Consultation Groups
I am offering small (up to seven participants) consultation groups for therapists who are interested in learning how to apply the constructionist approach. The group meets twice a month and lasts for 90 minutes. In terms of structure: it begins with a 30 minute presentation on an important facet of the constructionist approach and then concludes with 60 minutes for members to present cases for group consultation. Cost of the consultation group is $70 for the 90 minute session.
Workshops for Therapists
The following three workshops can be structured so that they last from 2 hours to a full day. In addition, they can be offered sequentially over a two- or three-day period..
Resolving the Great Psychotherapy Debate: How Therapy Actually Works
The question about how psychotherapy works has resulted in an apparently unbreakable stalemate between common factors proponents and the evidence-based/medical model adherents. However, resolution of this debate is relatively easy if one reviews the literature on therapist training and experience. Put simply, if techniques have inherent power, then trained therapists—who know techniques—should have better outcomes than the untrained. Similarly, experienced therapists should be superior to less experienced therapists because they know more techniques and have practiced them more assiduously. A literature review demonstrates that these hypotheses are not supported; hence, techniques have no inherent power and are, instead, culturally-sanctioned healing rituals. Moreover, most of psychotherapy’s privileged knowledge—i.e., diagnoses, prognoses, underlying theories and client characteristics—also come into question; since training and experience are also the basis of learning and practicing psychotherapy’s privileged knowledge, the lack of training and experience effects suggest that privileged knowledge is unrelated to clinical outcomes.
This lack of inherent power is explained by social constructionism and the Jerome Frank model which states that therapeutic potency rests on the ability to offer a convincing explanation and a proscribed healing action mediated by a strong therapeutic alliance. This is fairly easy to understand intellectually but visualizing a psychotherapy free from any emphasis on techniques and skills is pragmatically challenging. Mastery of this approach requires a practice of deconstruction of privileged knowledge as a prerequisite.
Advances in Behavioral Genetics Requires a Complete Reconceptualizing of Psychotherapy
Robert Plomin, a senior behavioral geneticist, has recently released startling findings based on a new genetic tool: genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Three of his findings are most relevant for psychotherapy. First, there are only 3 psychiatric diagnoses: neuroticism (depression and anxiety), externalizing (substance abuse, sociopathy), and reality orientation (schizophrenia and bipolar). Plomin shows that these diagnoses are continuous, not binary. No one has or is free from schizophrenia; we all have scores on the schizophrenia continuum and we will manifest schizophrenic symptoms depending on the interactions between our vulnerabilities and environmental stressors. Third, Plomin believes that we have vastly overestimated the positive effects of nurture. Essentially, a good environment—such as a good school or family–will have a positive effect while you are in that environment. However, postexposure, your functioning tends to regress to your genetic mean.
These findings are at odds with the medical model of psychotherapy. Most of our diagnoses are revealed as constructions; not only must we operate with a simpler nosological model, but we are required to reexamine concepts such as “cure,” “problem resolution,” and “recovering addict.” “Skill building” is a central concept for many psychotherapists; however, Plomin’s work on the lack of staying power for institutions suggests that we will need to reexamine that idea as well.
The workshop will begin with a summary of Plomin’s work especially tailored for psychotherapists. Next, through small and large group discussions, participants can explore for themselves the implications of this work for psychotherapy and their practices.
Practicing Psychotherapy in Constructed Reality
Constructionist therapists have long known that techniques are not the central factor in therapist effectiveness. This workshop begins with a literature review that provides significant, research-based support for this stance. In addition, the same research analysis demonstrates that psychotherapy’s privileged knowledge —i.e., diagnoses, prognoses, underlying theories and client characteristics—is similarly shown to be both constructed and unrelated to enhanced outcomes. These findings are devastating for the medical model and can be provocative for certain constructionist therapies that still recommend techniques and privileged knowledge. Developing a constructionist therapy without reliance on techniques or privileged knowledge is both an exercise in creativity as well as an exercise in releasing common assumptions. This challenge results in five principles that can guide development going forward: 1) fluidity, 2) client centered, 3) systems focus, 4) altered states, and 5) a guiding path. The workshop material will be presented via lecture, Q & A, and small group breakout sessions.
Workshops for
Personal Transformation
Dancing with the Abyss: Applying Constructionism to Personal Transformation
This two-day workshop focuses on the implications of constructionism for personal change and transformation. Essentially, the fluid and malleable nature of constructed reality suggests that transformations can occur more easily, more profoundly, and more permanently than normally thought. This is particularly true when the assumptions and limitations in the standard mental health model are effectively challenged.
The workshop is focused on experiential exercises and the acquisition of meaningful tools conducive to integrating constructionist principles into your ongoing psychotherapy and personal growth goals. There is an emphasis on integrating psychological goals with spiritual and existential principles; more specifically, the difference between sacred and secular space will be explored and the usefulness of different kinds of altered states will be integrated into standard practices.