At the end of May, Papp Ágnes and I had the chance to participate in the 30th Hypnosis Meeting, which was organised in the name of involving the new generation in scientific life. There were many Hungarian and foreign students who helped at transacting the event, and we could attend paper sessions and multiple workshops as well. I can safely say that everyone enjoyed this opportunity to learn more about hypnosis and psychotherapy, while also building valuable connections with each other, and the foremost leaders of these departments. During the conference, I had the privilege of meeting Abraham Covarrubias, who agreed to do an interview about his work and life at California Coffee Company.
Abraham's presentation at the conference
Abraham Hernández Covarrubias has a degree in psychology from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. He is a professor for both the master’s and graduate level. His passions include psychotherapy and the search to find the best intervention strategies for the clients. He has three postgraduate degrees in psychotherapy, an international certification in brief therapy by the Milton Erickson Foundation, training at seven international conferences and one world congress in France. He is the founder of the human developmental centre which practices the eleven Ericksonian principles, called Hipnocova®. He is also the creator of the diploma course: "Hypnosis and Ericksonian therapy based on the eleven principles", author of the book: "Secrets of the Successful Psychotherapy of Milton H. Erickson" which contains an introduction by Roxanna Erickson. The book contains the opinion of more than fifty experts in brief psychotherapy and hypnosis from four continents. He is a member of Mexican Psychology Council, the international team tasked with the creation of the Ericksonian manual and is recognized as a leading expert in Ericksonian therapy. Covarrubias has also been a special guest welcomed as part of the international group of experts in the magazine "TRANSES" for the editorial "Dunod", of clinical hypnosis in France.
The human developmental centre called Hipnocova®
What would you consider to be the most important thing in the profession of psychology?
I will start with clinical psychology because it is my speciality, you know. Working in this profession means to be willing to help and also involves consultations with other people. To help the others, it’s also essential to work with yourself. This means that you work on your feelings, problems and thoughts. Only after that, can you understand the clients better. In psychotherapy it is essential that you are capable of generating a good rapport with the client, which is something artistic, not a structure. I also developed some techniques that involve biorapport. You can copy different things, like using the same language, their posture and the way of breathing, which can generate rapport. But when you have bad experiences in your life and you work with those, you go through a mental growing-up. If you experienced bad things in your life, you can imagine what problems the patients have to cope with, so you can understand them better. If you do not work with yourself, it will be complicated to help other people. It’s not impossible, but when you work on yourself you will have more strategies that you can use during the therapy, which will create a more successful treatment of your client. It is one of the profession’s most important things. The other concept that has to be mentioned is the relation and partnership with other professionals. They can teach you about techniques, strategies and different interventions for using models. Psychology needs to know the models of psychotherapy, needs to know Freud, committed behaviour, because it can show the best way to help others. It is a combination of art, because you work and your aim is to make rapport with other people in combination with science. Scientific research has to be emphasised because psychology has theories, not laws. It’s not like engineering where you have a concrete laws like - Newton’s - that you have to follow and use to solve the problem. The other thing that you must know is your limit of intervention; know the best elements which will lead you to do your best in connection with your work. Also take the ethical aspects of psychology seriously. What a person who wants to practice psychotherapy, needs to understand is human beings and the models of psychotherapy. They will also need to have experience, which comes with time, of course. All of the experiences are necessary to grow up step by step. With a combination of this and knowledge you can have a successful profession in clinical psychology. As far as the other areas are concerned, I would mention passion. It sounds general but if you feel passion you feel energy. If you feel passion, you will be able to reach your goals. For example, if you do not sleep enough because you have to work a lot, but you are happy because that period is very successful for you, you do your work passionately. It can be also positive, for example when you have to do research for your university. One of the most essential things you can develop is passion.
When did psychology become your passion?
It is an interesting question – (laughing) -. When I was a child, I once used a car for playing. I took it and then I was just observing because I did this movement- (demonstrates)- and things just happened. And I wondered: How could these things happen? How can the car work with those elements or function in that way? Then I got out of the car and tried to figure out its motor functions, the motor and what its mechanical processes are. What is more, I am very curious what a positive attribute for psychology is. You know I also have a degree in engineering which was my first career, but one day I started to think about the functions of people. I wanted to discover the human functions. It was interesting for me because mechanical things usually are not regarded to be easy but I realised that discovering the mind is maybe more complicated, which was very interesting for me. I wondered why a person behaved the way that they did with their family and friends. When did I see psychology as an option? I wanted to study it because I needed answers for my questions. I reached that point when I was 18-20 years old.
How did you find out about Ericksonian Therapy?
When I was studying psychology, around the end of university when I obtained my diploma master’s degree, I started to study different models, like Gestalt model, NLP (neuro-linguistic programming), classical hypnosis, and Ericksonian hypnosis. I haven’t heard a lot about Erickson during my studies at university. When I heard about Erickson, I became very curious. This man discovered a lot of things about human functions, but Erickson did not explain how. He was like an oriental master, if you asked him something, he answered with metaphors. Every pupil of his communicated the same way he did. He was a great therapist He had a way of profoundly changing a patient, which I greatly admired, and wanted to delve into. How did he do it? How did he generate that change in such a short time? I was very curious. I started to read books and found authors who wrote about him. Then went to the congress in Mexico, where his disciples performed. I was just watching and listening and took a lot of photos –(laughing). It was an interesting way to learn more about Erickson. When I heard about his methods something stirred up my interests to give an appropriate answer to your question.
Can you talk about psychology’s situation in Mexico?
