Please join me in a hearty congratulations to the latest group completing their Foundation Training in Resource Therapy in May. It’s a bit late coming from me sorry. Many happenings here, updates to follow soon.
What an honour and a privilege it was to work with this wonderful group of talented, inspired experienced therapists. We had members from interstate – Western Australia, Queensland and near the border of New South Wales. Not to forget Zia who made it across the Sydney Harbour bridge!
It was a pleasure to have Yvette there for the whole weekend as co facilitator. Chris was able to attend the first day which was super.
I always come away both refreshed and renewed from the Foundation. I am sure it benefits my client work as I came back recharged.
Of course our lovely group are pumped and ready to Resource clients. Even in the two day workshop you learn some of the most advanced techniques we have today in treating trauma.
May Foundation Training Graduates in Resource Therapy 2018 Sydney
A huge thank you to you all – Rosalie, Judith, Yvette, Moi, Zia, Diane, Heath and Melissa. So appreciated you coming and your wonderful input.
Looking forward to seeing you all the in Clinical September!
Ok, I am totally biased with my client experience, so I say wholeheartedly YES! My belief which guides all of us in the healing field, is we do this work in the spirit of providing benefit to our clients. We want assist people in moving out of pain and destructive life patterns. It is a an extremely worthwhile mission. Thank you all for doing your good therapy works. This work is life changing for us and the people we are privileged to see.
Inspiration from learning
It’s not easy getting out of your uni course or counselling training, only to discover what a mixed bag of problems people come to lay at your therapy feet. It can be overwhelming, help is at hand here.
They didn’t teach me how to deal with all of this in the psychology course
Where do you even start as clients roll out a list of issues as long as your arm? I know it can be overwhelming for us as new therapists and those on the job longer too at times.
What Resource Therapy offers you is clear and easy to follow protocols from a client-centred brief solution focused standpoint. It has made my therapy hours a pleasure and taken the pressure right off.
How good would it be to know this client’s issue is related to poor self esteem. Yep, I’ve go this covered, I can deal with that directly using the Resource Therapy actions on rejection.
RT has easily learnt addiction protocols.
Oh so you have panic attacks, they are easily treated, usually in a session we employ the procedure for phobia and fear. It’s exciting watching your clients face light up, hearing a sigh of relief as you tell them anxiety is resolvable.
A clear path to follow on the therapy journey is reassuring for all concerned.
Dealing with depression and seeing small glimmers of hope week to week, with no homework. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder helped by doing here and now work, that addresses the underlying causes.
Resource Therapy (RT) as all therapies have – CBT, DBT, Mindfulness Meditation, Narrative Therapy, Family Therapy and the list goes on, borrows from other traditions.
Resource Therapy has developed out of Ego State Therapy (EST), no secret there,
Your experience is valuable as a therapist
so bears some marked similarities and advances. For those of you trained in EST if you want to update your skills we offer 50% discount to attend in honour of your training.
When I talk to other therapists about RT they say oh it’s just like Voice Dialogue , or it’s Transactional Analysis TA, Family Constellations, Internal Family Systems IFS or CBT Re scripting. Look I know nothing about Voice Dialogue or Family Constellations Therapy, I am sure they have benefits. I have read something on TA and IFS. I am trained CBT Rescripting. Resource Therapy is unique.
It is a bit like saying to the EMDR practitioner “EMDR is just EFT”
EMDR Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing has long used Ego State interventions. Please read the amazing work of Jim Knipe PhD., Carole Forgash PhD., Ana Gomez PhD., Maggie Phillips PhD. and Dr Claire Frederick’s, Robin Shapiro Phd., to name a few.
These type of trauma informed therapies like Resource Therapy and all I have mentioned here are so valuable. Learn as much as you can.
Life long learning helps our brains stay healthy
Moving into a depth of work which feels inspiring and rewarding as a therapist. Do you use EMDR, Ego State, Emmerson’s advanced Ego State aka – Resource Therapy, or another mentioned.
Thanks for taking the time to read this post, in your busy day. Please leave a comment in the box below on your thoughts about learning and therapy. We would love to hear your thoughts.
Try new things, learn and apply your own unique ability.
So excited to have attended Pat Ogden’s Sydney workshop Wisdom of the Body, Lost & Found. A Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Approach, with Yvette Allen recently.
Pat Ogden applies a Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Approach to working with Complex PTSD.
Pat was truly inspirational, it is heartening ot hear of including the bodies wisdom into psychotherapy. The content and video examples of her work were awesome, not to mention her humility and contextualisation.
This fits in so well with Resource Therapy and can help many inform many RT Actions. Vivify Specific, Bridging and especially Expression, Removal And Relief Protocols. I’d love to hear anyone else’s experience.
What I found fascinating was Pat’s use of our innate gestures. How a facial expression is fairly empty without the body psoture informing it. In particular how we reach, grasp, pull, push and yield. One of the exercises was to reach out your arms. These were the only instructions given. I would encourage you to do this right now and just notice this. Babies instinctly do all the above movements. I asked a friend who has suffered family violence to do this. Her arms went out limply with her hands limp and down cast. As I saw this I said wow, it looks like you don’t expect anyone to be there. She said “No, I don’t beleive, I will get any help.” All that meaning from a simple gesture.
Naturally I wanted to apply this to Resource Therapy in my sessions tentatively. As I work with both couples and complex PTSD. Indeed RT is so effective for trauma processing, I continue to be amazed.
Working with a couple on when the wife said clearly to her husband “I need support.” I asked her to let her body posture show this. She immediately nestled into his side, where he put his arm around her. They both remarked, “Oh we used to do this all the time earlier in our relationship, it feels good to do it again.” Exploring this connection with them in this moment was a power intervention. Very heartening work!
To assist with Vivifying and Bridging, I suggested to people allow their body to really exaggerate or collapse ( using their words) the sense of helpless and hopelessness or whatever they expressed.
In a parts mapping session, this lead to working with a six month old part who was scared and alone. In the Relief section I got “Dad” who was there for nurturing ( I love RT action 6, as it totally works for attachment related trauma) to use the body to show him. The clients arms encircled himself in a big hug and you certainly could see the relief this provided and I would suggest amplified.
I have also played with using gesture and movement in RT sessions working with parts vaded in fear and rejection. One client I suggested she push back the responsility she felt in healed form back to the person it belonged to, in this case a parental introject. I watched as she scraped the heel of her hands along her thighs away from her in a pushing motion that looked like sewere psuhing away a real heaviness. In the debrief she spoke of how it felt like she were moving concrete rubble and could hear the sound of this as she was doing it, and her tears felt like concrete tears in that moment. This was said as she was crying tears of relief, she said felt like water bombs of joy at the session end.
For me Resource Therapy being a brief parts therapy has so many applications in psychotherapy change. Adding brief touches of Senorimotor Psychotherapy appeared to enhance clients processing and to use Pat’s Ogden’s terminology may have opened their window of tolerance.
I certainly believe Resource Therapy to be complimentary to effective practice. So practice practice your artfulness today!
A Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Approach to working with Complex PTSD
