Therapeutic presence allows mental health practitioners to engage more deeply with their clients and build a healing therapeutic alliance. This book outlines easy-to-use exercises that clinicians can implement in sessions and in their daily lives to develop therapeutic presence.

"Research has consistently demonstrated the role of the therapeutic alliance in effective psychotherapy. Yet, mental health practitioners often struggle to be fully present with their clients due to various stressors and distractions that occur in and out of session, which makes it difficult to build and maintain a stable alliance. Renowned therapist Shari Geller thus presents a transtheoretical model for cultivating therapeutic presence that will help clinicians engage more deeply with their clients on multiple levels -- physical, emotional, cognitive, spiritual, and relational -- which will ultimately result in positive change. In this accessible guide, Geller first reviews the empirical foundations of therapeutic presence, including its neurophysiogical underpinnings. She then translates this knowledge into clinical skills and practices that therapists can use to set a pre-session foundation for presence, cultivate that presence in session, and overcome barriers to presence. To be optimally effective, however, therapists must practice self-care and hone their presence skills outside of therapy. Thus, Geller details exercises that allow therapists to cultivate presence in all aspects of their lives. She then describes therapeutic relational presence, the deepest level of connection therapists and clients can achieve through ongoing presence-building practices. The book concludes with broader applications of presence beyond therapy"--Publicity materials. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

The authors present their empirically based model of therapeutic presence, along with practical, experiential exercises for cultivating presence.

This book is the most practical clinical guide on Acceptance and Commit ment Therapy (ACT said as one word, not as initials) yet available. It is designed to show how the ACT model and techniques apply to various disorders, settings, and delivery options. The authors of these chapters are experts in applying ACT in these various areas, and it is intriguing how the same core principles of ACT are given a nip here and a tuck there to fit it to so many issues. The purpose of this book, in part, is to emboldened researchers and clinicians to begin to apply ACT wherever it seems to fit. The chapters in the book demonstrate that ACT may be a useful treat ment approach for a very wide range of clinical problems. Already there are controlled data in many of these areas, and soon that database will be much larger. The theory underlying ACT (Relational Frame Theory or "RFT"-and yes, here you say the initials) makes a powerful claim: psy chopathology is, to a significant degree, built into human language. Fur ther, it suggests ways to diminish destructive language-based functions and ways of augmenting helpful ones. To the extent that this model is cor rect, ACT should apply to a very wide variety of behavioral issues because of the centrality of language and cognition in human functioning.

Basic strategies and tips for doing effective therapy with elderly clients. What is it like to be 106 years old? What are the mental health needs of someone this old, and for that matter, all elderly? Can we, as clinicians and caregivers, ever really understand old age and provide for their needs adequately? How can we prevent the physical problems they face from overwhelming the patience and care that we give? What are the most effective therapeutic tools that underlie all successful therapy work with older clients? Caring for the elderly is complex, challenging work. Often they are wrestling with a unique set of medical, psychiatric, and social challenges, all set against the backdrop of their approaching mortality. The therapist’s job is to successfully navigate these challenges without dwelling on the inevitability of physical decline, and to provide the most compassionate, valuable treatment possible. It is with this guiding principle in mind that Marc Agronin, a dedicated geriatric clinician with years of on-the-ground experience, offers a sensitively-written and eminently practical guide that addresses the therapeutic challenges, and uncovers the top strategies for compassionate and effective work with the elderly. Therapy with older clients, Agronin argues, requires a sensitivity to the tension between the body’s physical decline and its simultaneous capacity for mental growth and maturation. Therapists must learn to handle these seemingly opposing forces with varying client types and in different settings, and reconcile their own fears of aging, disability, and death. At times this therapeutic relationship can be difficult: medications are often not as effective as they are in younger clients, and the elderly often view change at such a late stage of life as pointless. However, Agronin encourages therapists to work with creativity and passion, persisting in their efforts by retooling their approaches, shoring up patience, and remembering that the very presence of a caring listener can bring a spectacular transformation to even the most debilitated individuals. An understanding of aging alone does not make an effective therapist, and Agronin offers key strategies—illustrated through real-life case examples—for dealing with countertransference, performing age-guided evaluation, working with caregivers, and handling end-of-life issues. He explains the impact of aging on the major psychiatric disorders, providing direction on how to cultivate empathy and understanding for a range of age-specific challenges. Agronin offers a compassionate, insightful narrative that explores the nuances of successful rapport-building and problem-solving that can enrich the lives of the elderly. In doing so, he gives readers a better understanding of what it means to grow old, and how cultivating a respectful, productive relationship—one that is inspired with curiosity and energized with creativity—can bring joy and affirmation to older clients.

