John Rathauser, PhD and Jonathan Entis, PhD, will be leading a 1-day
webinar on working with syntonic defenses, or defenses with which the
patient is highly identified. This training is a continuation in a yearly series on working with syntonic
defenses with a strong focus on defiance.  Keynote addresses and clinical
vignettes will be shown.  The cases to be presented will be different than
those shown at last year’s seminar.

Syntonic defenses present unique challenges. These resistances are
invisible to patients and at times the therapist.  Failure to recognize and
work through syntonicity can result in confusion, misalliance, and lack of
integration of the fundamental principles of the therapeutic endeavor. A
full understanding of how syntonic defenses operate and how to approach
them therapeutically is a requisite for mastery of Davanloo’s ISTDP.

In this webinar, we will cover key tenets of how to identify syntonic
defenses and how to work with them.  We will place a particular focus on
the hidden defense of defiance and the 3-stage process for de-activating,
clarifying and then challenging it. Syntonic defenses, including defiance, are prevalent in nearly all patients
with early developmental trauma, and are often at the root of therapeutic
impasse.  This training aims to equip participants with the tools to better
recognize these phenomena and effectively address them.