Normally, in Mexico a clinical psychologist works in different places like in educational institutions, in private or in group, retirement homes, homes for disabled people, private consultation, or clinical areas of the government. As a clinical psychologist, you can work in these centres and you can also work with consultants part time. These will give you valuable experience that you can use to evolve as a psychologist. Industrial and organizational psychologists work in industries and different companies and it is a booming area of psychology at present. There is also a huge necessity for clinical psychotherapists in schools and in other social areas.
Do people take it seriously, I mean going to the psychologist?
Nowadays, yes. Younger people take it seriously, some of the old people do not. The views in connection with psychotherapy are changing. In the past People believed that you only go to a therapist if you are crazy, psychotic, or neurotic. That was in the past, but nowadays most people who go to psychology are there because of their own decision. There are those who are obligated by the government to go to a therapist because they have behavioural problems, for example an aggressive partner can cause serious harm to another person. These people need help, which they can get with the the help of institutes and the government. But on the other hand, regarding most cases, it is considered normal to have a therapeutist. It is the usual perception nowadays
How can different cultures effect the success of the therapy? For example, what differences can occur between a Mexican and Chinese person?
Cultural background is a relevant thing. In Mexico you can find differences between the cities as well. For example, I lived in Mexico City, which is the capital of the country and it is very diverse. The social beliefs are very different from the other towns in Mexico. Nowadays I live in Jalisco which is not like that. In Jalisco the people are more religious. They follow the laws of that religion and they take it strictly while in Mexico City they not. You can find a lot of different people in the capital. For example in Mexico City, homosexuality is more accepted, it will probably be possible for them to get married civic way which would be a problem in more conservative cities. You need to be aware of these differences to understand people, to know how they function, what their beliefs are. Only then you can create a rapport that takes these into consideration. If you meet a Chinese person, it’s a completely different situation, of course. You have to understand the way the person wants to manage their lives. Other important thing is that beliefs are not only social concepts, they can be affected by family as well, because customs are quite different in every family. All of them have different ways that they use to communicate, they do not have the same traditions, nor neither beliefs. When you do an intervention you have to understand the context, too. It’s because you will generate change in the behaviour of the person. He or she will systematically influence the other members of the family or friends When someone changes, it will generate a positive or negative feedback from their friends and family. In psychotherapy, your clients want to achieve a change in their lives and you can help them find the best way to do it.
How can we prevent burnout related to professions?
Burnout is in relation with stress, and it is a huge problem nowadays. I think the best way to prevent it is to find equilibrium. You work a lot all day, which generates stress and distress, that can cause serious problems. That’s why it can be useful to calm down, lower your stress level and relax for a bit. You need to practice other activities which compensate for the stress and anxiety of your everyday life. Like walking in the street, meeting up with your friends, going out into the city, practicing yoga or anything you need. Your body gives you signals and you will know when it is necessary to release stress. You just need to listen to your body and your feelings. If you do not feel well, you are tired, anxious or you detect other negative feelings, then it is time for you to stop and find the best way to prevent burnout. If you continue working it will cause negative effects, obviously. You have to know your limits and the point where you cannot resist anymore. Release is a response to feeling burnt out. You have to open your eyes and look at what is happening around you. Life is not only about work. And if you cannot handle this problem, you will need professional help to find equilibrium again.
What are your plans for the future?
I want to do more research, because I always get an answer to a question, so it is very interesting. I would like to continue working on the project about the 11 principles of Milton Erickson. I am sure I will continue to do that with passion. Moreover, nowadays I have a lot of questions in connection with relationships and their changes, the differences between the modern and the younger generation, whose behaviour is changing. I would like to know what is the cause of that change? I also want to know more about our relationship with technology. Ten years, which was not a so ago, there were no significant technological changes, like today. The approach related the progress of time has changed and we need to adapt to that kind of change which can be a complicated process. I think people maybe committing more mistakes because technology is faster than humans. On the other hand, we need to learn from these mistakes and leave things that are not good for us and only spread the useful ones. I am really interested in hypnosis because I think it should be a more common form of therapy. Using therapeutic interventions can cause fast and incredible changes. There were people who who live with twenty-year long psychosomatic problems and one session could change their lives. I think that hypnosis will be more extended. What is more, neuropsychologists can find out more about the exact functions of parts of our brains and the mechanisms of hypnosis, it will explain a lot of phenomenal things. In this Congress in Hungary we had the chance to see this kind of research with different studies from different countries only to mention Mark Jensen’s explanation of brain functions in trance. In the past people considered hypnosis as some mysterious, magical thing but at present we need to understand its benefits, because it can be a powerful strategy to help others as well. It is my plan and I hope that I can develop the eleven principles to perfection. I would like to make every principle ready to be given to the professionals as a strategy to help others and I also want to continue evolving as a psychologist and search for the answers of my questions about life.
Moreover, I am planning to continue teaching 11 principles model around the world through Hipnocova, which is a center that I have founded and in which I have developed a program used for teaching this model to practice Ericksonian and clinical hypnosis with professionals like psychologists, doctors, social workers and everyone who help people. I consider that 11 principles model is one of the best models for understanding and teaching Ericksonian/hypnosis Therapy.
If you would like to get more information you can contact with Abraham Covarrubias through social media by Hipnocova or its website www.hipnocova.com or by e-mail: abrahamhc2@hotmail.com
Abraham Covarrubias has participated as a lecturer and facilitator of workshops twenty times in the last four years, in both national and international conferences. I believe his enthusiasm for life and for his occupation can serve as an inspiration and an example for all of us.
Written by Boglárka Zách, ELTE - Illyés Sándor Szakkollégium
