SUNDAY PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS

PLENARY

Sunday, 9:00—11:00

University of Memphis

HOW FAR MAY ONE GO/NOT GO AND STILL BE A CONSTRUCTIVIST?

This program, via brief position statements by panel members and active panel-audience dialogue, will address current CPN member perspectives regarding potential theoretical and technical/methodological parameters or boundaries of constructivism, particularly in regard to counseling and psychotherapy.

POST-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP

Sunday, 1:30—4:45

Bruce Ecker

John F. Kennedy University

COHERENCE RECOGNITION TRAINING INTENSIVE

“Symptom coherence” means that your client produces her/his symptom entirely because of unconscious personal constructs that require its existence. If you want to utilize symptom coherence for zeroing in on your clients’ underlying, symptom-necessitating constructs deeply and promptly, you’ll need to hone certain kinds of thinking and listening. This highly interactive workshop will develop your skills of recognizing the ephemeral appearance of symptom coherence during the therapy hour—the momentary surfacing of key material that is easy to pass right by if your thinking and listening isn’t tuned to coherence. Staying coherence-focused during a session is like watching for a mouse. Suddenly, the tip of the tail of the mouse (or elephant) is there in the mouse hole, and then gone. Did you spot it? Can you grab it? Can you get it back? We will go on a coherence-spotting spree by watching one session video after another and catching out coherence as it shows up, for a wide variety of client presentation styles and presenting symptoms. Each time we spot the coherence—some tell-tale tip-off of how the symptom is necessary—we’ll then consider how to respond to the coherent element so as to reel in more and more of what that tail-tip is attached to: the emotional truth of the symptom, the woolly mammoth who remembers everything and knows what it means right now for safety, well-being or justice. A constructivist adventure!