Making Psychotherapy More Effective with Subconscious Process Work
A client decides to change something. They mean it. Two weeks later nothing is different and they are ashamed about it as well. Dan Short’s starting point is that this is not a motivation problem: conscious intention does not update automatic behaviour, and when an unconscious goal conflicts with a conscious one, the unconscious goal wins. Conscious attention arrives in bursts of a few minutes. The other process runs all day and through the night.
Most therapy talks to the part of the mind that is not driving. This course teaches four techniques that reach the other part, and the useful thing about all four is that they are delivered in ordinary conversation. If you have trained in hypnosis they work inside it too, but none of that is required and he says so directly.
Six hours, one technique per lesson. Prediction, where a well-placed statement about what is going to happen sets an unconscious goal in motion. Reimagining. Mental contrasting, holding the wanted state against the unwanted one until the difference does the work. And incubated cognition, which is the reason solutions arrive in the shower rather than at the desk, used deliberately rather than left to luck. Running underneath all four is his account of insight as a two-phase process: rejecting the status quo, then seeing what could be different. Stop at the first phase and a client is left in conflict with whatever they have identified, which he argues is a fair description of a lot of stalled therapy.
You’ll walk away with
- Why conscious goals fail to shift automatic behaviour, and what that means for how you set goals with a client
- Prediction: what to say, when it works, and how it sets an unconscious goal without instruction
- Reimagining, and how to use it with a client who cannot picture anything different
- Mental contrasting, including how to run it with a client who wants to replace one emotional state with another
- Incubated cognition used on purpose, so the insight arrives rather than being waited for
- Insight in two phases, and why stopping at the first one leaves a client stuck and in conflict
- Working collaboratively rather than directively, and how that protects against unhealthy dependency
- Delivering all of it in ordinary conversation, with no hypnosis training required
- Where the ethical line sits on advice-giving, and what to do when a client is in danger
- Why validation from another person is what makes a new reality hold
Watch the course trailer
CPD Information For Mental Health Professionals
Enjoy complete flexibility with 100% self-paced learning you can access anytime, anywhere, and on any device. This course is included with your Tatra Training membership, along with every other course in the library.
No hypnosis training required. All four techniques are delivered in ordinary conversation. If you have trained in hypnosis they work inside it as well.
Where this sits: the practical entry point to Dan Short’s unconscious process work. Ericksonian Choice Architecture and Healing Implicit Trauma take the same thinking in different directions.
Course Duration: 6 learning hours
Certificate and CPD hours: On completion you’ll receive a Certificate of Completion to support your CPD records. Your certificates are yours to keep.
Assessment: Complete a short quiz at the end of each lesson (80% pass mark), which you can resit as many times as needed.
Revisit Anytime: Come back to the course as often as you like while your membership is active, whenever you want a refresher for practice.
CPD Eligibility: This program may be suitable for CPD for professionals such as:
- Psychologists
- Counsellors and Psychotherapists
- Social Workers
- Community Workers
- Mental Health Nurses
- General Practitioners (GPs)
- Occupational Therapists
CPD requirements vary between professional bodies, so please check with your association or credentialing body to confirm you can claim CPD hours/OPD points for this program and what evidence they require.
Course Content
Meet Your Instructor
Traditional therapy approaches that rely heavily on conscious insight can miss the profound healing potential that emerges when clinicians learn to work with clients' unconscious resources. Dan Short has spent over three decades mastering the art and science of Ericksonian hypnosis, becoming one of the world's leading authorities on unconscious process work and brief therapeutic interventions.
As Director of the Milton H. Erickson Institute of Phoenix and Executive Director of the Phoenix Institute of Ericksonian Therapy, Dr. Short represents the direct lineage of Milton Erickson's revolutionary approach to psychotherapy. His book Hope and Resiliency, co-authored with Betty Alice Erickson and Roxanna Erickson Klein, has been translated into seven languages and stands as a definitive guide to Ericksonian principles. His extensive research includes over 1,500 hours studying the original Erickson archives, giving him unparalleled insight into the master therapist's methods.
Dr. Short's expertise spans Ericksonian hypnosis, brief therapy, domestic violence treatment, trauma therapy, and couples/family therapy. His approach demonstrates how therapeutic relationships themselves become vehicles for transformation when practitioners learn to engage clients' unconscious wisdom. He specialises in showing clinicians how small shifts in language, timing, and therapeutic presence can create profound changes that bypass conscious resistance and accelerate healing.
What sets his training apart is depth combined with practical application. Short doesn't just teach hypnotic techniques - he shows practitioners how to cultivate the therapeutic artistry that makes Ericksonian approaches so effective. His international teaching at institutes in France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, and Japan gives him cross-cultural insights into how unconscious processes operate across diverse populations.
For your practice, expect to gain specific skills in therapeutic hypnosis, tools for accessing clients' unconscious resources, and frameworks for creating transformational therapeutic relationships. His methods particularly benefit clinicians who want to move beyond symptom-focused approaches to facilitate deeper, more lasting change.
Quick Win: Short's "therapeutic choice architecture" technique helps clinicians structure conversations so clients naturally discover their own solutions - often creating breakthrough insights that traditional directive approaches miss.
Qualifications
- Ph.D., Counseling Psychology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2000
- M.A., Counseling, University of North Texas, 1993
- APA-accredited internship, Houston, TX, 1996
- Licensed Clinical Psychologist
- Nearly 30 years of clinical experience
- Over 1,500 hours of research in Milton Erickson archives
Authored Books
- Making Psychotherapy More Effective with Unconscious Process Work (2020)
- From William James to Milton Erickson: The Care of Human Consciousness (2020)
- Transformational Relationships (2010, Zeig, Tucker & Theisen)
- Hope and Resiliency (2005, co-author with Betty Alice Erickson & Roxanna Erickson Klein, Crown House Publishing, translated into Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian)
Teaching & Roles
- Director, Milton H. Erickson Institute of Phoenix
- Executive Director, Phoenix Institute of Ericksonian Therapy
- Adjunct Faculty, International Society of Hypnosis (ISH) Educational Board
- Clinical Instructor, Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine
- Visiting Faculty, Various Ericksonian Institutes Worldwide
- Former Associate Director, Milton H. Erickson Foundation
- Former Executive Editor, Milton H. Erickson Foundation Newsletter (5 years)
Professional Practice
- Private Practice Psychologist, Scottsdale, AZ, 2003–present
- Clinical Supervisor, Graduate interns, various programs, ongoing
- Former Graduate Faculty Member, Argosy University
- Consultation groups for professionals, Phoenix metropolitan area
Featured Publications
- Multiple professional articles, book chapters, treatment manuals
- Blog author, Behavior.net
- Collaborative author, SAGE Encyclopedia of Counselling and Theory
- Academic researcher with extensive publications in professional journals
Speaking & Training
- International conference faculty worldwide
- Milton H. Erickson Foundation conference presenter
- Visiting faculty: France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Japan
- YouTube presentations on Ericksonian therapy
- Global educational workshops and seminars
Ready to unlock your clients' unconscious healing resources? Discover how Dr. Short's Ericksonian methods can transform your therapeutic presence and help clients access profound change through their own innate wisdom.
Feedback & Reviews
This course includes:
- Lessons 5
- Topics 0
- Duration 6 hours
- Quizzes 4
- Language English