An "Hour of the Heart" in an Era of Chaos: Clinical Strategies

PROFESSIONALS WORKING IN MENTAL HEALTH FIELDS are working under conditions of unprecedented pressure given the current sociopolitical climate. There is a longing for guidance, frameworks, and tools to work effectively with clients and to manage our own fears and anxieties. Irving Yalom’s book, Hour of the Heart, offers a roadmap.

Anyone who has become a mental health professional in the last fifty years has been influenced by Yalom’s ideas. In Hour of the Heart, written at 89 years old, during the COVID pandemic, he chronicles his experiment offering single-session virtual consultations to clients: a model of therapy that fits a man, still brimming with wisdom, who can’t recall what happened yesterday. Would there be anything useful he could offer in a single hour? What can any clinician do when they feel so oppressed by circumstances?Hour of the Heart provides a succinct touchstone with his key clinical concepts--instillation of hope, tapping the power of the here and now, universality--and explores new uses for authentic self-disclosure and humility during hard times.

In this three-session reading group--Thursdays, February 12, 19 and 26th--we will read, reflect, and discuss Hour of the Heart, distilling lessons we can apply to our clinical work. We will use these discussions as a springboard for grappling with our own evolving professional identities. How do we use self-disclosure strategically? What is authenticity? How do we tap the power of the here-and-now? Can clients ask us personal questions?

PREREQUISITES

Participants meet on Thursdays in February (2/12, 2/19, 2/26, noon to 1:30 pm all days). We will read chapters 1 - 7 before February 12; chapters 8 - 15 before February 19; and chapters 16-22 before February 26. Participants receive some CEU credit for reading.

OBJECTIVES

By the end of this virtual book group, facilitated by Wayne Scott, MA, LCSW, participants will:

1. Situate Yalom’s ideas about clinical practice within today's sociopolitical context;
2. Distill the core existential questions of his book and their relevance to our own clinical practices: How does he use his own suffering strategically? What is the role of clinical intuition? How does he utilize self-disclosure to maximize healing?
3. Renew their energy for the work through supportive camaraderie with other clinicians;
4. Use reflective journaling, reading, dialogue, and mindfulness practices (breathing, stretching, and meditation) to strengthen emotional presence; and
5. Reimagine their purpose and professional vision in light of global upheaval.

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Six continuing education units through the National Association of Social Workers (Oregon).

BIPOC REPARATIONS DISCOUNT: If you identify as a BIPOC, you are entitled to a 25% discount.

FORMER STUDENT OR SUPERVISEE DISCOUNT: If you were a student in Wayne Scott's university classes, or a professional in clinical supervision or consultation with him (currently, or in the past), there is a 25% discount.

MILITARY DISCOUNT: If you are currently or previously served in the military, or are a miltary spouse, there is a 25% discount.

Contact the EVENT ORGANIZER at the bottom of the page for discount codes.

Since 1989 Wayne Scott, MA, LCSW has worked with youth and adults in outpatient, residential, and hospital settings in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Portland, OR and he currently maintains a private consulting and psychotherapy practice in Portland, Oregon. For over twenty years he has provided clinical supervision to social workers, family therapists, counselors, and addiction specialists and during the same time has taught clinical ethics at Portland State University and throughout Oregon. He writes frequently for The Psychotherapy Networker. His essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Sun, Huffington Post, and Poets and Writers, among others. In addition to an MA in clinical social work from The University of Chicago, he has an MFA (Creative Writing) from The American University in Washington, D.C.