Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Reminder: IRRT Level I Training in Chicago May 17-19!



This May 17 through 19th, join Dr. Connelly and fellow practitioners at the Level I Clinical Hypnosis with Rapid Trauma Resolution training in beautiful Chicago! 

Practitioners will earn 25 continuing education contact hours throughout the three-day intensive weekend training.


During Level I training, you will learn to:
  • Resolve multiple traumas in a single psychotherapy session
  • Discover and resolve subconscious causes for emotional and behavioral difficulties
  • Create positive and transformational change through multi-level communication
  • Pinpoint and resolve issues contributing to medical problems
  • Promote mind/body healing
  • Expose and eliminate unconscious conflicts blocking desired change
  • Pinpoint the exact events to clear so that desired change is automatic
  • Eliminate the effect of traumatic events even if they are repressed or forgotten
  • Stop self-destructive behavioral patterns
  • Transform your client's cognitive, emotional, and behavioral patterns.
Tuition Cost: $695

Registration: You may register online by clicking here or contact Lynne at 1-800-587-2623 or rtrblue@gmail.com.

 

Friday, March 22, 2013

Share RRT with Fellow Clinicians - One Hour Training Preview Video!

Dr. Jon Connelly and our Certified Practitioners have put together this wonderful one-hour Clinical Hypnosis with Rapid Trauma Resolution training preview video. It's a great way to share the essence of RRT with your fellow colleagues or upcoming students. Click here to watch!


Monday, March 18, 2013

Last Day To Register! IRRT Level III Training at The Award-Winning Glen Ivy Center and Spa - Los Angeles April 2013


***Last Day To Register For The Level III Training***

Join fellow mental health practitioners, Certified and Master Certified Rapid Resolution Therapy Practitioners, and Dr. Jon Connelly at the Level III Clinical Hypnosis with Rapid Trauma Resolution training in Los Angeles, CA, April 5 - 7, at the famous Glen Ivy Center. Clinical Hypnosis with Rapid Trauma Resolution is an integrative approach developed by Dr. Jon Connelly that completely resolves the psychological and physiological effects of trauma.
 Glen Ivy Spa
Practitioners will earn 25 continuing education contact hours throughout the three-day intensive weekend training. The Level III training is offered at the serene Glen Ivy Center, which includes the award-winning Hot Springs Spa. The spa is available at half-priced admission with your reservation at The Glen Ivy Center!
 
During the retreat, participants have multiple opportunities for one-on-one coaching with Dr. Connelly and his Master Certified Practitioners. The skills and concDr. Jon Connellyepts learned at the Level I and II trainings are honed within small skill-building groups with other clinicians. 
 
Join us April 5 - 7 in Los Angeles, CA, for Level III training. For more information on the trainings, visit rapidresolutiontherapy.com. To make your reservation, please contact Lynne Frost at rtrblue@gmail.com or call 800-587-2623.



Glen Ivy Hot Springs Spa
Glen Ivy Hot Springs
SpaFinder's "Favorite Day Spa" and Reader's Choice for "Favorite Mineral Springs Spa! "
 
The Glen Ivy Hot Springs Spa offers a wide variety of services including massages, facials, body treatments, pool access, sauna, mud baths and their famous Grotto!
 
Training attendees receive 50% off spa admission upon reservation at The Glen Ivy Center. Click here for more information on the spa and services!
 
 
The Glen Ivy Center
 
The Glen Ivy Center is a place for spiritual renewal that calls to the inner greatness and personal mastery of each person.
Glen Ivy Center 
Lodging (Includes all meals):
Double Occupancy: $310
Single Occupancy: $380
Commuter Cost: $200
Tuition:
Certified Practitioners receive full-tuition waiver with active membership. Regular cost is $695.
Please contact Lynne Frost to make your reservation today at rtrblue@gmail.com or call 1-800-587-2623.
 
The Glen Ivy Center and Spa is located at 25005 Glen Ivy Rd, Corona, CA, 92883.

 
*All reservations must be made and paid for by March 18. For a full refund cancellations must be received by March 23, 2013.

Friday, March 15, 2013

IRRT Research Update! Final Opportunity to Volunteer!


IRRT Research Update

This month is the final opportunity for certified RRT practitioners to volunteer for our evidenced based research project. If you anticipate seeing at least one trauma client this month, please call me to obtain the pre and post treatment paperwork so we can boast our total study numbers. Without additional volunteers, our study will not meet our end goals. 

