Janina Fisher – Making Virtual Psychotherapy a Relational Experience

Janina Fisher – Making Virtual Psychotherapy a Relational ExperienceDescriptionIn a climate of fear and isolation that equally affects us all, therapists are now being asked to help clients deal with the practical challenges of self-isolation in a time of danger and heightened anxiety—and doing so in isolation. Worse yet, telehealth requires the sudden acquisition of new technical skills and facing any phobias we and the clients have about the use of technology.Without the contact we and they value as the heart and soul of psychotherapy, virtual psychotherapy can feel distant and impersonal just when clients have an increased need for connection. But it does not have to be!This recording addresses how to overcome the limitations of telehealth technology to make remote psychotherapy a warm and relational experience.Practical tips for making virtual psychotherapy feel personal and connectedResources for helping clients tolerate fear and lonelinessInteractive neurobiological regulation: using our nervous systems to regulate the client’s nervous systemHandoutsManual – Making Virtual Psychotherapy a Relational Experience (3.3 MB) 41 Pages Available after PurchaseOutlineChallenges to helping clients in a time of pandemicFear of what will happenIsolation or forced proximityMoving from face-to-face to virtual psychotherapyAddressing technical challenges and technophobiaTransparencyCollaboration: “we are in this together”Celebrating growth and masteryFear and the body“Inside threat” versus “outside threat”The impact of danger on the brain and bodySomatic interventions for supporting immune system functionMindfulness-based interventions for calming the bodyIncreasing relational contact in virtual spaceMaking use of the social engagement systemIncreasing feelings of “being fully present”Capitalizing on somatic techniques for increasing relationalityFacultyJanina Fisher, Ph.D.Janina Fisher, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist and former instructor at The Trauma Center, a research and treatment center founded by Bessel van der Kolk. Known as an expert on the treatment of trauma, Dr. Fisher has also been treating individuals, couples and families since 1980.She is past president of the New England Society for the Treatment of Trauma and Dissociation, an EMDR International Association Credit Provider, Assistant Educational Director of the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute, and a former Instructor, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Fisher lectures and teaches nationally and internationally on topics related to the integration of the neurobiological research and newer trauma treatment paradigms into traditional therapeutic modalities.She is co-author with Pat Ogden of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: Interventions for Attachment and Trauma (2015) and author of Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors: Overcoming Internal Self-Alienation (2017) and the forthcoming book, Working with the Neurobiological Legacy of Trauma (in press).Speaker Disclosures:Financial: Janina Fisher is in private practice. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc.Non-financial: Janina Fisher has no relevant non-financial relationship to disclose.