Background: Understanding the central features of an effective therapeutic relationship as they interact with the client’s emotional world is critical. A treatment model useful for organizing the therapeutic alliance and for empowering clients to manage their emotional experiences will be presented. Clinical case examples and participant experiences will be employed.
Introduction and Experiential exercise
Down the Rabbit Hole:
- The effective relationship in process
- The Alliance: Bonds, Tasks, Goals and Covenant – characteristics, impacts
- The keys to success – relationship, alliance, skills and techniques
- The impact of emotions on the alliance
- Envy, hatred, fear, despair, grief
- Therapeutic ruptures and negative impacts
- Arousal and its management
- Eating disorders – the role, function and management of the emotions in recovery
- Self-Regulation – the Structural Process Model
- Empowerment in practice
- Practice Points and Case Presentations
- Discussion and additional clinical material
The emotional world of the eating disordered client who presents with self-injury and/or symptoms related to trauma poses specific relational challenges to professionals. These challenges typically present themselves through the therapeutic relationship while the therapist is trying to help the client address his or her emotional concerns. For many clinicians, these client symptom constellations, and emotional presentations, lead to feeling as if one were "down the rabbit hole;" trying to keep track of all the ongoing elements. This is especially true for those clients who struggle with the more complex self-destructive behaviors that are employed to manage various emotional states and experiences This workshop presents a model of treatment based on self-regulation that provides a guide for developing and organizing an effective therapeutic relationship that has been found to be effective in facilitating the development of effective client emotional self-management. Based on both research and clinical experience, and through utilizing specific aspects of the alliance, clinicians will be able to assist the client to understand and manage difficult emotional experiences and behaviors. Specific Practice Points will be presented throughout the workshop to assist clinicians in designing and modifying their treatment.
Dr. Levitt has more than 35 years of experience working with eating disorders, self-injury, trauma, and complex patients. He has been an active participant in the field of eating disorders as a clinician, program developer, supervisor/trainer, and presenter. He has taught widely, co-authored one book, co-edited three other books, and has numerous publications. Dr. Levitt has presented nationally and internationally on the topics of eating disorders, trauma, self-injury, complex symptomatology, assessment and intervention.
