Trials and Tribulations of Habit Formation & Habit Change: The Role of Self-Regulation, Self-Awareness Training, Hypnosis, and Pattern Interruption in the Clinical Encounter

Most of us have heard from clients about the challenge of changing undesired habits and perhaps you have even had the challenge yourself.  This Saturday day long training  by Dr. David Alter will provide significant insight into creating pattern interruptions. 

OSCH is honored to invite Dr. David Alter to Portland for a weekend of training.  Saturday's focus will be on habit formation.  Habit formation is “what the brain does” for the purposes of energy conservation and to free up time and mental space to acquire novel experiences. However, while the capacity for habit formation is positive and necessary, the content of those habits and our allegiance to them can be positive or not, depending upon how well they support the growth of our best selves. Addictions, for example, reflect the hijacking of the benefits of our inborn capacity to form habits in the service of a compulsive attachment to urges that are ultimately self-destructive.  

The day-long workshop will be divided into morning and afternoon sessions, each of which will contain didactic presentation of content, discussion of presented material, and group practice time and/or presenter demonstration of workshop material, including hypnotically facilitated habit change, in practice. 

Learning objectives:

1. Participants will learn to describe the role of the upper and lower brain in habit formation, symptom formation, and why "will-power" is ill-equipped to manage habit change. 
2. Participants will be able to describe the "automatic brain" responsible for habit formation from an evolutionary, neurobiological perspective.
3. Participants will learn to engage the brain's reward center to support motivation and the energy for habit change.
   
4. Participants will develop introductory level proficiency using hypnotic interventions to modify the cue-routine-reward sequence central to habit change.
5. Participants will gain familiarity applying the the habit change model to a variety of client's presenting concerns. 

This Saturday session is approved by ASCH for 6 CE hours at the advanced level.  

Dr. Alter has significant experience as a clinical health psychologist and neuropsychological consultant. He provided training for the public and professionals over 15 years.  

Dr. Alter is the Co-founder and Clinical Director at Partners in Healing of Minneapolis as well as the Institute for Brain-Behavior Integration (IBBI).   He is a Diplomate in both Clinical Health Psychology and in Clinical Hypnosis and has co-authored several publications including his most recent book Staying Sharp: the 9 Keys for Maintaining a Youthful Brain through Modern Science and Ageless Wisdom. Emmons, H. & Alter, D (2015). Simon & Schuster, New York 

Dr. Alter has been in a variety of leadership roles with the Minnesota Society of Clinical Hypnosis (MSCH) and with the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH).  He has served on the faculty for both MSCH and ASCH many times, served on the Executive Board for both societies and is a Past-President of MSCH.