Healing Power of Crafts

There are all types of healing process that an individual can  access. Art therapy looks at how both directive and non-directive art can help an individual. Craft therapy is a slightly different take on the art therapy basics, with the same idea (to heal) as the end point.

See the original article @ The Glass Hammer

Craft to Heal:Taking Time Out to Pursue a Hobby Can Have Benefits for Your Body and Soul

November 30th, 2007 | 9:21 am

Contributed by Nancy Monson

Time heals all wounds. But until time kicks in, what do you do while you’re waiting? How do you relieve stress and decompress from everyday pressures? How do you ease the pain, distract your mind, soothe your soul? If you’re like me (and a whole lot of celebrities, it seems), you craft.

I’ve been a crafter for as long as I can remember. I quilt. I sew. I collage. I paint. I make wreaths. I design note cards. I love to create something out of nothing and put my personal stamp on it. I love the process, and I love the product. The creative arts, my crafts, keep my hands, heart and mind busy, and sometimes I think they’re the only things that keep me sane. And I’m not alone. In fact, the creative arts have historically been used as unique forms of expression, communication and release. Now, in the twenty-first century, these arts have been elevated from mere crafts to important components of healing therapies for people with illnesses, both physical and psychological. Patients with cancer, for instance, are encouraged to paint, to visualize their bodies fighting off malignant cells and to pour their thoughts and emotions into journals.
But the best news is that you don’t have to be ill to benefit.

“We’re now finding that crafts are beneficial for healthy people, too,” says Gail McMeekin, M.S.W., author of the inspiring books The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women and The Power of Positive Choices. “Thanks to their ability to tune you into yourself and your feelings, crafts clearly have physical, psychological and spiritual powers.” Adds Diane Ericson, a California fabric artist, teacher and pattern designer, “Crafts are a way of valuing yourself and giving to yourself. They allow you to express what’s inside.”


The Study of Crafting
Crafting is a multibillion-dollar business in America, and over three-quarters of American households have at least one family member who spends an average of 7.5 hours weekly engaged in crafting or hobbies. But despite crafting’s popularity—it’s actually become cool to be a crafter, since Julia Roberts knits and a whole slew of celebrities, from Jennifer Aniston to Tony Bennett, paint—researchers haven’t spent much time exploring its benefits.

Luckily, there is one landmark study—one that was deemed important enough to be mentioned in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association. In the study, which was sponsored by the Home Sewing Association, researchers took 30 women (15 experienced sewers and 15 novice sewers) and measured their blood pressure, heart rate, perspiration rate and skin temperature—all gauges of stress—via biofeedback before and after they performed five leisure activities that required similar eye-hand movements. The results showed that sewing was the most relaxing activity of the five studied: It produced drops in heart rate, blood pressure and perspiration. In contrast, stress measures increased after the women performed the other tasks, especially after playing a card or video game.

According to Robert Reiner, Ph.D., a New York University psychologist and the study’s author, the findings prove what crafters already know: Crafts de-stress. “The act of performing a craft is incompatible with worry, anger, obsession and anxiety,” he says.

Harvard University’s world-renowned mind/body expert, Herbert Benson, M.D., says that repetitive and rhythmic crafts such as knitting may even evoke what he calls the relaxation response—a feeling of bodily and mental calm that’s been scientifically proven to enhance health and reduce the risk of heart disease, anxiety and depression. “You can induce the relaxation response through any type of repetition, whether it’s repeating a word, prayer or action, such as knitting or sewing,” he notes. “The act of doing a task over and over again breaks the train of everyday thought, and that’s what releases stress.”

Unfortunately, many of us push crafting and creativity to the bottom of our To Do list. Maybe we feel guilty for doing something for ourselves—or maybe we feel that even when we’re relaxing, we should be doing something productive. But now that research is showing the creative arts are good for our health and relationships, we no longer need to view leisure pursuits as self-indulgences. We can recast them in a new light: Crafts aren’t just enjoyable, they’re downright therapeutic.

Reaping the Benefits
To tap into the healing power of crafts, start by following these guidelines:

