List of workshops

Psychotherapy often focuses on the patient as the unit of analysis and intervention (N=1). But in fact, every therapeutic interaction, even the simplest one, involves the patient at a given moment (1), the therapist at a given moment (2), the patient’s learning history that led him to act as he does at that moment (3), the therapist’s learning history that led him to act as he does at that moment (4), and the shared learning history that the therapist and patient have created so far in the room (5). What a mess!!!

The research and clinical literature emphasizes the importance of integrating therapeutic work with parents as an inherent part of treating children and adolescents. Such work calls for movement between the parent's inner world and the child's inner world, as well as between past and present experiences of each and experiences of the relationship and actual patterns of interaction. Such complex work requires an integrative theoretical and clinical framework, which will constitute a directed roadmap, which will allow movement and flexibility in therapeutic decision-making along with retention and construction.

The concept of responsiveness refers to behavior that is influenced by the emerging interpersonal context (Stiles, 2005). In psychotherapy, responsiveness to the patient's needs will be expressed from the stage of referral to the appropriate therapist, through establishing the therapeutic alliance in a manner tailored to the patient, planning the treatment, selecting the interventions during the hour, and continuing attunement to the patient throughout the therapeutic hours. Responsiveness is important in any therapeutic method, but it is one of the cornerstones of treatment from an integrative perspective.

The psychodynamic approach, in its various streams, emphasizes the exploration of an inner world, and tends to be suspicious of behavioral or other interventions that have no connection to inner meaning and that satisfy urges instead of recognizing, processing, and containing them. Giving advice, behavioral practices, and breaking the setting are seen as the 'not-me' of psychoanalysis. In the workshop, we will examine the possibility of expanding the range of interventions based on various psychoanalytic ideas, and we will mainly rely on the concepts of 'recognition' and 'mutual recognition' of Jessica Benjamin, a central thinker of the relational approach in psychoanalysis.

The polyvagal theory was developed in 1994 by Professor Stephen Forges, and is a breakthrough in that it offers a map for understanding the relationship between anatomy, physiology, neuroscience and behavioral science, and connects theoretical understandings with therapeutic applications. Before the publication of the theory, the nervous system was viewed as a system consisting of two distinct parts: the sympathetic system that activates emergency responses, and the parasympathetic system that calms emergency responses. The polyvagal theory expands this model by identifying a third type of neural wiring, which Forges calls the 'social engagement system'. This system allows for emotional stability, brain flexibility and behavioral regulation for the maintenance of meaningful and beneficial relationships.

Therapists are exposed on many levels to patients and at the same time also choose to actively disclose information about their feelings and experiences within therapy and their lives outside of therapy. What guides us in making decisions about what to disclose and with whom? Are these decisions calculated or spontaneous? Are there different working styles of therapists or do they change from dyad to dyad and during the process? When should self-disclosure be avoided? What is the rationale for using it? How do we examine with patients their reactions to disclosure?

In this workshop, we will discuss the therapeutic relationship, the information it holds, the opportunities and moments of encounter it creates, as a basis for thinking about types of interventions in integration-based therapy.
The relational position in psychoanalysis treats the psyche as dyadic and interactive by nature. This approach emphasizes that the distresses for which people come to therapy were created within relationships, and therefore can change within the context of relationships, through joint creation and transformation. The therapeutic relationship, therefore, constitutes a significant and powerful site of inquiry, and also the "engine" that drives the processes of change in therapy. However, this position is not necessarily directed towards one therapeutic intervention or another.

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is an essentially integrative therapy designed to treat people who suffer from difficulties with emotional regulation and instability in all areas of life. These are complex patients with diverse and difficult symptoms and often suicidal behavior. Prof. Marsha Linehan developed this revolutionary treatment in the 1980s, and since then over 50 (!) controlled studies have been conducted that show effectiveness in treating borderline personality disorder, suicidal behavior, eating disorders, substance use, and more. The treatment is based on 3 worlds of knowledge: behaviorism, mindfulness, and dialectical philosophy.

Couples therapy is a space that exists out of a desire to improve the couple system and work on the difficulties that the couple experiences in it. Often times, we see couples trapped in painful, repetitive reactive interactions, and in the therapeutic space we would like to help them understand and change reactive moments. To do this, we need to understand the unique couple dynamics and mutual influences, alongside the intrapersonal dynamics of each partner and their impact on the couple system.

The question of how to motivate patients to change is one of the most common among professionals. How do you deal with patients who have difficulty achieving change? How do you help a patient who is unable to progress from a stage of talk to a stage of action? How do you understand patients' ongoing difficulty in maintaining the change they have achieved?