Thought I’d See You One More Time Again: How We Mourn
October 5, 2018 9:30am-12:30pm
Kerry L. Malawista, PhD & Anne J. Adelman, PhD
How do we mourn the death of someone vital to our very being, whether a spouse, a parent, or a child? How do we make sense of the seemingly irreconcilable contradiction that a loved one has died, yet continues to remain alive in our internal world, both constantly present and forever gone?
In this workshop, we will explore the complex progression of mourning such a loss, thinking about it as a process that unfolds along parallel tracks. As the rhythm of life resumes, we gradually move ahead on one track without the loved one, while on the other track the memory of that person remains right alongside, always in our peripheral vision. We need only turn our head slightly to catch a glimpse or a reminder, bringing a stab of pain or a cherished memory. Drawing on the metaphor of parallel tracks, we will explore clinical cases and our own life stories to deepen our understanding of how we negotiate, struggle and absorb the traumatic loss of an essential part of the self.
Learning Objectives:
At the conclusion of this presentation, participants will be able to:
1. Critique the evolution of our psychoanalytic theories of grief and mourning in adults and children.
2. Identify the complex dynamics that arise in the face of a significant loss.
3. Explicate ways to hold on to aspects of the lost loved one at the same time move forward.
Presenters:
Kerry L. Malawista, PhD is a training and supervising analyst at the Contemporary Freudian Society and co-chair of New Directions in Writing at the Washington Baltimore Center for Psychoanalysis. She is permanent faculty at the Contemporary Freudian Society and has taught at George Washington University Psychology Doctoral Program, Virginia Commonwealth University and Smith College School of Social Work. She is the co-author of Wearing My Tutu to Analysis and Other Stories (2011) and co-author of Who’s Behind the Couch (Late 2016) and co-editor, The Therapist in Mourning: From the Faraway Nearby (2013). Her essays have appeared nationally in newspapers, magazines and literary journals including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Zone 3, Washingtonian Magazine, Voice and The Account Magazine alongside many professional chapters and articles. She is a periodic contributor to The Huffington Post. She is in private practice in Potomac, MD and McLean, VA.
Anne J. Adelman, PhD is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst with the Contemporary Freudian Society. She is the editor of Psychoanalytic Reflections on Parenting Teens and Young Adults: Changing Patterns of Modern Love, Loss and Longing (Routledge, 2018), co-author of Wearing my Tutu to Analysis and Other Stories (2011) and co-editor of The Therapist in Mourning: From the Faraway Nearby (2013), both with Columbia University Press. She is a faculty member of the Washington Baltimore Center for Psychoanalysis and the New Directions Writing Program and maintains a private practice in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
Changing Your Mind: How knowing the neurobiology of trauma changes the conduct of a psychotherapy
Note: This seminar counts toward the CE Licensure requirement for Trauma
November 9, 2018 9:30am-12:30pm
Richard A. Chefetz, MD
Understanding neurobiology can change the psycho-therapy of traumatic experience. One standard for studying this neurobiology is to learn about what changes in the brain’s response to trauma can usefully in-form how we frame and conduct our treatment. Bringing together work on developmental trauma, the trauma response, dissociative processes, post-traumatic stress disorder, and somatosensory modes of expe-rience, this three-hour workshop will increase your ability to listen to your patient with newly attuned ears and thus increase your ability to work with both verbal and non-verbal experience.