• Find a craft you love—the more rhythmic and repetitive, the better. Passion for a craft keeps you interested, while the rhythmic and repetitive nature confers the mind-body benefit. Knitting, sewing, crocheting, woodworking and other rhythmic crafts are great choices.
• Make time for your craft every week, and ideally every day. Don’t think of this time as a self-indulgence, but a medical necessity. Dr. Benson advises performing the relaxation response or meditation daily for at least 20 minutes—so the same holds true if you’re doing a craft. “View your craft as if it were a medication that you need to take every day for optimal benefit,” says Dr. Reiner. “If you stop taking the drug or doing the craft, you’ll lose the benefit.” Of course, carving out craft time can be a tough task for women. “But even if it’s difficult to schedule, it’s important to make time for crafts because they allow you to tune into your body and your creativity, to release frustration and tap into your deepest emotions,” McMeekin says.
• Create a space just for crafting. Set up a dedicated craft space in your home–rather than occasionally commandeering the dining room table—so you can play whenever you have a few moments to spare. “Put your craft supplies in a basket or in the car, or take over part of a room or office,” she suggests. “Just try to find a space that is yours alone.”
• Take a class to advance your skills. An added bonus: You’ll meet other crafters. “Countless studies show that socializing with others is an effective way to release stress,” says Dr. Reiner. “We are social animals and we need to interact with other people to stay healthy.” It’s also empowering to find a mentor who can offer guidance when you need it. “Just make sure your mentor allows you to express yourself, rather than dictating that you do things her way,” advises McMeekin.
  o Find flow. “Flow,” a term coined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Ph.D., author of
  Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, describes a state of complete absorption and intense joy. When you’re in a state of flow, you lose track of time as you focus on the task at hand—a feeling akin to “being in the zone,” which is what athletes speak of. Over the past 30 years, Dr. Csikszentmihalyi has studied 3,000 people to find out how they achieve flow—and actively engaging in a craft that you’re passionate about is one way to do it. Sedentary activities such as watching television don’t bring flow, but painting a landscape may.
• Enjoy the process. Rather than focusing on the end product, heed the process. “What you make is only the residue of how much fun you’ve had,” says Diane Ericson, a fabric artist, teacher and creativity coach in Aptos, California. The key is to revel in the task of creating—the fabric, the colors, the patterns, the new idea—rather than just mindlessly pushing to finish a project. “The act of performing a craft is incompatible with worry, anger, obsession and anxiety, and that’s one of the ways in which we believe crafts are healing,” adds Dr. Reiner. “Crafts make you concentrate and focus on the here and now.”
• Don’t become overly perfectionistic. Yes, you want your craft to challenge you. But don’t go crazy. Many crafters—myself included—tend to beat themselves up if they do a less-than-stellar job, and end up negating the health-promoting benefits. “Give yourself permission to be imperfect and to play,” advises Ericson. “If you have to make a project just right, you set yourself up with just one more chore to accomplish. You lose the joy and the fun.” There are no mistakes in creating, only lessons. “Many inventions are the result of so-called mistakes,” notes McMeekin.
• Don’t compare yourself to others. As a quilter, when I look at the spectacular works of other women, I sometimes want to cry. I know I’ll never be as good. Instead of inspiring me, their quilts make me feel like a less-than. “It can be deadly to compare your work to that of others,” warns Ericson. “That puts a damper on both your creativity and your enjoyment.” So instead of measuring yourself against someone else’s yardstick, try to find inspiration in the work of others.

If you do your craft for yourself and yourself alone, you’ll have fun–and
you’ll reap the healing benefits for your body, mind and soul.

10CTI: The Hunger Illusion

See the original article @ Psychology Today

Cool Intervention #6: The Hunger Illusion

10CTI: Growls from your unconscious

Published on January 30, 2010 by Ryan Howes, Ph.D. in In Therapy

No, this intervention isn't (necessarily) about food. Tucked away in the pages of a George Weinberg book lies one of the most powerful and elegant techniques ever. And it's safe to use at home, no therapist required.

Dr. Weinberg is known for many things. The Manhattan psychologist has authored a dozen books on topics as varied as statistics, Shakespeare and fear of commitment. He coined the term "homophobia" in his 1972 book Society and the Healthy Homosexual. And he's also the guy who wrote The Heart of Psychotherapy which ranks among the best books in the trade and introduced me to one of the Ten Coolest Therapy Interventions.

Many people come to therapy to figure out why they do what they do. This could range from why they binge drink to why they seek unavailable partners to why they talk with their hands. They're engaging in some behavior that feels automatic and has a mysterious origin, and want to know why. Freud would say they have unconscious motivations that are blocked from awareness. Such motivations may leak out in dreams, slips of the tongue, hypnosis or free association. These standard tools of psychoanalysis are fine, but they take time: you may have to wait for an insightful dream or slip, and it can take a while for clients to get comfortable with hypnosis or free association.

Enter the Hunger Illusion. According to the text: The person stopping any habitual behavior becomes subject to an illusion, which becomes pronounced as the impulse mounts to resume the habit. I call it the Hunger Illusion.

The process is simple: 1) identify the moment you tend to act automatically, 2) don't, and 3) see what thoughts and feelings come up. He gives an example in his book of a big, tall man who tends to wave his hands around frantically when he is trying to make a point. When he resists the urge for a moment and talks about the thoughts and feelings that arise, he describes feeling small and afraid he won't be heard. He's huge and Dr. Weinberg is listening intently, so this is clearly irrational. This leads back to a memory of him as a small child with older siblings who wouldn't listen unless he made a fuss physically. He is unconsciously playing out a behavior that was necessary in childhood, but is no longer needed. Making the link to his early belief helps him understand and control the behavior.

