Many of my colleagues and I have found that rather than spending the traditional 45-50 minutes of talk therapy once a week, that by spending longer, intensive sessions, we can accomplish a great deal more, more efficiently and more effectively.
When one meets once a week, there is a lot of crisis intervention and catching up. That is, we have to review the relatively minor things that happened from day to day, rather than focusing on the main reason for treatment. Not that these things aren’t important, but they take away from the task at hand.
There is no question in my mind that we can therefore accomplish a lot more in 100-150 minutes in one visit than we could ever accomplish once a week in 2-3 visits.
I meet with the parents alone, first, for an extended visit, in order to gain a complete medical and psychological history.
And, since I pride myself on brief therapy, the typical patient shows significant improvement after 3-4 visits (not including the parent visit).
This does not mean, of course, that a complete cure is expected after only a few visits. With biobehavioral conditions, one never knows how soon the results will take place.
At the last visit, when the patient has achieved his or her goal, we have what I like to call the “reward” or the “dessert visit.” At this visit, the patient is told something like, “Since you’ve accomplished your goal, what else would you like to work on today?” For example, I see a lot of athletes, and, someone might want to work on shooting a basket, or passing, or dribbling a basketball. I want the patients to learn that rather than simply taking a temporary pill, this offers them a lifetime skill. And, I want them to learn how to apply their new skills and techniques to other aspects of their lives.
Typically there is no charge for phone calls. Because he feels it is important to provide personal, individualized service, Dr. Lazarus does not use e-mail to communicate with patients and parents.
Please feel free to call Dr. Lazarus to discuss the fee schedule directly : 650-322-5333
More Medical Hypnosis FAQs
1. Is medical hypnosis covered by my insurance?
2. How often do you see the patients? How soon can we expect results?