Resource Therapy Seminar with Gordon Emmerson
29. / 30. August 2025
Day 1: Helping with Grief and Loss with Resource Therapy
Day 2: Resource Therapy for Clients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Referent: Prof. Gordon Emmerson
Dieses Seminar mit Gordon Emmerson ist für alle interessierten Teilnehmenden früherer Workshops in Ressourcen Therapie bis und mit Tag 2 der Ausbildung in Resource Therapy offen und empfohlen. Auch Kursinteressierte mit Erfahrung und Kenntnissen in Ego-State-Therapie sind an diesem Seminar herzlich willkommen.
Beide Kurstage werden konsequtiv übersetzt (deutsch-englisch / englisch-deutsch).
Helping with Grief and Loss with Resource Therapy
This Resource Therapy workshop focuses on understanding and facilitating the grief process, a common concern in therapeutic settings. It highlights three main components of grieving:
- Client Understanding: Too often clients hold unrealistic expectations about grief. It is important to know how to educate clients about the nature of grief, helping them identify and articulate their feelings, and clarifying that grief is a normal part of coping with significant loss. This education aims to normalize the experience and provide a framework for clients to understand their emotions. While many varied experiences are normal in proceeding with grief, there are often pathological reactions to grief that can slow a healthy process.
- Healthy vs. Complicated Grieving:
- Healthy Grieving involves the natural process of mourning, adapting to the new reality, and eventually finding a way to move forward. It includes experiencing a wide range of emotions and experiences, from sadness to anger, and involves better understanding and living with the loss over time.
- Complicated Grieving refers to a prolonged or intense form of grief that disrupts daily life, where the individual might struggle to evolve in the grieving process, leading to what could be considered an unhealthy grieving. The workshop focuses on identifying this form of grief and applying therapeutic techniques to address it.
- Support and Techniques: The workshop aims to provide guidance on assisting clients in navigating complicated grief. It emphasizes working through emotions that are often intensified during grief, such as confusion or disappointment. These states are pivotal, as they can complicate the grieving process if not adequately addressed.
Additionally, the concept of loss extends beyond the death of a loved one to include a variety of life changes, such as the end of a relationship, job loss, declining health, or the inevitable passage of time. The workshop's educational component targets these diverse experiences, ensuring a holistic understanding of grief and its manifestations.
By focusing on appropriate education and on "states Vaded with Confusion and states Vaded with Disappointment," the workshop addresses the disorientation and unmet expectations that often accompany grief, providing practical strategies for clinicians to help their clients find clarity and closure.
Resource Therapy for Clients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
This workshop focuses on treating Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) using
Resource Therapy. OCD is known for its persistent and challenging nature, but Resource Therapy offers strategies that target the root of the behavior. Here's an outline of the workshop's key components:
1. Understanding the Nature of OCD and Resource Therapy
- OCD is characterized by unwanted, intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors (compulsions) that a person feels driven to perform. These behaviors are often rigid and resistant to change.
- Resource Therapy is a therapeutic model that focuses on identifying and working with different "states" or parts of the psyche, particularly the "Vaded States." These states are distressed and drive many problematic behaviors, including OCD.
2. Identifying the Vaded State Fueling OCD
- A crucial aspect of the workshop is learning how to identify the specific Vaded State—the internal state that generates the obsessive-compulsive behavior. The Vaded State represents the part of the self that is stuck in distress or imbalance, leading to compulsive thoughts and actions.
- This identification process requires a clear and detailed understanding of how these states manifest in clients with OCD, allowing therapists to target the exact source of the compulsion.
3. Holding the Vaded State in Conscious Awareness
- Once the Vaded State is identified, the next step is to bring it into conscious awareness. This involves guiding clients to acknowledge and maintain focus on the Vaded State without resorting to avoidance or distraction.
- By doing so, the therapist can create an environment where the Vaded State can be addressed and resolved. This process is delicate, as it requires a care to maintain the distressed state in the conscious so it can gain relief.
4. Working with the State Responsible for the Unwanted Behavior
- Resource Therapy emphasizes the importance of working not only with the distressed Vaded state but also with the state that has been executing the compulsive behavior, the Retro-Avoiding State. This state often acts to protect or alleviate deeper anxieties, even if the behavior is maladaptive.
- The workshop will explore techniques for interacting with this state, understanding its motivations, and transforming it from one that perpetuates OCD to a state that supports healthier responses.
5. Detailed Exploration of Techniques and Nuances
- The workshop provides a step-by-step breakdown of therapeutic interventions, focusing on the specific techniques that effectively interrupt the cycle of obsessive thoughts and compulsive actions.
- These techniques will be examined thoroughly to understand the nuances required for successful therapy. This may include timing, language, and specific interventions that engage the Vaded and behavioral states effectively.
6. Key Elements for Facilitating Change
- The workshop will stress the importance of understanding what makes the therapeutic process effective. This involves recognizing the unique elements in each case of OCD and adjusting interventions to the individual’s experience of their Vaded State.
- Participants will learn how to discern subtle cues that indicate progress or resistance and how to respond accordingly.
Overall, the workshop emphasizes a detailed and nuanced approach to treating OCD. By targeting the internal states that drive compulsive behavior, Resource Therapy provides a framework for lasting change, empowering therapists with specific tools to effect change with OCD treatment.
Therapists employing RT can create a safe and supportive environment for clients to explore and work with unwanted voices and feelings of being blocked, fostering personal growth and emotional well-being.