The therapist is the tool. The relationship is the medium.
Therapy is conducted through the person of the therapist in relationship with clients. Theory and technique are applied through the humanity of the therapist, which itself needs to undergo a personally transformative experience that enables therapists to make their personal selves instrumental in the service of the therapeutic process. The goal is to achieve an active and therapeutically effective mastery of the self within the role of therapist.
To attain greater mastery of self, therapists need to know themselves, have access to their memories, emotions, and values, and gain in the ability to selectively and actively draw from past and present experiences in relating, assessing and intervening with clients.
This workshop will present the theory behind this use of self, and the training process for maximizing the effectiveness of the use of self in therapy. The presentation will also offer guidelines for supervising therapists on the use of their own person in the therapeutic process.
There will be lecture, videotapes, and discussion. The workshop will:
- Provide a theoretical overview of the Person-of-the-Therapist Model.
- Offer practical guidelines for the use of therapists’ own person in all stages of therapy.
- Offer models for both the training and supervision of therapists on the use of their own person in their clinical work.