The History of the IEDTA

Advances in Psychotherapy

  • Since the time of Freud, clinicians have sought ways to reduce the length of therapy and determine the key factors that lead to successful outcomes.

  • Dr. Davanloo trained at the Boston Psychoanalytic Institute and became frustrated with the length of time required for psychotherapy or psychoanalysis. He began videotaping his work in the 1960s looking for factors leading to change and breakthroughs.

  • Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy is the system, technique and metapsychology derived from decades of work by Dr. Davanloo. It also led some in that first generation of his trainees to begin this organization-the IEDTA

  • Many of Dr. Davanloo’s trainees developed their own iterations of the model, some with new names. The term “Experiential Dynamic Therapies” (EDTs) was coined to encompass all of these related therapies. To learn more about the specific types of EDTs that have been developed, go to “What are the EDTs”‍ ‍

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Habib Davanloo, M.D.

Our Timeline

 

  • Ferruccio Osimo consulted informally with Michael Alpert, Diana Fosha, Jeffrey Magnavita, David Malan, and Leigh McCullough, with a view to form an international umbrella organization to encourage research and teaching of the EDTs, and to promote productive dialog between various types of EDTs.

  • Michael Alpert and Allen Kalpin started the STDP Email Discussion List

  • Rob Neborsky had a meeting with Allan Abbass, Patrcia Coughlin, David and Jenni Malan, Diana Fosha and Allen Kalpin, which also promoted the idea of an international organization

  • The IEDTA begins! The IEDTA (then called IESA - International Experiential STDP Association), was founded in Milan, in the course of its 1st International Conference

  • International meetings are held every other year, allowing members to present video material of their work, train others, and encourage research in the EDTs.

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Upper Row (therapy when different from ISTDP, is in parentheses after the clinicians name): Allan Abbass, M.D.; Michael Alpert, M.D. (AET); Patricia Coughlin, Ph.D.; Diana Fosha, Ph.D. (AEDP); Jon Frederickson, M.S.W.; Allen Kalpin, M.D.; Nat Kuhn, M.D.

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Lower Row: Leigh McCullough, Ph.D. (APT);  Rob Neborsky, M.D. (AB-ISTDP); Ferrucio Osimo, M.D. (IE-DP); John Rathauser, Ph.D.; Josette ten Have-de Labije, Psy.D. (AB-ISTDP); Susan Warshow, LMFT, LCSW (DEFT)

Groups of Dr. Davanloo’s trainees began their own societies, peer groups, and even their own forms of experiential therapy based on their training with him. Some published books, articles or devoted time to build the IEDTA in the early days.

Prior (and upcoming) IEDTA Meetings

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Prior (and upcoming) IEDTA Meetings *

  • Conference Theme: “The Person of the Therapist”.

    Keynote Speaker: Dr. Helene Nissen-Lie, a psychologist and professor at the Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, internationally recognized for her research on therapeutic processes and the development of psychotherapist expertise. She completed her Cand.psychol. degree at the University of Oslo in 2002 and earned her Ph.D. there in 2011. After several years in clinical practice and postdoctoral research, she became an associate professor in 2014 and was promoted to full professor in 2020.​

  • Conference Theme: “Activating the Therapeutic Alliance Across the EDTs”

    Keynote Speaker: J. Christopher Muran, PhD, a leading researcher on rupture and repair in the therapeutic alliance who has published extensively on these and other change processes in psychotherapy, training, and supervision.

  • Conference Theme: “Love is in the Air.”

    Keynote Speaker: Diana Fosha, PhD, the developer of Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), and founder and director of the AEDP Institute, an internionally recognized school that specializes in training therapists in a transformational approach to  the treatment of attachment trauma. With an interest in the phenomenology of experience, Diana is on the cutting edge of transformational theory and practice.

  • Conference Theme: “New Frontiers in Experiential Dynamic Therapy.”

    Keynote Speaker: Dr. Edward Tronick, one of the pioneers of research on attachment and mother-infant bonding and the originator of the “still-face paradigm”.

  • Conference Theme: “Overcoming Treatment Resistant Depression: The Power of Emotion!”

    Keynote Speaker: Dr. Les Greenberg, a world leader in research and practice of emotion-focused psychotherapy.

  • Conference Theme: “Healing the Effects of Trauma: The Promise of Affect- and Attachment-Based Psychodynamic Approaches”

    Keynote Speaker: Dr. Besel Van Der Kolk a Boston-based Dutch-American psychiatrist, author, researcher and educator. Since the 1970s his research has been in the area of post-traumatic stress.

    Keynote Speaker: Christine A. Courtois, PhD. Dr Courtois has developed treatment approaches for complex posttraumatic and dissociative conditions for which she has received international recognition.

  • Conference Theme: “Going for Therapeutic Gold: Cost-effective, Evidence-based Pathways to Enduring Change.”

    Keynote Speaker: Dr Amanda Jones, Head of North East London NHS Foundation Trust's Perinatal Parent Infant Mental Health Service, Honorary Associate Professor of Warwick Medical School and therapist in the award winning Channel 4 documentary "Help me love my baby" (2007). 

  • Conference Theme: Short-Term Dynamic Approaches for Treatment Resistant Clients: From Failure and Despair to Health and Hope.

    Keynote Speaker: Dr Jaak Panksepp. “Instinctual Systems Common to Man & Animals: Implications for Effective Psychotherapeutic Treatment.” Panksepp ‍was a famous neuroscientist and psychobiologist known for his pioneering research on affective neuroscience, which studies the neural mechanisms of emotions. He coined the term “affective neuroscience,” and his work has significantly influenced the understanding of emotions and their neural bases.

  • Conference Theme: Changing Character: A Fairy Tale?

  • Conference Theme: “Reaching the Affect: The Healing Force in Psychodynamic Therapy.”

  • Conference Theme: “Core Factors for Effective Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy.”

    Conference Main Discussant: David Malan, MD, Tavistock Clinic, UK.

    The IEDTA was founded in Milan in 2001 during the course of the first international conference of the International Experiential STDP Association (IESA), as the IEDTA was then called.

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Past & Current Presidents of the IEDTA

      Ferruccio Osimo, MD (2001-2007)

      Allen Kalpin, MD (2007-2012)

      Kristin Osborn, LMHC, LPCC (2012-2014)

      Jessica Bolton, DClinPsy (2015-2017)

      Nat Kuhn, MD (2017-2019)

      Allan Abbass, MD (2019-2022)

      Tami Chelew, MFT, MA, CSAT (2022-2024)

      Ron Albucher, MD (2024-2026)