Ways to Embody Your Symposium Experience Jody Wager & Naomi Nim While at Symposium’s end you may feel exhilarated by all the new ideas you’ve been exposed to, that excitement may, despite your best intentions, dissipate once you return to your habitual routines. In this experiential workshop, you’ll have the opportunity to consolidate your SymposiumRead More…
Mastering the Neurobiological Waltz Janina Fisher Clients raised by neglectful and frightening caregivers may as adults find themselves living with an unconscious somatic legacy of early traumatic attachment, yearning for closeness but unable to tolerate or sustain intimacy. Even their nervous systems rebel against physical proximity to others, or can’t tolerate being without proximity. AsRead More…
It’s Not What You Think Martin Seif & Sally Winston Recent evidence suggests that unwanted intrusive thoughts (UITs) represent an unreported epidemic affecting as many as 6 million people in the US. People with UITs fear that they might act on their intrusive thoughts, or come to believe that their thoughts represent significant defects inRead More…
Advances from Brain Science and Traumatology Noel Larson Clients with personality disorders—narcissistic, borderline, antisocial, sociopathic—often have profound traumatic childhoods, which leave them without a solid inner core from which to function. Often “nudged” into treatment by others, including the law, their inability to trust and their need for power make forming a therapeutic alliance seeminglyRead More…
A Fun, Pragmatic Approach to Mindfulness Susan Kaiser Greenland While mindfulness has become a buzzword in clinics, schools, and boardrooms, many people have a hard time incorporating it into their lives. Fortunately, you can make mindfulness more accessible by using games—simple enough to share with children—to coach clients in the themes, methods, and life skillsRead More…
An Object-Relations Perspective on Depression Jon Frederickson Clients suffering from depression are often plagued with self-hatred, their self-talk a barrage of brutal attacks. Helping them heal depends on a therapist’s ability to promote positive self-regard and self-compassion by creating a bond of respect and trust. This workshop will focus on showing clients how self-attacks leadRead More…
When the Internalized Abuser Gets in the Way Amelio D’Onofrio A sad but basic fact of human psychology is that in the wake of trauma we can often internalize our abuser, adopting that person’s destructive voice and attitude as nonstop self-criticism. This punitive voice can instill negative expectations for relationships in general, and with theRead More…
The Key to Developing a Consistent Mindfulness Practice Terry Fralich Even though mindfulness has become ubiquitous in our profession, it often remains a challenge to motivate clients to bring practices into their everyday lives. In this workshop, you’ll explore a comprehensive, step-by-step approach to helping clients incorporate mindfulness into their daily routine to treat aRead More…
Harnessing a Broad-Based Approach to Change Deany Laliotis While EMDR is best known for its treatment of trauma, it has developed into a comprehensive psychotherapy approach that treats a broad spectrum of presenting issues across various clinical populations. This workshop is for practitioners who are interested in learning more about this highly effective, evidence-based approachRead More…
A Mindful Approach to Value-Based Action DJ Moran Despite the popularity of mindfulness, not all our clients want to embrace an Eastern philosophy and sit on a meditation cushion every day. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) offers a way to use the power of contemplative practice while promoting concrete and quantifiable change. In this workshop,Read More…
Applications for the Consulting Room Daniel Siegel It seems that human consciousness—dominated by the automatic survival instincts of our Stone Age ancestors—must now evolve very quickly if we wish to meet the many social and ecological challenges we face on this precious planet. What role, if any, can therapists play in shaping the emergence ofRead More…
How to Embrace Somatic Wisdom Daniel Leven Too often our focus as therapists is on our client’s verbal narrative. What happened? Where? When? We tend to neglect another powerful storyteller: the client’s body. In fact, the body records our emotional experience as adeptly as our mind. Our viscera, muscles, and nervous systems record trauma, whichRead More…
