The American Academy of Psychotherapists (Southern Region) recently held an extraordinary three-day workshop near Balsam, North Carolina.
It was striking to be around so many lively people who were present, listened and made awesome eye contact.
The American Academy of Psychotherapists (AAP) was founded in 1954 by pioneering psychotherapists who sought a meeting ground for practitioners from different disciplines. Jerome A. Travers wrote in “VOICES: The Art and Science of Psychotherapy,” (a journal written for and by psychotherapist) that, “The dark side of psychotherapy rests in its being a lonely and isolated profession. VOICES reaches into the darkness and provides the therapist with enlightenment and warmth.”
Freud first realized in 1895 that the therapist’s emotional process plays a role in client analysis. Psychotherapy therefore focuses on the parallel process of the client and the psychotherapist.
The goal of Psychotherapy is to facilitate cross-discipline thinking to create open discourse with live experience and demonstrations.
Training includes experiential psychotherapy, exploring paths to authentic presence, voice dialogues, body integration, core energetic, mindful-based self-study and awareness of ego processes in individual and group therapy.
Experiential psychotherapy includes Yoga, Vipassana Meditation (mindful and compassionate presence), ‘Hakomi Refined’ (Kurz), ‘Internal Family Systems Therapy’ (Schwartz), Equine Assisted Psychotherapy based on the Equine Assisted Growth (EAP) and Learning Association model. EAP focuses on the nature of projection and transference and the parallels between equine and human psychology.
Carl Rogers, Albert Ellis, Fritz Pearls, Virginia, Satir, Carl Whitaker, Henry Guze, Rollo May, Irving and Miriam Polster, Bob and Mary Goulding, Jim Budgental, Sheldon Kopp, Dick Felder, Tom Malone and John Warkentin were members of AAP.
Psychotherapy is different from cognitive and behavioral therapy. The focus of cognitive and behavioral therapy is external and directive. Problem solving, instruction, new skills and education are emphasized.
Psychotherapy explores the subjective, internal, personal, spiritual, cognitive and behavior components of a person.
Cognitive and behavior therapy is left brain. Psychotherapy uses the left and right hemisphere.
The goal of cognitive and behavioral therapy is to stop anxiety. Psychotherapy encourages participants to tolerate and learn from anxiety.
Cognitive and behavioral therapy is linear and focuses on the what, why, when and where. Psychotherapy is non-linear and encourages learning through rational experience and the discovering and uncovering of inner processes.
Cognitive and behavioral therapy answers the question “What do I do?” with advice and solutions and is invested in an outcome. Psychotherapy answers the question with “What do you want to do?” and is not invested in an outcome.
The goal of the psychotherapist is to show up, be present, pay attention, to listen and cut through the garbage. The focus is on the internal and external process of the client and the therapist.
Psychotherapy is about exploring connection with ourselves, others and the world. Internal safety is built on trust, being seen and heard and understood without judgment and expectations. Psychotherapy honors the other person’s space, values the power of waiting and trusts that those who need to speak will speak. The psychotherapist purpose is the “holding of space” to hear the others upset without responding with their own upset. To be aware of projections and realize that oftentimes, “If we spot it we got it.”
Bits and pieces of people’s extraordinary stories continue to drift through my mind. The woman who shared that her husband was dying of cancer. We crossed paths in groups, hallways and in the woods. I slipped and fell at her feet on a trail. Her concern touched me. Later tears streamed down her face at a gathering. I offered her my shoulder to cry on. She sobbed as I held her. It was an honor. She thanked me the following day. We marveled at how our connection seemed meant to be.
The man who joined me at dinner the first night. His presence was a gift as I was feeling alone and disconnected. It was especially sweet when we discovered we had a friend in common that we both loved.
The Asian woman who shared the pain of being part of a minority. She felt like a second class citizen in a world that is dominated by powerful white males. She desperately tied to educate a man who could not understand. My heart went out to her as I too have felt alone and misunderstood. It took me years to let go of expectations, honor those who walk a different path and to let them be. I now cherish the gift of finding those who share a similar truth.
The woman who was reluctant to join a 12-Step Program as she has clients there. Her plight saddened me. How many other times has she said “no” to opportunities. I believe the boundary between a therapist and client is artificial. Healing happens when one person reaches out to another. The only difference is the therapist is being asked to share their knowledge, wisdom and insights. Participating in a 12-Step program with a client is a gift. It does not diminish but strengthens the therapist’s power. The client now has the opportunity to see their therapist as a giver and receiver of healing and learn through example. The therapist that shows their vulnerability and strength shares their wisdom in a different way.
The chaplain who has been with many people at their deathbed in Afghanistan and Atlanta. His profound stories, compassion and wisdom touched my heart. I told him his loving presence is a light. He said I had amazing energy. I cherish his gift of validation.
The woman who honored me by kneeling at my feet in group. Tears streamed down her face as she looked at me with her hands on my knees. Tears flowed from my eyes as she spoke silently to my heart and soul. I shared that I’d never been honored in such a way.
Stephanie Ezust not only summed up the spirit of the VOICES journal but also The American Academy of Psychotherapists and their workshops when she said, “Voices invites you to write, not about treatment techniques or your approach to DID, but about the challenges you faced, the hard-won lessons you may have learned. How did you fall into the seductive world of the dissociated patient when you least expected it? How did you loose your sense of boundaries when you thought they were so clear? What did you learn about your journey from these veterans of life’s wars? Describe your own experience of falling down the rabbit hole into the world beyond the looking glass. What victories did you find together on this road to recovery, your own and your patient’s?”
