Dr. Mary Ellen Griffin
presents a
Saturday Morning Seminar
entitled
This Patient Is Driving Me Nuts:
Making Therapeutic Use of Countertransference
8:30am-12:15pm
Location:
Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center
Classroom #5, Fifth Floor
1901 Clinch Avenue
Knoxville, TN 37919
Schedule:
8:30am Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:50am Welcome and Introduction
9:00am Literature Review and Rationale for the Model
9:15am Phase 1: Receiving Interactional Communication, and
Phase 2: Internal Processing
10:30am Break
10:45am Phase 2, Continued
11:00am Phase 3: Communication; Validation
11:30am Practice Applying Model/Discussion
12:15pm Complete Evaluations and Adjourn.
Educational Objectives:
After attending this intermediate-level seminar in full, participants will be able to:
1. Articulate a rationale for the view that experiencing reactions to our patients- also known as countertransference - is not only inevitable, but is, indeed, essential information with the potential to enhance clinical empathy and further the therapeutic process, and examine empirical support.
2. Utilize Tansey and Burke’s sequential model for receiving interactional communications from patients via countertransference, internally processing them to develop empathic insight, and using these new data to plan therapeutic interventions.
3. Identify guidelines for optimal vs. non-optimal therapeutic stances at each stage of the process, and criteria for validating clinical hypotheses as one evaluates the source and meaning of countertransference experience.
4. Apply this model both to clinical examples provided by the presenter, and to one’s own case examples.
Description of Program:
Empathic inquiry, the cornerstone of psychodynamic psychotherapy, can be difficult when the patient’s way of relating is experienced by the therapist in ways that are difficult -- for the therapist. We sometimes feel bored, angry, alarmed, anxious, distracted, sleepy, torn, disconnected, or otherwise ill-at-ease with patients. Some patients are difficult for us over time, which may leave us feeling incompetent, stymied, or that we’ve lost perspective. Using our own feelings - our countertransference - to formulate therapeutic interventions with our patients is the hallmark of modern psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Yet even for senior clinicians, thorny countertransference issues arise, and seeking the consultation of trusted peers never ceases to be of value.
Burke and Tansey’s 1989 “Unitary Sequence for Processing Interactional Communications” is an exceptionally clear, explicit, and systematic methodology for thinking about and working with countertransference in psychotherapy. This model elucidates what we teach and seek in supervision and consultation, and what we do in our work every day, often subconsciously.
In this intermediate-to-advanced psychotherapy seminar, participants will learn Tansey and Burke’s sequential model for receiving interactional communications from patients via countertransference, internally processing them to develop empathic insight, and using these new empathic insights to plan therapeutic interventions. Dr. Griffin will bring each step in the sequence to life by using it to examine one of her current clinical cases. We will also identify guidelines for optimal vs. non-optimal therapeutic stances at each stage of the process, and criteria for validating clinical hypotheses as one evaluates the source and meaning of countertransference experience. Participants will be invited to practice the model by applying it to their own clinical examples in small groups and, for those who wish, with the larger group.
Presenter:
Mary Ellen Griffin, PhD, is a psychologist in private practice in Sylva and Asheville, North Carolina. She earned her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Northwestern University in 1997, and completed her Predoctoral Internship and a Fellowship in Developmental Neuropsychology at The Cambridge Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Dr. Griffin specializes in psychodynamic psychotherapy with adult individuals and couples, case consultation with other psychotherapists, and psychoanalytic clinical teaching. She is a past presenter with Appalachian Psychoanalytic Society and Lenoir Rhyne University, and a former faculty member in the Psychology Department at Western Carolina University. She served on the Continuing Education Committee of NCPA for several years, and now serves on the Boards of both the Appalachian Psychoanalytic Society and the Western North Carolina Psychological Association. When not practicing psychoanalytic psychology, she can often be found kayaking whitewater rivers in the region. Dr. Griffin learned Tansey and Burke’s “Unitary Sequence” from her professor and supervisor at Northwestern University, Walter F. Burke. It is a foundation of her own clinical work and teaching.
Participants:
This program is open to all APS members and other interested mental health professionals who may not be members. It is not limited to individuals practicing in a predominately psychoanalytic mode. The material will be appropriate for clinicians with intermediate levels of experience and knowledge.
Registration Fees and Policies:
Professional and Scholar Members:
$45 by 9pm on February 8, 2016,
$55 after 9pm on February 8, 2016.
Early-Career Professional Members:
Free if registered by 9pm on February 8, 2016
Please email Elaine Erickson, PhD at Nadezhda297@aol.com to register.
$10 after 9pm on February 8, 2016.
Graduate Student Members:
Free (Please email Elaine Erickson, PhD at Nadezhda297@aol.com to register.),
Non-members:
$60 by 9pm on February 8, 2016,
$70 after 9pm on February 8, 2016.
Although walk-ins will be accepted, please register online at www.aps-tn.org in advance to assure adequate food and seating.
If you prefer to pay by check, please mail your payment to: Elaine Erickson, PhD, APS Treasurer, 515 Booth Street, Knoxville, TN 37919.
Refunds honored with written/electronic notice at least 24 hours before date of seminar. Contact Elaine Erickson, PhD at Nadezhda297@aol.com.
Contact either of the APS Co-Presidents Beverly Gibbons, PhD at 865-694-7859 (bevgibbons@comcast.net) or Diane Humphreys-Barlow, LCSW at 865-546-0447, ext. 2 (dhbaps@gmail.com), to negotiate fees, if needed.
Facility is accessible to persons who are physically challenged. Reasonable accommodations will be made for persons requesting them.
APS Membership:
Eligible professionals can join APS or renew their membership for the 2015-2016 program year for $70. Scholars can join/renew for $50 and Early-Career Professionals can join/renew for $35. Graduate students may join or renew for $25.
Ready to join?
Just click here!
American Psychological Association Approval Statement:
Division 39 is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Division 39 maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
Continuing Education:
This program, when attended in its entirety, is available for 3.0 continuing education credits. With full attendance and completion of a program Evaluation and Learning Assessment, a certificate will be issued. Psychologists will have their participation registered through Division 39.
APS and Division 39 are committed to conducting all activities in conformity with the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles for Psychologists. APS and Division 39 are also committed to accessibility and non-discrimination in continuing education activities. Participants are asked to be aware of the need for privacy and confidentiality throughout the program. If program content becomes stressful, participants are encouraged to process these feelings during discussion periods. If participants have special needs, we will attempt to accommodate them. Please address requests, questions, concerns and any complaints to Rich Adlin, PhD, at richadlin@gmail.com or 865-680-2774.
There is no commercial support for this program nor are there any relationships between the CE Sponsor, presenting organization, presenter, program content, research, grants or other funding sources that could reasonably be construed as conflicts of interest. During the program, the validity/utility of the content and risks/limitations of the approaches discussed will be addressed.
Questions? Contact either of the APS Co-Presidents: Beverly Gibbons, PhD at 865-694-7859 or Diane Humphreys-Barlow, LCSW at 865-546-0447, ext. 2.