ASMW Advanced Workshops by Track

Session description:

The applicability of hypnosis to trauma therapy will be examined through the lens of Contextual Trauma Therapy (CTT), a model specifically designed to treat Complex PTSD (C-PTSD). The neurobiological underpinnings of trauma and hypnosis provide a foundation for understanding the relevance of the hypnotic state for treating C-PTSD. The prominence of dissociative functioning in C-PTSD renders these clients especially adept at hypnosis. Drawing on the CTT, neuro-biological and dissociative perspectives, hypnotic strategies for resolving various debilitating components of C-PTSD and for establishing a more resilient and positive sense of self will be described, illustrated by case vignettes.

Faculty Bios: 

Steven Gold, Ph.D.

Gold is Professor Emeritus with Nova Southeastern University’s College of Psychology, a past president of the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Division of Trauma Psychology and of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation, Editor-in-Chief of the APA Handbook of Trauma Psychology, author of Contextual Trauma Therapy: Overcoming Traumatization and Reaching Full Potential, and is currently co-editing the second edition of Dissociation and the Dissociative Disorders. He is an ASCH Approved Consultant, has presented several Intermediate-Advanced Workshops for the Florida Society of Clinical Hypnosis, and maintains an independent psychology practice in suburban Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Michael A. Quiñones, PhD

Michael A. Quiñones, PhD is in independent clinical and forensic psychology practice in suburban Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He specializes in treating trauma-related and dissociative disorders, regularly employing hypnotherapy, mindfulnes practices, and other altered states to empower clients to assume an active role in resolving their difficulties, and he has an extensive and sophisticated knowledge base in the biopsychology of traumatization and altered states. Dr. Quiñones has a number of professional presentations and publications on these topics, and will be co-authoring a book on employing altered states in trauma therapy.

Session Description

Complex Post-traumatic Stress Disorder is associated with histories of prolonged trauma, abuse, and neglect and is considered a form of developmental trauma. Such Complex Traumatic Stress Disorders include disturbances of self-organization that overlap with attachment deficits and pathologies requiring specialized interventions to modify. This program will review the nature of the unrepressed unconscious, related memory systems, and the use of clinical hypnosis to facilitate relevant change. 

Polyvagal strategies to optimize neurophysiological substrate for trauma stabilization and attachment repair will be reviewed.  Examples of specific interventions and management of potential issues that may emerge as the process unfolds will be addressed. 

Faculty Bio: Louis Damis, Ph.D., ABPP

Damis is a Diplomate with the American Board of Professional Psychology, a Fellow of the American Academy of Clinical Health Psychology, the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance, and the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis. He is a licensed psychologist who holds ASCH Certification in Clinical Hypnosis with Consultant Status. Dr. Damis is a Past President of the Florida and Washington DC Societies of Clinical Hypnosis and has taught hypnosis for over 25 years for the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, the Florida Society of Clinical Hypnosis, and the Society of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis.

Session Description:

Can traumatic memories really be changed so they no longer haunt a person emotionally? Neuroscience research suggests they can by harnessing the mechanism of memory reconsolidation, the brain's own process of updating an emotional memory with new meanings and associations. In this presentation, Courtney Armstrong will get you up to date on this exciting discovery, explain why clinical hypnosis is a natural tool for eliciting memory reconsolidation, then demonstrate a simple five-step protocol you can use that integrates clinical hypnosis with cognitive-behavioral techniques to safely resolve traumatic memories and foster client resilience.

Faculty Bio: Courtney Armstrong, MEd., LPC

Armstrong is a licensed professional counselor and Board Certified Fellow in Clinical Hypnotherapy who specializes in resilience-focused treatment for grief and trauma survivors. Inspired by mentors such as Bill O'Hanlon and Michael Yapko, she is the founder of the Institute for Trauma-Informed Hypnotherapy and has developed clinical hypnosis training programs for the United States Veterans Administration. Known for her ability to translate scientific research into practical treatment strategies, she is the author of Transforming Traumatic Grief, The Therapeutic "Aha!" and Rethinking Trauma Treatment: Attachment, Memory Reconsolidation, and Resilience.

Session Description:

Ego State Therapy (EST) is based on working with an internal system of self-states within a single individual.  Often these states are unconscious and in great opposition resulting in internal conflict and psychological struggles, thus clinical hypnosis is often necessary to access and work with these states. EST is an approach well-suited for trauma.  Phillips & Frederick’s (1995) SARI model is a phase-oriented trauma approach based on EST theory and principles.  This workshop will provide a review of the SARI model as well as hypnotic applications at each phase, relevant principles, and ways to enhance communication with ego states.

