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| Home | Meet John | How we help | Our approach | More information | Links | FAQ | Contact | Bendigo Psychologist |
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| Our Approach Our primary therapeutic approach at JHCA is underpinned in a Solution Oriented / CBT approach. It is an evidence-based approach that has been evolving in Western Psychology during the past 30 years. It provides a contemporary, comprehensive and cost effective means for the treatment of many mental health issues. We seek to provide counselling and hypnotherapy that incorporates helping the client ‘to feel heard', then assists them to ‘cope more usefully' by accepting and/or adjusting to their troubling circumstances. Many clients find this to be a process that improves their self-esteem and one that enhances their sense of well-being. Our Solution Oriented / CBT approach is not based on us being ‘the expert'- it is an approach that facilitates us working respectfully and cooperatively with our clients. Our shared task is to discover and then to engage our clients' strengths and resources in a manner designed to assist them to consider, to explore, and then to implement cognitive and behavioural strategies that more usefully enhance their experience of life. Other evidence-based treatments that have emerged during the last 30 years used by JHCA included Mindfulness and Positive Psychology . Mindfulness has proved useful to treat clients suffering form anxiety, panic attacks, depression, and other mental issues. Solution Oriented Approach At JHCA, we find that most people who seek our help are more interested in ‘dealing more usefully' with their presenting issue(s) or ‘adjusting more usefully' to life's changes, rather than allowing the problem to ‘control' their lives. A Solution Orientated Approach (SOA) is our preferred approach with these clients as it enhances conversations that develop and explore future possibilities and the development of solutions rather than ‘seeking explanations anchored in the past'. (Interestingly, many of our clients report that trying to discover ‘why' they are experiencing difficulties usually leads them to experience depressive symptoms and immerse them in a ‘mood' that they neither expected, nor enjoyed, nor found helpful.) A SOA has been described as a third generation therapeutic approach that encompasses psychological treatments that emerged during the 1980's, and that focuses on a client's ‘present and future'. Importantly, a SOA fosters the development of ‘solutions' rather than ‘seeking explanations'. In contrast to a SOA, the first wave of traditional therapies (eg. psychoanalysis and psychodynamic approaches) emerged during the late 19th and early in the 20 th century and are strongly anchored in developing a client's ‘understanding of their past' and where the therapist assumes the role of ‘the expert' in the relationship. The second wave of therapeutic approaches emerged during the 1960's including behaviour therapy, ego psychology, client centred therapy, family therapy, and gestalt therapy, where emphasis is placed on the clients ‘present' experience, and are commonly referred to as ‘here and now' therapies. Expanding on the behavioural approach, Cognitive Behaviour Therapies (CBT) developed individually by Dr Albert Ellis and Dr Aaron Beck, and more recently by his daughter Judith Beck, have become the cornerstone of evidence based psychological treatments. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)
CBT has demonstrated effectiveness with individuals experiencing the following problems:
CBT has been extensively investigated in rigorous clinical trials and has empirical support. For example, The Australian Psychological Society (APS) has recently published practitioner guidance identifying CBT as having a strong evidence base for a range of psychological and emotional problems. Hypnotherapy Where the treatment of psychological and mental issues is broadened beyond counselling to include hypnosis. The Australian Society of Hypnosis Ltd advises that hypnosis has proven effective in working directly with the subconscious to help clients to change their behaviour, their thoughts, and their attitudes. At JHCA, hypnosis is another treatment option available to assist our clients in the treatment of most psychological and mental difficulties. Mindfulness Mindfulness is a rapidly emerging area of interest in Western psychology. At JHCA we use it as an effective way to reduce your stress; to increase your self-awareness and to enhance your emotional intelligence; and to undermine your destructive feelings (emotions), thoughts (cognitions), and actions (behaviours). Although mindfulness has only recently been embraced by Western psychology, it is an ancient practice found in a wide range of Eastern philosophies, including Buddhism, Taoism and Yoga. Mindfulness