The applications are innumerable. Feel the urge to walk away, crack a joke, grab the donut (there's the food tieback), have a drink, sigh deeply, view porn, spend irresponsibly or approach the wrong mate? Stop the automatic response and see what thoughts and feelings arise. Tie it back to an earlier memory. You may discover the hidden meaning for the behavior, which gives you power to control it.

I recently tracked down Dr. Weinberg and had one of the best phone calls in recent memory. Here's an excerpt from our conversation:

When would you use the Hunger Illusion?
Usually they bring up the subject of something they either can't do or can't not do: what happens to you if you don't drink? If you have an alcohol problem and you go back to your buddies and tell them, "I'm not gonna go into the tavern," you might think, "well, they'll think I'm not a man, I'm not tough." So maybe you drink partly to feel virile, like one of the guys. You may not have known that until you literally don't go and say, "no, I don't drink anymore." It helps you learn about yourself.

 In your experience, how have you seen the Hunger Illusion help clients?
Well, they learn what they're really afraid of and then they can look for other places where they have the same fear, and if you can attack a thing from many sides, pick up a blanket from many sides, you can really deal with a problem better than if you pick it up from one. If you're afraid of asking for things from men then maybe the first thing you have to do is return a broken iPod to a clerk and then ultimately you'll be asking to run the company, you know, down the line.

As far as the interventions you've known and used, what would you say makes the Hunger Illusion a cool intervention?
What makes it cool is that it's easy to do, it's available, it doesn't require deep analytic theory, you don't have to be a Freudian or subscribe to Mahler's Rapprochement theory. It's cool because it's waiting for us. It gives unique information, it doesn't fall into any theoretical stereotype and I think that makes things cool when they don't follow the lines of some one true light, someone's one religion. It's available to all of us. Yourself, as a therapist too, which makes it cool. You don't have to pay top dollar to use it, you can try it in your own life. Anyone can verify that it teaches us things.

Sure. I could see therapists from almost any modality using it.
Yeah, anyone, and these schools of therapy keep multiplying. There's got to be something wrong if we have 700 theories of how people change.

What's next for you?
My new book is Lies Your Therapist Told You which will be out next year.

Uh oh, you're gonna kick me out of a job here.
No, but I think we can do a better job if we don't lie. We need more interventions like this instead of saying: "well it's obvious that you had an attachment to your father that you have to discover, and come here for the next 12 years to discover it." We're dealing with people as they come along, not stereotypes. That's one of the reasons why therapy is losing ground. Talk therapy was a booming new idea at one point, and now half the things people went to talk therapy for they're taking a pill for instead, and I think they underestimate the power of really investigating yourself.

10CTI: Voice Dialogue

See the original article @ Psychology Today

Cool Intervention #7: Voice Dialogue

10CTI: Group therapy with one client

 

Published on January 28, 2010 by Ryan Howes, Ph.D. in In Therapy

Ever feel a battle raging inside you? The part that wants to achieve versus the lazy bum? The good guy versus the rebel? The loner versus the attention-seeker? Or maybe your critic, inner child, ideal self and saboteur get together to play poker once in a while. Voice Dialogue may be the technique for you. The Ten Coolest Therapy Interventions series explores this elaborate method.

Voice Dialogue is the main intervention used in a modality called the Psychology of the Selves developed by psychologists Hal and Sidra Stone, who had such diverse influences as Jung, Skinner, Kazantzakis and Hermann Hesse (read their full bio here). Their theory suggests that various parts of self coexist within each of us and determine our thoughts, behaviors and relationships with others. According to their website:

Each of us "contains multitudes". We are made up of many selves, identifying with some and rejecting others. This over-identification with some selves and the loss of wholeness that comes from the rejection of others, can create imbalances and blind spots. This work is about embracing all the selves. This dance of the selves is an amazing process and we see the dynamics of the world around us shift as our internal world changes.

Rather than making choices based on a given criteria (the most rational, what feels right, what other people want, etc.), Voice Dialogue encourages a discussion between the parts of self at odds with one another. The understanding and expression of these selves helps us increase our self-awareness and even function better within a relationship. Although it does turn a couple into a group rather quickly.

I'm honored to host Hal and Sidra Stone (and their assorted selves) who help explain this cool and complex intervention:

1. When would a clinician use Voice Dialogue?
When there is a sense that the client has a feeling that he or she has different selves or parts.  For example, let us say that John goes to a party that he doesn't really feel like going to.  Once there he has a few drinks and soon he is the life of the party.  In the middle of the night when he awakens he is a bit depressed. In his session he may say something like:  "I don't understand how I get into these things.  I really didn't feeling like going and again it is as if something just takes over and there I am again doing something I don't really feel like doing."  In a situation like this Voice Dialogue could be a very effective intervention.