Warmest!
Sharon

Dr. Sharon Richie-Melvan, MSN., Certified Rapid Resolution Therapist, Colonel, US Army Retired. Dr. Sharon also co-authored the book, "Angel Walk: Nurses at War in Iraq and Afghanistan," with Dr. Diane Vines, Ph.D, Certified Rapid Resolution Therapist. Within the book, Dr. Sharon recommends Rapid Resolution Therapy as a PTSD treatment approach.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

How To Learn Rapid Resolution Therapy!



By Mark Chidley, LMHC, CAP
Certified Practitioner, Rapid Resolution Therapy     

A few years back I was struggling to jump free of the printed musical page and start creating improvisations of my own. I love the way the saxophone sounds, and I love some of the beautiful take-offs the jazz greats could do on time-honored melodies. It was nothing less than the ability to compose music in the moment, while keeping within the overall choral framework of the tune. It was what Billie Holiday could do with her voice and what Stan Getz and John Coltrane did with their horns.

But I just didn't trust myself. I got concerned about the ratio of sounding lousy about 98 percent of the time and only sounding passably "correct" the other 2 percent. Even when I heard something pleasant in my head, I noticed my thoughts fearfully returning to fundamentals right in the middle of a passage--the equivalent of asking myself out loud if I was doing it right or not. Needless to say, this is not conducive to improvisation. It's the condition in RRT we call "headlights turned in," and it's the opposite of the creative freedom that comes of being tuned in to what's going on.

I think the same thing happens after many of us come through Level I, Level II, and even Level III trainings. We go back to the confines of our office and start to stumble around and doubt ourselves. We fall into shame about not being able to always hit the right note and begin comparing ourselves to the towering prowess of a master clinician, like Connelly or some illusory template. We forget that what we saw in trainings was the distillation of hundreds if not thousands of hours of searching and stumbling; that he is constantly trying out new stuff, throwing this away, but keeping that, refining it even further. Improvisation for Jon is the normal process and is exactly how RRT came into existence.

I've noticed on the teleconference calls so many of us are asking questions about why Jon chose to clear a client with one combination of interventions and not another. Why did he put the induction at the end or not use one at all? Why did he pass over an initial issue the client voiced and go with a different, more central one? How does he know to do what he does? Why can't we have a simple template that will fitour clients in every situation?
The answer lies in what Jon has put right at the heart of the whole method--a certain confidence in the connection and the centrality of continually reading the participant. He is constantly reading a persons responsiveness, looking at the effects he is having, while keeping his intention for the participant clearly in mind. An avenue that worked nicely with the last one starts to not work with this one, so he switches up to a different tool. I once heard him say in response to a slight miss in a live demonstration, "That's all right, there are a lot of keys on the keyring." While working within the rubrics of keeping the intention at all times, he is not afraid to experiment with what comes to mind.

We need to trust the vast storehouse of our own unconscious which is packaged in stories and metaphors. Though not an example from RRT I experienced this in action just the other day. I was with a shamed husband, shamed because of not being able to keep his wife happy at all times. He got triggered by her tears and so distressed was he that he suddenly bolted out of his chair, ready to quit the session.

I was at a loss for what to say as he was already half-way out of the room. But all of a sudden a memory from my wrestling days flashed back. It was 1972 and I was team captain, enjoying some celebrity in my high school. One day the athletic director and coaches brought in a blind kid who was interested in the sport. It was some sort of interface with the parks and rec program, and they wanted him to experience a team practice and a live bout so they paired him with me for one two-minute period. I remember his name was Jimmy, and he wanted so badly to do well. But when he went to perform the basic moves he had learned in the parks and rec program, I was able to block him easily.
Frustrated, he burst out in tears. With a lot of people looking on, I was sure I'd blown it. His display became a statement about me and connoted my failure to successfully introduce him to the sport. I was sure everyone was looking at me as some kind of jerk. Embarrassed, I rushed out of the practice room and stormed into the locker room, kicking stuff around for a half-hour in a shame attack. It was not my finest hour. Back in the session, I told the husband this story quickly, ending with, "I think I understand something about what you just went through a moment ago as you saw your wife's tears." He sat back down nodding his agreement.

I'd say that was the turning point of the session. It felt like a tremendous risk, but by going with it, I connected with him. And by not talking about, but showing vulnerability, I helped him get to back into connection with her. Needless to say, I didn't have time to consult any manuals or call a supervisor or review teaching tapes to weigh the wisdom of such a disclosure. And notice this: I had not thought of that incident in more than 40 years. But precisely at the right moment, my mind showed it to me, and how to use it.

