People think of us as similar to a teaching hospital where student therapists strengthen their therapy skills while being observed and supported by a more experienced supervising therapist. We are inviting you to benefit from both your individual therapy and the team approach.
A Team Approach
The clinician-in-training, supervisor/trainer and several other students in the program work together as a team to provide the client with quality therapy. During a mirror session, the clinician works with the client behind a one-way mirror, while the supervisor/trainer and other students on the team observe their work and provide support and guidance through an earpiece, following with after the session team feedback, thus combining the team expertise.
Prior to the first mirror session the client is introduced to the supervisor and can meet the participants in the mirror training program, if they choose.
Commitment
The commitment to the program is for ten weekly sessions of forty-five minutes each. Unless there is an emergency or illness, you are expected to attend regularly. When the program is completed clients might have various options on how to continue with their therapy.
The Supervisors
The supervisors behind the mirror are licensed therapists, qualified by the state of California to provide supervision, and trained by the Process Therapy Institute to become mirror trainers.
Observation
During a mirror session, the clinician-in-training works with the client behind a one-way mirror. The supervisor/trainer, and other students on your team, observe the sessions. During the session, the supervisor/trainer is communicating with your therapist through an earpiece. Feedback is also provided after the session and is focused toward assisting the clinician-in-training in becoming the most effective therapist they can be. You can request to observe this feedback session.
Eligibility
Participants must be willing to be observed while in treatment and willing to work with a therapist in training. If at any time you and your treatment team come to believe that the program does not support your best interests, your sessions in the mirror will discontinue and you will be offered other treatment options.
Agreement for Services
You will be asked to read and sign an Informed Consent form that explains and informs you of the various policies and procedures associated with our programs. A copy of this form will be available to you.
Confidentiality
Your sessions are confidential with a set of standard exceptions for which all our therapists are mandated reporters (child, elder, dependent adult abuse, and an imminent danger to self or others).
Participants are asked to sign a release to extend confidentiality to the team members who are participating in and observing our training program. This release also gives the clinician-in-training permission to videorecord the sessions for their review of the training. All videos never leave your therapist’s possession and are erased after viewing.
Therapeutic Style
The psychotherapy used at the Process Therapy Institute is influenced by the Process Model. This model encourages people to encounter their life issues by focusing on, and connecting with, themselves in order to discover and resolve patterns that interfere with a fulfilling life. It is an active style of therapy that encourages one to have an experience of oneself in the moment. We use many psychotherapeutic techniques to invite clients to encounter their issues and create their solutions. This is a client-centered therapy that respects the client’s ongoing processes while helping them move through their “stuck places.” We work toward providing an environment of safety, support and acceptance, and invite clients to make significant and healthy changes in their relationships with themselves and others.
Therapist Qualification
Both licensed and pre-licensed therapists have been trained at our Institute to improve their therapeutic skills. Your therapist may be a practicum trainee, an associate marriage and family therapist, an associate clinical social worker, a PsyD candidate, or a licensed therapist. Most have attained, or are currently finishing up, a Master’s degree. Pre-licensed therapists earn hours of counseling experience leading toward licensure from the State of California.
All psychotherapists at Process Therapy Institute are being trained to handle crisis situations, to be aware of and respond to legal and ethical issues, to work with life management issues as well as to provide deep personal psychotherapy leading to healing and resolution.
Dates and Times
Both daytime and evening counseling sessions are available, please contact us for more details.
Waiting List
Though we occasionally have a waiting list, we can usually enroll clients in the program within a few days. While waiting for a mirror opening, participants can choose to start their therapy with their assigned student therapist.