Our Unique Method

Brief, Effective & Scientifically Validated Treatment

At The Bateson Clinic ® we provide Brief Strategic Therapy the most innovative form of psychological therapy currently available. We are best known for our specialist treatment and success with Anxiety, Phobias and Eating Disorders.

Designed and scientifically tested through 50 years of international clinical research with over 30,000 clinical cases, in 85 Clinics in Ireland and Europe and USA, our model has proven time and time again, to be the most effective solution currently available to treat some of the most debilitating psychological and relational problems. This Model of therapy allows us to resolve your concern, briefly and effectively and is scientifically proven in research

Frequency of treatment: you will normally attend for 2 sessions per month in the first few appointments. Then we space our sessions out to monthly. Most of our cases have been resolved within 7-10 sessions of therapy. When therapy has concluded, we then provide a 3-month 6 month and 1 year follow up service, which is completely free of charge. This is done to ensure that the changes sought are being maintained and helps us in being more effective with future patients.

The History of Our Work

In recent years The Bateson Clinic’s colleague Professor Giorgio Nardone from the Department of Medicine in Sienna University Italy and Professor at The Strategic Therapy Centre Arezzo has managed this worldwide clinical research project. The result of these massive clinical research projects has been the formulation of specific, effective treatment protocols and advanced intervention models, for the brief treatment of specific clinical problems such as:

• Depression
• Anger management
• All Anxiety and phobic disorders
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• Hypochondria
• Sexual Problems
• Eating Disorders, Anorexia, Bulimia, Binge Eating, Vomiting
• Body Dysmorphia
• Child And Family Based Problems
• Couple and relationship Based Problems

The Bateson Clinic’s® View on Psychological Problems

In its most basic form, we believe that psychological and relational problems arise during human’s interactions, between themselves, others and the world. Once a problem arises in any of these contexts, then it is often the attempt at solving the problem that worsens and complicates the problem. Once this solution is applied and reapplied it usually involves other people and other problems after numerous unsuccessful attempts to solve the problem are applied we can find that this can be the point that the problem becomes pathological, that is it produces a rigid and structured problem that seems impossible to solve.

What is Brief Strategic Therapy

The Theoretical Basis For The Work At The Bateson Clinic®

Brief Strategic Therapy is a scientifically verified treatment, which involves the use of highly refined clinical interventions, which achieve the maximum results, that is (complete problem solution) in the quickest time possible. Brief Strategic Therapy is based on using (55 years) of scientifically tested and rigorous logical interventions that draw on psychology, communication and linguistic theory primarily although not exclusively.

Without going into a long detailed history of our technique, BST draws primarily on the work of Professor Gregory Bateson using his work on communication theory developed in the anthropological field; Constructivist developments of cybernetic theory (Dr. Heinz von Foerster, and Dr. Ernst von Glasersfeld); Dr. Milton Erickson’s studies on the language of change and on the work of the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto, California under, Professor Paul Watzlawick of Stanford Medical School, and on the clinical work of Dr. John Weakland, Dr. Richard Fisch and Dr. Don Jackson. Some of these clinicians became known as the MRI (Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto, California) also some were known as The Bateson group and these creative clinicians widened and systematized communication and psychological theory and applied its principles to resolving human problems briefly. Now advanced contributions to the evolution of this has been pioneered by Professor Giorgio Nardone in Arezzo and through the research on OCD and Postnatal Depression by Dr. Gibson at The Bateson Clinic.

Our Research Evidence

The empirical-experimental research of the Brief strategic intervention protocols developed for specific clinical problems has led to the creation of the advanced Brief Strategic Therapy Model. This model’s success in the clinical field has also lead to researching its effects in other contexts such as educational, business and social contexts. The outcome of this work constitutes the elaboration of new specific protocols, techniques and strategies, for solving particular types of human problems and represents a revolutionary school of thought in Psychology and Psychotherapy.

Brief, Effective Problem Resolution

In helping you solve the problem we basically intervene with you or your family to help you to stop applying unsuccessful solutions and to find effective solutions with us. This is done by gently trying new ideas that usually involve very little effort and often require that you or your family make no change at all in your behavior or thinking in the initial stages of treatment. Through scientific research (see our 52 pages of Books and scientific research written on this process) this method has proven to be rapid, effective, and brief and in treating anxiety and eating disorders represents the most effective model currently available

We do not believe in providing long drawn out therapy that can take years. We want to assist you in resolving your problem as quickly and effectively as possible and allow you get on with your life!

At The Bateson Clinic, Treatment is usually divided in to the following stages:

1. Assessing what problem the person or family wants to resolve
2. A full and comprehensive analysis of any failed attempted solutions to date
3. Application of our unique treatment over the course of 2 sessions per month with a maximum of 8 sessions (although in practice most problems are resolved before the 8th session)
4. We then measure the effects of our work with our clients and assess how well the problem has been solved
5. End of treatment only happens when the client is fully satisfied with the outcome
6. Final stage is a FREE OF CHARGE, brief, 3-month; 6 month and 1 year check up/meeting with ALL patients to ensure that the problem has been fully resolved