Objectives:
At the conclusion of this workshop participants will be able to:
1. Describe which neural structures are most vulnerable to traumatic experience and the implications of this vulnerability
2. Discuss how shame experience is inadvertently fueled by neurobiological reality
3. Describe three modalities of treatment intervention for somatically experienced links to traumatic experience
Presenter:
Richard A. Chefetz, M.D. is a psychiatrist in private practice in Washington, D.C. He was President of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (2002-3), Co-Founder and Chair of their Dissociative Disorders Psychotherapy Training Program (2000-2008, and is a Distinguished Visiting Lecturer at the William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis, and Psychology. He is also a faculty member at the Washington School of Psychiatry, the Institute of Contemporary Psychotherapy & Psychoanalysis, and the Washington Center for Psychoanalysis. He is a Certified Consultant at the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, and is trained in Level I and II EMDR. Dr. Chefetz was editor of “Dissociative Disorders: An Expanding Window into the Psychobiology of Mind” for the Psychiatric Clinics of North America, March 2006, “Neuroscientific and Therapeutic Advances in Dissociative Disorders,” Psychiatric Annals, August 2005, and “Multimodal Treatment of Complex Dissociative Disorders,” Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 20:2, 2000, as well as numerous journal articles on psychodynamic perspectives on trauma, dissociation, and clinical process. He recently published a book with Norton (2015), in their Interpersonal Neurobiology series, Intensive Psychotherapy for Persistent Dissociative Processes: The Fear of Feeling Real, http://books.wwnorton.com/books/Intensive-Psychotherapy-for-Persistent-Dissociative-Processes/
Adventures In EMDR Wonderland: Getting In And Out Of The Rabbit Hole
December 14, 2018 11:30am-2:30pm
Deany Laliotis, LICSW
While EMDR therapy is best known for its treatment of PTSD, it has developed into a comprehensive psychotherapy approach that treats a broad spectrum of presenting issues across various clinical populations. You will learn more about how this highly effective, evidence-based approach addresses relationship problems, low self-esteem and difficulties in self-regulation; in other words, complex attachment trauma. We will go through a long-term case where, in addition to processing memories, we are having to navigate defenses that invariably arise, and how the relationship between therapist and client is an integral part of the process and the processing.
Objectives:
1. Apply the Adaptive Information Processing Model of EMDR to conceptualize the client’s presenting problem and develop a treatment plan of relevant past experiences that are connected to the cli-ent’s current difficulties.
2. How to use the self of the therapist to co-create a new experience in the present while reprocessing the past.
3. Apply EMDR’s Three-pronged Protocol of Past, Present and Future to effectively implement a com-prehensive treatment plan that facilitates trait change.
Presenter:
Deany Laliotis, LICSW, is an international trainer, clinical consultant, and practitioner of EMDR therapy, specializing in the treatment of traumatic stress disorders and attachment issues. She’s been on the faculty of EMDR Institute, Inc. since 1993, and is currently the Director of Training. Deany was awarded the Francine Shapiro award for outstanding service and clinical excellence by the EMDR International Association in 2015. She currently maintains a private clinical and consultation practice in Washington, DC and is the Co-Director of EMDR of Greater Washington.
You Can’t Take It With You… But You Can’t Let It Go
February 8, 2019 9:30am-12:30pm
Elspeth Bell, PhD & Frederika Granger, LCSW-C
This presentation explores/examines current perspectives on Hoarding Disorder, exploring how biopsychosocial factors, past experiences, as well as lifestyle behaviors may contribute to and reinforce hoarding behavior. In the DSM-V, Hoarding Disorder is now categorized separately from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. To understand why, we will ask questions about what is unique about someone who hoards, including psychodynamic considerations, exploration of interpersonal relationships, insight (or lack thereof) about their hoarding behavior. We’ll examine treatment options that include how to help move these clients (with Hoarding Disorder) toward insight, especially when Hoarding Disorder must be addressed because outside authorities intervene. When addressing this mental health disorder, what is the most effective and respectful way to do so? Best practices will be presented including cognitive behavioral treatment, and psychodynamic perspectives.
Objectives:
1. Describe the diagnostic criteria and manifestation of symptoms for Hoarding Disorder (HD).
2. Explain how challenges related to cognitive and emotional processing can exacerbate HD situations.
3. Apply means for assessing multiple facets of HD.
4. Describe strategies for engaging HD clients to aid in skill-building and clutter reduction.
5. Identify conditions under which additional supports and resources are to be brought into a HD situation.
6. Describe the psychodynamic perspective on the diagnosis and treatment for HD and when psychodynamic treatment may or may not be indicated.
