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…
Beyond Medication Chris Aiken There’s much debate about bipolar disorder—both how to diagnose it and the role of non-pharmacological approaches in its treatment. Recently, however, there have been important advances that can help clinicians more accurately diagnose this condition as well as treatment approaches that go beyond the limited effectiveness of traditional talk therapy. ThisRead More…
How to Help Our Clients Heal Anita Mandley Exposing the family secret of incest is a transgression that makes everyone deeply uncomfortable, both in the families in which it occurs and for the mental health professionals who try to help them. One reflection of this discomfort is the avoidance of even using the term itselfRead 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…
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…
Strategies for Change Terry Real We’ve all met troubled men who are irresponsible, oppressive, or emotionally absent. Treating them requires a range of strategies. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to effectively work with issues of shame and grandiosity, as well as toxic engagement and disengagement. You’ll focus on how to identify and develop differentRead More…
Strategies for Recognizing and Responding to Them Signe Whitson Young people who bully often master the art of blending in with the crowd, flying under an adult’s radar and wreaking havoc in subtle ways. In fact, many socially aggressive kids actually top an adult’s “what a nice kid!” list and make their way into their victims’Read More…
Using Emotionally Focused Therapy to Strengthen Sobriety Michael Barnett Even the most talented couples therapists are often unprepared to handle the explosive impasses and icy freeze-outs that present themselves when toxic addictive processes permeate already unstable relationships. The traditional “sledgehammer” approach of harsh, shame-based confrontation only tends to fuel the problem. And behavioral and insight-orientedRead 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…
We’re Older. Are We Better? Daniel Siegel & Bessel van der Kolk On the occasion of the Symposium’s 40th anniversary, two of the most influential figures in our field reflect on the most important advances of the past four decades as well as the prospects for improving our therapeutic effectiveness in the future, with aRead 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…
How to Stay Steady and Sturdy Parts 1 & 2 Wendy Behary When anger enters the treatment room, whether or not it’s directed at us, it can often take us by surprise, rattle our composure, sidetrack the therapy session, and overwhelm us with fear, fury, humiliation, or other triggered emotions. If we allow our clients’Read 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…
When Is Enough Enough? Parts 1 & 2 Terry Real We’ve all encountered couples for whom therapy is a last-ditch attempt before calling it quits. But how do we, as therapists, decide whether to throw our weight behind the relationship or let it end? This session explores the impact our own values, childhood experiences, and oldRead More…
How They’re Changing You and Therapy Forever Parts 1 & 2 Ron Taffel As the first generation brought up entirely in the digital age, millennials (18-35 years old) represent a sea change from previous generations of psychotherapy clients. Along with a review of the research on the distinctive lifestyle choices, diagnostic patterns, and self-regulatory issuesRead More…
How to Go Beyond Technique Mary Jo Barrett When it comes to working with complex developmental trauma, it seems like therapists can’t get enough tools for their tool bag. And yet what determines effectiveness in this challenging arena of practice are crucial dimensions of the therapeutic relationship that go beyond any technical intervention. In thisRead 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…
Treating Clients Who Challenge Our Capacity for Compassion Noel Larson How do you encourage clients who’ve been perpetrators to take responsibility for the pain and suffering they’ve caused? It can be a daunting task, especially since such clients can’t develop the capacity to accept responsibility for having done harm without first having had the experienceRead More…
Succeeding with Our Most Reluctant Clients Janet Sasson Edgette Most teens are only in therapy because their parents, their teachers, the juvenile court judge, or some other authority has told them they must see a therapist—or else. Consequently, they often find standard therapeutic bromides and shrink-wrapped attempts to “engage” them artificial, even infuriating. This workshopRead More…
A Radical Approach to Healing Interpersonal Wounds Janis Abrahms Spring Forgiveness has been held up as the gold standard of recovery from interpersonal injuries, but in real life, hurt parties often find that they can’t or won’t forgive, particularly when the offender is unrepentant or dead. In this workshop, you’ll learn to reframe the healingRead More…
An Emotionally Focused Approach Parts 1 & 2 Kathryn Rheem Volatile, emotionally escalated clients can be among the most challenging cases couples therapists regularly work with. Such clients can often be set off by seemingly negligible events, making sessions difficult for both partners and their therapist. Typically, core issues of attachment distress are at theRead 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…
How to Set Limits and Hold Them Accountable Parts 1 & 2 Wendy Behary Narcissists are notoriously difficult to work with. They can be arrogant, condescending, lacking in empathy, and so self-absorbed they seem incapable of forming genuine relationships with anyone, including their therapist. Since being nice is usually ineffective with such clients, in orderRead More…
Turning “Resistance” into Opportunity Parts 1 & 2 Clifton Mitchell The key to navigating through therapeutic standstills is to use them as valuable clues for steering the therapeutic conversation more skillfully, rather than seeing them as obstacles to be overcome. In this highly practical workshop, you’ll explore how to use critical junctures in a sessionRead More…
One Step Forward and Two Steps Back Parts 1 & 2 Lisa Ferentz While every therapist understands that treatment is most effective when it unfolds within the context of a safe therapeutic relationship, it’s often challenging to build a meaningful alliance with traumatized clients who turn therapy into an emotional roller coaster. This isRead 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…
What to Do When Things Get Messy and Uncomfortable Mary Jo Barrett & Linda Stone Fish When working with trauma cases do you see clients go into flight, fight, and/or freeze? Do they yell at you, insult you, or leave the session? Are there times you find yourself getting angry at your clients? Do youRead More…
