Five Days of Intensive Psychotherapy Training & Immersion Experience

Thomas M. Brod, MD, Robin L. Kay, PhD,

Nat Kuhn, MD, and Tony Rousmaniere, PhD, Faculty

The Whidbey Island Summer School is meant for practicing psychotherapists at all levels who wish to deepen their understanding, competence, and comfort with the theory and practice of intensive psychodynamic psychotherapy. 2017 will be the third summer this immersive learning experience has been offered.

Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (EDT) and Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) represent a unique form of affect/body/relationship-based psychodynamic treatment that facilitates the rapid resolution of a broad spectrum of emotional disorders. It is an evidence-based psychotherapy developed by Habib Davanloo, MD, strongly supported by extensive clinical research studies. EDT/ISTDP interventions are specifically designed to resolve anxiety, depression, somatization and personality disorders, as well as, to alleviate a variety of self-defeating behaviors, many of which derive from unstable or troubled early life attachments.

Physicians, psychologists, licensed therapists, nurses, and social workers can earn 21 Continuing Education hours through Washington School of Psychiatry (see brochure page 6).

Two Tracks: Foundational and Advanced

At its heart, this Summer School is designed to bring experienced psychotherapy clinicians into increased competence and comfort with the work of Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy and ISTDP. The program will be arranged around two tracks, but much study will be together as a single group. The faculty will use video vignettes and role-playing with participants. Large group processing will be emphasized for supervision, role-playing, and processing of unconscious activation

The Foundational Track is built as a primer on ISTDP for physicians, psychologists, and other mature psychotherapists ready for foundational work in this revolutionary dynamic treatment. The primer will cover aspects of ISTDP that are key to understanding its practice, such as our emotions and defense mechanisms, video recordings of sessions, the cost effectiveness of ISTDP etc. Additional topics include the research evidence of success of short-term therapies in wide-ranging conditions like panic disorder, somatization disorder, anxiety, depression, medically unexplained symptoms and personality disorders.

Psychotherapists who have had at least one year in an EDT/ISTDP core-training group, can join the Advanced Track with the opportunity for close study of faculty videotapes, supervision, and work on skill-building exercises.

Both tracks offer deepened understanding of ISTDP theory and technique. All participants in the Summer School will join together in skill-building and large group processing throughout the week and will be introduced to Deliberate Practice. Even participants with significant prior ISTDP exposure have found this systematic approach helpful.

Description of the Summer School

As in prior years, the Summer School will occupy the full facility of the historic 100 year-old Captain Whidbey Inn for this five-day intensive program. The Inn is located on Whidbey Island, on Puget Sound, outside of Seattle.

The curriculum includes didactics, skill-building exercises including role-playing, and group processing of unconscious activation; for those who are interested, there are opportunities for individual supervision of recorded material with the rest of the group observing.

Recreational opportunities are scheduled.

Enrollment will be strictly limited to 25 or fewer Professional learners. Accommodations can be made for accompanying adults who do not attend the program.

The didactic material will focus on principles and techniques of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy, and will include extensive video vignettes. Topics to be covered will include establishing an internal emotional focus for treatment, helping patients track emotional causality of anxious/somatic experiences, managing multiple layers of projection, and focusing on the transformative power of the Unconscious Therapeutic Alliance (UTA) in the processing of guilt and forgiveness, among others. Skills of Deliberate Practice will be emphasized.

The tentative schedule is available in the brochure, which can be downloaded here.

The registration form, information, and instructions can be found in the brochure. Please feel free to contact Dr. Brod (information below) with any questions or issues.