Written by a diverse range of expert contributors, unified by a relational, ethics-based reading of person-centred theory and practice, this seminal text is the most in-depth and comprehensive guide to person-centred therapy. Divided into four parts, it examines the theoretical, philosophical and historical foundations of the person-centred approach; the fundamental principles of person-centred practice (as well as new developments in, and applications of, person-centred clinical work), explorations of how person-centred conceptualisations and practices can be applied to groups of clients who bring particular issues to therapy, such as bereavement or trauma, and professional issues for person-centred therapists such as ethics, supervision, and training. 10 years after it was last published, this third edition includes new content on the climate crisis, intersectionality and working with racism and anti-racism. It includes new dedicated chapters on the Non-directive Attitude, Relational Depth, Experiential Practices, Working with Trauma, Online PCA and Person-Centred approaches around the Globe. International and interdisciplinary in conception, this is a cutting-edge resource for students of psychotherapy and counselling on a range of programmes, as well as professional practitioners working in the field.

Note to Readers: Publisher does not guarantee quality or access to any included digital components if book is purchased through a third-party seller. A practical roadmap for teaching graduate counseling courses from start to finish Written for the soon-to-be, newer, or adjunct counselor educator, this is an accessible, practical guide to preparing and teaching a graduate counseling course from start to finish. Authored by skilled counselor educators who found themselves woefully unprepared to teach upon obtaining their first faculty positions, the book proffers their hard-earned wisdom to help new faculty confidently take over the role of instructor. The hands-on guide provides convenient overviews of each course and day-to-day, content-specific strategies for designing and teaching integral course content that is culturally sensitive and developmentally appropriate. Offering diverse strategies and activities, the book addresses how to teach courses in CACREP-accredited programs and covers such topics as identifying theoretical orientation; diagnosis, assessment, and treatment planning; developing therapeutic presence; group leadership; genograms; diversity; basic counseling skills; school shootings; suicide; White privilege; and much more. It addresses course objectives, evaluation of student learning, current research, classroom management, use of technology, do’s and don’ts, and advising students. Discussion points and merits of activities are informed by the concept of andragogy, a theory specifically for adult learning. Multicultural and social considerations are woven throughout each chapter. Activities and assignments were developed with feedback from students. KEY FEATURES: Provides a practical roadmap for preparing and teaching a graduate counseling course from start to finish Delivers in-depth practical information on how to teach new material and conduct day-to-day lectures Discusses content-specific teaching strategies and advice Guides new faculty members in understanding how all of the courses in the curriculum influence each other Includes multicultural and social considerations in each chapter Informed by the concept of andragogy, a theory specifically for adult learning

Innovative clinicians share their experiences integrating Polyvagal Theory into their treatment models. Clinicians who have dedicated their work to bringing the benefits of the Polyvagal Theory to a range of clients have come together to present Polyvagal Theory in a creative and personal way. Chapters on a range of topics from compassionate medical care to optimized therapeutic relationships to clinician's experiences as parents extract from the theory the powerful influence and importance of cases and feelings of safety in the clinical setting. Additionally, there are chapters which: elaborate on the principle of safety in clinical practice with children with abuse histories explain the restorative consequences of movement, rhythm, and dance in promoting social connectedness and resilience in trauma survivors explains how Polyvagal Theory can be used to understand the neurophysiological processes in various therapies discuss dissociative processes and treatments designed to experience bodily feelings of safety and trust examine fear of flying and how using positive memories as an active "bottom up" neuroceptive process may effectively down-regulate defense shed light on the poorly understood experience of grief Through the insights of innovative and benevolent clinicians, whose treatment models are Polyvagal informed, this book provides an accessible way for clinicians to embrace this groundbreaking theory in their own work.

In our frantic, fast paced society, we need constant guidance to remind us that we can only find the peace of mind we sorely lack by looking inward. Judaism, like many other spiritual traditions, offers a unique path to cultivating fulfillment and presence of mind. In cultivating peace of mind, we do not aim to achieve transcendence. Rather, our goal is to enter fully into whatever is occurring in our lives and meet it with full presence. But being a better Jew and a happier person are not mutually exclusive. On the contrary, they are mutually interdependent. From the moment we wake to the moment we fall asleep, biblical commandments provide us with guidelines that encourage us to be aware of the present moment. A Guide to Jewish Mindfulness provides concise and clear instructions on how to cultivate peace of mind in order to attain a life of greater commitment and inspiration for the present moment.

Advances in Online Therapy is the definitive presentation on online psychological intervention, which takes research and experiences of online therapy a step further by applying them to therapy in a post-pandemic world. This book addresses most of the main approaches and schools of individual, couple and family psychotherapy that are prevalent in the therapeutic field nowadays and explores how each of them adjust to online therapy. The reader will explore the main challenges and obstacles unique for each approach and how leading experts of those approaches overcome these challenges. The book also offers a relatively unique collection of the most practiced therapeutic approaches. In addition, the reader will explore specific issues that anyone who meets clients online should be aware of, like who is suitable for online counseling and who should be excluded, how to overcome resistance to online meetings, how to create online therapeutic alliance, enhancing online presence, and more. This book develops further the ideas and areas explored in the authors’ previous book, Theory and Practice of Online Therapy. Advances in Online Therapy aims to help mental health professionals and graduate students responsibly explore and expand their own ‘online comfort zone’.