March 27, 2010

All-Day Workshops | Morning Only | Afternoon Only

Saturday All Day Workshops 11:00 am - 1 pm and 3 pm - 5:00 pm

401 501 - Harnessing Mindfulness, Part 1 and Part 2: Fitting the Practice to the Problem

Ronald Siegel

As mindfulness practice becomes an increasingly common adjunct to psychotherapy, therapists often regard it as a one-size-fits-all remedy. While there are, in fact, universal tendencies of mind that contribute to most psychopathologies (such as experiential avoidance) and core goals underlying all mindfulness practices (such as experiencing the present moment), there are many different forms of practice that can be specifically tailored to fit the dynamics of a wide variety of presenting problems. In this workshop, we’ll explore how to find the right fit between different mindfulness practices--moment-to-moment sensory awareness, loving kindness meditation, urge surfing, self-compassion--and a range of common presenting symptoms, including anxiety, depression, addictions, interpersonal struggles, and stress related disorders. You’ll leave armed with ways to enrich your experience of being a psychotherapist, along with a range of effective tools for improving your clients’ lives. (This session will continue with Workshop 501.)

Ronald Siegel, Psy.D., an assistant clinical professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School, is the author of The Mindfulness Solution: Everyday Practices for Everyday Problems and the coeditor of Mindfulness and Psychotherapy.

402 502 - Tony and Dr. Melfi, Part 1 and Part 2: Therapy, Ethics, and The Sopranos

William Doherty

There can’t be many therapists in America who didn’t develop strong opinions about the complicated clinical relationship between HBO’s Mafia don Tony Soprano and his psychiatrist, Jennifer Melfi. Both the show and Dr. Melfi won awards from the American Psychoanalytic Association, and Tony’s treatment is the only fictional therapy to elicit a book-length commentary by a prominent psychiatrist. In this workshop, we’ll explore how The Sopranos presents the clinical and ethical complexities of treatment, as well as what we can learn from the drama about facing risks and blurring boundaries when we ourselves do therapy. We’ll consider the limits of traditional “values neutral” psychotherapy in a world of convoluted loyalties, hyperindividualism, and moral danger and explore ways to talk nonjudgmentally with clients about behavior that’s hurting others and themselves as we watch and discuss lots of clips. Note: this workshop fulfills many state board requirements for training in ethics and risk management. (This session will continue with Workshop 502.)

William Doherty, Ph.D. is a professor and director of the Citizen Professional Center at the University of Minnesota. His books include Take Back Your Marriage, Putting Family First, and Take Back Your Kids. His latest is Family Therapy, with Susan McDaniel.

403 503 - Race Matters, Part 1 and Part 2: Getting Beyond “Us” and “Them”

Kenneth V. Hardy and Richard Schwartz

In this grand age of globalism, everywhere in the world, including the United States, we keep witnessing explosion after explosion of people acting as angry, mutually suspicious, destructive tribes. In this workshop, two therapists from different racial backgrounds will explore how to change the dynamic at the heart of hatred and distrust for the “other.” We’ll discuss how using ourselves to build bridges between groups in conflict and working with the inner family of parts that carry aggression, group loyalty, and the experience of trauma can contribute to the possibilities of reconciliation. You’ll come away with a radically different view of what underlies racial and ethnic flare-ups, as well as tools for dealing with the intensity of “us” vs. “them” conflicts. (This session will continue with Workshop 503.)

Kenneth V. Hardy, Ph.D., is a professor of family therapy at Drexel University in Philadelphia and the director of the Eikenberg Institute for Relationships in New York City. His books include Minorities and Family Therapy and Re-visioning Family Therapy.

Richard Schwartz, Ph.D., is the originator of the Internal Family Systems Model. His books include Internal Family Systems Therapy and The Mosaic Mind: Empowering the Tormented Selves.