Faculty Bio: Wendy Lemke

Lemke is an ASCH-certified approved consultant and board member. She is the recipient of numerous awards and is also a fellow and an active member of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD). She has published articles in the Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, Many Voices, and the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis. Along with her clinical practice, she consults and teaches others in her areas of expertise and is a sought-after speaker. She has taught in the UK, Australia, Japan, Canada, and all around the United States.

Session Description:

This workshop will teach and demonstrate how scientific concepts in the area of dissociation, neurophysiology, and social psychology can be used to enhance the effectiveness of hypnotic inductions, and well as the impact of suggestions. The presenter will rotate through providing theoretic concepts through PowerPoint presentation, demonstrating the language of inductions and suggestions based on those concepts, and then creating dyadic or group practice of the principles. We will focus on crafting suggestions to enhance coping and resilience.

Faculty Bio:  David Patterson, Ph.D., ABPH

Patterson is a psychologist from the University of Washington School of Medicine, where he has practiced hypnosis in clinical and hypnosis for over 30 years. He began his career approaching acute pain on the burn unit and has evolved to the area of chronic pain management. His first grant from NIH was in 1989 and that line of funding lasted for 30 years. David continues to have a passion for eastern philosophy and Zen-Buddism for addressing pain and suffering. He has 200 publications in peer-reviewed journals and chapters relevant to hypnosis, pain control, and adjustment to trauma. He published Clinical Hypnosis for Pain Control with the American Psychological Association in 2010.

Session Description:

Clinical hypnosis has reliably been found to produce both short- and long-term treatment benefits for functional gastrointestinal disorders (i.e., functional dyspepsia, functional abdominal pain, and irritable bowel syndrome).  Moreover, as various physiological and autonomic nervous system variables have been found to contribute to these gastrointestinal disorders, they have more appropriately been labeled Brain-Gut Interaction Disorders. The workshop will review empirical evidence supporting the effectiveness of various gut-directed clinical hypnosis strategies, possible mechanisms of action, and outline these techniques for participant use. Recent research will be presented on a polyvagal-based hypnotic intervention effective with brain-gut interaction disorders.

Faculty Bio: Louis Damis, Ph.D., ABPP

Damis is a Diplomate with the American Board of Professional Psychology, a Fellow of the American Academy of Clinical Health Psychology, the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance, and the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis. He is a licensed psychologist who holds ASCH Certification in Clinical Hypnosis with Consultant Status. Dr. Damis is a Past President of the Florida and Washington DC Societies of Clinical Hypnosis and has taught hypnosis for over 25 years for the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, the Florida Society of Clinical Hypnosis, and the Society of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. 

Session Description:

A core element of psychotherapies promoting resilience, with or without hypnosis, is empowering people to gradually shift from focusing on the painful, unchangeable past to instead focusing on the future’s positive potentials. Future orientation is more than just a philosophical or theoretical preference. In fact, it has been associated with some of the most fundamental factors shaping clinical practice, especially an individual’s treatment response. In this plenary address, then, we will consider some of the many facets of future orientation and some of the ways we can effectively promote resilience by encouraging a future focus in hypnotic psychotherapy.

Faculty Bio: Michael Yapko, Ph.D.

Yapko is a clinical psychologist residing near San Diego, CA. Michael is the author of 16 books, including the leading hypnosis text, Trancework: An Introduction to the Practice of Clinical Hypnosis (5th ed.) as well as The Discriminating Therapist and his newest book, Process-Oriented Hypnosis. Michael conducts intensive hypnosis training programs around the world, having been invited to teach in more than 30 countries across six continents. He is a Fellow of ASCH and has received lifetime achievement awards from The International Society of Hypnosis, the American Psychological Association (Div. 30), and The Milton H. Erickson Foundation.

Session Description:

Participants have accessible dream experiences that may be explored like normally occurring night dreams. Following imagery induction, the experience is unbounded by waking realities—“Encounter anything, in any place, at any age and enjoy extraordinary skills, like flying.” Dreams occur during suggested naps or simply by recognizing the unlimited hypnotically imagined world. On waking, participants report experiences. Commenting briefly on each, we work more deeply with several, “Carrying the Dream Forward” to a resolution that may include cognitive understanding of dream symbols. After a brief discussion of dreams and commonalities with—and differences from—hypnotic states, continue with demonstration, end with Q&A.

