by David Cushman, Psy.D.

CIIS FALL CONFERENCE

Please join the CIIS PsyD program’s fall conference on Saturday Nov. 8th, Pushing Back and Beyond. We, individually and within our field, are experiencing impingements on the very fabric of our work and our own psyches. Our conference is designed to offer psychodynamic clinicians a way of orienting to the work in these precarious times that both pushes back and offers a vision beyond.

In the morning portion of our conference, we will hear from a roundtable of clinicians about their current lived experience working with immigrant communities. Then we will join alumna Dr. Margaret Clausen in exploring how sound can be used to expand consciousness and transformation, inviting us to open to new possibilities and potentialities within ourselves and our work.

After a catered lunch featuring conversations and connection, we are proud to host our keynote speaker, Dr. Diane Ehrensaft, one of the most recognized voices on the importance of supporting transgender and gender-diverse youth. She will discuss the evolution of gender-affirming care and the threats gender-diverse children face in the current socio-cultural-political climate. Weaving together developmental and psychodynamic relational theory, research, and clinical observations, Dr. Ehrensaft will demonstrate the manner in which the relational matrix of gender unfolds for each child over time, and how as clinicians we can build gender resilience in the face of adversity for all children and families in our care and in the community at large. 

As our conferences are designed to create community, we offer treats throughout the day and lunch, providing space for relationship-building between attendees. Our conferences are free to attend for all, although we do have suggested donations in lieu of event fees to help us create future conferences and to support our Psy.D. scholarship fund. You can register here! We hope to have you join us.