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Newly Published Evidence Based Research Study of CCT Conducted by The George Washington University - Milken Institute School of Public Health.

April 8, 2020 - We are profoundly grateful for, and honored by, the dedication and hard work of Dr. Amita Vyas, her research assistant Breahnna Saunders, and research scientist Nitasha Nagaraj, whose study of CCT was published on March 23, 2020 in the peer reviewed, Journal of Public Health International. Please click on the title below to read the full, academic article.

A Qualitative Assessment of an Innovative Suicide Prevention and Treatment Approach: Contextual-Conceptual Therapy

Dr. Vyas is a tenured Associate Professor and Director of the Maternal and Child Health Program in the Department of Prevention and Community Health, at The George Washington University, Milken Institute School of Public Health. At the age of 20, Professor Vyas journeyed to Calcutta to work alongside Mother Teresa in the Missionaries of Charity. While there, she saw what the social determinants of health and well-being really mean to vulnerable populations, and from that extraordinary experience decided to pursue a career in public health.

November, 2019 CCT Training Workshops for Professionals in Ireland (register below)

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Level 1: Introductory CCT Training Workshop for Professionals
A NEW CONTEXTUALIZATION of SUICIDE: SUICIDE
PERIVENTION 
(An “Upstream” Approach to Complement Suicide
Prevention)

  • explain suicide as “context-bound” identity crisis as opposed to an illness

  • contextualize the paradoxical context of the suicidal person

  • make clear how suicidal feelings are a symptom and not the problem

  • define the theory of the bifurcated self and its implications for therapy with the suicidal person

  • understand the metaphorical “language” of suicide

(Level One training completed by the HSE National Counselling Service in CHO 5, as well as CIPC counsellors.)

Level 2: Advanced CCT Training Workshop for Professionals (after completion of Level 1)
A NEW CONCEPTUALIZATION of SUICIDE: THE INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
(Suicide’s Visuo-spatial Cartography: the visual perception of spatial relationships) 

  • review as a group the CCT Introductory/ Level One Concepts 

  • explore individually (as a group) the use in their practices of CCT concepts & worksheets

  • explain contextually-conceptually The Context Map in “storyline” form

  • understand and personalize The Hope Bridge Map from “you” to YOU

  • study The 7-Step Suicidal Algorithm™ in a frame-by-frame contextual-conceptual progression 

KING 5 New Day Northwest Interview with Fredric Matteson

August 29, 2017 - NBC Seattle affiliate KING 5 television news show New Day Northwest hosts Fredric Matteson for a discussion on the myths and truths of suicide.

About Fredric Matteson

Fredric Matteson works in private practice with clients who experience recurrent suicidal thinking, as well as depressed persons who may complain of feeling trapped, stuck, and/or lost, and people who experience ongoing deep despair and hopelessness.

For 25 years Fredric worked as a therapist with over 16,000 suicidal patients on an inpatient mental health unit primarily for suicidal clients. During that time, Fredric  created an educational program for helping suicidal persons called: Contextual-Conceptual Therapy: Guiding the Suicidal Patient using Maps, Models, & Metaphors. 

READ MORE!


Read Scotland CCT Associate Carolyn Wood's article "Suicide Therapy"

Carolyn Wood - CCT Scotland

Carolyn Wood - CCT Scotland

The thrust of the CCT Level One Training workshop was that suicide is not something we need to medicalize and try ‘to get rid of’.  Instead we need to go where the person is—where they are trapped.  The client themselves directs us there, through their metaphoric language—their words/pictures/signals, and we, the therapist, need to hear, see and follow these, rather than ignore or treat them (the signals) as ‘madness’.

In CCT, suicide is seen as an identity crisis. The person is struggling between their two ‘selves’—who they are trying not to be (who think they are, as in the ‘bad’ person) and who they are trying to be (the ‘perfect’ or ‘good’ person).  But the reality is that neither is the TRUTH—they are based on intrapersonal views of what they believe to be their self.  (Read the full article here.)

