Friday, March 11, 2005

8:30 am - 4:00 pm

6 Credits

"The Spiritual Dimension in Psychotherapy"

The Workshop: In the time of Freud, religion was viewed as a source of dysfunctional shame and guilt. Today, the spiritual dimension is increasingly respected as a vital resource in the process of healing. Meditation, ritual, prayer, stories, and other religious teachings and practices, both ancient and contemporary, from Western and Eastern traditions, help us face and overcome difficult problems - chronic and catastrophic illness, healing the wounds of trauma, coping with the anxieties and stresses of economic uncertainty, fear of invisible enemies, and concerns about injustice and inequality.

At the same time, it is important to be mindful: religious teachings and practices can be profound but can also be simplistic or destructive, and each of us has a unique experience of formal religion and personal spiritual connectedness. What is healing for one person may be wounding for another. As clinicians, we need to be able to assess when and how to integrate the spiritual dimension in the therapeutic encounter so that it is not used inappropriately or simplistically but truly furthers the process of healing.

Learning Objectives --  Participants will be able to:

• Understand the six stages in the therapeutic process.
   
• Understand the six dimensions of therapeutic focus including behavioral, cognitive, affective, inter-personal, psycho-physical, and spiritual essence.
   
• Understand how spiritual resources can be utilized at each stage in the therapeutic process with each of the six dimensions of therapeutic focus.
   
• Heighten awareness of the clinician’s personal spiritual history, of positive and negative aspects of that history and how it impacts work with clients.
   
• Elicit a client’s spiritual history, clarifying positive and negative aspects and understanding how the history impacts upon current functioning.
   
• Help a client identify specific ways to incorporate a spiritual dimension in therapy at a particular moment based on the client's individual history, the stage of the therapy, and the focus of therapeutic intervention.
   
• Gain understanding of the dynamic balance of forgiveness and accountability in Jewish, Christian, and Buddhist traditions.

Joel Ziff, Ed.D., a licensed psychologist in private practice in Newton, MA, works with individuals, families, and groups, and also teaches at Lesley University, Cambridge College, and Hebrew College. He is author of Mirrors in Time: A Psycho-Spiritual Journey through the Jewish Year . He offers training and consultation to organizations on issues related to collaboration, conflict-resolution, and stress management.

Location: Community College of Rhode Island, 400 East Avenue, Warwick, RI
Room to be announced

Cost: $99.00 for RIPA Members, $110.00 for non-members (Click here to Join RIPA)

Parking and Lunch: the fee includes refreshment breaks and parking. Lunch is on your own. There is a cafeteria on the premises.

Special Discount: A discount of $10 is provided for an individual who registers for this workshop and the Memory Loss Workshop (January 28, 2005) at the same time.

Registration Form: to view/print a flyer in PDF format* with full details about this program and a registration form, click here

* You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to download PDF files; if you don't already have Acrobat Reader, you can get it FREE from the Adobe website at www.adobe.com, or you can access the CE registration form as a printer-friendly web page by clicking here.

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