MoreCan we truly know the gender of children before they themselves tell us who they are? If so, how should parents be raising children in an era of gender self-determination? For the first time, transgender
Read MoreIn an increasingly unpredictable world, kids are more anxious than ever. But for those with ADHD, worry and fear can increase their agitation, distractedness, and impulsivity. Fortunately, there are effective techniques
Read MorePornography these days is so plentiful, easy to access, and often free that it’s affecting the therapy field’s sex and porn addiction paradigm. Like others with process addictions to things like social media,
Read MoreThe work of therapy can’t begin in earnest if the client’s mind is racing with anxiety, fogged by depression, or so tense that the entire body is locked in place. Teaching yoga skills
Read MoreHelping clients develop strategies for coping with both everyday disappointments and extraordinary disaster is at the heart of the therapeutic process, regardless of your clinical approach. In this workshop,
Read MoreTherapists often get shaken and lose confidence in their approach when a client’s trauma response edges into seemingly uncontrollable extremes of rage, panic, or suicidal desperation. This workshop provides an essential road
Read MoreToo often our focus as therapists is on our client’s verbal narrative. What happened? Where? When? We tend to neglect another powerful storyteller: the client’s body. In fact, the body records our emotional
Read MoreChronically suicidal clients present a special kind of stress for therapists: there’s not only the emotional stress of working with their pain, but the additional burden of risk, responsibility, and anxiety. When should we
Read MoreEver enter the consulting room with a teen who doesn’t want to be there? If you work with teens, you know how tricky it can be to establish good communication
Read MoreThere’s a growing convergence of opinion from a range of disciplines challenging the traditional idea of the unitary personality in favor of the view that each of us
Read MoreWhat’s going on when your best efforts to establish a secure therapeutic alliance with a personality-disordered client aren’t working? Before you proclaim a “bad fit” and refer them out, consider changing your approach.
Read MoreThe very nature of depression often thwarts efforts to treat it. After all, it’s difficult to change when you have no energy, no hope, and no capacity to concentrate. How can we challenge
Read MoreOver the course of 50 years, the brilliant family therapy pioneer Virginia Satir developed powerful therapeutic techniques to help people externalize unconscious inner processes and experience emotional and spiritual healing. In
Read MoreWhen a client unexpectedly reveals a sexual problem, many clinicians find themselves thrust into the role of “accidental sex therapist.” In this uncomfortable position, too many shy away from addressing the sexual
Read MoreIn today’s challenging environment—when racial and sexual violence, rising inequity, and reactivity are erupting everywhere—our society seems to be collectively facing traumas we therapists have long been treating privately. These traumas
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