Who's on Fire...Experiential Dynamic Therapy for Various Self-Destructive Patterns

In our daily work as psychotherapists, we encounter countless ways in which a person maintains unnecessary personal suffering. This can range from mild cases of passive self-aggression or painful judgment to extremely serious cases involving self-harm and even suicide. Neutralizing the act of self-destruction is the stated goal of one of the 9 components of Intensive Experiential-Dynamic Psychotherapy (IE-DP). If we examine this phenomenon closely, we can see that there are two main ways in which this can be accomplished: Self-harm can be accomplished, in effect, by passive self-deprivation, or by active self-abusing.

The seminar will address the overall phenomenon of human self-sabotage in a comprehensive manner, both theoretically and clinically. Two clinical cases will be presented, documented on video, which will demonstrate the therapist's work process, to dissolve any type of self-harming functioning, with the aim of accompanying the patient to a different position, at a safe distance from the suffering he causes himself.

Seminar program:

9:00: Gathering

9:20: Opening remarks - Ehud Halak, coordinator of the EDT Israel training program, recognized by the International Experiential Dynamic Therapy Association – IEDTA

9:30: Opening lecture - When the price of attachment is too high to bear. Self-sacrifice, self-attack, self-sabotage can be a major obstacle to successful treatment. How to neutralize the inner enemy? Theoretical principles and step-by-step techniques.

10:00: Presentation of the first case, video #1 - Water in the Water: Reviving the Embedded Self.

11:15: Discussion

11:30: Coffee break

11:45: Presentation of a second case, video no. 2 - Who's on Fire: From an Active Attempt to Die to a Treasure of Life.

12:45: Discussion

1:00 PM: Lunch break

1:30 PM: Continuation of clinical case video #2

3:00 PM: Discussion

3:30 PM: Estimated end

Dr. Osimo served as the first president of the International Experiential Dynamic Therapy Association (IEDTA). He is the author of the Intensive Experiential Dynamic Therapy (IE-DP) approach, based on the pioneering work of Canadian psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Habib Davenlo, of whom Osimo was a student, and David Malan, Dr. Osimo's research partner. Davenlo developed a sequence of specific technical interventions designed to address defenses to elicit 'forbidden' emotions. Dr. Osimo's clinical studies with David Mellan, John Bowlby, and Lee McCullough led him to place great emphasis on the human relationship with the patient, which is the basis for choosing the type of effective intervention at any given moment. Dr. David Mellan wrote in the introduction to Dr. Osimo's book: Experiential Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy : "Dr. Osimo explains the principles of his technique with great clarity. His special contribution includes the detailed description of the different types of interventions available to the therapist for treating each of the three vertices of the conflict triangle. In particular, he claimed the concept of 'Maieutic' - newborn emotion, interventions that allow contact with the full emotional experience and an open expression of deep feelings (the word is derived from ancient Greek and means "midwife"). Dr. Osimo has trained many therapists and instructors in the field of EDT in the United States, England, Italy, and Israel. The approach The IE-DP is described in several articles and books he and others have authored.