What is Experiential Therapy? | Experiential Therapy Series - Part 1 of 7

[@averagechick1921]

This is so crazy helpful. My therapist said she uses mostly Experiential and Narrative therapy and I wanted some more info. Thank you for explaining so thoroughly!

[@saramichael3837]

So great to see you back Dr. Tori!🎉❤

[@jakubsebo4236]

exactly

[@toriolds5848]

@@jakubsebo4236 Great to be back, guys!! ;)

[@jorg7399]

Thanks again Tori. What i love is your clarity and the compassionate way you talk about all human experiences and the possibilities to resolve the issues. ❤

[@whenyoongigoescute]

This is really helpful and informative and made me understand more of the therapy I'm in. Thankyou, looking forward to learning more from this series!!

[@rachealgithinji2236]

So great to see you back Dr. Tori, we had really missed you on YT.

[@toriolds5848]

Thanks Rachael!! It's good to be missed!! :)

[@Drd7682]

I love your style and content so much. Thank you for doing what you do.

[@toriolds5848]

Thank you! ;)

[@anjavlasblom8158]

How nice to have you back. I'm already looking forward to the next broadcast. Super!

[@MichaelListerBooks]

So, so good! You have such a gift! Thanks for all you do!

[@toriolds5848]

Thanks Michael!!

[@jscire__872]

Excellent video. For me this clarified beautifully how in particular IFS works in the context of experimental therapies

[@toriolds5848]

Oh good! There will be a video that compares how AEDP and IFS integrate the 4 elements coming soon!! :)

[@tylernelson3722]

Hi Dr. Olds! I am currently a counseling intern and happened upon your videos - thank you! They’ve been so helpful. I would love to start reading some of Bruce Ecker’s books, but my time is limited with my internship, coursework, and capstone research. Is there an ideal place to start if you had to choose one (for now!)? So glad I fell down this rabbit hole!

[@1590ckemp]

Thanks for sharing this wonderful series, Dr. Olds! I primarily use an ACT lens, and it's interesting to me that in the kind of cutting edge versions of ACT, there is a major emphasis on experiential processes. I've watched Steve Hayes do what looks a lot like transformational work in realplay contexts - it seemed to draw partly on counteractive direction but largely on willingness to safely and skillfully contact painful learning histories and provide new experiences targeted at evolving underlying networks. I don't want to promote concept creep, nor to claim that everything is all the same; I suspect that in daily practice most ACT-informed therapy session would look different than most AEDP sessions, for example, but I also wonder if there are substantial overlaps worth exploring. Perhaps I'm getting at the notion of experiential psychotherapy as a kind of layer that could mesh with other psychotherapy styles. That said, I don't have formal training in the experiential modalities you mentioned and very much hope to one day, so I hope to approach this topic with a dose of curiosity and openness.

[@CosmicAccident]

Thank you for another wonderful video, Dr Tori. Please could you do a video on arts therapies? Also important experiential therapeutic approaches that could benefit from your inclusion, clarity, and advocacy!❤ (I am a music therapist🎵)

[@kidwolfman]

“If I take up space, people will put me in my place.” 🤯 lol whoops, u nailed one. Thanks ❤

[@jaygaines1233]

YAYY! New video

[@ljkoh20052000able]

You have inspired me so much to follow my sense of authenticity. With this experiential therapy, could you be able to emphasize its importance with awareness of Childhood trauma. Since I've learned that all mental health as well as bodily illnesses originate from it.

[@holism]

Tori, I was curious if you have ever come across Complex Integration of Multiple Brain Systems? I have personally found this to be perhaps one of the most valuable alternatives to the regular therapeutic approach.

[@DrToriOlds]

No, I haven't heard of it before!! Just googled and found the page. Looks really interesting! If I have a chance, I'll try to learn more! ;)

[@khansherani]

Mam u r so gr8❤❤❤❤

[@harpert579]

Would this method of treatment be effective for people with BPD? I have heard Transference Focused Therapy works well for that. Do you have an opinion on TFT?

[@yurganovaleksei5429]

Thank you for very interesting video! 🙏🏻 Can you tell Imtt is experiential or counteraction therapy?

[@toriolds5848]

I actually hadn't heard of it, so just looked it up! Looks like it at least has the potential to be non-counteractive (transformational). It sounds like a fairly simple technique, which probably means that it will work like a silver bullet if it happens to hit upon the target learning, but it might be less flexible in terms of working with all kinds of schemas. But that is only a guess on my part! ;)

[@yurganovaleksei5429]

@@toriolds5848 Thank you for your reply! You are person with really good heart! I’m very happy that I found your channel. 🙏🏻

[@EduardoMartinPintosFereyra]

👍👍♥️

[@mord0]

Hmmm, I don’t believe continually refocusing a client on what we think is important is good practice for the most part. In doses, sure, but client resistant through story-telling or evading is often a way of steering away from going beyond their threshold of tolerance. That itself could be explored but I believe allowing the client to lead is always good practice, trusting in their intuition while remaining curious and semi-directive seems to be the middle way here.

[@DrToriOlds]

I think I basically agree with you. I might lean a little more toward being directive, but I do think attunement to the client's system is key. So that point is well taken. I think the reason I want to get this teaching point out there (to pull us a bit more in the 'being directive' direction!), is that I think sometimes we go 'non-directive' by default (versus because the client actually needs us to, or couldn't handle more focused work). And that can be a misattunement as well (ie often clients really do appreciate when we take a bit more leadership, because they aren't coming in with training on how to get the most out of the process, and really do want to get the most out of it, but all they might know to do be default is talk about their week, not really giving them the option of doing a type of focused work they might really enjoy and find meaningful.) Again, it depends on whether we are following where they are taking the conversation by default, or whether we are sensing they need to 'go somewhere else' as a way to regulate (although even then, that could be named and explored very fruitfully). Sorry, this is getting kind of long, but just one final piece. You said 'refocusing the client on what we think is important,' and that also might be where the discomfort on your part comes in. Because the only way we can respectfully do more 'focused' work, is if we are focusing on what the client tells us is important to them (ie their reason or goal for therapy). So we always start their, and then we if we do continual 'contracting' ('Would you like to explore what is underneath making it hard to set boundaries?' (or whatever they stated they want to work on)), as well as 'Is it okay to stay in touch with this?' as the work progresses, then usually it can feel very collaborative and respectful. BTW, the final video in this series will be all about therapeutic focus, so I'll be curious what you guys think!! It's a stance that certainly does push against conventional wisdom as to how therapists are supposed to show up!!

[@mord0]

Thank you Tori for the reply! I am a therapist and your videos have helped me greatly! I see your point about the current plague of non-direction and how that lead to unhelpful story-telling. I’ve always thought of goals as a North Star in therapy, without it, we can feel rudderless and lost. “The middle way” as the Buddha put it, comes to my mind on this topic. Again, thank you!