|
Individual Psychotherapy and Clinical
Hypnosis - Consultation
to Professionals - Training
Workshops for Professional Groups and Agencies -
Consultation to Agencies
The previous pages have outlined some of the areas
of mind-body functioning in which clinical hypnosis is often helpful.
As mentioned there, I am very interested in using hypnosis to manage
anxieties and fears, stress, unwanted habits, insomnia, pain, chronic
illness, and low self-esteem. The Case
Studies section of this site will give you a preliminary idea
of some specific problems which can be improved with hypnosis. Described
in the next few paragraphs are Individual Therapeutic Services,
Consultation Services, and Training Workshops also provided by my
practice.
INDIVIDUAL
PSYCHOTHERAPY AND
CLINICAL HYPNOSIS
The American Society of Clinical Hypnosis states that
hypnosis is not, in itself, a specific kind of psychotherapy. Rather,
it is a way of assisting people in accessing the hidden power of
their own minds in order to facilitate therapy. In fact,
many different therapeutic techniques may be utilized within a brief
series of hypnotic experiences. That is why it is often said that
psychologists do not treat a person with hypnosis, but in
hypnosis!
Individual Psychotherapy consultations are scheduled
privately in the Pleasant Valley office for 45 to 60 minutes. In
the first interview a brief history is taken, and examples of the
problem are described. Specific hypnotically-based solutions can
then be developed. The expected changes in behavior and/or experience
are formulated, and steps towards the desired outcome are noted
in detail. Implementation is then scheduled at the client's convenience.
For most problems, one to four sessions are sufficient to produce
significant change. | ^top
CONSULTATIONS
FOR PROFESSIONALS SEEKING CERTIFICATION IN HYPNOSIS FROM THE AMERICAN
SOCIETY OF CLINICAL HYPNOSIS
A requirement for ASCH Certification is twenty hours
of individualized training with an ASCH Approved Consultant. While
this training does not constitute clinical supervision, Certification
offers the health care professional non-statutory voluntary credentialing
in clinical hypnosis, and provides to the public a form of recognition
that the advanced clinician has met educational qualifications and
required training in clinical hypnosis.
This process may be carried out in either an individual
or a group format. Groups will contain no more than six learners.
Each learner must be licensed in his or her chosen profession, in
line with ASCH guidelines, and develop a learning contract with
their consultant. The contract specifies how the learner will acquire
their knowledge and skill in clinical hypnosis.
A prerequisite for this type of consultation is
at least twenty Introductory credits of Hypnosis Training approved
by the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis. If you have not yet
taken this training, email me at chuck@DrBurbridge.com
and I will assist you in arranging with ASCH for an Introductory
Course. If you have already taken the training but feel a little
"rusty" with your beginning hypnosis skills, don't worry:
at least as important as all of the above is remembering that learning
new ways of helping others is fun! You may be surprised at how fast
onced-learned skill in hypnosis can return through working with
a consultant. | ^top
TRAINING
WORKSHOPS FOR
PROFESSIONAL GROUPS AND AGENCIES
Hospitals, Clinics, Mental Health Agencies, Social Service Offices,
and others often want to stimulate their professional employees.
Whether it is simply to become aware of the power of newer brief
treatments, such as hypnosis; to learn more about the applications
of hypnosis in the broad range of human problems such as dissociation
and self-mutilation; or to receive clinical training in specific
disorders related to psychological trauma, my background and experience
can be helpful. I have lectured and presented workshops locally
and regionally for a number of years. In the last three or four
years, I have presented nationally, and, in 1999, internationally
(see Presentations). A
few of the workshop designs are outlined below; others can be created
to meet the precise needs of your agency or group. (See the Testimonials
section for reactions from some of my workshop attendees.)
Each of these talks, lectures, and workshops can be
combined and arranged in formats ranging from 1.5 hours, to half-day
with one ten-minute break, to full-day experiences. Presentations
are interactive lectures, with spontaneous questions taken throughout.
Communication of information is supported by 35mm slides presented
in Powerpoint, as well as both color 35mm slides of patient drawings
and videotape of patient interviews. Previous audiences have been
stunned and excited by the power of these visual materials, the
raw emotional energy of which commands immediate attention and respect.