404 504 - Treating the Highly Resistant Client, Part 1 and Part 2: Techniques that Really Work

Clifton Mitchell

You know you’re facing resistance in a client when he/she invariably makes you feel insecure, incompetent, frustrated, hopeless, stressed, and burned out. But you’ve got to do something, since therapy won’t go anywhere unless you manage or alleviate the resistance. In this fast-paced, highly practical workshop, we’ll explore a cornucopia of innovative approaches and ideas--applicable to a wide array of clients, problems, and theoretical approaches--that prevent, avoid, and resolve resistance. You’ll learn innovative techniques that use the inherent power of language to circumvent the resistance of the client who always responds with “Yes, but . . . ,” or “I don’t know.” We’ll cover the most common resistance-fostering errors therapists make, the pitfalls of over-questioning, ways to overcome resistance by honoring it, how to deal with silence. We’ll also discuss how to set up goals that resistant clients can’t resist and explore the secret meanings of resistance. (This session will continue with Workshop 504.)

Clifton Mitchell, Ph.D. is a professor at East Tennessee State University, where he received the Teacher of the Year award in 2002. He’s the author of Effective Techniques for Dealing with Highly Resistant Clients.

405 505 - The Trials and Tribulations of Couples Therapy, Part 1 and Part 2: An Emotionally Focused Therapy Approach

Susan Johnson

Any experienced  couples therapist knows there are no one-session cures. This workshop will explore how Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) approaches the inevitable impasses and dead-ends therapists face when dealing with distressed couples, especially those who struggle with depression or the ongoing effects of trauma. We’ll explore three kinds of difficulties: the couple gets stuck (e.g. a blaming partner remains critical even when the other partner responds in new ways); there’s a block to secure attachment and positive interactions (e.g. shame fuels withdrawal); and therapist issues, such as discomfort with intense emotion, hamper progress. You’ll learn how to make therapeutic use of high emotion, deal with the traumatic history of one or both partners, time your interventions appropriately, understand the couple’s natural engagement rhythms, and create an atmosphere of trust, safety, and security in sessions with distraught partners. (This session will continue with Workshop 505.)

Susan Johnson, Ed.D., is a professor of psychology at the University of Ottawa, director of the Ottawa Couple and Family Institute, and distinguished research professor at Alliant University. Her latest book is Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love.

406 506 - Beyond Trauma, Part 1 and Part 2: EMDR as a Broad-Based Psychotherapy

Deany Laliotis

While EMDR is widely used as a highly effective treatment for PTSD based on neutralizing past memories of trauma, few therapists recognize how powerful a tool it can be in helping clients reprocess difficult experiences--traumatic or not--that impede their clients’ ability to move forward with their lives. In this workshop, you’ll be introduced to an eight-phase information-processing model of EMDR for helping clients identify and reprocess significant childhood experiences and chronic patterns or themes that shadow their lives, hinder their emotional growth, and limit their ability to fully express their own identity. You’ll learn a practical clinical procedure for identifying the predominant themes in a person’s life that underlie their current difficulties and freeing them from attitudes that limit a fuller, more flexible experience of self. (This session will continue with Workshop 506.)

Deany Laliotis, L.I.C.S.W., is a trainer, clinical consultant, and practitioner of EMDR.  She’s on the faculty of EMDR Institute, Inc., and is the codirector of EMDR of Greater Washington. Her chapter on EMDR appears in Psychotherapist Revealed: Therapists Speak about Self-Disclosure in Psychotherapy.

407 507 - Working from the Inside Out, Part 1 and Part 2: How the Therapist’s Attachment Patterns Influence Therapy

David Wallin

We presumably all know that childhood-based attachment patterns deeply affect patients’ current relationships, including the one they have with us. But how often do we consider the influence on the therapeutic relationship of our own attachment history and vulnerabilities? In this workshop, we’ll use attachment research to clarify the impact, both for good and ill, of the therapist’s attachment patterns as they interlock with those of the patient, highlighting the reality that for the patient to heal, the therapist must also change. We’ll review the different attachment patterns that therapists generally fall into, discuss the use of self-monitoring questions, and explore how to capitalize on the paradox that the therapist’s own history--often marked by trauma--can be at once a source of impasse and insight. Using pencil and paper self-reports and experiential break-out groups, we’ll track the impact of our own attachment patterns on the work we do. (This session will continue with Workshop 507.)

