Level 3 : Advance Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Practioner
This advanced training program provides an in-depth exploration of psychodynamic concepts and their application in treating chronic personality disorders. It focuses on managing countertransference issues, understanding projective identification, utilizing the client’s self in therapy, and honing case conceptualization skills. Participants will gain the tools and knowledge to deepen their clinical practice and enhance therapeutic outcomes.
DAY 1: TREATMENT OF CHRONIC PERSONALITY DISORDERS
- Understanding Chronic Personality Disorders:
- Explore the psychodynamic underpinnings of chronic personality disorders, including developmental trauma, attachment failures, and deeply ingrained maladaptive relational patterns.
- Examine the challenges posed by rigidity, emotional dysregulation, identity diffusion, and persistent relational dysfunction.
- Therapeutic Interventions:
- Learn techniques to handle chronic cases and personality disorders - Schizoid, Borderline, Narcisisstic, Masochistic, Histrionic and Obssessive-Compulsive Personality Disorders.
- Learn techniques to address entrenched defense mechanisms such as splitting, projective identification, and idealization/devaluation cycles.
- Foster self-integration and emotional regulation by working through internal conflicts and unresolved relational wounds.
- Sustaining Therapeutic Alliance:
- Develop strategies to maintain a stable therapeutic relationship, manage ruptures, and build trust with clients who present with long-standing relational difficulties.
DAY 2: MANAGING challenges in the Clinical SettING
- Understanding Countertransference and Projective Identification
- Examine the therapist’s emotional responses to clients and how they arise from the interplay of unconscious dynamics.
- Recognize the impact of countertransference on therapeutic effectiveness, both positively and negatively.
- Understand projective identification as a complex defense mechanism where clients unconsciously project disowned parts of themselves onto the therapist.
- Explore how therapists may unconsciously identify with and act out these projections, and the role of this process in the therapeutic relationship.
- Managing Countertransference and Projective Identification:
- Develop self-awareness to recognize and process countertransference reactions and projective identification dynamics.
- Learn strategies to contain and interpret these dynamics to deepen therapeutic insight and foster the client’s self-awareness.
- Understanding the Therapeutic Frame and Maintaining Boundaries
- Define the therapeutic frame as the structure that maintains consistency, safety, and containment in the therapeutic process.
- Explore its components, including time, place, confidentiality, and the boundaries of the therapeutic relationship.
- Examine common boundary challenges, including role confusion, dual relationships, and enmeshment within the therapeutic process.
- Recognize how boundary transgressions can impact the therapeutic alliance and the client’s progress.
- Develop skills to establish and maintain clear boundaries while remaining empathic and engaged.
- Understand the role of the therapist’s self-awareness and supervision in managing boundary issues.
DAY 3: CASE CONCEPTUALIZATION AND CLINICAL FORMULATION
- Understand case conceptualization in psychodynamic psychotherapy
- Develop a psychodynamic framework for understanding clients’ presenting issues, relational dynamics, and intrapsychic conflicts.
- Integrate information from the client’s history, attachment patterns, defense mechanisms (e.g., projective identification), and current functioning to build a comprehensive understanding.
- Translate case conceptualizations into effective treatment plans tailored to the unique needs of each client.
- Incorporate psychodynamic interventions, relational dynamics, and evidence-based techniques into the therapeutic approach.
- Practice presenting cases in a structured format, focusing on psychodynamic formulations and therapeutic strategies.
- Engage in group discussions and peer feedback to refine clinical thinking and conceptualization skills.
- The Therapist's Use of self in Therapy
- Explore the concept of the therapist’s self as an instrument in the therapeutic process.
- Examine how personal emotions, reactions, and unconscious dynamics inform the therapeutic relationship.
- Understand countertransference as an essential aspect of the therapist’s self, reflecting both the client’s projections and the therapist’s internal responses.
- Learn to distinguish between helpful and unhelpful countertransference reactions.
- Self-Awareness and Reflexivity
- Cultivate an understanding of how the therapist’s personal history, biases, and relational patterns can influence therapy.
- Use supervision, personal therapy, and reflective practices to enhance self-awareness.
- Learn to reflect on in-session dynamics and the therapist’s emotional responses to clients.
- Explore how reflexivity informs clinical decisions and interventions.
- Building Relational Attunement
- Deepen skills in attuning to clients’ emotions, behaviors, and unspoken needs.
- Balance emotional engagement with maintaining professional boundaries.
- Understand the therapist’s self as a bridge to foster a safe and trusting therapeutic environment.
- Explore how the therapist’s authenticity and emotional availability can strengthen the alliance and promote client insight.
- Harness the therapist’s emotional responses to understand the client’s inner world.
- Translate these responses into meaningful interpretations and interventions.
- Learn to recognize and process instances where clients unconsciously project disowned aspects of themselves onto the therapist.
- Use these projections as opportunities to explore and work through the client’s relational dynamics.
- Maintaining Boundaries:
- Balance the use of self with maintaining ethical and professional boundaries.
- Recognize and address potential risks of over-identification, enmeshment, or personal biases affecting therapy.
By the end of this program, participants will:
- Master psychodynamic approaches to the treatment of chronic personality disorders, including addressing deeply rooted defense mechanisms like projective identification.
- Recognize and manage countertransference dynamics to strengthen therapeutic effectiveness.
- Understand and maintain the therapeutic frame, ensuring clear boundaries that support client safety and growth.
- Facilitate therapists' self-awareness and integration within the therapeutic process.
- Build comprehensive case conceptualizations and translate them into effective treatment plans.
- Enhance their ability to navigate complex clinical settings with confidence and skill.
This advanced training equips therapists to work effectively with challenging clinical presentations, deepening their psychodynamic understanding and fostering meaningful change in their clients.