Faculty Bio: Jeff Sugar, MD

Sugar, a Child Psychiatrist, has used clinical hypnosis with adults and children for 30+ years in public non-profit, academic, and private settings. He learned hypnosis at UCLA with Jean Holroyd, John Hedenberg,  and Joseph Barber, then with Ernest Rossi, child hypnosis with Lonnie Zeltzer, Karen Olness, and Dan Kohen, and hypnosis research methods with Ken Bowers and John Kihlstrom. He has taught hypnosis to trainees at the University of Southern California, and presented work at national and international conferences and invited presentations. Since age 18, he has studied dreams and he has employed dreams clinically with adults and children.

Session Description:

Individuals with post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) suffer diverse and often idiosyncratic symptom profiles that challenge the medical community. The psychological toll can be particularly challenging in the absence of a clear diagnosis and well-established treatments. Hopelessness and helplessness can easily fuel high levels of depression and anxiety, further aggravating suffering on all levels. Both hypnosis and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) have been shown to reduce depression, cognitive fog, and sleep, which are common symptoms for these patients.  This workshop will review how hypnosis can enhance CBT and evaluate the efficacy of this combined modality on behavioral manifestations of SARS-CoV-2.

Faculty Bios: 

Michael Yapko, Ph.D.

Yapko is a clinical psychologist residing near San Diego, CA. Michael is the author of 16 books, including the leading hypnosis text, Trancework: An Introduction to the Practice of Clinical Hypnosis (5th ed.) as well as The Discriminating Therapist and his newest book, Process-Oriented Hypnosis. Michael conducts intensive hypnosis training programs around the world, having been invited to teach in more than 30 countries across six continents. He is a Fellow of ASCH and has received lifetime achievement awards from The International Society of Hypnosis, the American Psychological Association (Div. 30), and The Milton H. Erickson Foundation.

Eva Szigethy, MD, PhD

Session Description:

Humor and laughter are essential components of mind-body practices. Humor therapy promotes spontaneous, therapeutic patient laughter.  Laughter has positive, quantifiable effects on certain aspects of health.  Scientific research has shown that laughter may have both preventive and therapeutic value both physiologically and psychologically.  This workshop will include a discussion of the theories of the function of humor and the benefits of laughter.  The beneficence of mirth in our own self-care will also be addressed.  Participatory laughter will be encouraged.

Faculty Bio: 

Linda Thomson, Ph.D., MSN, APRN, ABMH, FASCH

Thomson is from Ludlow, VT. ASCH, Fellow, Approved Consultant, Member; Clinical Hypnosis Education and Training Committee, Moderator, ASCH Board of Governors, Past President, ASCH; Past President, New England Society of Clinical Hypnosis (NESCH); President, Northeastern Mountain Society of Clinical Hypnosis (NMSCH);  Member, ASCH Representative to COR, International Society of Hypnosis (ISH); Diplomate, American Board of Medical Hypnosis (ABMH); Diplomate, American Board of Hypnosis in Nursing (ABHN); Nurse Practitioner at Hypnosis for Health and Healing, Ludlow, VT; Author, Harry the Hypno-potamus: Metaphorical Tales for Children, and Stress-Free Surgery.

Session Description:

In this didactic and experiential workshop, the participants will be offered the basic theories and protocols regarding the application of Past Life Regression Therapy. The use of ideomotor signaling both in the form of Chevreul’s Pendulum and Muscle Testing will also be offered. Participants will be afforded the opportunity the ideomotor signaling and Past Life Regression work. The workshop will conclude with a Q & A and processing segment.

Faculty Bios: 

Paul Schenk, Psy.D.

Schenk has been in practice as a clinical psychologist since 1978. An Approved Consultant with ASCH for many years, he is the author of two books and co-author of numerous journal articles that stemmed from his large MMPI-2 outpatient research study back in the 1990s and has written for lay audiences in publications such as Family Circle. Past-life Regression Therapy has been part of his work since 1987. His journal articles have appeared in AJCH and AJCEH, and his book on the topic was released in 2006 by Crown House Publishing.

Philip L. Accaria, Ph.D.

Dr. Philip L. Accaria has been practicing in the field of mental health since 1976 and has been utilizing clinical hypnosis since 1986. He is a Past President of ASCH and Past Chair/Moderator of its Board of Governors. He is also specialized in Indigenous/Shamanic Energy Medicine practices which utilize the clinician’s trance state and intuitively access information in the service of clients. Dr. Accaria has been practicing Past-Life Regression Therapy and teaching ideomotor signaling methodologies since 1992. He and Dr. Philip Appel have presented the “Gathering of Healers” since 2005 which incorporates energy medicine principles into clinical hypnosis practices.

