Bob Stahn

Sinister and Dexter? It is actually a name that I have given a cognitive exercise that I have found very useful in my clinical practice. It helps my client to be able to better dispute faulty beliefs. The exercise starts by drawing a line from the top of a page to the bottom. At the top of right side I label “Right” and above the left side I write “Left.” I review with my client that there are several synonyms for the word “right” and then I write a few of them near the column heading of “Right” (i.e., correct, true, etc.). I then write the opposites of the synonyms near the “Left” heading (i.e., wrong, false, etc.).

Some brief therapy techniques have helped my practice to become much more efficient. The one I use the most is the “Miracle” list that I create with my clients in the first or second session. This is how I introduce the concept: “I’d like you to envision a miracle. And the miracle is that suddenly (because you wake up or you sneeze or something) your life has become perfect. It is exactly as you would like it to be. Then, how would you know that the miracle happened? What would be different so that you knew that the miracle indeed happened?”