2. What does is look like?
The therapist might say: "It really does sound like there are two very different ways of being or value systems that are operating in you.  There is you the party person, the more extraverted self who generally needs some alcohol or drug to get him going.  On the other side is a more introverted part of you trying to come out and be heard but he seems to have less authority than the other one.  How would you feel about my talking to these two feelings or ways of being in the world to see if this might help clarify some of the conflict that you are describing?"
The therapist starts always with the self that is the more primary, that leads his life in the world.  For this the client actually moves over physically to a different position and the conversation or interview begins.  When finished John would go back to the center for a discussion of the work so far.  In this, or the next session, the therapist might have a conversation with the less developed, often totally disowned self.

3. How does it help the client?
It helps the client in three ways.  First he gets to hear in a very objective way what these different "voices" or selves have to say, what they want and need, how they developed -- the family forces that shaped them. Just knowing that the voices are real can be a total revelation.  A woman might say that she can't stand looking in the mirror in the morning. To discover that she has a voice in her, the Inner Critic, that embodies all of her self criticism can initiate a major shift in her life.
Secondly, the therapist helps to develop a new place between the opposites, a place that can help the client hold the introversion with one hand and the extraversion with the other.  It is a new "center" of personality that we call the Aware Ego.  It is this Aware Ego Process that can learn to embrace the vast system of opposites that live within each of us.
The third advantage is that from this Aware Ego Process the client is in a better position to make conscious choices.  A conscious choice is one that honors both sides of the conflict no matter which choice is actually made.

4. In your opinion what makes Voice Dialogue a cool intervention?
First of all it is way of working that is fun and alive and brings in all kinds of different thoughts, feelings and emotions.  It is impossible as a therapist to be bored or tired doing this work.  It the therapist gets tired or bored it is because he or she has fallen into a pattern of being overly responsible or overly mental or some primary self that limits possibilities of enjoying the work.
Secondly there is the constant excitement of new discovery.  Discovering and separating from a primary self is like waking up from a dream and discovering whole new worlds of possibility.
Thirdly, what you judge in the world are generally expressions of selves in you that have been shut down or rejected over time.  What a ride it is and how relationships do change as you begin to learn how to catch hold of these judgments.
Fourthly, how different it is to learn how to allow your own vulnerability to live in the world of relationship.  So many people look for more meaning in their lives. Learning how to use vulnerability in a conscious way is really the royal highway to a more deeply felt and experienced life.

The Visual Journal

This article was written and intended for art students/artists. However, I think that many of the concepts can be applied to working therapeutically with people. As opposed to traditional journaling, the visual journal may feel less threatening as there are no/few words from which a stranger can derive the message/meaning of the entry. The art work can become some what of a secret language for the writer to only uncode when he or she chooses to do so.

See the original article here @ SBCC School of Media Arts

"The use of personal journals for of writing has had powerful and far-reaching effects. Apart from improving writing skills, journals also work to change your enduring attitudes, values and sense of personal identity. Ideas, feelings and insights, kept in journals offer us not only a clue to the richness of our imagination, but insight into our very being."

15 Reasons Why Artists Keep Visual Journals.

  

1 Keeping a visual journal helps the artist develop a sense of self–discipline. 

By drawing in your journal everyday you are developing the habit of creativity. The drawings can be ever so simple and as time goes by you will have developed a repertoire and a visual source book. When the time comes to design a long term drawing, a painting or sculpture you will have a wealth of ideas available and you will have developed your skills so that drawing up your design is just a matter of applying what you have learned.

 

2 The chronological nature of the journal means that you are automatically recording your personal improvement. 

By recording trouble spots that need attention you are creating a path for yourself to follow. Because the internet is such a rich source of instruction and example you should put aside time to go online to find out what the solution to your artistic problems may be. Once you have collected a variety of examples and ideas use them to work out a personal solution by trying out all that you have seen. This process will nurture your artistic development and help you develop a sense of direction.

 

3 A journal can become for you a ‘place’ where you can work out what themes are developing on the journey. 

As issues, questions and ideas develop ‘go with them’ and let them give you direction. Themes are good because they give you a dialogue and point of interest. This can be a good starting point for discussions with other artists and fellow students.

4 It is always good when you are presenting your work to be able to fit it into a theme. 

Many exhibitions are grouped in this way. The working out of a theme also gives the artist a sense of completion when that thematic response has been followed to its logical conclusion.

5 Style is a process of evolution. 

When you begin keeping your journal you may not even know what your preferred style is. As you develop on a daily basis a personal style will emerge. Dialogue with that style. Ask your self why you have gone in this direction? Does it make it easier? Can you see patterns and relationships? Do you know what is influencing you? Write you’re self-questioning down in your journal as you go it will make interesting reading in years to come.