I think the way to learn RRT is a lot like learning jazz. We have to practice our basic scales by listening to tapes and watching video of various sequences to learn the scaffolding of the method. There are many new principles in RRT that overturn what we learned in graduate school, and it takes awhile to assimilate this. But with enough listening and watching, a storehouse builds up from which we can draw. There is no boilerplate formula or a map that will guide every case. Instead there is a songbook of basic tunes with many possible touches and flourishes that we can make our own and add to as the situation calls for it.
We return to our offices and face real people in the midst of real pain, ready to have an interaction that has never appeared in history before. It is time to go live with whatever we've got, and trust that the words will be there. It's time to trust the intention we have for the client who is leaning into being understood in his or her uniqueness and following us all the way to target. It is time to take out our instrument and play the music of RRT. And when, inevitably, we face choices about where to go next, to simply trust whatever comes to mind.

Mark A. Chidley, LMHC, CAP, a fully licensed mental health counselor and certified addictions professional, offers counseling services at his office Kelly San Carlos Executive Center in Fort Myers, Florida.He has been in private practice since 1997. He holds certifications in Rapid Trauma Resolution (2010), Imago Relationship therapy (2001), and now specializes in the treatment of couples as well as individual trauma recovery and anxiety issues. He brings rich experience from a combined 26 years of hospital work and mental health counseling.  

Friday, March 8, 2013

Eliminating Anxiety and Pain




One of the most common problems faced by many people is anxiety. Many people with anxiety also experience what are called "panic" attacks. This is where the anxiety becomes so severe that the person literally thinks that they are dying or that something is seriously wrong with them. They often wind up in an emergency room or seeking medical treatment. The usual treatment for anxiety is for thephysician to prescribe medications to treat the symptoms. The most common medications used for treating anxiety are the benzodiazepines (Xanax, Klonopin, Ativan, or others). SSRI anti-depressants are also prescribed. These medications often provide some symptom relief, but in the case of benzodiazepines they can become habit forming and may require increasingly higher dosages to achieve the desired effects. For many years I have treated people with anxiety related disorders. The most common therapy for treating these problems has been Cognitive-Behavioral therapy. This approach has been somewhat effective and is the most common approach used by psychotherapists.

Over the past few years I have begun to use a new approach to treatment called Rapid Resolution Therapy, This approach, developed by Dr. Jon Connelly, is quite different than other forms of therapy, which may explain why it is so effective. With this approach the person learns how to eliminate the physical sensations caused from the anxiety response, thus disabling them. Common physical sensations associated with anxiety are: rapid heartbeat and breathing, light headedness, tingling, fainting, tension, nausea, numbness, to name a few. The person learns to recognize these sensations and eliminate them before they become too intense. After only 1 to 3 sessions, most clients have reported that their anxiety has drastically diminished and/or completely disappeared.

Panic attacks actually disappear and are no longer problematic. All of this is done without medication. In fact, most of my clients report that they no longer need to rely on their anti-anxiety medications. (Note: please do not stop taking medications without your physician's advice).

I recently saw a client who had been suffering from debilitating anxiety and panic attacks. She had been to several therapists and doctors over the years and found little relief from her symptoms. She came to me desperate and feeling hopeless that her problems could be treated successfully. By the time she got to me she had become homebound and was unable to work. She had become isolated and the problems had caused friends and family to avoid her. She was skeptical that anything would work and saw herself being a recluse and invalid for the rest of her life.

{ "So, I am not crazy?" }

Upon meeting this woman I intently listened to her about her problems and began to explain to her how the mind works. She immediately perked up and became interested. "I never thought of it that way," she said. I also explained that anxiety is "fear of the fear response". For example, if one steps out into the street in front of an oncoming car their mind will immediately cause their body to become "supercharged" and cause her to jump out of the way. Her heart will pound, she will shake, and her breathing will increase. When she is safe her mind will cause her body to return to normal. Anxiety is when the mind causes the body to do the same thing, but what the person is noticing are the physical sensations caused from the fear response. Thinking that something is wrong will increase these sensations because the mind perceives a threatening situation. The normal fear response becomes the threat.

I taught the client how to decrease and eliminate these physical sensations, giving her a sense of control over her body and easing her mind. "So I am not crazy," she said. I laughed and told her that she wasn't.

It has been a few months since that session and the client reports that she has not had any further panic attacks and that her anxiety has diminished. She feels in control again and has begun to reconnect with friends and family.
Another Rapid Resolution Therapy success!


Dr. Smith is a California licensed psychotherapist with a doctorate in psychology and addictions as well as a Master's degree in social work. He is a Certified Practitioner in Rapid Trauma Resolution Therapy and the first psychotherapist to be certified in this new approach in southern California. He maintains an active private practice in the Los Angeles area, and he is also a professor of alcohol and drug counseling at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, CA. For more information on Dr. Smith or to follow his blog, please visit johnsmithphd.com.