David Wallin, Ph.D., is the author of Attachment in Psychotherapy and of “From the Inside Out: The Therapist’s Attachment Patterns as Sources of Insight and Impasse” in Clinical Pearls of Wisdom: 21 Leading Therapists Offer Their Key Insights.

408 508 - Treating Combat Zone Trauma, Part 1 and Part 2: The Veterans’ Resiliency Model

Laurie Leitch and Elaine Miller-Karas

As many as 20 percent of  service people who’ve been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan meet criteria for PTSD, and 25 percent screen positive for depression--rates that are expected to rise as this population ages--so many therapists can expect to treat these veterans and their families. In this workshop, we’ll explore the Veterans’ Resiliency Model (VSM), a skills-based, biological approach to working with combat-zone trauma. When the focus is on biology, rather than on psychology, the shame and secrecy veterans often feel diminishes. We’ll review the seven skills of VRM that help clients track their own physiological reactions and develop sensory resources that promote a greater sense of inner safety and well-being, and help restore the capacity for nervous system self-regulation. You’ll leave knowing the neuroscientific underpinnings of VRM, why biological intervention is such a valuable tool, and how to use this intervention in both an individual and group setting. (This session will continue with Workshop 508.)

Laurie Leitch, Ph.D., and Elaine Miller-Karas, L.C.S.W., are the cofounders and codirectors of the Trauma Resource Institute, which offers national and international training in the brief stabilization therapies Trauma Resiliency Model, Veterans’ Resiliency Model, and Community Resilience Model.

409 509 - The Power of When, Part 1 and Part 2: Rhythm and Timing in Life and Psychotherapy

Rubin Naiman

What we do is important, but when we do it--our sensitivity to the ubiquitous rhythms of life--is equally critical. We already know that many health challenges, including recurrent depressions, cardiac arrhythmias, and sleep disorders, reflect disruptions in our natural rhythms. In this workshop, we’ll go beyond simple notions of biorhythms to discover the new science and art of circadian healing, which takes into account how everything from the oscillations of energy in our brain hemispheres to lunar calendrical tides shapes the flow of consciousness. We’ll examine the implications of rhythms for cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and medication aspects of psychotherapy as a basis for understanding practical strategies for healthy re-attunement. Through slides, discussions, and special exercises, you’ll learn how to fine-tune your rhythmic awareness and cultivate rhyme-fulness--a mindfulness of rhythms. (This session will continue with Workshop 509.)

Rubin Naiman, Ph.D., is the sleep and dream specialist and clinical assistant professor of medicine at the University of Arizonas Center for Integrative Medicine. His publications include Healing Night, The Sleep Advisor and Healthy Sleep (with Andrew Weil).

410 510 - Group Therapy for the Networking Age, Part 1 and Part 2

Jude Treder-Wolff

Many people come into therapy because they feel alienated, unfocused, and stressed out living in a society that’s high on work demands and low on community and family ties. Group therapy is uniquely suited to helping people develop better social, problem-solving, and parenting skills, along with a greater sense of self-direction, more resilience to stress, and a stronger sense of personal empowerment. In this workshop, we’ll describe three distinct frames for starting time-limited psychotherapy groups, which can be adapted to both treatment and nonclinical settings. You’ll learn how to use applied improvisation, role playing, and interactive theater techniques to rapidly unite groups around common concerns, heighten awareness of resources and social networks, and bolster individual group members’ sense of personal agency. We’ll also discuss ideas and resources for free or low-cost ways to initiate, lead, and market groups to targeted communities. (This session will continue with Workshop 510.)

Jude Treder-Wolff, L.C.S.W., previously newsletter editor for the American Society of Group Psychotherapy, writes the e-newsletter Lives in Progress. She’s the author of Possible Futures: Creative Thinking for the Speed of Life.