Going Beyond Acceptance to Self-Compassion Richard Schwartz Mindfulness has become a popular and useful tool in psychotherapy, but therapists too often encourage clients to adopt a passive-observer stance in therapy, as if it’s enough to just observe thoughts and emotions from a place of separation. This workshop will provide a comprehensive overview of how toRead More…
A Practical Approach Christopher Willard For too many children or teens, talk and even play therapy feels unhelpful at best, and stigmatizing at worst. But when we can effectively introduce mindfulness into our sessions, we empower kids to transform themselves, allowing them to identify and regulate their emotions and attention with fun and effective exercises.Read More…
How to Match Clients with the Right Methods Amy Weintraub Have you ever had clients try a mindfulness exercise that made them more anxious, or get emotionally flooded when you asked them to breathe deeply? What about clients who are quick to tell you, “I don’t like that breathing stuff!”? If you’re applying mind-body practicesRead More…
IFS and Our Relationships with Food and the Body Jeanne Catanzaro Mindful eating has become an increasingly popular antidote to dieting, seen as a helpful strategy for differentiating emotional from physical hunger and for encouraging self-acceptance. But eating mindfully by itself often isn’t enough to fully address the extreme beliefs and emotions about food andRead More…
Gentle Protocols for Rewiring the Brain Courtney Armstrong Hypnosis is making a comeback as research demonstrates its effectiveness in relieving anxiety, resolving traumatic memories, breaking habitual patterns, and reducing chronic pain. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to safely guide your clients into hypnotic states, effectively frame suggestions, clear subconscious blocks, and activate the client’sRead More…
Harnessing an Underutilized Therapeutic Resource Joan Klagsbrun The “felt sense”—our implicit body wisdom—is a resource in each of us that typically lies at the edge of awareness but has the capacity to accelerate the healing process and make therapy more effective. When therapists welcome and encourage exploration of the felt sense, clients speak from theirRead More…
Applying Dyadic Mindfulness in Your Work Parts 1 & 2 Halko Weiss & Maci Daye While traditional talk therapy relies largely on conscious awareness, research shows that explicit brain functions have only limited impact on our feelings and behaviors. In this experiential workshop, we’ll explore how to use Hakomi’s mind-body approach to transform limiting beliefsRead More…
Overcoming Internal Attachment Disorder Parts 1 & 2 Janina Fisher Many therapists believe the primary antidote to clients’ feelings of self-loathing, shame, and worthlessness is total acceptance and unconditional positive regard. But unfortunately, clients alienated from traumatized, disowned, or despised parts of themselves can’t internalize that message, no matter how hard the therapist tries. ThisRead More…
Memory Reconsolidation in Everyday Practice Parts 1 & 2 Bruce Ecker & Sara Bridges Neuroscientific advances in memory reconsolidation enable us to achieve therapeutic breakthroughs with previously unheard of consistency. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to engage the neural process that decommissions implicit learnings that drive PTSD, compulsive behaviors, and insecure attachment. You’ll seeRead More…
A Road Map for Complex Chronic Problems Parts 1 & 2 Lane Pederson Originally developed as a therapy to help borderline clients, dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a structured model that helps streamline clinical decision-making with difficult-to-treat clients, including those with eating disorders, alcoholism, and a range of self-injurious behaviors. DBT integrates mindfulness, motivational techniques,Read More…
How to make Therapy More Portable Parts 1 & 2 Chris Germer From depression and anxiety to addiction and trauma, a lack of self-compassion lies at the core of nearly every presenting problem. When therapy is effective, the therapist’s compassionate attitude seems to rub off on the client. Luckily, self-compassion exercises can also be taughtRead More…
Processing Trauma without Talking about It Parts 1 & 2 David Grand Symptoms of unprocessed trauma—including dissociation, numbing, and chronic anxiety—are notoriously difficult to eliminate through talk therapy. The reason: the overwhelmed brain is unable to process verbal information about the events. But Brainspotting, a brain-based method for clearing trauma blockage without clients having toRead More…
