Clear Thinking Out Loud

Milton Erickson yelled at a therapy client. I flirted with an elderly lady. Sometimes therapy goals can be met in the strangest ways…

The ‘observing self’ helps us understand the workings of our own minds.

Here are five cases from my own records in which trauma was found to be driving the current problem despite initially not being obvious.

Here are 5 ways to treat psychological blocks at the root of sexual dysfunction.

Here are three ways to cut through a client’s negative rumination and ask healing antidepressant questions.

Three tips to help you work effectively with clients who challenge your therapeutic objectivity.

The symptoms of depression and characteristics of a hypnotized subject share some similarities. This causes hypnosis to resonate strongly with depressed patients, and it can be an effective healing tool if used in the right way.

Here are four ways to free your clients from the influence of negative memories using the Affect Bridge

Why you sometimes want your client to think the worst and how it helped Peter become a better public speaker.

Hypnosis may not look like ‘hypnosis’. The ‘eyes wide and glassy’ look, lasting only a couple of seconds, may be just as receptive a state for new ideas to take root.

Subtle gentle ways to change your clients’ thinking style so they stop catastrophizing about the future

We talk of the ‘pain’ of break up and this word is more accurate than you might have realised. When we feel rejected from a relationship, the same parts of the brain that process physical pain become active.

You and I know that a healthy, loving, secure and mutually respectful relationship shelters us from life’s storms and gives us solace, stimulation and support. Healthy relationships are good for us.

Master these story therapy techniques and you’ll be able to work much more directly with your client’s unconscious mind.

Some clients can adopt a deep passivity about their lives, expecting and waiting for things to be done to and done for them.

This podcast is the narrated version of my article 3 Vital CBT Techniques for OCD. CBT can be useful for treating OCD but to be effective we must consider other dimensions of the condition as well. In this episode I talk about: OCD, the malevolent tyrant Some common obsessions and compulsions The effects of the toxic imagination OCD isn’t just a thought disorder CBT Technique for OCD 1: Find the underlying need CBT Technique for OCD 2: Focus on and trust observable reality CBT Technique for OCD 3: Externalize the OCD Or watch this episode of the podcast on video below: References/Notes: https://www.psychologytoday.com/files/attachments/51483/handling-the-hijack.pdf http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jclp.22173/abstract;jsessionid=DD80C46BEB56B889674323DF4DDE3DDE.f03t01

This podcast is the narrated version of my article A Quick Therapeutic Exercise That Boosts Emotional Resilience. It’s well known now that gratitude is a key part of an emotionally balanced life. We can help our clients integrate this into their lives but must be careful that we don’t end up making them feel guilty instead. In this episode I talk about: The worried well Whose life is it anyway? Gratitude and suffering A therapeutic exercise to help your client practise gratitude. Or watch this episode of the podcast on video below: References/Notes: See ‘Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life.’ Emmons, Robert A.; McCullough, Michael E. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 84(2), Feb 2003, 377-389

This podcast is the narrated version of my article 6 Soothing Steps for Treating Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Anxiety is perhaps the most prevalent of problems in our clients. It makes mountains out of molehills, and monsters out of moles. In this episode I talk about: How the modern world turned a survival response into a psychiatric disorder “My brain is constantly on high alert!” (But knowing it doesn’t help) Step 1: Find the pattern Step 2: Find the missing needs Step 3: Find the origins of the emotional conditioning Step 4: Find the exception times Step 5: Find ways to minimize worry Step 6: Relax your client deeply. Or watch this episode of the podcast on video below: References/Notes: The standard psychiatric definition (from the DSM IV manual) states that generalized anxiety disorder means “at least 6 months of ‘excessive anxiety and worry’ about a variety of events and situations. Generally, ‘excessive’ can be interpreted as more than would be expe

This podcast is the narrated version of my article How to Build Rapid Rapport with Even the Most Difficult Clients. Client-practitioner rapport is essential for effective therapeutic work, but how do we build rapport with ‘difficult’ clients? The utilization principle works with any client and appeals to an individual’s unique personality traits and interests to bring about change. In this episode I talk about: Why building rapport is much more than ‘mirroring, matching, and leading’ Marching into trance: The power of utilization More effective communication through utilization Why we need to stop the psych-jargon Building rapport from the inside out Utilizing the ‘gaping problem’. Or watch this episode of the podcast on video below:

This podcast is the narrated version of my article 3 Ways to Use Classical Conditioning in Therapy and Counselling. Well into adulthood, my mouth would water whenever I heard a key turning in a lock. You may be wondering what on earth happened to me! The answer is, nothing particularly odd. But it’s why I’m a chocaholic. Find out what happened to me in this episode. In this episode I talk about: Why we are all Pavlov’s dogs The problem with pattern matching 3 ways to use pattern matching for therapeutic benefit Never forget that pattern matching is going on all the time Or watch this episode of the podcast on video below: