Provocative Therapy is a system of psychotherapy in which the therapist
plays the devil's advocate, siding with the negative half of the
client's ambivalence toward his life's goals, his relationships,
work and the structures within which he lives. The therapist also
plays the 'Satanic' role by facetiously agreeing with the doom and
gloom feelings and expectations of the client, and "tempting"
him to continue his "sinning," his self-defeating attitudes
and behavioural patterns.
The purpose of this therapy is to change the client. One of the
therapist's main tools to implement this change is warm-hearted
humour in its varied forms -- exaggeration, irony, self-deprecation,
Daliesque absurdities, etc. With a twinkle in his eye, a smile playing
about his lips, and genially employing the style of affectionate
banter between friends, the therapist uses humour both to sensitize
and desensitize the client to problematic cognitive, affective,
and behavioural patterns.
This is the key to Provocative Therapy -- humour.
Jocular, whimsical, caring, supportive humour. The root meaning of
provocative is pro + vocare, to "call out", and there are
five different types of behaviours that are "called out"
in the client in this approach. Every single interview with every
single client does not elicit all five of these, but each interview
with each client demonstrates at least some of these five. The client,
then, is provoked by the therapist to:
Affirm his self-worth,
both verbally and behaviourally.
Assert himself
appropriately both in task performances and relationships.
Defend himself
realistically.
Engage in psycho-social
reality testing and learn the necessary discriminations to respond
adaptively. Global perceptions lead to global, stereotyped responses;
differentiated perceptions lead to adaptive responses.
Engage in risk-taking
behaviours in personal relationships, especially communicating
affection and vulnerability to significant others with immediacy
as they are authentically experienced by the client.
The assumptions of Provocative
Therapy
People change and grow in response
to challenge
Clients can change if they choose to
do so
Clients have far more potential for
achieving adaptive productive and socialised modes of living than
they or most clinicians assume
The psychological fragility of clients
is vastly overrated by both themselves and by others
Client's maladaptive unproductive antisocial
attitudes and behaviours can be drastically altered. However severe
or chronic
Adult or current experiences are at
least as significant as childhood or previous experiences, if not
more so, in shaping client's values, attitudes and behaviours.
The client's behaviour with a therapist
is a relatively accurate reflection of his or her habitual patterns
of social and interpersonal relationships
People make sense; the human animal
is exquisitely logical and understandable.
The most important messages between
people are nonverbal.
“If you think I’m
wild, you should meet Frank!”-
Dr Richard Bandler
"The first NLP trainings I ever attended
represented a massive paradigm shift for me. So did spending 4 days
in a workshop with Frank Farrelly. I've been studying NLP since
the mid-90s, and have trained with lots of people, but Frank Farrelly
was a whole new ballgame. His approach is extraordinary: he combines
warmth and humour with an unerring ability to uncover the real issues
that limit a someone, then takes the person into new territory -
a territory where it becomes more & more difficult for them
to hold onto their problems. He is able to say the unsayable, and
manages to meet people at their model of the world so completely,
that they move themselves in a positive direction. Farrelly embodies
so many of the presuppositions of NLP (meet people at their map
of the world, everyone has all the resources they need, people aren't
broken so they don't need fixing), yet puts it all together in a
way that is fresh and invigorating. Perhaps not so surprising when
you realise the extent to which Grinder and Bandler were influenced
by him (people who have trained with Bandler will be amazed at how
much of what shows up in Bandler's output originated with Frank
- experiencing the source was quite uncanny). Frank has been practicing
Provocative Therapy (the field he created) since the 1960s, and
has an enviable track record (with clear-up rates of more than 90%
for clients suffering from everything from obesity to schizophrenia).
His teaching style is funny and engaging, and his client work is
awesome (as well as being hilarious). If you get even a sniff of
a chance to see Frank Farrelly, take it!"
- Jamie smart, Director of training, Salad Ltd.
Dates: 1st / 2nd November 2008
Price: £549 plus VAT (includes exclusive
Provocative Therapy Manual) Early Bird Price: £459 plus VAT (includes
exclusive Provocative Therapy Manual) Venue:The Oueens Hotel,
Leeds (2 mins walk of Leeds Station) view
maphotel
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