Harriet Lerner, PhD

Discover and practice the 10 key steps to clarity and relational courage. Help your clients do the same! Dr. Lerner brings her integrated wisdom and clinical expertise to this Featured Training Course. She explores 10 key steps to clear communications with family and difficult people, and identifies the challenges of defining a bottom line in relationships, and distinguishing between defensive and pure listening. This is an intermediate course intended for practicing clinicians.

Learning Objectives

1. List the key steps to finding your voice.
2. Compare defensive and pure listening.
3. Describe the challenge of respecting differences while defining a clear bottom line in marriage and family.

John Bradshaw, MA,MSP,THA

n this cutting-edge lecture, John brings forth a strong case for the role of therapy in forming moral intelligence. In his latest book, Reclaiming Virtue, John draws the conclusion that humans possess a unique innate moral intelligence — defined as “right practical reasoning in making good choices.” John argues that this ability to choose well is marred by addictions and emotional illness. Focusing on the critical part played by emotion and volition in making mature choices, he offers specific ways in which effective therapy can invigorate and restore one’s moral intelligence in this Featured Course. This is an intermediate course intended for practicing clinicians.

Learning Objectives

1. Name the nine affects/emotions that are the core of the affect system as described by Silvan Tompkins.
2. Describe how emotional containment is critical to the development of emotional literacy.
3. Discuss the idea that 'human will' is a mental force that can change the structure of the brain.

Janis Abrahms Spring, PhD, ABPP

Forgiveness is good for us and good people forgive – right? But are some interpersonal traumas – infidelity, abuse, neglect – simply unforgivable? This new way of thinking about forgiveness may be described as radical. In this Featured Course Dr Abrahms Spring gives us an alternative to forgiveness called Acceptance, which spells out ten steps hurt parties can take to rise above a violation; such as refusing to live in a grudge state, de-shaming the injury, taking a fair share of responsibility for what went wrong, and giving up a need for revenge but not a need for justice. It will also help them forge a relationship with the offender that makes sense and serves their best interest. This could mean cutting off from that person or full engagement. In the end, hurt parties will learn to heal themselves – with or without forgiving an unrepentant offender. This is an intermediate course intended for practicing clinicians.

Learning Objectives

1. Critique popular assumptions about what it means to forgive.
2. Create a recovery plan which allows healing without forgiving an unapologetic offender.
3. Describe techniques to help hurt parties overcome their obsessive preoccupation with the injury.