Format: Audio MP3 file download $25 - Compact Disc $30

Presenter: Robert Staffin, PsyD, ABPH

Utilization is more than a technique. It is an attitude of faith and an interactive awareness that exponentially increases a state of readiness and receptivity. This workshop will highlight the importance of noticing sensations, associations and experiences so we can use the gifts that clients give us. This workshop will emphasize the relevance of utilization and its role in empowering the therapeutic encounter. Clinical vignettes will be used to demonstrate ways in which utilization fosters rapport, promotes attunement and maximizes the impact of the therapeutic encounter. Strategies and techniques for how to cultivate ones talents in weaving utilization into one?s clinical practice will be taught didactically and supported by video clips.

Being mindful of and developing skills in utilization can broaden the range of intervention points such as intra and interpersonal behavior or use of the environment. Through the use of didactic presentation and video clips, this workshop will provide participants with examples of ways to harness and employ aspects of the therapeutic encounter to make that encounter more impactful. Beyond a conceptual framework, specific skills that clinicians can incorporate into their therapeutic work immediately, will be demonstrated, highlighted and discussed. In addition to clinical examples of utilization, attention will be paid to subtleties such as attunement, rapport and use of self, which have broad implications for working strategically in the therapeutic matrix.