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Our personal myth II: The ‘good’, the ’bad’ and the ‘ugly’ in our personal myth

In our life we often encounter difficulties and disappointments. Our goals and desires get blocked by the circumstances of our life or by our own passivity and procrastination. Despite our weariness, we keep watching endless repetitions of  “ the same old movie”.

Who is the dragon we need  to confront? Who is the evil witch who keeps us enslaved? What stops us from realizing our desires? In this workshop we will use the wisdom of folktales and psychoanalytic theories to trace the basic motifs in our life.

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    Ethical dilemmas in psychotherapy

    Many therapists believe that ethical issues seldom rise in the course of a treatment. Furthermore, they believe that since they behave ethically in all aspects of their lives, naturally their behavior will not provoke ethical conflicts in their professional work.
    However, many issues of ethics are so common and so subtle that they slip by unnoticed, having managed to corrode the therapy process. In this workshop we will discuss some of the more salient issues such as the therapist’s self-disclosure, boundary problems, confidentiality when working with more than one client; we will also discuss more subtle forms of ethics such as the conflict between the values of the therapist with those of the client.
    Actual cases will be presented to highlight these points and you can bring your own for discussion.

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    Mentalization

    Most psychotherapy models assume that the client has an inner world, a self and the ability to relate- regardless of how inadequate or blocked those may be.

    However, clinical experience has shown that we should not assume these attributes. Particularly borderline, psychotically  and psychosomatically organized clients manifest many problems in the area of mentalization and symbolization.

    In this workshop we will focus on the work of Peter Fonagy and other attachment theorists to study the mentalization process which takes place during infantile life and leads to the formation of their inner world. We will also discuss clinical interventions to use with adult clients with inadequate mentalization skills, which may help them develop further those skills and deepen their inner world.

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    Family unconscious: Archetypes, family secrets and a child’s ‘destiny’

    In this workshop we will investigate the legacy of the family to its offspring. Not only talents but also traumas, secrets and unresolved conflicts passed down from one generation to the next.

    These unresolved issues play a significant role in the formation of current family relations and the « destiny» of each individual family member.

    Specifically we will examine:

    •   The archetypes emerging from the father and mother imagos
    •   The archetype of the black sheep and the scapegoat
    •   Incestuous themes in the family
    •   Motifs regarding jealousy, envy and death wishes aimed at the child
    •   Ways to deal with unresolved issues in our own family

    Several clinical vignettes will  be presented and you can bring your own cases for discussion.

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    The shadow of loss in our life

    Loss is an inevitable experience in human life and sometimes the after-effects of significant losses can touch much deeper layers of our psyche than those described by our favorite psychological theories.
    We, as therapists, do our best to help clients work through their losses, but how many of those clients can actually process the loss?
    In this seminar we will cover:

    Different types of loss ( anticipated, traumatic, diffuse) and their respective effects.

    Which clients have the capacity to work through their loss

    The conditions that either facilitate either hinder the process of mourning.

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    Clinical intuition

    Intuition is an invaluable asset for a clinician. Coupled with empathy, intuition helps the therapist to sense accurately the nonverbal messages of the client and to respond sensitively and appropriately to these cues.
    The aim of this workshop is to help participants understand and nurture their clinical intuition through the study of symbols, keeping a personal journal, using painting and guided imagery techniques.

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    When therapy fails

    Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we occasionally fail our clients. We either get into a rut or the client, under the pretext of lack of money or time, leaves therapy prematurely.
    In this workshop, we will examine the conditions indicating early in therapy that things may falter later on. Then we will see in actual clinical cases the impact of certain issues that are common in almost every treatment:

    Self disclosure of the therapist
    Client’s idealization of the therapist
    The masochism of the therapist

    Participants are welcome to bring their own cases for discussion.