Do escalated couples make you want to quit being a therapist? There is nothing like a bad couple therapy session to train therapists not to want to see couples Join us as we explore those moments of greatest difficulty for couples, from contempt and high reactivity to despair and stone-walling silence. Learn how to keep your focus and go deeper in the face of reactivity. Through a combination of lecture, videotape, and exercises, participants will experience the power of Emotionally Focused Therapy in transforming clients’ defensiveness into openness and safer relationships. George…

Although narcissistic dynamics are universal and often benign, their excesses and enactments (such as narcissistic rage and the sense of entitlement to do harm) can do immense interpersonal, social, and political damage. Because patients with self-esteem problems are highly susceptible to feeling criticized and shamed, clinicians typically find it difficult to address narcissism in psychotherapy. But given the potential destructiveness of some narcissistic conditions, even limited progress in such clients is worth our therapeutic time. Because they depict only one…

Fisher discusses three brain systems that evolved for mating and reproduction: the sex drive; romantic love; and partner attachment. She focuses on her colleagues and her brain scanning research (using fMRI) on romantic passion, rejection in love and love addiction. Then, using her additional fMRI data and a questionnaire taken by 14+ million people to explore four broad basic styles of thinking and behaving associated with four primary brain systems--the dopamine, serotonin, testosterone and estrogen systems—and the role these temperament dimensions play in mate choice,…

The concept of codependency has defined our views of caregivers and caregiving since it’s pop culture ascendence in the mid 1980’s. But what version of it is best and how is it to be utilized in 2019? This engaging talk takes a fresh, direct look at the 350+ books on the topic, along with related concepts and treatment goals evolved over the past 35 years. Together we will move the discussion from codependence to interdependence using new concepts, new ideas and new therapies. Utilizing an attachment based method of the assessment, evaluation and treatment of family members and loved ones of…

Please join us for the Early Career Private Practice-Building event this October brought to you by the WMHC Early Career Members Committee. Date: Friday October 11, 2019 1:00PM-3:00PM Location: Vanderbilt Suites (200 Park Avenue, New York, NY. 10166) Lunch will be served Private practitioners from different disciplines and clinical specialty areas talk about their experiences building a private practice and share advice and resources for early career members interested in or in the process of building a private practice. All members, even if you are not an early career practitioner, are…

In this highly practical and experiential talk, Dr. Jonathan Fader outlines the fascinating science-backed methods of empathy focused conversations, and how you can make use of it in your field. Most organizations are seeking improvements in their culture, team cohesion and motivation. At the center of his talk, Fader highlights the use of the motivational enhancement techniques, such as motivational interviewing, that are strong facilitators to developing all of those. Dr. Fader views conversations about behavior change  between people as a  collaboration  focused on strengthening motivation…

The election of an unabashedly patriarchal man as US President was a shock for many—despite decades of activism on gender inequalities and equal rights, how could it come to this? What is it about patriarchy that seems to make it so resilient and resistant to change? Undoubtedly it endures in part because some people benefit from the unequal advantages it confers. But is that enough to explain its stubborn persistence? In this highly original and persuasively argued book, Carol Gilligan and Naomi Snider put forward a different view: they argue that patriarchy persists because it serves a…

This presentation 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. The presentation will focus on conceptualization, the therapeutic alliance, and the use of a variety of strategies from many different psychotherapeutic modalities within the context of the cognitive model to help clients change their thinking at both an intellectual and an…

Albert Einstein once said if he only had one hour to solve a very difficult problem, he would spend the first 55 minutes of that hour just identifying the question. According to Kasia Urbaniak, CEO and Founder of The Academy, we continually ask ourselves questions, whether consciously or just below the surface of awareness. These questions lead our attention, thoughts, feelings and behaviors far more powerfully than the things we already know. In this presentation Ms. Urbaniak and Clinical Psychologist Johanna Herwitz, Ph.D. will discuss and demonstrate how to discover and…

Unresolved and complex feelings underlie non-disclosure of donor assisted reproduction. However, individual, group and /or couples’ psychodynamic and supportive psychotherapy can address the loss of fertility, facilitate the acceptance of using assisted reproduction, as well as how, when and what to explain about it. Using clinical case examples from these modalities the authors outline a 4 stage approach to articulate how therapeutic work can support decision-making, disclosure, and life after donor-assisted reproduction. Nancy Freeman-Carroll and Nancy Kaufman presented a version of…