involves consciously bringing awareness to your here-and-now experience with openness, interest, and receptiveness. Jon Kabat-Zinn, a world authority on the use of mindfulness training in the management of clinical problems, defines it as: "Paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally." Mindfulness is about waking up, connecting with ourselves, and appreciating the fullness of each moment of life. Kabat-Zinn calls it, "The art of conscious living." It is a profound way to enhance psychological and emotional resilience, and increase life satisfaction. The practice of Mindfulness has emerged as a powerful, evidence-based treatment for enhancing psychological health. It is empirically supported as an effective intervention in a wide range of clinical disorders, including chronic pain, anxiety disorders, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), substance abuse, and borderline personality disorder. Practising (not just being aware of) mindfulness helps you:
For more information, please visit Russell Harris at www.actmindfully.com.au Positive Psychology Positive Psychology is the scientific study, undertaken largely at the University of Pennsylvania under the guidance of Dr Martin Seligman, that investigates the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive. Positive Psychology is founded on the belief that people want to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives, to cultivate what is best within them selves, and to enhance their experiences of love, work, and play. Positive Psychology provides a stark contrast to more traditional or earlier psychological approaches that focused on pathology or what was wrong and then hypothesised why. Positive Psychology has three central concerns: positive emotions, positive individual traits, and positive institutions:
It is interesting to note that recent articles in the Dec 2007 edition of the Australian Psychologist focused on Coaching, an emerging field in Psychology. Reference is made to a new concept from the field of Positive Psychology, that of ‘HumanFlourishing', one that describes people who are characterised by:
Ericksonian ApproachOur work at JHCA has been influenced by a number of prominent clinicians who embraced the teachings and therapeutic approach developed by Milton Erickson (1901-1980). Erickson, is acknowledged as a foremost proponent of clinical hypnosis in the 20th century. His work was characterised by discovering and then utilising the strengths, the resources, and the values that his clients brought to the session, an approach described as ‘utilization’. He worked from the belief that each person is a unique human being, and formulated his therapeutic approach to meet the uniqueness of each client. As the Principal Psychologist at JHCA, John has received training in Ericksonian Approaches from: • David Johnson, Psychologist and the Director of the Milton Erickson Institute of Victoria and Ampersand Australia. John completed three, year long, Diplomas with David viz. the Diploma of Counselling Psychology in 2000, the Advanced Diploma of Counselling Psychology in 2001, and the Diploma of Solution Oriented Hypnosis in 2006 • Jeffrey K Zeig, Ph D, who is the Founder and Director of The Milton H. Erickson Foundation, Inc., Phoenix, Arizona, and has edited, coedited or authored professional books and monographs covering Ericksonian psychotherapy, hypnosis, brief therapy, and eclectic psychotherapy. During 2005 John attended his Melbourne Workshop ‘Couples in Conflict: Resolving Ties that Bind’ • George Burns, who is a Clinical Psychologist and heads up the Milton Erickson Institute of Western Australia. George has authored 6 books including Nature Guided Therapy and101Metphors. He is a respected teacher and keynote speaker at international and local conferences. George lead the study tour John undertook on ‘Mindfulness, Meditation and Happiness’ to Bhutan in 2007. • Matthew Selekman, MSW, who is a couples and family therapist in private practice and the co-director of Partners for Collaborative Solutions, an international family therapy training and consulting firm in Evanston, Illinois. He is the author of numerous family therapy articles and professional books, including Living on the Razor's Edge: Solution-Oriented Brief Family Therapy with Self-Harming Adolescents. John attended his 2004 Melbourne Workshop ‘Living on the Razor’s Edge – Solution Oriented Brief Family Therapy with Violent, Suicidal and Self – Harming Adolescents’John is indebted to these clinicians as they have helped me to develop an approach to treatment that puts the clients needs respectfully at the forefront of our work together – an approach that enables us to work collaboratively to discover, to consider and then to formulate solutions that meet the individual needs and unique expectations of each of our clients.
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