by Eric Essman, MA

INTENSIVE STUDY GROUP 2014-15: UNTYING THE K(NOT)

All therapists have a vision of the "good" patient or therapy - cooperative, mutually beneficial, and productive. Most of us have also had experiences with the "difficult" patient or therapy, which can feel adversarial, non-mutual and unproductive. Historically, difficulty in therapy relationships has been seen as the "fault" of the patient, who is conceptualized as resistant to change. As the field has come to encompass the co-constructed crucible of both therapist and patient subjectivities, more has been written about the contribution of the therapist's inadequacies and vulnerabilities to impasse in psychotherapy.

These courses will explore the intersection of patient and therapist when the therapy relationship stalls, implodes, or explodes. How do we understand relational "k(nots)" (Pizer, 2003)?

Senior clinicians approach this topic from multiple theoretical perspectives.  Join a group of seasoned colleagues in an intensive study of this topic through reading, didactic discussion, and case presentations.

More information/registration East Bay ISG:  http://www.ncspp.org/events/east-bay-intensive-study-group-untying-knot

More information/registration San Francisco ISG:  http://www.ncspp.org/events/san-francisco-intensive-study-group-untying-knot