6 Once you have begun to develop the habit of creativity you will also have begun developing an intuitive awareness. 

You will see things that stimulate curiosity and provoke fresh and new ideas. You will not be able to keep up with them. Jot them down. Keep your journal at hand at all times. Make sure you always keep it handy and small enough to fit into any bag or in the glove box of the car. Draw everything that catches the eye. Later you will be excited by all of the things you have gathered as source material that you would have forgotten about entirely if you had not recorded them in the minute. Collect ideas by jotting them down (scribble neatness doesn’t count) come back to them at a later date when that intuition or inspiration becomes relevant to the work at hand. If notes aren’t taken at the time…the thoughts may be lost forever.

7 Regard your journal as your personal safe place. 

A collection of experimentations. 

No one should be looking over your shoulder …it is your space for trying out techniques in a non-threatened way before committing to a more public form of artwork.

8 It is also a means of communication, a holding place for ideas to share with other artists and students who wish to learn. 

So keep it with you when mingling with other artists. If you are making preparations for submissions or to win contracts make sure you are keeping your notes in this way as it can facilitate discussion at a later date if this becomes necessary.

9 Your journal is your note-takers paradise … as a place where ideas can be kept in the written form as well as visually… 

Keep the writing short and precise but do write down any ideas that come to your head as we often forget what stimulated our visual inspirations and the writing may be useful. Supplement your scribbles with poems, haikus, prose, and songs what ever is helping shape your thoughts and ideas at the time is relevant and may become useful.

10 Keep technical notes as well make sure you are learning about mixing colours, learning theory.

Writing down and recording what you learn means that you have a ready reference. Again the internet is a great way to find our information…if you are having trouble understanding light sources for example enter that as a search term and you will be amazed at how much free information you can find. Be patient and don’t just click on the first few sites you find. There is a wealth of information out there for the taking if you put in that little extra effort.

11 Set your self-learning tasks of specified natures with a particular learning outcome anticipated. 

For example record atmospheres by going for a walk in the same place on a daily basis for a month but at different times of the day. Draw or paint in watercolour exactly what you see. Or go to a different place but at same times of the day. Don’t just look for atmospheric or natural effects look to at the kinds of activity you can find. One example of this might new going to the same street corner at different times throughout the day – even the expressions on the faces of the people will change as they come and go. Try it you may be amazed. Another way of creating a learning exercise is to look at and examine objects from all sides and views. Keep on setting yourself small learning tasks like this and you will be amazed at how much you improve and how your understanding of techniques increases.

12 Again your journal is a safe place where you can experiment with abstractions finding ways to express emotions and feelings.

You can make your artistic journey a catalyst in your personal development by recording dreams, daydreams and locating meaning in them through exploration and analysis. Again the Internet is a great place for subscribing to discussion lists where people want to explore self-empowerment and personal development.

13 Above all this safe haven of personal expression can become for you if you let it a source of relaxation. 

A ready breathing space in a busy way of life. Learn to do relaxation and breathing exercises before and after you draw not only so that you tap into the more intuitive side of your brain but that so that the discipline of drawing and the artistic pathway becomes a source of great personal pleasure. Your journal should never be a chore but something you look forward to as a little breather in the busy pace of life.

14 Eventually your journal will naturally evolve into your precious planning tool. 

It will be a place where compositions are mapped out over a period of time before any major painting is begun. Projects will no longer be daunting, as you will have a never-ending fountain of reference ideas and information. Above all enjoy the journey and don’t let it cause you even the slightest stress.

 

15 Journaling is best if it is done daily.  

It is also easiest to remember if it is the first thing you do when you wake up of a morning. Start the day by recording a drawing of your dreams. Or if you haven't dreamt throughout the night, simply draw the first thing that occurs to you when you wake up.

10CTI: Paradoxial Interventions

See the original article @ Psychology Today

Cool Intervention #8: Paradoxical Interventions

10CTI: Don't think about a paradox

 

Published on January 23, 2010 by Ryan Howes, Ph.D. in In Therapy

You know, this contribution to the Ten Coolest Therapy Interventions isn't very interesting. I wouldn't waste your time reading about the fascinating and controversial world of paradoxical interventions or the interview with one of psychology's living legends: Cloe Madanes. Kindly move along to the next blog. Okay, read if you must, but definitely don't send it to a friend. Or leave a comment.

Paradoxical interventions involve prescribing the very symptom the client wants to resolve. It's a complex concept often equated with reverse psychology. For example: the client fears failure, so the therapist asks the client to fail at something. A man has problems with procrastination, so the therapist asks him to schedule one hour a day to procrastinate. Your four year-old resists brushing her teeth so she's told she isn't allowed, and may end up doing it out of spite. Or a woman who can't initiate sex with her husband is advised not to initiate for a month. Don't think about a purple elephant. It's asking for something in order to achieve the opposite result.

