Course Overview
When therapy clients close their eyes, they can see more. That is, they can gain rapid access to their subconscious concerns in the problems that trouble them. Closed eyes also can give them access to the deeper, often childhood, roots of their current emotional and behavioral reactions.
This workshop, which will include interactive role-playing to practice the treatment methods, will teach visualization techniques for treatment of:
a. Counter-productively strong negative emotional reactions that arise either within a treatment session or in daily life
b. Depression
c. Anxiety
d. Anger
e. Counter-productive behaviors, including addictions
f. Couples' negative cyclic interactions
Dr. Heitler delineates her Bump Theory of negative emotional responses—the theoretical basis for the techniques she will teach in this workshop— and also details the steps for doing each visualization in her books From Conflict to Resolution and Prescriptions Without Pills. Her prescriptionswithoutpills.com website offers short video illustrations of the treatment methods.
By completing this workshop, participants will be able:
1. To explain to clients why they are experiencing negative emotions and why visualization treatment methods work by showing them the Heitler Hand Map which illustrates Bump Theory.
2. To utilize visualization interventions for treatment of depression (the 3 P’s), of anxiety (the Concerns Dump), and of anger (Best Possible Light).
3. To quickly pinpoint the earlier-in-life experiences that are yielding current dysfunctional emotions and behaviors via the visualization technique called That Was Then; This Is Now.
Susan Heitler
Dr. Susan Heitler and her husband Bruce, arriving just before the coronavirus pandemic, moved to Israel in early March of 2020. Prior to their move, Dr. Heitler worked in Denver Colorado for 45 years as a private practice clinical psychologist. During those years, she published
· five books: two on psychotherapy theory and technique, one for families on how to stop thumb-sucking, and the Power of Two book and workbook for the general public on skills for marriage success.
· over 300 psychologytoday blogposts, which all together have received over 22 million reads.
· a TEDx talk on lifting depression that has garnered over 800,000 views.
· a master-therapist video The Angry Couple that has been used internationally in couples therapy training programs for over twenty years
· a podcast on techniques for couples therapy, now available for free, Working With Couples in Conflict