Understanding Sensory Processing and Sensory Strategies in Treatment Tara Delaney More than 90 percent of children diagnosed with autism suffer from sensory processing difficulties that underlie their extreme, reactive behaviors. But typically, even in therapy, there’s not enough attention paid to these difficulties play in the academic struggles, behavioral problems, and coordination challenges that theseRead More…
Busting the Common Myths Sally Winston & Martin Seif Almost everything we learned about OCD in graduate school prior to 2000 was just plain wrong: it’s not rare, obvious, hard to treat, or a manifestation of deep underlying conflict. We now know it’s common, often unrecognized, and that it’s far more helpful to treat whatRead More…
How Brain Science Can Inform Interventions Frank Anderson Therapists often get shaken and lose confidence in their approach when a client’s trauma response edges into seemingly uncontrollable extremes of rage, panic, or suicidal desperation. This workshop provides an essential road map for treating difficult trauma cases through a detailed exploration of the neurobiological processes ofRead More…
Overcoming the Challenges in Therapy Sandra Wartski Most therapists know that treating eating disorders (EDs) can be a very rocky journey. They also know that a culture awash with unrealistic ideals of body perfection can further exacerbate clients’ distorted relationships with food and body image. This workshop will provide therapists with a step-by-step approach to navigating these clientsRead More…
Strategies for Rewiring the Brain Linda Graham The more we apply the discoveries of neuroscience to our clinical work, the more skilled we can become at tailoring interventions to match clients’ specific difficulties and guide them through the changes in brain functioning that best catalyze their growth. Whether clients are stuck in repetitive defensive patterns, strugglingRead More…
Helping Clients Rediscover Real Life Linda Graham We’re used to exploring how addictions can lead to broken relationships with family and friends, but what about ways in which our digital addictions can negatively affect those same things? Think about it: on average, American adults check their cell phones every 6.5 minutes. American teenagers spend almostRead More…
Strategies to Enhance Mood and Well-Being Leslie Korn If we are what we eat, then beyond the mind-body connection there’s also a food-mind-body connection. This workshop will explore the latest nutritional research to inform psychotherapeutic practice and how diet can affect mood, as well as the links between depression, inflammation, and cognitive function. You’ll exploreRead More…
Enhancing Your Therapeutic Impact Parts 1 & 2 Jeffrey Zeig There’s something both inspirational and humbling about watching the clinical work of master therapists like Virginia Satir, Carl Whitaker, Salvador Minuchin, and Milton Erickson. While it’s tempting to think they have a unique therapeutic gift, it’s even more helpful to ask: “How do they doRead More…
Working with Avoidant and Disorganized Clients Parts 1 & 2 Diane Poole Heller Many clients bring to therapy the remnants of attachment wounds experienced before they learned to speak, so talk therapy is often ineffective at getting to the root of early memories that can continue to roil emotions and disturb relationships. This workshop presentsRead More…
Uplifting Interventions to Heal the Heart and Rewire the Brain Parts 1 & 2 Courtney Armstrong Research from brain science and positive psychology shows that activating positive emotional states is the fastest route to instilling hope, stimulating creativity, spurring motivation, and empowering our clients. But how do you help clients access resourceful states when they’reRead More…
Enhancing the Impact of Couples Therapy Parts 1 & 2 Susan Johnson & Daniel Siegel Understanding the neurobiology of the brain not only explains how change happens, it also translates into more effective psychotherapy. In this dynamic workshop, a psychotherapist and a neuropsychiatrist offer a dialogue demonstrating the relevance of neuroscience to the process ofRead More…
Finding the Right Fit for Clients Parts 1 & 2 Joan Borysenko As meditation practice is increasingly being integrated into psychotherapy, therapists too often see it as a one-size-fits-all remedy. But these practices actually include a range of tools that can be more effective when tailored to a client’s history, personality organization, religious or spiritualRead More…
When Talk Isn’t Enough Parts 1 & 2 Bessel van der Kolk The last 20 years have provided us with great advances in understanding the impact of trauma on developing brains and how it interferes with the capacity to concentrate and filter out irrelevant information. In this workshop, you’ll review the latest research and interventionsRead More…
