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The Early Bird window closes on August 30! Register now for the 3-day Phase 2 Brainspotting Training this October 16-18, 2020.
Register for the October 2020 Brainspotting Phase 2 Training – ONLINE
Downloadable flier BSP Phase 2 Flier Oct2020.
Katherine Allen
First Tuesdays Supervision Group Beginning 9/1/2020
I am announcing a regular Supervision/Consultation group be held the first Tuesday of each month from 10a-12p EST. These will be held via Zoom.
Finally! I know it’s been tough to plan around my crazy schedule.
Group consults are $50 per person for the 2-hour group. These are for skills-building and community building and they do not count as hours towards your Certification (a question I get asked often). Come as often as you’d like, or not. I love seeing everyone and helping build our Brainspotting community.
E-mail me at k@bspkat.com to be added to the list and please share with anyone you think may also be interested in joining.
Damir del Monte and the Brain
I cannot exclaim enough about how fabulous Dr. del Monte’s videos are, how well he explains just how things like PTSD happen and hopefully in doing so, gives validation and comfort to the suffering with such experiences.
Watch, learn, share.
https://www.lecturio.de/medizin/brainspotting-special-saving-package.kurs
New England’s June 2020 Phase 1 and Phase 2 to be held ONLINE
I have heard from KUA that the pandemic physical restrictions guidelines make it impossible for us to hold the trainings scheduled for June in-person. So they will both now be held ONLINE.
The good news is that we may have more attendees this way. Also, I have been training in how to run these online and I am now VERY confident that we will have a great experience. My grateful thanks for those who have helped me learn!
Please forward the new information to colleagues whom you feel may be interested in learning Brainspotting or expanding their Brainspotting skills to assist clients through the non-verbal and felt-sense essence of the current pandemic. We will do a deep dive into Limbic Countertransference as well as global existential crisis, trauma shock, and how to work with clients and ourselves regarding these issues.
I am available for supervision for all attendees post-training and will be scheduling more group supervisions to support skills growth and community building.
Setting up for Brainspotting via Telehealth
As we are all preparing to do things differently for a while, I have been fielding many questions regarding just how to get things working well – for us and for our clients. Here is a summary of what I feel is good to know.
First, a short video of my introduction on how to do Brainspotting sessions via telehealth.
Working from Home
When we are in our homes, so many things are so different. The space, our muscle memory for where things are, maybe even how we feel about ourselves and our practice. I know that I feel much more “on the job” when I am in my office than at home, that’s a big reason why I have an office. I like the separation of work/life and I like the guaranteed privacy.
At home I need to create a space that achieves as much of my professional comfort as possible. I have a room where I can close the door. I purchased a second sound machine so I have the same familiar ocean wave noise as I am accustomed in my office. I have a desk where my computer can be stable and at eye-level. I have a rolling desk chair so I can move about a bit. I have a jar with pens, pointers, finger puppets to use in the session. I have my files and my phone. I have a clock at eye-level so I can track the timing of the session.
I also have 2 things that I don’t typically use in my office. I have a set of wireless headphones with a built-in microphone and I have a conferencing microphone.
The headset is so I am confident that my clients are being protected as much as possible, nobody in the house can hear the client’s voice or what they are expressing. In working for just a short while with earbuds that have a mic, I found them to be very uncomfortable, and the mic gets brushed and muffled often which becomes overly irritating (at least to me) on the receiving end when you are doing work this way all day.
The conferencing microphone is a great option for groups, and that is how I have been using it so far. It drowns out background noise and amplifies my voice and it has a great range so if I move around, the client or group can still hear me clearly.
TIP: make sure the audio on your system is selecting the remote speaker/headset, not the built-in one. You can check that on the top bar of your screen, and then again make sure to select it within the Preferences of the video conferencing platform that you use.
The Client’s Home Client-side setup
My colleague here, Nick Doolittle, created a lovely “get started” how-to page for clients and offered to share it with everyone. I e-mail it prior to the session so clients can set up their space and be as ready as possible before the session, making the most of the time.
One thing to really stress with clients, trainees, colleagues is that their video source (laptop / desktop / iPad / tablet / phone) be STABLE, i.e: stationary. Working with screen sessions for extended periods I find myself quite seasick by the end of the day if clients are moving around, jostling the device, etc.
The Business Part
I have a new link on my site to accept PayPal or credit card payment for sessions. I also have a fill-in-able pdf of the Intake Paperwork that clients can send to me via e-mail, or if need be through a Dropbox exchange.
We are all doing the best we can, learning from each other and from each session. Be kind and gentle with yourself and remember that your clients will give you far more credit than you think.
Katherine is now Licensed in Vermont
Brainspotting Trainings Update: 7/22/2020
Things keep changing and this is my latest update regarding Brainspotting Trainings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We have been directed to hold ALL trainings online during this physical distancing time of pandemic.
