ASMW Schedule

Workshop Description

In this workshop, David will cover the conceptual foundations of the Ideal Parent Figure imagery process which is rooted in hypnotherapeutic principles and embedded within the Three Pillars treatment model for attachment repair, aims to access the early, implicit, embodied, behavioral memory system as the foundation for creating new, positive, secure attachment representations. He will provide a description of its practical components for application in therapy and facilitate a live demonstration of its use.   

Learning Objectives

At the end of this workshop, the Medical Provider will be able to:

1. Describe two benefits of treating any existing attachment insecurity prior to trauma-focused treatment with patients.
2. Describe two hypnotherapeutic roots and the six practical steps of the Ideal Parent Figure imagery method.
3. Report on three aspects of the Ideal Parent Figure process that resolves limitations of traditional psychotherapy for attachment insecurity.

ASCH CE/CME:  3.0

Workshop Fee: $125 ASCH Members; $150 Non-Members

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Plenary Description

In this plenary presentation, Dr. Jensen will present the findings from three studies that evaluate ‎the role of brain oscillations as a predictive marker for response to hypnotic and non-hypnotic ‎treatments for chronic pain. The evidence from these studies suggests that slow wave ‎oscillations (alpha and, in particular, theta) may facilitate response to hypnotic pain treatment, ‎perhaps because of their role in the control of brain activity. The talk will end with a discussion of ‎the clinical and research implications of the findings.‎

At the end of this presentation, participants will:

1. ‎Understand the role of EEG-assessed brain oscillation power as a predictor of response to ‎hypnotic and non-hypnotic pain treatment.‎
2. Understand the implication of the findings to determine which treatments an individual may ‎benefit the most from (i.e., precision treatment) and for potentially enhancing response to ‎hypnosis treatment.‎

ASCH CE/CME: 1.0

Workshop Description

EMDR therapy and clinical hypnosis are compatible with psychotherapeutic modalities. The Adaptive Information Processing model which guides EMDR provides a framework for both hypnotic and EMDR-based interventions. This workshop illuminates how EMDR and hypnosis can synergistically contribute to enhanced clinical outcomes; particularly in the areas of resourcing and attachment repair. Participants will learn an approach to ego strengthening via the EMDR Group Resource Enhancement Protocol, with the addition of Hypnotic enhancement. This session will use video and case examples to highlight the compatibility between EMDR and hypnosis methods for promoting attachment repair. Prior EMDR training is not necessary for attendance.

ASCH CE/CME: 1.5

Workshop Description

Complex chronic pain conditions not only impact an individual's physical body but also interplay with mental health and overall well-being. The Whole Health approach to care is being implemented across the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system as a person-centered approach to support Veterans in addressing health-related goals for mind, body, and spirit. This presentation will briefly review several established approaches to utilizing hypnosis to support individuals with chronic pain while also introducing ways the Whole Health approach can serve as a framework to expand upon these models to enhance outcomes for those suffering from chronic pain.

ASCH CE/CME: 1.5

Workshop Description

This presentation focuses on the idea of multiple spiritual bits of intelligence and how they can speak in isolation using hypnosis. This was first discovered accidentally over a decade ago when the spiritual intelligence, Truth, was able to speak freely during a standard hypnosis intervention to improve sleep. Truth spoke in third-person language and provided expansive, ethereal information regarding both the individual in trance and the greater workings of metaphysical elements. Similar effects have been elicited countless times since then with stunning universal themes that emerge regardless of theological beliefs. The plurality of spiritual intelligences was discovered while conversing with many other intelligences such as Dreams, Fear, Light, Health, and Knowledge. These intelligences seem to operate independently of each other and of the individuals they occupy with their own emotional responses, decision-making, influence, and temperament.