A Rapid Transformative Approach Robert Schwarz Increasingly, therapists are discovering that when clients are immobilized by trauma or overwhelming affect, there’s a method that can help resolve the problem. Energy Psychology (EP) techniques are easy to learn. With ongoing research that includes over 70 published studies and three meta-analyses, EP approaches have proven to beRead More…
What Works and What Doesn’t Jonah Paquette While the field of positive psychology emphasizes building on clients’ internal strengths rather than their “pathology,” many therapists remain unsure of how to put its emphasis on gratitude and optimism to practical use in the consulting room. In addition, they often don’t know how to present positive psychologyRead More…
How to Create a Sustainable Mindfulness Practice Plan Caroline Welch The biggest challenge to creating a sustainable mindfulness practice is changing the ingrained habits that get us off track. For many women those distractions come in the form of the nonstop, converging demands of work, clients, family, friends, etc. So how do we put limitsRead More…
A Day of Exploration through Writing, Vocalizing, and Movement Licia Sky Vocalizing and physical synchrony are the earliest forms of communication. This workshop will explore ways of finding your own authentic voice and becoming a more active agent in your life. Spend the day engaging in wide-ranging vocal and mind-body exercises designed to free up yourRead More…
A Pathway to Fuller Awareness Jessica Dibb We live, therefore we breathe—yet few of us are aware of the profound implications of how the way we breathe shapes our daily experience. In this session, we’ll explore how to use conscious breathing to regulate our emotional state, relax our overstimulated brains, increase our energy, improve ourRead More…
Learning to Live from the Self Amy Weintraub This day of LifeForce Yoga practices will nourish your physical, emotional, and mental body, and prepare you to take full advantage of your Symposium experience. You’ll learn unique breathing, meditation, and movement practices, adapted for clinical settings, that will enhance your capacity for openness and authentic connection.Read More…
Learning to Balance Your Life Energies Patrick Dougherty You’ve no doubt heard about Qigong, but how much do you really know about the benefits of this simple practice? Here’s your chance to directly experience its positive effects. Qigong opens up any blocked energy channels in the body and offers greater engagement and more profound connectionRead More…
A Day of Movement, Meditation, and Dance Daniel Leven The heart is our core, our vital energy center. In this full-day experiential workshop, awaken your heart to new energy through a balanced blend of movement, meditation, and dance. You’ll discover a sense of aliveness and compassion that’s the source of healing joy, well-being, and deepRead More…
Bringing More of Your Hidden Potential to Life David Grand All too often performance, especially in sports, is undermined by developmental trauma and the accompanying dissociation. Brainspotting is an approach for going deep into the subcortical brain that can zero in on performance-blocking dissociation and enhance performance in sports, creative activities, school, and business. InRead More…
Discovering Inner Peace and Freedom Elana Rosenbaum No other method has had more influence on bringing self-care and awareness training into the mainstream of healthcare today than Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Originally developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn and now taught at more than 250 medical centers around the world, it offers simple and powerful practices such as bodyRead More…
Exploring the Neuroscience of Well-Being Linda Graham By tapping into the innate neuroplasticity of the brain to reduce stress, regain equilibrium, and restore perspective and resilience, we can avoid compassion fatigue and burnout, and recover the creativity and flow of our work. In this experiential workshop, you’ll learn empirically-validated techniques to calm the nervous system,Read More…
Loving Others without Losing Ourselves Chris Germer Imagine if we spoke to ourselves in the same tone and with as much wisdom as we address clients. What if we ourselves stopped to regularly take a deep breath, the way we advise our clients to do? This workshop will teach you how to make self-compassion real in yourRead More…
