"This workshop deals with the challenges of treating clients with personality disorders, clients who, for example, fail to engage in treatment, miss sessions, feel hopeless and stuck, become angry in session, engage in self-harm, use substances, blame others, avoid homework, experience continual crises, and so on. Special attention will be paid to how to help clients get out of the ""personality disorder mode"" and into the ""adaptive mode.""
Through discussion and demonstration roleplays, we'll cover identifying clients' values and aspirations, creating positive experiences and helping clients draw positive conclusions about them, engaging clients in treatment, repairing ruptures in the therapeutic relationship, applying lessons learned from the therapeutic relationship to relationships outside of therapy, learning and using adaptive coping strategies, and developing positive (i.e., more realistic) beliefs about themselves, other people, their worlds, and the future.
Unlike surgeons, psychotherapists usually do not get better with years of practice. Why is that? What skills are most important to develop in clinical training programs, and does it actually happen? Should we be focusing on evidence-based treatment techniques, interpersonal therapeutic skills, cultural competence, deliberate practice, scientific skepticism, fostering clients' strengths and resilience? Three seasoned clinical trainers reflect on the joys, challenges, and outcomes of preparing future psychotherapists.
Latina women tend to be stereotyped as fiery and fierce, yet the quality that consistently shines through is strength. Latinas continue to demonstrate their resilience and fortitude in every discipline and field such as science, the arts, law, politics, and of course, in their personal lives. Contemporary Latinas are moving beyond the expected roles rooted in propriety and appearances, and towards the empowered and inspiring women they are, expressing self-determination and leadership in many contexts. At the same time, there is the angst of finding, managing multiple identities, and responding to pulls from different corners of life. Familismo emphasizes on a strong family unit and Marianismo emphasizes purity, self-sacrifice, and nurturance of others. These internalized expectations can create internal struggles at key developmental decision-making points in life.
Although researchers evaluating therapy outcomes necessarily rely on measures of symptom relief and behavior change, practicing clinicians – and many patients – often have a more ambitious vision of meaningful change and growth. In this conversation hour, we will talk about the therapeutic goals of increased attachment security, sense of agency, affect tolerance, flexibility and maturity of defenses, self-reflection, mentalization, realistic and reliable self-esteem, vitality, capacity to mourn what cannot be changed, and overall engagement in love, work, and play.
Our beliefs exert a very powerful force on our behavior. Our beliefs about ourselves and what is possible in the world around us greatly impact our capacity for change and healing. Limiting beliefs, or belief barriers, can act like an invisible force that interfere with our capacity to be resourceful and trap us in unhealthy patterns of behavior. Empowering beliefs help us to identify and take best advantage of potential opportunities. This demonstration will show how to identify and transform belief barriers by integrating somatic and emotional intelligence to create an empowering "belief bridge."
EFIT expands the clients sense of self and emotional balance. This session will show key moves in the EFIT Tango - the key intervention sequence in EFIT. This intervention shapes corrective emotional experiences that prime secure connection with both self and others.