Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology Conference
Integrating Science, Psychotherapy and the Healing Arts
May 30, 2013, Hyatt Hotel, 1800 President's Street, Reston, Virginia
Overview of Presentation, Click here.
All day Pre-Conference presentation- Thursday
"Bodymind Healing in Psychotherapy: Towards an Integral Comprehensive Energy Psychology"
Energy psychology is at a key turning point in relation to the field of traditional psychology (Feinstein, 2009; Pignotti & Thyer 2009). This workshop clears a pathway for presenting energy psychology in a way that answers some of the overarching concerns of the wider field of psychology. You'll learn how to present a comprehensive energy psychology in a way that more clearly embeds energy psychology within the context of a wider and expanded field of psychology (Mayer, 2009).
This workshop will help participants to bring the healing abilities of a comprehensive energy psychology to their work as health professionals. Adding to the well-known energy psychology methods such as EFT, here participants will learn how to broaden their view so that energy psychology will also be known to include Qigong, depth psychology, Gendlin's Focusing,; symbolic process traditions, and other traditional forms of psychotherapy. Participants will learn how all psychotherapy is energy psychotherapy, and by therapists better understanding that, psychotherapy can be enhanced and people in need will be able to use a broad range of energy psychology methods to add vitality, healing, and psycho-spiritual depth to their lives. Participants will be introduced to an integration of behavioral healthcare, Qigong, and psychotherapy stemming from Dr. Mayer's thirty years of private practice, and testing this combined approach in an integrated medical clinic that he co-founded. Qigong (of which Tai Chi is the best known system) is a many thousand-year-old method of self-healing practices which can be done with movements or in stillness.
In pursuit of creating an integral, comprehensive energy psychotherapy, here you'll learn how to integrate the essence of Qigong into psychotherapy without using Qigong movements, and without mentioning Qigong. By using Eastern and Western relaxation and visualization methods, state-specific breathing inductions, acu-point self-touch, the transcending/transmuting dialectic, and anchoring a patient's somatic changes at the moment of "felt shift" an integral paradigm for bodymind healing is accessible for clinicians and their patients to integrate into brief or depth psychotherapy. This integral energy psychology approach will be illustrated through the following dimensions: theoretical, case illustrations, demonstration, research, and ethics. Participants will learn how this approach can be applied to cases involving anxiety, panic disorder, hypertension, chronic pain, insomnia, trauma, etc.
P r e s e n t a t i o n C o n t e n t O u t l i n e
Presentation Title: "Bodymind Healing in Psychotherapy: Towards an Integral Comprehensive Energy Psychology"
First session (90 minutes): Towards an Integral, Comprehensive Energy Psychology
A. A new origin myth for psychotherapy {20’}
B. Energy psychology is embedded in traditional approaches to psychotherapy: Psychodynamic, Jungian, Gendlin's focusing, etc {20’}
C. Using bodymind healing methods in psychotherapy: Carpal tunnel syndrome and anxiety case illustrations {50’}
Second session (90 minutes): Integrating Qigong into Behavioral Healthcare and Psychotherapy
A. Demonstration of Qigong movements as a complementary treatment for behavioral health: relaxation, energizing, limbering joints, hypertension, balance and prevention of falls in the elderly somatic complaints, chronic diseases, reversing sympathetic nervous system fight/flight for trauma etc.{30’}
B. Case illustrations: Hypertension, chronic pain, trauma {30’}
C. What Qigong gives psychotherapy {30’)
Third session (90 minutes):An Integral Approach to Using the Essence of Qigong in Psychotherapy Without Using Qigong Movements {90 Minutes}
A. The Age-old Roots of Energy Psychology in Cross-cultural Traditions {30’}
B. What Creates Change in Psychotherapy? {10’}
C. Psychotherapy as Changing your Life Stance, Transmuting internalizations with body-based psychotherapy, Case Examples: Social phobia, sexual trauma. {30’}
D. Knowledge of Qigong/ Tai Chi stances enhances awareness of somatic changes at moments of "felt shift" (Gendlin,1978) in psychotherapy, and enhances anchoring of these new life stances. Case illustration: Abusive parent. {20’
Fourth session (90 minutes):Demonstration, Research and Ethics {90 Minutes}
A. Demonstration of Bodymind Healing in Psychotherapy-with Audience member {30’}
B. Questions re application of BMHP {20’}
C. Research & Ethics {20’}
D. Summary and Final Questions {20’}
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