This two-day workshop is appropriate for training and practising counsellors, psychotherapists, counselling psychologists and other mental health professionals.
DAY ONE
What does it mean to connect to others in an in-depth way? What are the effects of relating deeply to clients in therapy, and how can such a such an encounter be facilitated?
This workshop gives participants the opportunity to explore experiences of relational depth, and how it feels to meet others at this level of intensity and intimacy: both in therapeutic practice and everyday life. Through discussion, practical exercises and theory input, this workshop will help participants develop a more profound understanding of deep encounters, and how these may enrich their therapeutic work.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Understand the nature of relational depth
- Articulate their own experiences of in-depth relating
- Understand the latest research findings on the nature, impact and prevalence of relational depth in therapy
- Recognise means of deepening levels of relating with clients
- Recognise their own chronic strategies of disconnection and other barriers to relational depth
SCHEDULE
- Session 1: Experiencing relational depth, in and out of therapy
- Session 2: The importance of relatedness to psychological wellbeing
- Session 3: Deepening our levels of relating with clients
- Session 4: Chronic strategies of disconnection
DAY TWO
Existential therapy is a diverse, vibrant, and wonderfully rich tapestry of understandings and methods that have the potential to make a valuable contribution to the work of any counsellor, psychotherapist or psychologist. It is one of the oldest forms of therapy, yet still one of the most innovative and radical.
Existential therapy is orientated around the development of a deep relational bond with the client, which allows the client to explore the most fundamental aspects of their existence. This includes questions like: ‘What is the meaning of my life?’ ‘What choices can I make?’ and ‘How do I face the limits of my circumstances?’
This workshop introduces participants to the basic principles of existential philosophy and therapy and looks at how practitioners of all orientations can integrate these ideas and practices into their own work.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Understand the core principles of existential philosophy
- Understand the principal aims and forms of existential counselling and psychotherapy
- Apply existential understanding of freedom and choice to their therapeutic practice
- Apply existential understanding of limitations to their therapeutic practice
- Apply existential understandings of meaning and purpose to their therapeutic practice
SCHEDULE
- Session 1: Introduction to existential philosophy and therapy
- Session 2: Working with freedom and choice
- Session 3: Facing the limitations of existence
- Session 4: Helping clients find meaning and purpose in life
WORKSHOP
FORMAT
The workshop combines self-development exercises, theoretical input, practical exercises, and small and large group discussion.
The workshop is appropriate for training and practising counsellors, psychotherapists, counselling psychologists and other mental health professionals.
DETAILS
Saturday 2 + Sunday 4 June 2019, 9:30am start, 4:30pm finish. Lifetime Therapy, 77 Lemon Street, Truro, Cornwall TR1 2PN (first floor, no lift)
Vegan lunch box option available and tea and coffee available throughout the day. Concessions are for students and unemployed people only.
BOOK A SPACE
MICK COOPER
Mick Cooper is co-author of Working at Relational Depth in Counselling and Psychotherapy (first published in 2005 with Dave Mearns), and recently returned to Brighton after 11 years living in Glasgow. He is an internationally recognised author, trainer and consultant in the field of person-centred and humanistic therapies. Mick is a counsellor, psychotherapist and Chartered Psychologist; and Professor of Counselling Psychology at the University of Roehampton. Mick has facilitated workshops and lectures around the world, including Australia, Lithuania and Florida. Mick's books include Existential Therapies (Sage, 2017), The Handbook of Person-Centred Psychotherapy and Counselling (Palgrave, 2013, 2nd ed.), and Essential Research Findings in Counselling and Psychotherapy (Sage, 2008). Mick's principal areas of research have been in shared decision-making/personalising therapy, and person-centred counselling in schools. In 2014, Mick received the Carmi Harari Mid-Career Award from Division 32 (Humanistic Psychology) of the American Psychological Association. He is a Fellow of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and the Academy of Social Sciences.
Website
Relational Depth
Existential Therapy
RESOURCES
Cooper, M (2005) Working at relational depth, Therapy Today, 16(8), 16-20. (Brief article overviewing relational depth theory and practice)
RESOURCES
A range of downloadable resources on existential therapy, from the book Existential Psychotherapy and Counselling, can be found by clicking here. This includes articles on existential therapy, group training exercises, and therapeutic tools
PUBLICATIONS
Cooper, M., & Knox, R. (2017). Therapists’ self-reported chronic strategies of disconnection in everyday life and in counselling and psychotherapy: an exploratory study. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 1-16. doi: 10.1080/03069885.2017.1343457
Cooper, M. (2012). Clients' and therapists' perceptions of intrasessional connection: An analogue study of change over time, predictor variables, and level of consensus. Psychotherapy Research, 22(3), 274-287.
Cooper, M., Chak, A., Cornish, F., & Gillespie, A. (2012). Dialogue: Bridging personal, community and social transformation. Journal of Humanistic Psychology.
Cooper, M., & Ikemi, A. (2012). Dialogue: A dialogue between focusing and relational perspectives. Person-Centered & Experiential Psychotherapies, 11(2), 124-136.
Knox, R., & Cooper, M. (2011). A state of readiness: An exploration of the client’s role in meeting at relational depth. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 51(1), 61-81.
Knox, R. and Cooper, M. (2010). Relationship qualities that are associated with moments of relational depth: The client’s perspective. Person-Centered and Experiential Psychotherapies 9(3): 236-256.
Cooper, M. (2009). Interpersonal perceptions and metaperceptions: Psychotherapeutic practice in the inter-experiential realm. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 49(1), 85-99.
Cooper, M. (2005). Therapists' experiences of relational depth: A qualitative interview study. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 5(2), 87-95.
PUBLICATIONS
Correia, E., Cooper, M., & Berdondini, L. (2016). Existential therapy institutions worldwide: An update of data and the extensive list. Existential Analysis, 27(1), 155-200.
Correia, E., Cooper, M., & Berdondini, L. (2016). Worldwide list of existential psychotherapy institutions. Dasein, 5(Special issue), 83-131.
Correia, E. A., Sartóris, V., Fernandes, T., Cooper, M., Berdondini, L., Sousa, D., Pires, B., da Fonseca, J. (2016). The practices of existential psychotherapists: development and application of an observational grid. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 1-16. doi: 10.1080/03069885.2016.1254723
Vos, J., Cooper, M., Correia, E., & Craig, M. (2015). Existential therapies: A review of their scientific foundations and efficacy. Existential Analysis, 16(1), 49-69.
Vos, J., Cooper, M., Correia, E., & Craig, M. (2015). Existential therapies: A discussion and review of research methodologies and the evidence base to date. International Journal of Psychotherapy, 19(1), 47-57.
Willig, C., Berguno, G., Cooper, M., Milton, M., du Plock, S., & Spinelli, E. (2015). The challenge to theory in existential psychotherapy. Existential Analysis, 26(2), 225-236.
Correia, E., Cooper, M., & Berdondini, L. (2014). Existential Psychotherapy: An international Survey of the Key Authors and Texts Influencing Practice. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy. doi: 10.1007/s10879-014-9275.
Correia, E., Correia, K., Cooper, M., & Berdondini, L. (2014). Psicoterapia existencial latinoamericana en la actualidad. Revista Latinoamericana de Psicología Existencial, 9, 26-37.