The June online trainings went swimmingly and I continue to be amazed to see how well it works both for the trainer and the trainees. And with the online format, I am so excited to meet practitioners from across the country. Likewise, assistants are stepping forward to help new trainees achieve really high-quality experiences. Our network is growing stronger. There are many blessings in this uncertain time.
And because we still do not know how COVID-19 will play out, the Keene, NH/Monadnock Family Services training planned for October 16-18, 2020 will be ONLINE. This will be a Phase 2 training, replacing the cancelled April one. I am also posting a January 2021 Phase 1 and a February 2021 Phase 2, both ONLINE as well.
The overall desire it to get as many practitioners trained to support clients – and each other – through this pandemic, and then these trained practitioners can support the impact of COVID-19 aftermath, being as the longer it lasts, the more support the population will need. We have added in material regarding Limbic Countertransference, trauma shock, racial justice focus, and the global existential crisis we are in, and ways to work with it for our clients as well as for ourselves.
Please forward this information to anyone you may know who is interested in learning Brainspotting in Phase 1 or in expanding their Brainspotting skills with Phase 2.
Note that there are cancellation fees for cancelled registration, please be aware. There is so much happening to manage that I cannot offer more generous refunds anymore.
Please keep calling and sending me your e-mails and let’s keep in touch through this historically unusual time.
We are doing our best, this is new for all of us.
We are all in this together.
Brainspotting Trainings Update
As a Brainspotting Trainer it is my responsibility to provide the best training experience for you, therefore please read the following carefully.
The recent global response to the COVID-19 pandemic may seem severe in one light, but smart and careful in another.
The June trainings I have scheduled in Northern New England are still a ways out. The April 24-26 Phase 2 in Keene is still scheduled to run ONLINE at this date.
If we do need to postpone, or if you choose to not attend an online training right now, your registration fee can either be completely refunded, all service charges will be waived, or you can choose to use your registration fee for a future training with me. If you choose to attend a different training with a different trainer, I will refund your registration fee to you.
I sincerely hope that we are able to continue our trainings online and in-person as soon as possible because in light of this pandemic, even more of our population will need support in healing. I believe that Brainspotting is a remarkably effective and creative tool to give clients the speediest route to recovery and balance that I know.
COVID-19 Business Update
Sessions are cautiously continuing here at kTherapy and Brainspotting with Katherine.
I would like to assure all current clients of the measures that I am personally taking, as well as the measures that the building management is taking in preventing the spread of any germs. All new clients will be exclusively online until the physical distancing guidelines of the pandemic have been lifted.
I have Clorox wipes that I use on door handles, chair arms, my phone, pens, headphones, pointers and anything else that a client or I may touch after each and every session. I have alcohol-based spray hand sanitizer as well as organic/natural hand sanitizer available for everyone. I will also wipe down anything that a client asks me to, in front of them, to further assure you that the space is clean and disinfected.
I wash my hands 10+ times daily for a minimum of 40-seconds with soap, water, and then dry them thoroughly. I follow up with hand sanitizer as well.
I insist that you may not come to the physical office space if you have any symptoms that could be interpreted as a cold or if you have been around people that you cannot guarantee have been following the recommended physical distancing guidelines.
We can set up video sessions, as I have with several clients already, to bridge the gap during the COVID-19 situation. I use the HIPAA-compliant version of Zoom (the popular video conferencing software) for these sessions. Zoom is free for clients to use.
The building management has informed me that they have 2 rounds of sanitation daily. They are using Lysol spray and bleach (separately) to address all interior and exterior door handles as well as elevator buttons, restroom handles and fixtures, and handrails in all stairwells. This occurs around 5:30-6:00am as well as around 8:00pm daily.
My office is arranged so that when we are in a session, we are practicing the recommended 6-foot social distancing separation. I will also open and close all doors for clients. And we have sadly temporarily suspended all therapeutic handshakes and hugs. Rest assured, they will reinstate as soon as we are able.
I am including the following video from DHMS as I feel it has great information and education. It is dated March 9 so the statistics are outdated, but the information is not.
This COVID-19 event will end, as all viral infection cycles do. I hope that we can all remain safe and measured in our response to this time and learn new methods of looking after one another that carry on long after it ends.
Sane Information regarding COVID-19 and the Upper Valley
There has been some fear reaction locally regarding COVID-19 and the one DHMC employee, who travelled from Italy recently, testing positive for the virus. There is one “presumptive” case that had close personal contact with the first person.
Clients are cancelling sessions fearful of “things happening around there” which is exactly what the CDC and medical professionals do NOT want to happen. Baseless fear is more toxic, causing paranoia of germs and other people, than a virus, especially to a healthy human.
The below video is a smart, fact-based discussion of the virus and how to keep yourself from contracting or spreading it. Note: masks don’t work.
Also, if by any chance I am contacted by DHMC that I am named as a person that someone with the virus has come into contact with, I will be the first one to immediately self-quarantine and inform every one of my clients personally.
Please don’t let fear and paranoia rule your lives.