Description:

Severe mental illness predominantly strikes the young, derailing normal social, cognitive and emotional development. The unfortunate consequence can be a lifelong battle to gain mental health. Ericksonian approaches may be particularly apt in treatment because they encourage skill acquisition and recontextualization via remedial experiential learning. This presentation will detail the use of ordeals, pattern interruption, symptom prescription, presupposition and other common Ericksonian methods suitable for treating chronic and newly ill clients.

Educational Objectives:

1. Describe how mental illness has a differential impact across individuals depending upon age of onset.
2. List and describe three Ericksonian techniques suitable for the use in treating the severely mentally ill.
3. Describe and discuss how Ericksonian strategies may be particularly appropriate to use with severely mentally ill clients.

*Sessions may be edited for content and to preserve confidentiality*