The underlying principle is that we engage in behaviors for a reason, which is typically to meet a need (rebellion, attention, a cry for help, etc). In prescribing the symptom the therapist helps the client understand this need and determine how much control (if any) they have over the symptom. By choosing to manifest the symptom, they may recognize they can create it, and therefore have the power to stop or change it.
You can see how this might get a bit dicey. If the symptoms could cause harm to the client or anyone else, nudging the client toward it would pose an ethical problem. In fact, much has been written to establish guidelines for paradoxical interventions. Only clinicians well-trained in the technique should consider using it.

It's a privilege to interview Cloe Madanes, a pioneer in the field of family therapy and a prolific writer, speaker and fellow PT blogger. She wrote the book on Strategic Family Therapy, a modality that looks at the balance of power within the family and the hidden function of symptoms. Her work continues to grow and evolve - she's recently joined forces with Anthony Robbins to find solutions to interpersonal conflict, violence prevention and creating a civil community (watch them work together at www.madanesfilms.com).
On to her interview:

1. When would a clinician use a paradoxical intervention?
A clinician would use a paradoxical intervention when there is a clear symptom or presenting problem that the patient believes is an involuntary behavior, such as depression, fears, pain, even seizures.

2. What does it look like?
The therapist asks the patient to deliberately have the symptom at the therapist's office and/or outside the office.  Family members may be asked to encourage, advise or reward the behavior.  The idea is that, if a symptom is involuntary, having it voluntarily means the behavior can be controlled and is no longer a symptom.  If the person can have it voluntarily, this means he/she can also not have it voluntarily.  A variation is to ask the patient to pretend to have the symptom.  When a person is pretending to have a symptom, they are not having the real symptom.  Secondary gain or positive reinforcement can be arranged for the pretend behavior, so that it replaces the involuntary behavior.  The involuntary behavior is no longer needed in order to obtain the secondary gain.

3. How does it help the client?
It helps the client to be in control of his/her behavior and experiences.  It's based on humor because the intent is for the patient to laugh at the idea of bringing on an unpleasant symptom voluntarily and humor is always therapeutic.

4. In your opinion, what makes paradoxical interventions cool?
Paradoxical interventions are cool because they are painless and funny.

10CTI: The Empty Chair

see the original article @ Psychology Today

Cool Intervention #9: The Empty Chair

10CTI: Therapy with furniture

Published on January 20, 2010 by Ryan Howes, Ph.D. in In Therapy

The Ten Coolest Therapy Interventions series continues with a technique widely recognized among gestalt therapists, their clients and furniture aficionados everywhere. Gestalt therapy expert Dan Bloom shares his thoughts on this powerful procedure.

The term gestalt refers to a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Gestalt therapy, formulated by Fritz Perls (1893-1970) is based on the idea of a whole being as connected with their environment, loved ones and memories. Therapy works toward creating full awareness of the here and now, both within the client and between client and therapist. The empty chair is one of many interactive techniques used to help engage the client's feelings, thoughts and behaviors.

The ol' empty chair has had quite a tongue-lashing over the years. Clients have given a piece of their mind to innumerable spouses, bosses, best friends and dead relatives thanks to this simple tool. But the chair is none the worse for wear, and millions of people have a greater understanding of feelings and communication as a result. This definitely qualifies it as a Top Ten finalist.

I'm honored to host Dan Bloom, JD, LCSW, a New York gestalt psychotherapist and president of the Association for the Advancement of Gestalt Therapy, an international community. He writes, provides supervision and trains therapists in New York and internationally. He kindly shares his thoughts on the empty chair:

1. When would a clinician use the empty chair technique?
The empty chair technique is characteristic of some styles of gestalt therapy. It is often effective at facilitating clients' integration of different aspects or "disowned parts" of their personality in order to further psychotherapeutic insight. It is one of a variety of interventions that help people move from talking about something towards the fullness of immediate, present experience - sensation, affect, cognition, movement. The less people are "in touch," or "verbalizing," or abstractly thinking, the more likely therapists are to use this as an expressive technique. It is not used for clients whose emotionality is already dramatic and who may be already subject to emotional "flooding."

2. What does it look like?
As first popularized by Fritz Perls, one of the founders of gestalt therapy, an empty chair faced the client. The client imagined someone (or himself, herself, or parts of him or herself) in it, and spoke, gestured, or otherwise communicated to the "empty chair," which was now not so empty. The client then sat in the chair, continuing the conversation, this time reversing roles. Variations of the "empty chair" developed over the decades in order to fit the clinical needs of the situation - and as gestalt therapy evolved. The client might participate in this technique without the "prop" of an actual empty chair. Importantly, the technique today always includes attention to the relational dynamic between the client and the psychotherapist.