Anecdotally, impressive change has occurred with therapy patients from only speaking to certain intelligences which self-identify as being a frequent source of psychopathology. This presentation will include selected audio recordings of the phenomenon (coming from a vast archive) and current theoretical explanations. The idea that some people may be prone to perceive their own intelligences may provide a helpful explanation for nonpsychotic verbal hallucinations (hearing voices) which is an area of human experience currently receiving scientific interest. It is hypothesized that hypnosis can be a powerful tool to help people open a two-way line of communication with their spiritual intelligences which may reduce the disturbance of hearing voices and/or provide profound insight.

ASCH CE/CME: 1.5

Workshop Description

Trauma, injury, Military culture, and the medical system—all can lead Veterans to overly focus on what is going wrong. With time, Veterans may adopt a "disabled" identity while the rest of their life shrinks and joy gradually disappears. The Whole Health model reverses this: moving from what is wrong with a person to helping them recapture a life based on what matters the most to them. We will identify how hypnosis works with the Whole Health model to release Veterans from this limiting identity. Uses of ego strengthening, age progression, age regression, and shifting perceptual positions with be shared.

ASCH CE/CME: 1.5

Workshop Description

Can traumatic memories really be changed so they no longer haunt a person emotionally? Neuroscience research suggests they can by harnessing the mechanism of memory reconsolidation, the brain's own process of updating an emotional memory with new meanings and associations. In this presentation, Courtney Armstrong will get you up to date on this exciting discovery, explain why clinical hypnosis is a natural tool for eliciting memory reconsolidation, then demonstrate a simple five-step protocol you can use that integrates clinical hypnosis with cognitive-behavioral techniques to safely resolve traumatic memories and foster client resilience.

ASCH CE/CME: 3.0

Workshop Description

Mindful Hypnotherapy is an evidence-based modality for integrating mindfulness and hypnosis into clinical and personal practice. Attendees of this experiential workshop will learn the core principles of mindfulness, the similarities and differences between meditation and hypnosis, understand the existing research supporting the effects of Mindful Hypnosis, and have opportunities for experiencing and practicing Mindful Hypnosis using scripts. Brief clinical vignettes and clinical anecdotes will be incorporated to ignite imagination and discussion. Practical strategies for integrating mindfulness-based inductions and suggestions into hypnosis and establishing a mindful self-hypnosis practice will be presented.

ASCH CE/CME: 3.0

Workshop Description

The first published investigation of the integration of hypnotic suggestions and neurofeedback for clinical populations occurred in the 1980s through the work of Penniston and Kulkosky. They combined alpha-theta deep-state neurofeedback with hypnotic success imagery with a residential VA population of alcohol abusers with co-morbid PTSD and depression. The outcome was a significantly improved reduction in symptoms and relapse rates. This workshop supports and further extends this integration using short hypnotic (waking state and deep state) inductions/suggestions for various presenting clinical diagnoses amenable to neurofeedback interventions as well.

ASCH CE/CME: 3.0

Workshop Description

Ericksonian therapy, defined as an experiential, phenomenologically based approach to problem-solving, utilizes existing client attributes while evoking natural processes of learning and adaptation. This workshop is designed to highlight the six core competencies of Ericksonian Therapy. These key concepts have been subjected to empirical testing and found to be pivotal to the identity of this unique form of therapy. This wealth of information will make it easier for participants to understand and utilize Ericksonian hypnosis and its integration into any therapy model or medical practice.

ASCH CE/CME: 3.0

Workshop Description

Ask a group of clinicians, even those with advanced training in hypnosis, "What is Hypnosis?" and you will get a variety of descriptions ranging from neurophysiological to socio-cognitive. In this presentation, the literature on influence, embodiment (embodied cognitions and emotions), mirror neurons, mimicry, and gestures will be used to support, among other things, the core competencies of Ericksonian therapy. (Tailoring, Utilization, Destabilize, Strategic, Experiential, and Naturalistic) Attendees will leave the program with a greater appreciation for "hypnotically informed psychotherapy."

