The Therapist’s Vulnerability
Emerging Themes in Clinical Work
Friday 31 March 2023
A Live Webinar with Dr Karen Maroda
CE Credits: 3 hours
- Includes a subtitled recording of the event and a transcript, with access for a year (14 days post the event)
- Bookings close at 4:00am EDT Tuesday 28 March
It has long been recognised that therapists have a history of being caretakers in their families of origin. Yet we have not pursued how that role impacted our own personal growth, values, ideas and limitations. What are the vulnerabilities and strengths that we share as a result of being precociously assigned the responsibility for others’ happiness or even their psychic survival?
READ MORE...What role does the resulting guilt, shame and desire to rescue and be rescued play in the creation of both our theories and preferred interventions? And do we tend to be excessively passive as a result of not having any real power as children when faced with the daunting responsibility of being soother, peacemaker, mediator and even entertainer?
In the spirit of expanding the conversation about the dynamics in the therapeutic dyad, this presentation focuses on three topics: The therapist’s early experiences and how they impact both our theory and practice, the natural human limits of empathy, and the role of enactment in the therapeutic process. This program is designed for working clinicians, focusing heavily on clinical examples and opening up conversation about the ways we work and how we might creatively enhance our interventions with clients.
FULL PROGRAMME
09.00 EDT
Introductions
09.05
The Therapist’s Early Experience
Presenting as unusually sensitive and empathic children, we were naturally enrolled as soothers and peacekeepers. Yet at the same time that we were rewarded for these behaviors, and experienced some success, we were ultimately destined to failure. It was not possible for us to truly heal our depressed mothers and other family members. As a result, we carry a legacy of guilt, shame and the need to heal ourselves as we attempt to heal our clients. More importantly, these needs and desires both fuel our therapeutic work and can limit our success to the extent that we are unaware of these motivations and the unrealistic expectations they can produce.
10.00
Break
10.15
The Limits of Empathy
The capacity for empathy is arguably the keystone of all therapeutic work. It is essential in the early stages of treatment as we help our clients feel understood and accepted. But have we exaggerated both its relative value and our capacity to provide it as the therapeutic relationship evolves? Mirror neuron research has been interpreted incorrectly to mean that deep empathy is both possible and automatic. But this is a fallacy. The social science literature has documented that empathy is not automatic, even among therapists. The experience of ‘personal distress’ in the face of the client’s sadness, anger and helplessness often results in a distancing response. And the heavy focus on empathy can easily lead to the closing down of needed conflict.
11.00
Q&A
11.15
Break
11.30
Enactment and Therapeutic Action
Enactment has been accepted as inevitable, particularly with clients who cannot access their feelings at a conscious level. Described as mutual projective identification, resulting in some unplanned, unconscious emotionally charged event, it has become a primary focus in the conversation about therapeutic action. Is it true that because so much communication in the therapeutic dyad is unconscious, we need to rely on enactment to know what both our clients and ourselves are feeling? Can we only know our minds, and process our feelings, once they have been enacted? This presentation argues that self-awareness and selective expression of countertransference emotions can minimize both impasses and the enactments that typically follow.
12.30
Discussion and Q&A
13.00
End
FEES (USD)
Bookings close at 4:00am EDT Tuesday 28 March
Live Webinar:
$96 (Member $48)
(Click here to become a member)
Includes a recording of the event.
CE
This event is accredited by:
- NBCC
- NYSED (Psychology)
- NYSED (Psychoanalysis)
- NYSED (Social Workers)
Certificates of attendance for 3 hours will be provided.
To receive the full CE credits, you are required to attend 100% of the live event. No partial credit will be given.
This event is NOT accredited by the following organisations:
- ASWB
Please note that if you are unable to attend all of the live event, you will need to undertake our event specific test in order to receive the CE certification. This will be made available soon after the live event has taken place.
Please contact events@conferonline.org for any further questions.
Confer has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7136. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Confer is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
Confer is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Psychologists #PSY-0169
Confer Limited is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychoanalysts #P-0059.
Confer Limited is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0729.
VENUE
This is a live online webinar using Zoom software. Zoom is free to download and use.
For more information about Zoom click here.
To download Zoom free of charge click here.
For special accommodations for individuals with disabilities see our FAQs.
SCHEDULE
Friday
09.00 EDT Introductions
09.05 The Therapist’s Early Experience
10.00 Break
10.15 The Limits of Empathy
11.00 Q&A
11.15 Break
11.30 Enactment and Therapeutic Action
12.30 Discussion and Q&A
13.00 End
CONTENT LEVEL
- Intermediate
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- Describe the early childhood experiences shared by most people who become therapists.
- Explain how greater self-awareness of our motivations and needs can produce better therapeutic results.
- Discuss the concept of “personal distress” and how it limits the experience of empathy.
- Give examples of the function of empathy in later stages of treatment, especially how its clinical application can actually hinder the therapeutic process.
- Discuss a brief history of the term ‘enactment’ and how it is currently defined and clinically utilized.
- Summarize the neuroscience research stating that most of our deep emotions, especially the negative ones involved in enactment, are rarely out of awareness and can be utilized to minimize enactment.
TARGET
AUDIENCE
- Psychologists
- Counselors
- Social Workers
- Psychotherapists
- Addiction Professionals
- Marriage and Family Therapists
- Psychiatrists
- Other related mental health professions.
BOOKING CONDITIONS
Regrettably, refunds cannot be given in any circumstances except as follows:
- You cancel in writing to info@conferonline.org 60 days before the first date of the event you have booked, in which case you will be entitled to a 100% refund.
- You cancel in writing to info@conferonline.org 30 days before the first date of the event you have booked, in which case you will be entitled to a 50% refund.
This does not apply to parts of an event such as a seminar within a series but only to a whole event or complete series. You may give your place to another person if you let us know that person's name at least 24 hours before the event begins.
We reserve the right to change a speaker at one of our conferences without offering a refund. However, if a solo presenter cancels we will offer a full refund OR transfer of your fee to another Confer event. If the entire event is canceled we will offer you a full refund.
We reserve the right to change our prices at any time. Regrettably, discounts offered after you made your booking cannot be claimed or applied retrospectively.