3. How does it help the client?
This technique often brings clients into present or immediate experiences. Abstractions or verbalizations become enlivened moments. Clients may be able to experience different aspects of their own conflicts in a new manner through empty-chair dialogue. Gestalt therapy is more than a collection of techniques, despite the notoriety of the empty chair. This technique is one of the many interventions within gestalt therapy, all with the common purpose of facilitating discovery and psychotherapeutic insight.

4. In your opinion, what makes the empty chair a cool intervention?
Any intervention that challenges the passivity of the clinician and turns psychotherapy into a creative collaboration is a cool technique. Further, if the empty chair is a new approach to the clients, it offers a new perspective on the therapy process.

10CTI: The Miracle Question

See the original article @ Psychology Today

Cool Intervention #10: The Miracle Question

Published on January 18, 2010 by Ryan Howes, Ph.D. in In Therapy

The Ten Coolest Therapy Interventions series kicks off with supernatural power. Many clients come to therapy looking for a miracle. Here's a technique built on miracles. I'm honored to speak with Dr. Linda Metcalf, expert on the Miracle Question and Solution Focused Therapy.
The therapeutic intervention is a critical element in most forms of psychotherapy. In this series I survey ten diverse techniques that are, in my opinion, cool. For more information on the series take a look at the introduction.

Solution Focused Therapy (aka Brief Therapy) emerged in the 1980's as an branch of the systems therapies. A married therapist couple from Milwaukee, Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg are credited with the name and basic practice of SFT. The theory focuses not on the past, but on what the client wants to achieve today. By making conscious all the ways the client is creating their ideal future and encouraging forward progress, clinicians point clients toward their goals rather than the problems that drove them to therapy.

The Miracle Question fits perfectly with this model. Imagining an ideal future and connecting it to the present immediately actualizes the work. Clients are challenged to look past their obstacles and hopelessness and focus on the possibilities.

It's cool because it's a relatively simple intervention that can have a powerful impact. Just take a look at the question (response #2). You're probably crafting your response already. It's creative, bold, healing, a bit mysterious and definitely has a cool name. The Top Ten designation is well deserved.

Don't just listen to me, hear it from an expert. Linda Metcalf, Ph.D. is founder of the Solution Focused Institute of Fort Worth, Texas and author of ten books including The Miracle Question: Answer It and Change Your Life. Beyond writing and therapy, she speaks internationally to schools, agencies and universities. She was kind enough to share her wisdom with us today.

1. When would a clinician use the Miracle Question?
The Miracle Question is a goal setting question that is useful when a client simply does not know what a preferred future would look like. It can be used with individuals to set the course for therapy, with couples, to clarify what each person needs from each other and with families, who too often see one person as the culprit. By using the Miracle Question and asking each person what a better life would look like, the system sees perhaps for the first time, what others need from each other.


2. What does it look like?
"Suppose tonight, while you slept, a miracle occurred. When you awake tomorrow, what would be some of the things you would notice that would tell you life had suddenly gotten better?"
The therapist stays with the question even if the client describes an "impossible" solution, such as a deceased person being alive, and acknowledges that wish and then asks "how would that make a difference in your life?"  Then as the client describes that he/she might feel as if they have their companion back, again, the therapist asks "how would that make a difference?"  With that, the client may say, "I would have someone to confide in and support me."  From there, the therapist would ask the client to think of others in the client's life who could begin to be a confidant in a very small manner.


3. How does it help the client?
It catapults the client from a problem saturated context into a visionary context where he/she has a moment of freedom, to step out of the problem story and into a story where they are more problem free. But, more importantly, it helps the therapist to know exactly what the client wants from therapy...and this is what makes Solution Focused Therapy so efficient and brief.

4. In your opinion, what makes the Miracle Question a cool intervention?
It helps the therapist see where the client wants to go. Too often, therapists assume that a client needs to grieve, leave their spouse, quit their job, after the client describes why he/she has come to therapy. The Miracle Question helps the client and therapist to address exactly what the client wants, not what the therapist thinks is best.

10CTI: Intro

This is the first article by Ryan Howes on 10 Therapy Interventions. For the next 10 days I will be posting the 1 of the 10 intervention articles he wrote about.

See the original article @ Psychology Today 

The Ten Coolest Therapy Interventions: Introduction

Published on January 17, 2010 by Ryan Howes, Ph.D. in In Therapy

***This series is for entertainment and basic educational purposes only. My mission for this blog has always been to demystify elements of therapy so it becomes more accessible to the general public. Reading these blurbs is no substitute for the dozens to thousands of hours of training it takes to effectively and ethically apply them. If you're a therapist and find an intervention interesting, please get adequate training before attempting. If you're not a therapist, please seek out a clinician with sufficient training in that specialty. Unless otherwise specified, do not try this at home!

