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| The Methodology "Pine Cottage Counseling and Arts Center" incorporates different systemic therapies and techniques to handle fear, change, develop coping skills, to deal with traumatic experiences and belief systems, to develop intrapersonal and interpersonal skills. |
| Therapies |
| Crisis intervention There are moments when one needs a person to listen and brainstorm fast, someone with the skill to bring a person out of crisis and turmoil to a place of calm to make decisions. In crisis intervention a person finds validation, can process immediately what has happened, gets support and is normalized. In crisis intervention the person goes from an emergency response to a relaxation response. Narrative therapy In life one is constantly accumulating knowledge, assimilating ideas and integrating them into life. The things that happen we tell them to others and as we repeat different scenes of our life they turn into a script or story. We use language and communication skills to tell stories about ourselves and others. We construct the stories (our discourse) without the awareness that we are creating a world-view based on the emotional content of our experiences., what we say and repeat is creating our reality (as understood in the new paradigms of science). We need to check how we are telling the story to ourselves and how we are becoming identified with the story. People have the habit of becoming the story they tell. These are shaping their self-concept and personal relationships. The same way we construct the discourse or story we tell, we can also deconstruct it and create a new narrative. To do this first the person needs to externalize the problem—see it from outside, like a witness. In counseling we explore the subjective experience, we see what other options of retelling there are. By monitoring our thought system and using affirmations we can change what we have encoded by repetition in our subconscious mind, which is controlling our life. We can change the beliefs no longer useful. By weakening our conditioned beliefs and strengthening new ideas and beliefs, we reconstruct our "stories" in a more healthy way. This is more empowering that believing that "genes" control our life and destiny. This is done by opening the mind to other meanings and ways of interpreting life. Every story lives and breaths it's meaning in a web of other stories. Every story legitimates a centered point of view, a world view, an ideology. Solution-Focused counseling and strength and skill building strategies Solution focused counseling derives from Erickson's belief that individuals possess the strength and resources to resolve their problems. The practitioner's job is to activate these resources to help the client discover their inner power. Language is used to facilitate the process of viewing situations and potential solutions by using past successful attempts to resolve it and imagining a future free of the situation to build vision, hope and motivation. Through language an expectancy for change is created. Along with this type of counseling, strengths and skill building is encouraged. The focus is on people's strengths and circumstances rather than their pathology. It comprises engagement of the client, problem exploration, solution exploration, goal setting, taking action and termination. In this process the person works on the inner self, as well as gaining interpersonal communication skills. Creative counseling Creative counseling is done individually or in a group setting. It is a combination of yoga, breath-works, guided imagery, the use of visual and literary arts for healing , and debriefing at the end of each session. This is considered a systemic process to access the implicit mind (subconscious mind) with the purpose of releasing traumatic memories or past issues in a dynamic, yet, gentle way. The aim is to reach a relaxation response that prepares the body to release blocked energy through the body, engaging the mind and using "art as a second language." Yoga opens up the channels for creativity to flower, allows the person to open up to intuition and inspiration. |
| Cognitive Behavioral Techniques |
These techniques either try to create a change in the mind so that moods are improved or uses body/mind to bring a shift in perception. Most of them are Energy Psychology Techniques that involve the field of thought and the use of acupressure points. Dialogical activity- Socratic dialogue to help client find answers through a liberating dialogue, that frees the client and creativity from the deepest realms of the self. Through dialogue the practitioner helps the client align thoughts, feelings and actions to achieve integration in life and its endeavors. Ericksonian Hypnosis Hypnosis is a highly focused state of attention, according to Milton Erickson a way of communication and a shift to a person's internal reality. The facilitator of Ericksonian Hypnosis includes suggestions of relaxation, health and well-being. While the person relaxes and explores the inner world, the person gains access to the subconscious mind. This process is empowering and the person is always in control. Trauma Incident Resolution TIR is a technique that allows a person to reprocess traumatic incidents. This process might take more than one hour of counseling. It is a sure, fast , way of integrating traumatic material and stopping triggers from affecting one's life. |
| Energy Psychology Techniques |
Tapping Tapping is an energy psychology technique that involves placing thoughts in the field of mind while tapping acupressure points to reset energy patterns in the body/mind. I use this technique regularly as a complement to cognitive work. TAT TAT is a healing tool that combines holding acupressure points on the head as one puts the attention on a specific problem. This is another energy psychology technique that works wonders. |
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