San Francisco Bay Area Chapter
Monthly Meeting
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Our Mission
To Promote Employee Assistance Programs as an effective means of enhancing the well-being and productivity of employees in the workplace, and to facilitate the professional identification of Chapter members and the development of quality Employee Assistance in the San Francisco Bay Area
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March 14, 2023
Randy Kasper, LCSW, BCD, PhD
Topic:
Mental Imagery: A Tool for Short Term Interventions
Description:
Mental imagery, also known as visualization, is a tool that has been used for millennia. With the advent of mindfulness’ popularity and the growing field of mind/body approaches, it has finally taken a seat at the table of recognized and valued clinical approaches for mental health professionals. There are various settings in which mental imagery can have an impact on a client’s well-being, Understanding the whys and wherefores of when and how to use mental imagery as a short-term helping modality can be a valuable tool in any clinician’s toolbox. It is especially useful in an EAP setting wherein time-limits necessitate practical and powerful methods that clients can also practice on their own. Interestingly, many practitioners come to learn that many of their clients already practice mental imagery intuitively; having their EAP consultant validate this practice further fortifies both the client and the trusting relationship.
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Presentation Schedule:
11:30am-12:00pm - Group Introductions
12:00pm-12:10pm
Experiential exercise followed by voluntary participant sharing
12:10pm-12:25pm
Description of mental imagery's anecdotal use in various settings through the past hundred years
12:25pm-12:35pm
Academic research into Mental Imagery's efficacy
12:35pm-1:00pm
Discussion of mental imagery use with various client presentations
- includes experiential component
1:00pm-1:15pm
Techniques for creating Mental imagery exercises for EAP clients
1:15pm-1:20pm
Contraindications for Mental Imagery use
1:20pm-1:30pm
Questions and Answers
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Outline:
Background and research of mental imagery
- Academic research
- Research in the field
Current applications
- Clinical issues that have found relief through mental imagery
- Various formants of mental imagery
Experiential
- Participant exercises
- Discussion
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Bio:
Randy Kasper, LCSW BCD PhD is a board-Certified Diplomate in Clinical Social Work. She has a doctorate in Leadership.
Dr. Kasper has a background in directing several hospital-based programs, including Chemical Dependency, Eating Disorders, Domestic Violence and EAP in a community-based hospital for 15 years. She has been a professor at the Graduate School of Social Work California at CSU (Dominguez Hills and San Marcos) for 12 years where she specializes in clinical practice and internship supervision. She is on faculty as Clinical Supervisor with the American Institute for Mental Imagery where she studied and worked with the late Dr. Gerald Epstein for almost 30 years. She also taught Group Dynamics and Theory in Alliant International University’s doctoral forensic psychology program. Dr. Kasper has been with Kaiser Permanente’s EAP program since 2014. Dr. Kasper has studied and taught mental imagery for many years and was awarded 2021’s Imagery International’s Person of the Year.
She has been a featured guest on various television shows and featured in print. She is/has been on boards of the Employee Assistance Program Association (Los Angeles), Imagery International, Making Right Choices, ContinuingEdCourses.net, and National Repertory Theatre. She maintains a private practice as a therapist, trainer, and supervisor in Southern California.
She can be reached at (213) 434-07900 or through her website at www.randykasper.com
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Goals:
- Participants will become acquainted with the usefulness of Mental Imagery in clinical settings
- Participants will have learned about research into the efficacy of mental imagery for physical and mental issues
- Participants will have experience3d and processed mental imagery exercises
Objectives:
- Participants will identify 3 situations where mental imagery has been/could be indicated as a useful intervention
- Participants will be conversant with how mental imagery is used in 3 clinical situations
- Participants will identify 2 contraindications for the use of mental imagery
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Citations/References:
Epstein, G., (1989) Healing Visualizations, Bantam Books
Kahaney, P., Epstein, R. (2020) Reversing the Trauma of War, ACMI Press
Marks, D. F. (1999). Consciousness, mental imagery and action. British Journal of Psychology, 90, 567–585.
Morewedge, C. K., Huh, Y. E., & Vosgerau, J. (2010). Thought for food: Imagined consumption reduces actual consumption. Science, 330(6010), 1530–1533.
Palmiero, M., Piccardi, L., Nori, R., Palermo, L., Salvi, C., & Guariglia, C. (2016). Creativity and mental imagery. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1280.
Pylyshyn, Z. W. (1973). What the mind’s eye tells the mind’s brain: A critique of mental imagery. Psychological Bulletin, 80(1), 1–24.
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The San Francisco Chapter of the Employee Assistance Professionals Association is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to sponsor continuing education for LMFTs, LCSWs, and LPCCs and/or LEPs. The San Francisco Chapter of the Employee Assistance Professionals Association maintains responsibility for this program/course and its content. The Course meets the qualifications for 1.5 hours of continuing education credit for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and/or LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.
The San Francisco Chapter of EAPA can be reached via our website: sfbayeapa.org or by writing us at PO Box 5370 Walnut Creek, CA 94596. Contact us for any needed accommodations or to address any grievances. Our CAMFT Continuing Education Provider Number is 57003.
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- Participants will join the course on time and will remain for the entire presentation. Participants will come prepared to learn and participate openly in discussion
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Participants will be required to submit the course evaluation form before being sent a CEU certificate. Any participant with disabilities or other special needs, who need special accommodations in this course are invited to share these concerns or requests at info@sfeapa.org as soon as possible.
- Registration is required
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We welcome you all to Join our Virtual Monthly Presentation you must register by clicking the 'Register Here' box below. Each confirmed registrant will be sent a Zoom Link at some point prior to the meeting.
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2023 - 2024 Upcoming Presentations |
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April 11th - Libby Timmons - Ethics Boundaries for EAP Peers
May 9th - TBA
June 13th - Tamara Cagney, EdD, MA, BSN
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