 

Clients talk, therapists listen. That's just the beginning. Most clinicians have a few tricks up their sensitive, rational and insightful sleeves.
I hereby launch another big series, this one honoring a vital component of psychotherapy: the therapeutic intervention. I chose the ten coolest then interviewed the leading experts for each one.
The first thing most psych graduate students learn is how to listen. They study Carl Rogers and others who poured the foundation of the therapeutic relationship with the concept of respectful, empathic and reflective listening. While this is helpful, some clients want more than listening. They want a powerful experience, a deep insight or some tool that provides answers. Many psychological theories address problems on this more tangible and profound level.

Techniques are hailed as vehicles of epiphany by believers and panned as corny gimmicks by cynics. They add dimension and texture to the work, stretching therapy beyond a friendly ear toward a dynamic, transformative process. They're the practical application of psychological theory that creates a turning point for many seeking answers.

For some, techniques are what make therapy meaningful. Others just want to talk and be heard so techniques/interventions get in the way. Which brings me to an important point: this is all incredibly subjective. Some clients work best in a technique-free environment, others thrive in therapy heavy on gizmos. And some gizmos work better for some people than others. Like many elements of therapy, it's a matter of a good fit rather than the One True Best Way to do things.

Rather than give a cursory review of all contemporary psychotherapy techniques, I thought a list of the Ten Coolest would be more interesting. Absurd, given what I just said about subjectivity, but interesting. Now to define cool in this context. In order to qualify as a cool intervention, each must have the following:

• Creativity: innovation beyond convention to find a solution
• Boldness: strong conviction the technique has profound results
• Compassion: directed at healing pain or dysfunction
• Mystery: mechanism for change is not always obvious
• A Cool Name: I'm not sure why, but this tends to be true

Let's also note what I'm not talking about: effectiveness outcomes. I don't want to get into that here. I'll let the bean counters and hall monitors from EBT make their own boring top ten. These interventions have worked powerfully for some people some of the time; I'll leave their validity at that. I'm a therapist and I don't even use most of them, I just think they're cool.

I selected the list then put on my investigative reporter hat to find experts who could tell us more about each one. If you're a therapist, professor, client or a grad student you'll probably be able to guess a few selections, but I doubt you'll guess all ten. My hope is this list will help broaden your idea of psychotherapy. And show how cool it really can be.

***This series is for entertainment and basic educational purposes only. My mission for this blog has always been to demystify elements of therapy so it becomes more accessible to the general public. Reading these blurbs is no substitute for the dozens to thousands of hours of training it takes to effectively and ethically apply them. If you're a therapist and find an intervention interesting, please get adequate training before attempting. If you're not a therapist, please seek out a clinician with sufficient training in that specialty. Unless otherwise specified, do not try this at home!

Here are the Ten Coolest Therapy Inventions (10CTI) (These will link to the article once posted on my blog)
10. The Miracle Question
9. The Empty Chair
8. Paradoxical Interventions
7. Voice Dialogue
6. The Hunger Illusion
5. Head-On Collision
4. Sandplay
3. Primal Therapy
2. Virtual Reality
1. Transference Interpretation

Trauma's Impact on Learning

Trauma's Impact on Learning

School has resumed. Back to school advertisements and school supply lists have consumed parents, teachers and children for the past few weeks. For most this is an exciting time. For others, those who have difficulty in school, it can be quite stressful. After exposure to a traumatic experience many children remain in a heightened state of arousal (stress). This is especially true when a child is exposed to chronic or repeated trauma such as domestic violence, abuse or homelessness. When that arousal does not decrease to normal levels there is a significant impact on a child’s ability to perform in the classroom. Many of the processes required for successful learning become impaired as a result of this increased and persistent stress. Some of these include difficulty focusing, remembering information, and articulating what has been learned, sitting still long enough to complete a worksheet and even having the ability to work on projects with peers.

Knowing this, our first goal has to be to make children feel safe in the classroom. Despite what is going on at home, we have the opportunity to greet them with a smile, ask them if they have had breakfast and offer additional support if needed. When a traumatized child feels safe and has an opportunity to relax, even for a few moments, their ability to learn will improve. After repeated safe experiences in a classroom, even a traumatized child can view that setting as their safe place. Remember that it is in everyday moments and day-to-day interactions that we create a new (safer) experience for children.

From TLC Director Caelan Kuban at ckuban@tlcinst.org.

(See the original article at Trauma's Impact on Learning)

Something New!!!

I have decided to try something new. My original blog (Sarah's Closet) was originally designed to look at beauty and body image and how they are impacted by society and media. I have noticed over time that as a counsellor there are other things I want to talk about. Specifically, I wanted to spend some time providing information on counselling style and pass along resources that people might find useful. There are so many wonderful websites, books and people out there doing amazing work that they need to be shared. Since not all of these resources fit in with my original blog, I have started this one to try and share things I find.
If there is anything you find that you would like me to share, please let me know! I will try and pass on everything that I can.
Thanks!