Session Description:

In this 180 minute workshop, four clinical hypnotherapists with extensive backgrounds working with Veterans, three from across the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), one of whom is also a veteran, and one who works with Veterans from the community, will present information on modern veterans, the clinical problems they face, and the modern VHA that combine to make clinical hypnosis a particularly useful tool for this population.  Based on decades of leadership within the VHA and clinical work with modern Veterans, specific examples of potential inductions and metaphors that might serve as suggestions will be offered as well.

Faculty Bios: 

John Hall, Ph.D., ABPP                 

Hall works as Emeritus LGBTQ+ Veteran Care Coordinator and a health psychologist in a Whole Health pain program with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) in Charlotte, NC.  He is one of three Subject Matter Experts in clinical hypnosis for the VHA's national rollout.  He is treasurer of ASCH and a board member and continuing education lead of the NCSCH.  He is also Zoom host for the popular Hypnotic Idea Exchange, a joint venture of several ASCH component sections.

David Gaffney, LCSW

Dave Gaffney, MSW, BCCH, EFT-Adv, has been practicing hypnosis since the 1970s and providing clinical hypnosis for over 35 years.  He currently works as Clinical Social Worker at the Aleda E. Lutz VAMC in Saginaw, Michigan, providing psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, and biofeedback in the MH Integrated Pain Clinic.  He serves as national VA Subject Matter Expert for Hypnosis, Biofeedback, and Guided Imagery and works for the VA Integrative Health Coordinating Center as the National Champion for Hypnosis and Guided Imagery and Biofeedback.

William "Bill" Hayes, LCSW

Bill is a clinical social worker with the W. G. “Bill” Hefner VA Medical Center in Salisbury, NC. He has been with the VA for 17 years, working entirely in the mental health field, ranging in such programs as acute psychiatry, suicide prevention, and outpatient mental health. He serves as a member-at-large with the NCSCH and is ASCH certified. Prior to his service with the VA, he also served in the US Army. He finds utilization of various shared, common metaphors particularly helpful with Veterans.

Courtney Armstrong, MEd., LPC

Armstrong is a licensed professional counselor and Board Certified Fellow in Clinical Hypnotherapy who specializes in resilience-focused treatment for grief and trauma survivors. Inspired by mentors such as Bill O'Hanlon and Michael Yapko, she is the founder of the Institute for Trauma-Informed Hypnotherapy and has developed clinical hypnosis training programs for the United States Veterans Administration. Known for her ability to translate scientific research into practical treatment strategies, she is the author of Transforming Traumatic Grief, The Therapeutic "Aha!" and Rethinking Trauma Treatment: Attachment, Memory Reconsolidation, and Resilience.

Session Description:

This workshop will present an overview of a phase-oriented approach to the treatment of trauma including aspects of attachment repair with an emphasis on instilling the necessary client capacities to process and resolve adverse childhood and other trauma-related experiences effectively. The stabilization and skill-building components of this approach will include psychophysiological and hypnotic techniques for establishing the neurophysiological substrate for trauma resolution and attachment repair. Whereas this will be an overview of hypnotic trauma recovery strategies, participants will be able to apply basic hypnotic stabilization skills with their traumatized clients.

Faculty Bio: Louis Damis, Ph.D., ABPP

Damis is a Diplomate with the American Board of Professional Psychology, a Fellow of the American Academy of Clinical Health Psychology, the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance, and the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis. He is a licensed psychologist who holds ASCH Certification in Clinical Hypnosis with Consultant Status.  Dr. Damis is a Past President of the Florida and Washington DC Societies of Clinical Hypnosis and has taught hypnosis for over 25 years for the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, the Florida Society of Clinical Hypnosis, and the Society of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. 

Session Description:

Trauma is a word that fosters many associations and has multiple meanings. This workshop focuses on the relationship between trauma as an experience that involves a derailing of the primary function of memory: the capacity to encode experience to aid in the prediction of our unlived future. Past supplants present and presupposes the future. Going beyond trauma as a cycle of recalling and reliving past experience, the workshop will delve into evolutionarily adaptive, integrative, and disintegrative brain faculties, embodied memory processes, and how hypnotic portals provide access to these inborn functions to facilitate trauma "re-solutioning."

