MARIN COUNTY CHAPTER OF CAMFT
FRIDAY EVENING LECTURE SERIES
March 18, 2016
Positivity, Energy and Synergistic Processes in Psychotherapy
Scott Nelson, Ph.D., LMFT
Commonly, psychotherapy models often can involve excessive and often counter-productive efforts on the part of the therapist “helping” the troubled client to manage negative emotions, solve personal and interpersonal problems, clarifying cognitive distortions and so on. These approaches tend to be focused on the near term with minimal emphasis on developing a more durable and resilient, satisfactory, meaningful and fulfilling life. Despite the obvious ways in which these problem focused approaches can be useful, they can also generate significant unintended negative outcomes such as therapist and client emotional, physical and spiritual burnout and energy drain, thwarted opportunities for meaningful therapist/client growth, narrowing of problem resolution vision and inadvertent diminishing of client and therapist self-esteem and empowerment.
This presentation will describe a bifocal (looking at both therapist and client), recursive, energy-managing, and positive resource building “layer” of the therapy experience. Employing these approaches can engender mutual empowerment, renewal, and overall positive growth. For over 40 years, in a wide variety of therapeutic settings and with some of the most difficult clients, I have repeatedly experienced that the therapeutic relationship can be perhaps the most overarching healing agent. In order to maintain my own energy, optimism, and love for my work and my clients, I have endeavored to understand and employ therapeutic processes that specifically focus on benefitting both therapist and client, mutually and often reciprocally. Towards this end, my focus has regularly been on what we are doing right, together. With all this in mind I will bring together understandings from positive psychology, broaden and build theory, energy management (as conceptualized at the High Performance Institute), as well as contemporary notions about the reciprocal impacts of neurophysiological, interpersonal transactions.
Scott Nelson, PhD, LMFT has been working in the mental health field for 44 years and has been a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist since 1981. He received his doctorate from the School of Social Work at the University of California at Berkeley, was the Director of Research at the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto, has taught in many university setting and authored the Simon & Schuster book, Lost Lovers, Found Friends; Maintaining Friendship After the Breakup. In private practice in Mill Valley, Scott incorporates a broad range of tools, including psychodynamic psychotherapy, CBT, DBT, Gestalt, EMDR, attachment theory and interventions, interpersonal neurobiology, positive psychology. He utilizes these various methods according to the social work adage, “Begin where the client is!” For more information about Scott Nelson, please see www.scottnelsonphd.com.
Cost: Free for Marin CAMFT members, $10 for non-members.
Location: Corte Madera Town Center, Room 201 - 770 Tamalpais Drive, Corte Madera, CA 94925 (map)
Information: For more information about the Friday Evening Lecture Series and about joining the Committee, contact Committee Chairs, Suzanne Richardson and Scott Nelson
CEUs: This workshop meets the qualifications for 1.5 CEUs for LMFTs, LCSWs, LEPs and LPCCs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. These will be provided by Marin CAMFT (CEP # 56895), which is approved by CAMFT to sponsor CE for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs and LEPs. Marin CAMFT maintains responsibility for this program and its contents Contact Laurie Buntain, Director-at-Large for Programs for more information.
Continuing Education Goal: Marin CAMFT is committed to offering continuing education courses to train licensees to treat any client in an ethically and clinically sound manner based upon current accepted standards of practice.
Refund Policy: Requests for refunds must be in writing and received by the Director at Large for Programs no later than ten days before the program. There will be a $25.00 administrative fee to cancel registration for any program. The refund will be sent within ten days of the request.
Accommodation for Special Needs: The special needs of persons with disabilities will be accommodated. The Program Committee will endeavor to assure that continuing education program materials, content and venue selections will meet the special needs of the disabled and that reasonable accommodation will be made. A request for accommodation can be made to the Director at Large for Programs, who will work with the Committee and event venue to meet the need.
Marin CAMFT encourages those who attend its events to respect the fact that some individuals may have allergies to fragrances and pet dander. We ask that you refrain from introducing these elements into our meeting room. Registered service animals are welcome, of course.
Grievance Procedure: Marin CAMFT will respond to complaints in a reasonable, ethical and timely manner, when submitted by program attendees in writing to the Director at Large for Programs.
Anti-Discrimination Policy: Marin CAMFT shall not discriminate against any individual or group with respect to any service, program or activity based on gender, race, creed, national origin, sexual orientation, religion, age or other prohibited basis. Marin CAMFT does not require attendees to adhere to any particular religion or creed in order to participate in training. Marin CAMFT will not promote or advocate for a single modality of treatment that is discriminatory or likely to harm clients based on current accepted standards or practice.
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