Presenters:
Dr. Elspeth Bell is a licensed psychologist with an extensive background and training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). As the director of the Bell Center for Anxiety and Depression, she focuses on the treatment of Hoarding Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and other anxiety disorders, depression, and interper-sonal difficulties. A recognized expert in working with Hoarding Disorder, Dr. Bell works with sufferers, family members, and professionals. She conducts assessments and consultations, provides psychotherapy, and runs psychoeducational and support groups. A strong advocate of collaboration, she works with Professional Organizers, psychiatrists, and other mental health providers to create effective intervention teams for her clients. Additionally, Dr. Bell is actively involved with area Hoarding Task Forces and Coalitions, presents at na-tional conferences, and conducts workshops. Dr. Bell received her Bachelor’s degree in psychology at Vassar College. She received her Master’s in psychology and Doctorate in clinical psychology from Fordham Univer-sity, with an emphasis on cognitive behavioral therapies and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. She is licensed to practice psychology in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
Frederika Granger, LCSW-C is a licensed clinical social worker specializing in treating seniors, adults, and young adults. She received my Master’s in Social Work in 1995 from the National Catholic School of Social Service at the Catholic University of America, Washington, DC and her Bachelor of Arts from Connecticut College in 1984. She spent her years in between as a pastry chef. Ms. Granger is skilled and experienced with individual, family and group psychotherapy and has worked successfully with the following issues: grief and loss (both the loss of a loved one and the loss of stage in life or a plan for your life), life transitions, family systems, anxi-ety, depression, and hoarding and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. She is currently the Program Manager and a therapist for Aspire’s Positive Aging Empower Now Program. Ms. Granger has also provided clinical su-pervision to clinicians who work with low-income children and families and worked in program administration, development, advocacy and, public policy. She is licensed to practice clinical social work in Maryland.
What’s Art Got To Do With It? The Unique Role of Art in Therapy
April 5, 2019 11:30am-2:30PM
Tally Tripp MA, MSW, LICSW, ATR-BC, CTT
“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way… things I had no words for.” —Georgia O’Keefe
Throughout history, the arts have had a significant role in communicating ideas, uncovering hidden feelings, and healing the deleterious effects of trauma. This workshop will introduce participants to art therapy and creative techniques aimed at increasing a visual vocabulary while lowering the reliance on words to express feelings and communicate ideas. The workshop will blend both didactic and experiential learning about the transformative power of art and its role in therapy. Participants will be able to apply these tools in their personal and clinical work. An emphasis will be on using the creative arts for self-care. No “talent” or previous art experience is required to participate in this workshop.
Objectives:
At the conclusion of this workshop participants will be able to:
1. Define art therapy and its unique role in psychotherapy
2. Identify 3 ways that creative arts can enhance verbal psychotherapy
3. Apply several simple art therapy techniques in their clinical work
Presenters:
Tally Tripp MA, MSW, LICSW, ATR-BC, CTT is a registered and board certified art therapist, licensed clinical social worker and certified trauma therapist specializing in working with complex trauma in the DC metro area. She is certified in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Sensorimotor Psychotherapy (SP) and Intensive Trauma Therapy (ITT). Tally is the Director of the George Washington University Art Therapy Center, a training clinic providing low fee art therapy to the community, where she also is an Assistant Profes-sor in Art Therapy teaching a yearlong Trauma course, as well as Group Therapy, Counseling Theory, Ethics and Diversity. Tally has traveled extensively to remote locales on the African continent, conducting service learning trips and trainings in trauma- informed art therapy. Tally is a frequent presenter at national and in-ternational conferences and has written several book chapters and articles on the topic of Art Therapy and Trauma.