By Emily Andersen
For 20 years, Dr. Hanna Levenson has been researching time-limited dynamic psychotherapy. This week she will bring her expertise to BYU”s 33rd annual Counseling Workshop.
The Counseling and Career Center asked Dr. Levenson to present her techniques at this conference because she is very well respected in her field, said Ron Chapman, director of the Counseling and Career Center.
Director of the Brief Psychotherapy Training Program at California Pacific Medical Center, Hanna Levenson also recently founded her own institute, the Levenson Institute for Training. Medical practitioners can go to Levenson”s institute to receive in-depth training and certification in therapy.
“She is a pioneer in helping people in short-term counseling,” Chapman said.
Chapman said Levenson has developed new approaches to dealing with clients that provide good results.
When looking for a topic for the conference each year, the Center looks at areas of concern to them, Chapman said. Chapman said the center chose time-limited dynamic psychotherapy as the topic because of its currency.
Chapman said the counseling center is always looking to explore new therapeutic avenues to help the students they counsel.
Levenson said the interaction between counselors and their clients is becoming a widely talked about subject in her field.
Levenson said she hopes to teach those who come to the conference how to interact with their clients more effectively.
“I want to expose them to new ways of thinking about their clients and intervening with the client,” Levenson said.
Time Limited Dynamic Psychotherapy deals with clients who cause therapists to have strong feelings such as anger and fear, Levenson said. She will help therapist to know how to deal with their clients when they make them have strong feelings, so that they won”t be anti-therapeutic.
Chapman said the goal for this conference and past conferences has been to help counselors become more effective.
These conferences allow counselors to learn state-of-the-art information from experts in the field, Chapman said. Chapman said he hopes this conference will enhance the skills of those who attend so they may provide better care to their clients.
Bill Kelly, the assistant program administrator with Conferences and Workshop, has worked with the counseling conference for the past eight years. Kelly said anyone interested is welcome to attend.
Chapman said he expects between 200 and 300 professional people to come to the conference.