ASCH CE/CME: 1.5

Workshop Description

Workshops and literature on hypnosis often portray it as being the 'featured' aspect of psychotherapy. But is it?  While this can be true for behavioral health referrals and short-term symptom-focused treatment, it is often more ambiguous and complex for depth-oriented relational psychotherapy. In this case consultation workshop, the presenter, an integrative relational psychologist, will attempt to answer an interesting question that he frequently receives: "how often do you actually use hypnosis in the psychotherapy you provide?". Together, we will review several case anecdotes in which hypnosis was utilized at opportune moments in moderate to long-term psychotherapy for specific purposes.

ASCH CE/CME: 1.5

Workshop Description

Hypnosis can play an important role in a relationally attuned therapeutic relationship towards facilitating attachment repair in patients with developmental arrests. The relational and psychological functions of attunement, representation, and mentalization are essential components of a secure attachment experience.  The presenter will review the literature and describe how hypnosis can be applied in working with each of these areas of attachment. In its utilization of shared attention, tone of voice, pacing, language, and imagery, clinical hypnosis as a state, relationship, and technique offers psychotherapists a way of introducing a healthy attachment experience and renewing appropriate developmental functioning in these patients.

ASCH CE/CME: 1.5

Workshop Description

The Hypnotic Induction Profile (HIP) is a short measure of hypnotizability (5-10 minutes) that was specially designed for use in clinical practice. The HIP has been used throughout the research and clinical work for decades and several updated applications were introduced over the years. In this workshop, we will learn how to administer and score the HIP, discuss adaptations and adjustments based on the clinical picture, and address potential limitations. 

ASCH CE/CME: 1.5

Workshop Description

Studies have demonstrated that 25% of adults with anxiety disorders have co-morbid Attention Deficit Disorder with or without hyperactivity. Furthermore, 30-40% of children who have a diagnosis of ADHD also present with an anxiety disorder. Symptoms that accompany anxiety disorders can also exacerbate concentration and impulse control problems related to ADHD. As a result, these clients often experience a heightened degree of shame and self-recrimination that come as a result of their combined avoidance, worry, procrastination, and disorganization. What's more, these clients often seek treatment for one disorder without an awareness that a second disorder is compounding their symptomology.

ASCH CE/CME: 1.5

Workshop Description

This workshop focuses on integrating hypnosis with mindfulness from the context of a scientific understanding of the neurophysiology of consciousness. The first third of the program will describe how the human mind creates a projected model of reality and, along with it, an illusion of self. The illusion of self is responsible for a great deal of suffering along with expectations for a “future” that is also an illusion. The use of mindfulness and meditation as methods to change neuroplasticity in the brain and create access to the present moment will be addressed. Finally, hypnotic suggestions to integrate the domain of self and the present moment will be presented and demonstrated.

ASCH CE/CME: 1.5

Workshop Description

Practitioners in dentistry, procedural settings, and Integrated primary care positions struggle with hypnosis due to time limitations—they do not have the luxury of 15-30 minute inductions. This practical hands-on workshop will equip practitioners with brief inductions designed to trigger the deeper hypnotic states needed for procedural intervention, Hypno-analgesia, and Hypno-anesthesia. We first disassemble and reassemble the Elman induction into a brief (5-10 minutes), powerful induction. Following Clark Hull's maxim—"anything that assumes trance, causes trance"—participants then practice a mix of verbal and kinesthetic rapid inductions (5 minutes or less) which utilize deep hypnotic phenomena to trigger trance states.

ASCH CE/CME: 1.5

Workshop Description

Moral injury (MI) is the distressing psychological, behavioral, social, and sometimes spiritual aftermath of exposure to events that contradict deeply held moral beliefs and expectations—often based on shame rather than fear, as in PTSD. Although originally described in combat veterans, MI experience is also increasingly reported by health care providers, emergency responders, and everyday citizens facing adversity. This 180-minute presentation will offer specific techniques from clinical hypnosis to enhance treatment processes -- helping those struggling with MI to strengthen their sense of self, reconnect with supportive communities, suffer less from symptoms, resolve their internal conflicts and heal their mortal wounds.

ASCH CE/CME: 1.5