Click on the images below to view sample drawings.
Hypnosis
Many agencies are curious about newer techniques, but don't know
where to begin seeking information. For those who would like to
stimulate their professional staff in alternative approaches, this
workshop provides a professionally focused general overview of clinical
hypnosis, and its application in: 1) anxiety and stress reduction,
2) pain management, 3) fear and phobias, and 4) complex post-traumatic
problems. Methods include a combination of lecture, 35mm slides,
videotape, and interactive discussion.
Physical and Psychological
Trauma
Trauma is becoming a most talked-about area of health practice.
This is due, at least in part, to the many adaptations that human
beings can make in order to survive a traumatic event. When these
events are repeated, especially by supposed caretakers, we refer
to them as abuse, and their ramifications are often felt for a lifetime.
This workshop provides a conceptual overview of psychological trauma
and abuse, supplemented by 35mm slides. It includes the major post-traumatic
adaptations and treatment approaches, and can be combined with the
workshops described below in many configurations. Format is interactive
lecture, color slides, and videotape.
Visualizing Dissociation
Since dissociation is among the most common responses that human
beings make to traumatic experience, knowledge of it is essential
in diagnosis and treatment. Most clinicians have only the vaguest
idea of what a dissociating person actually looks like, or what
their inner experience feels like. Based upon hundreds of patient
interviews, this presentation uses drawings, journal entries and
videotape to: 1) show the adaptive power of dissociative experience
in patients' lives, 2) make dissociative behavior literally visible
and recognizable to staff, 3) reveal what dissociative experience
is like for patients, and 4) sketch a method that can be used to
diagnose dissociation. After this presentation, clinical staff will
know what to look for in their dissociating clients, and how they
feel while doing it.
Self-mutilation
A frequent consequence of the chronic dissociative experiences that
trap our clients is self-cutting, or other forms of self-injury.
Mental health workers often hear of self-mutilating behavior from
their patients, hoping against hope that they can get them to stop
it. This presentation uses videotape, journal entries, and color
drawings to reveal: 1) exactly what self-mutilation is like from
the patient's point of view; 2) what important relief it gives to
them; 3)when self-mutilation is painful, and when it is not; 4)
significant differences between self-mutilation and suicidal behavior;
5) the many meanings of "safety" for these patients, and
what works and doesn''t work with "behavioral contracts"
as described by patients themselves; and 6) an example of the use
of clinical hypnosis to improve control in self-mutilation. The
video and drawings are explicit and powerful, commanding instant
attention and respect from the viewer.
Dissociative Identity Disorder
or Multiple Personality Disorder
Once thought to be a rare diagnosis, DID or MPD patients are making
their treatment needs known more and more frequently in both public
and private mental health settings. The mystery is compounded because
of the amount of professional "doubt" about the "reality"
of this diagnosis! Once again using videotape and drawings produced
by patients, this workshop allows this complicated disorder to literally
become visible. Staff will learn: 1) what the experience of a DID
patient is like, especially their post-traumatic suffering; 2) what
DID patients, and the "alter personalities" look like;
3) what "hidden communications" are, and why conventional
diagnostic instruments aren't usually helpful in DID; and 4) an
overview of approaches to psychotherapy. | ^top
AGENCY
CONSULTATIONS
Mental health systems and schools are repeatedly confronted
with the most difficult and hard-to-manage clients. Many of these
persons have a wide array of co-morbid diagnoses, are repeatedly
admitted to inpatient services, and foster tremendous negativity
in line staff who are frustrated by intense self-destructive behavior.
Often these patients are survivors of psychological trauma whose
lifelong adaptations are failing. Alcohol and drug abuse, as well
as extreme difficulty in affect-regulation, complete the picture.
In addition to the training workshops previously described, on-site
consultations in a case-discussion format are often helpful in redirecting
clinical staff energy. Moreover, in select cases, brief hypnotic
consultation directly with the patient, with the referring therapist
present, can often be of great benefit in creating safety and sustaining
calm feelings. | ^top
|