Faculty Bio: David Alter, Ph.D., ABPP, ABPH

Alter is a clinical psychologist with advanced training as a health psychologist and neuropsychologist. His interests, developed over 35 years of clinical practice, involve the intersection of mind, brain, body, and our social nature. He is a published author of award-winning books and scientific articles. Known as an engaging and accessible teacher who leaves participants with practical and accessible tools to enhance and enrich their clinical practices, Dr. Alter's workshops draw on evolutionary neurobiology, research into consciousness and intentional awareness, social learning, and ancient wisdom.

Session Description:

Participants will be introduced to various rapid and instantaneous hypnotic inductions which can be modified for any healthcare profession, in any context, but will be of greatest value to hands-on healthcare providers. Mental health practitioners may wish to take advantage of an opportunity to practice inductions that they would rarely use in practice. Participants will acquire an understanding of the prerequisites and the mechanics through didactic presentation and small group practice. 

Session Bio: Gabor Filo, DDS, ABHD

Filo graduated from the University of Toronto Faculty of Dentistry in 1984. Since then, he has been an ardent and passionate proponent of dental hypnosis. During the last two decades, he has proselytized to fellow dentists at many of the major North American dental conferences. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Hypnosis in Dentistry, a Fellow of the ASCH, and an Honourary member of the Canadian Society of Clinical Hypnosis – Ontario Division and the Hungarian Association of Hypnosis.  He has belonged to the major hypnosis societies, participating organizationally and as faculty, both nationally and internationally. He has authored articles, chapters, and a DVD on Rapid Hypnosis. His private practice emphasizes the non-pharmacological treatment of dental anxiety and phobia. 

Session Description:

Moving hypnotic practice from the formal and traditional ritual of induction-intensification-suggestion-re-alerting into a conversational framework can increase accessibility, efficiency, and effectiveness. The interactive volleys of hypnotic conversations allow for the cultivation of experiential resources. But how do we translate the formal ritual into the nonlinear conversation? In this workshop, we will draw on the teachings of Milton H. Erickson, Ernest L. Rossi, and others to explore and practice the form, principles, and foundational skills of conversational hypnosis. Video, demonstration, and experiential learning will reinforce the concepts. Come and enjoy having weird and creative conversations.

Faculty Bio: Laurence Sugarman, MD, ABHM

Sugarman is Research Professor/Director at the Center for Applied Psychophysiology and Self-regulation at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Clinical Professor in Pediatrics at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in Rochester, and behavioral pediatrician in private practice at the Golisano Autism Center in Rochester, NY. Dr. Sugarman’s publications include the acclaimed video documentary, Hypnosis in Pediatric Practice: Imaginative Medicine in Action, Therapeutic Hypnosis with Children and Adolescents (with William Wester), and Changing Minds with Clinical Hypnosis (with Julie Linden and Lee Brooks) and many papers and book chapters on creatively integrating therapeutic hypnosis into health and care.

Session Description:

The world has changed dramatically in many ways in the last couple of years due to the pandemic and the importance of ethical service provision at many levels has come into acute focus. This program will review the basic ethical principles of the major health provision organizations (APA, AMA, NASW, etc) and apply these principles to the provision of hypnosis in a variety of settings with an emphasis on telehealth issues. We will also discuss the complex issues associated with health access inequities and some international perspectives on how to provide care in the most ethical formats. We will also discuss how ASCH considers ethical challenges and provide copies of our ethical guidelines.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify major ethics principles identified across professional organizations that guide practice
• Identify ethical issues unique to telehealth service and education provision
• Review the current ASCH ethics principles and review what types of actions would trigger an ethical review

Faculty Bio:  Mary Wells

Dr. Mary Wells is a licensed clinical psychologist who has been in practice for over 30 years in the areas of rehabilitation and pain management. She completed her graduate work at George Washington University and started her career at the Washington Pain and Rehabilitation Center in Washington DC. She went from there to VCU Health System in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation as a rehab psychologist, providing services to a full range of rehabilitation patients on both the inpatient and outpatient services. She left VCU to work in an interdisciplinary pain clinic in the community and later went into private practice. In 2000, she joined the medical psychology department at Sheltering Arms Hospital, first as a staff psychologist and later as director of the department, a post she held for 10 years.  She has recently returned to the VCU Dept. of PMR and is currently working as part of an interdisciplinary team of medical professionals at Virginia Commonwealth University Health System to provide services to patients with chronic pain due to a variety of medical conditions. She provides evaluations and psychological treatment for the management of chronic pain.