<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Consultation Groups <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am offering small (up to seven participants) consultation groups for therapists who are interested in learning how to apply the constructionist approach.\u00a0 The group meets twice a month and lasts for two hours.\u00a0 In terms of structure:\u00a0 it begins with a 30 minute presentation on an important facet of the constructionist approach and then concludes with 90 minutes for members to present cases for group consultation.\u00a0 Cost of the consultation group is $70 for the two hour session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Workshops for Therapists<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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..<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Practicing Psychotherapy in Constructed Reality<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 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\u2019s privileged knowledge \u2014i.e., diagnoses, prognoses, underlying theories and client characteristics\u2014is 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Advances in Behavioral Genetics Requires a Complete Reconceptualizing of Psychotherapy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Robert Plomin, a senior behavioral geneticist, has recently released startling findings based on a new genetic tool:\u00a0 genome-wide association studies (GWAS).\u00a0 Three of his findings are most relevant for psychotherapy.\u00a0 First, there are only 3 psychiatric diagnoses:\u00a0 neuroticism (depression and anxiety), externalizing (substance abuse, sociopathy), and reality orientation (schizophrenia and bipolar).\u00a0 Plomin shows that these diagnoses are continuous, not binary.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Third, Plomin believes that we have vastly overestimated the positive effects of nurture.\u00a0 Essentially, a good environment\u2014such as a good school or family\u2013will have a positive impact while you are in that environment.\u00a0 However, post exposure, your functioning tends to regress to your genetic mean.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n These findings are at odds with the medical model of psychotherapy.\u00a0 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 \u201ccure,\u201d \u201cproblem resolution,\u201d and \u201crecovering addict.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cSkill building\u201d is a central concept for many psychotherapists; however, Plomin\u2019s work on the lack of staying power for institutions suggests that we must also reexamine that idea.\u00a0 Most provocatively, the lack of staying power for positive interventions such as families suggests that we also need to review our understanding of the staying power of negative interventions such as trauma.\u00a0 Finally, Plomin\u2019s work points towards the need to review our most fundamental implicit assumption about mental illness:\u00a0 that history begets psychopathology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The workshop will begin with a summary of Plomin\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Secrets of the Therapeutic Wizards:\u00a0 Charisma, Altered States, and Constructionism<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n One classic strategy for improving psychotherapy is to identify the best therapists\u2014the therapeutic wizards or supershrinks\u2014and study what they do to achieve their outstanding results.\u00a0 While this is a common-sense approach, it has consistently failed in that:\u00a0 a) the wizards make unique interventions and it is difficult to synthesize them, and b) even when some synthesis is accomplished, practicing the recommendations fails to recreate the supershrink outcomes.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, when psychotherapeutic research is examined from a constructionist perspective it demonstrates that techniques lack inherent power. This implies that analyzing wizard outcomes by looking at their interventions is doomed to failure. When this strategy is eliminated, there is room to focus on the actual powers of the wizards: charisma, connection, and the ability to see and make reality fluid and malleable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This workshop focuses on these factors and introduces approaches that facilitate the malleability of therapeutic reality and the particular usefulness of altered states. In addition, new approaches to cultivating charisma and connection are reviewed and explored. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The workshop will consist of two parts; the first half focuses on deconstructing limiting assumptions and the second half examines how to use this new freedom and fluidity to achieve better outcomes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Workshops for <\/p>\n\n\n\n Personal Transformation<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dancing with the Abyss: Applying Constructionism to Personal Transformation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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.\u00a0 The group meets twice a month and lasts for two hours.\u00a0 In terms of structure:\u00a0 it begins with a 30 minute presentation on an important facet of the constructionist approach […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-29","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drstephenbacon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/29","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drstephenbacon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drstephenbacon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drstephenbacon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.drstephenbacon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.drstephenbacon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/29\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":493,"href":"https:\/\/www.drstephenbacon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/29\/revisions\/493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.drstephenbacon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}