Earn 2 New York State LCSW, LCAT, LMHC or LMSW Continuing Education Credits from the Comfort of Your Own Home!
Course Description:
Therapy in many ways could be considered more of an art than a science. Several studies have shown that rather than a particular modality, training of the therapist, or years of experience being the main predictor of outcome, it is the relationship between the therapist and client and the client’s belief that they are understood that produces successful outcomes. There are many ways therapists learn to do this: careful listening, observation of body language, insightful reflections, and even observation of countertransference as a tool for understanding. Increasingly the field of mental health has paid more careful attention to the role of the body, and the need to address embodied awareness and sensory integration to facilitate relief from difficulties. But how do we connect with our clients on the body level, the environmental level, without becoming overly analytical? How can we create interventions that are non-verbal and yet feel deeply connected with clients? How do we lead by example and show what it looks like to move through experiences in an embodied way?
This introductory course will explore one perspective for how we can achieve these aspirations, through considering an energy-based perspective to psychotherapy using the system of reiki. Reiki can be defined as universal energy, and is based on the premise that all animate things and beings hold energy. If energy is a part of life, then increasing the flow of energy would promote healing. It is a person-centered modality that emphasizes self-healing and pairs naturally with many psychotherapeutic modalities. Even without formal reiki training, every person has access to reiki and holds energy in their own body. This class is for anyone, regardless of experience with energy work.
As a result of taking this program, participants will be able to:
- Learn three (3) types of energy experience and how they manifest in a psychotherapy context
- Learn three (3) techniques to use energetic awareness to prevent burnout and connect more deeply with clients
- Learn three (3) collaborative approaches for engaging clients in mindful connection and promote empowerment using reiki principles.
Hi, I'm Mikella!
Mikella Millen, MA ATR-BC LCAT (she/they) is an Art Therapist, psychotherapist, and Reiki Master Teacher, who is also trained in Ericksonian Hypnosis, Dreamwork and Breathwork. She has been working primarily with complex trauma in a variety of settings for the last 10 years and uses an eclectic approach of modalities to move between trauma healing on the levels of the mind, body, and spirit. Mikella has a private practice that incorporates psychotherapy and healing arts practices, and regularly holds reiki trainings and mixed-modality groups virtually.