Listen to Dublin, Ireland's RTÉ Radio interview with Fredric Matteson

Continuing Education and Workshops with Conceptual-Contextual Therapy

Our CCT workshops are open to all - psychotherapists, counselors, students, and anyone interested in learning how to guide the suicidal person using the maps, models and metaphors of Contextual-Conceptual Therapy. To learn more, please visit our workshops page. If you are interested in bringing the CCT team to your community, please contact us here.

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97.3 KIRO FM Radio Interview w/ host Linda Thomas & the CCT Team

SUICIDE: THE SPLIT BETWEEN SELF and REALITY
By Linda Thomas | Seattle's Morning News | 97.3 KIRO FM

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Junior Seau’s apparent suicide stunned sports fans and former teammates who recalled the former NFL star’s ferocious tackles and habit of calling everyone around him “Buddy.”

It also left people wondering what led to Seau’s death, an apparent suicide at the age of 43.

An autopsy report expected today probably won’t give family members the explanation they’re looking for.

We all want answers after a suicide.

James Hayes has been a local mental health therapist for 30 years, and he can’t count the number of times he’s heard things like....  Read More


Press Release: University of Essex, Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies

University of Essex, Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies (CPS); North Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, (NEPFT) and Care Services Improvement Partnership, (CSIP).

"..The principle theme and discussion at the conference centered on a completely new approach to working with suicidal individuals being pioneered in Seattle called CCT – Contextual-Conceptual Therapy.”  

Read More


Testimonials

"There has never been a therapy specifically for suicide, until today."

- David Olive, Ph.D. 
Lead psychologist (retired), 
National Health Service of England

 

“I have been fortunate to have observed many masters of the craft in action, including Carl Rogers, Michael Balint, Carl Whitaker, Fritz Perls, Victor Frankl, and Albert Ellis.  However, Fredric Matteson is unique in his background and approach.” 

- Tom Rusk, MD, Senior Psychiatrist

Penobscot Community Health Care
Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
Distinguished Life Fellow American Psychiatric Association
Featured Guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show

Author of the bestselling Books: "The Power of Ethical Persuasion",
"Get Out of Your Own Way"; "I Want To Change But I Don't Know How"

 

"The importance of Matteson's discovery for gaining a deeper insight into the lived experience of suicidality cannot be overstated."

- Daniel Deardorff
Author of The Other Within: The Genius of Deformity In Myth, Culture & Psyche


Contextual-Conceptual Therapy Center

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Contextual-Conceptual Therapy (CCT) Center's main office is conveniently located on beautiful Lake Union in Seattle, where CCT founder, Fredric Matteson meets with private clients (individuals, couples, families) for therapy. He also leads a series of CCT groups for adults, teens, and families. Some of the groups are co-led with his office partner, Dr. Sunida Bintasan, a Seattle area Adolescent/Child/Adult psychiatrist with over 30 years experience. The individual and group sessions address issues of despair, hopelessness, and/or suicidal thinking (non-emergency situations only).

Please CONTACT US for more information or to schedule an appointment.

Fredric Matteson's role as an educator in the field of suicide prevention is to help others:

To understand the context of suicide before the core problem can be addressed 

  • To help teach others about the phenomenon of suicide (and its phenomena)

  • To offer and help implement an educational program derived from the suicidal persons' own unique language, their uncovered patterns (algorithms) and common themes

  • To view being suicidal as an opportunity to "awaken" to a new, life-changing perspective

  • To consider suicide as a spiritual crisis...a crisis of identity...a crisis of meaning

  • To explore the “language” of suicide and inter/intra-personal communication

  • To focus on what is “right” with the person- and not what is “wrong” with the person

  • To offer a visual/spatial understanding of the suicidal “territory” (including paradox and double-binds) using CCT “Maps, Models, & Metaphors”™