1st Edition
Resource Focused Counselling and Psychotherapy An Introduction
Therapists sometimes ask: What supports you in life? What gets you through difficult times? Our ‘journey’ in life relies on a range of resources to equip and fulfil us. Knowing about these resources, however, is not enough: for lasting benefits, they must be bodily felt experiences. The aim of this book is to illustrate the holistic purpose of therapy to resource integration of the client. It draws upon extensive material to affirm that the practice of contemporary therapy benefits from insights gained from evolving neuroscience. Particular emphasis is put on the benefits of drawing on the dimensions of experience to strengthen ego processes like self-awareness and self-regulation, and engage with the depths of being, including ‘soul’.
Resource Focused Counselling and Psychotherapy provides professionals with a comprehensive and integrative model of resource focused therapy, drawing upon clinical examples and the current range of research and theory surrounding this emerging approach. Additionally, the book contains a range of self-resourcing exercises and practices for each part of the integrative model, enabling individuals to develop self-resources for greater resilience and well-being in their own lives.
This book is an important read for psychotherapists, psychologists and counsellors, including those working with trauma. It also provides valuable insights for modalities practising from a psycho-spiritual perspective, including Jungian and transpersonal psychotherapists.
Introduction 1. Overview of Resource Focused Therapy 2. The Origins of Resourcing 3. Resourcing of Emotional Systems 4. Dimensions of Experiencing 5. Integrative Resource Focus in Therapy 6. Therapy as Education 7. Therapeutic Relationship as Resourcing Experience 8. Resourcing for Trauma 9. The Resource Focused Therapist Appendix
Biography
Michael Wilson is a psychotherapist (UKCP reg.) in private practice in Edinburgh and Berwick-upon-Tweed, UK. He is the co-author of Creative Ethical Practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy (2012, Sage). www.michaelwilson.uk.com
‘I liked this book. It seems very up to date and well referenced, and I particularly liked the frequent references to the transpersonal, which is so often omitted. In general I found the coverage of the whole field, including recent work on the brain, to be impressive.’ - Dr John Rowan, independent consultant; Fellow of the British Psychological Society, British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and the UKCP; founding member of the Association of Humanistic Psychology Practitioners.
‘In this wonderful book, Wilson develops his beautifully integrative and truly holistic psychotherapeutic perspective, expertly weaving findings from neuroscience, dimensions of human experience, and profound philosophical reflections. Holding both science and soul, this work is a richly resourcing experience in itself, presenting a timely challenge to the tendency towards pathologising and the urge to ‘fix’ aspects of being human. Wilson asserts the primacy of experience describing how to cultivate this positively, for example working with embodied felt-sense and imagination. Eminently applicable, this is essential reading for all therapists, across modalities who seek to facilitate integration of the whole person.’ - Bridget Grant, Art Psychotherapist, Edinburgh.
"If you are looking for a book which will bring you bang up to date with all the latest ideas in the counselling field, this is the one. It starts off with a brilliant overview of the situation, and I learned a lot from that alone. (...) This is a good book, and I recommend it highly." - John Rowan, ACPNL Magazine
