Short Courses - Institute of Contemporary Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis

ICP+P offers Short Courses periodically throughout the year. They are short-term training opportunities and generally consist of one-time, 2- to 3-hour classes on specific topics. Check back frequently as new courses can be added at any time…

Below are Short Courses we are currently offering and a list of several of the interesting topics that have been covered in the past.

Save the Date

Friday, March 3rd from 12:30 pm – 3:30 pm Eastern (US/Canada) with Cynthia Margolies, PhD – Virtual Zoom Event

Accepting Registrations Now…

Here is a sampling of some of our most recent Short Courses…

Short Course: Psychotherapy in Black & White: Anti-Black Racism in Black Client/White Therapist & Black Therapist/White Client Dyads~April 23rd, 2021

Offering 3 Diversity CEs ~ This workshop we will review the research on Black-White interpersonal dynamics and how they relate to our therapeutic work. Along with reviewing the research on psychotherapy process between Black therapists and their White clients. We will review research on various types of anti-Black racism exhibited by White Americans in their interactions with Black Americans in general and in the psychotherapy context.

Short Course: Reflections on Contemporary Models of Transference and Countertransference: Keeping Culture in Mind ~ Nov 8, 2020

Offering 2 Diversity CEs, we will begin by exploring how participants think about transference and countertransference. What importance does a focus on these phenomena play in their clinical work? Although both concepts are considered to be foundational aspects of a psychodynamic approach, therapists may feel uncertain about how to apply them clinically as psychoanalytic theory has evolved and changed...

Short Course: Reflecting on Gender: Exploring our Countertransference Reactions to Trans and Gender Fluidity ~ Oct 18, 2020

Offering 3 Diversity + LGBTQ CEs ~ Many of us are so accustomed in our work to accepting uncertainty and ambiguity, but when it comes to gender, there is a strong urge to categorize. Male or female? Can we think about what creates the urge to rely on binary anchors of male and female? What is it about trans or gender fluidity that creates dis-ease? What gives rise to such a strong sense of Other that many of us think that we must refer gender-fluid patients to “experts?”

Short Course: Integrative Psychotherapy with Autistic Children and Their Families, Emphasizing Neurodiversity Principles ~ March 1, 2020

This short course will feature discussion of neurodiversity, psychotherapy, and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The course will begin with a brief background on ASD and neurodiversity. Participants will be encouraged to reflect on their own experiences with neurodiversity and neurotypical privilege. Therapeutic work is illustrated in the treatment of a moderately-functioning 10 year old boy.

Short Course: Suicidality: Changing the Narrative ~ February 14, 2020

America is in the midst of a suicide crisis. Last year, the Center for Disease Control released statistics showing that the rate of suicide increased by 33% between 1999 and 2017. Since 2008, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death for all ages. That rate only increases when there is a history of childhood abuse and neglect. Most therapists received little, if any training, about how to manage a suicidal crisis. Most of the training that is available focuses on ‘fixing’ the problem of suicide through prediction and prevention techniques.

Short Course: Keeping the Body in Mind: Affect Regulation for Trauma Survivors ~ November 15, 2019

Traumatic stress can evoke emotional extremes in survivors who are often described as feeling “too much” (flooding) or feeling “too little” (shut down). This workshop introduces participants to a range of neurobiologically-informed therapeutic tools and techniques that can be utilized in clinical practice with dysregulated clients. Keeping the body in mind, we will experiment with a range of body-based, “bottom up” interventions designed to promote grounding and attunement and facilitate self-awareness and affect regulation for trauma survivors.

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And Still More…

Cultural Issues and Relational Practice: Racial and Sexual Minorities

Relational practice, with its honoring of the subjectivities of both clinician and client, has the capacity to enhance sensitivity to all aspects of the client’s humanity, including cultural variables such as race, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Until recently, however, contemporary psychoanalysis has not carefully and consistently attended to such variables. This short course was a small part of a movement in contemporary psychoanalysis toward integrating culturally sensitive and relational practice. It focused on increasing clinicians’ awareness of, and sensitivity to, issues to consider when working with clients who are members of racial and sexual minorities.

Let’s Talk about Sex: Working through Anxiety of the Erotic in Couples Therapy

Sex is one of the main reasons we form romantic relationships. It permeates advertising, music, and pop culture in the U.S. Sex is ubiquitous; sex is natural; sex is very difficult to talk about – even by therapists. Sexual problems are pervasive for couples and yet very little is written in psychoanalytic literature about how to effectively discuss sex and sensuality within couples therapy.

Letter Salad: Relational Practice with Clients who are LGBTQIA2-S

Just when you thought you had mastered the term, “LGBT,” one by one, a new letter was added. Now we have, “LGBTQIA2-S”—what’s a culturally sensitive clinician with acronym challenge to do? In this workshop, a variety of learning modalities, including didactic, case discussion, and experiential exercises, were used to increase awareness of categories of sexual orientation, sexual behavior, and gender identity, while acknowledging that these categories are fluid and exist along continua. It also presented how to intervene more sensitively and effectively in relational practice with sexual minorities.

“Why did I decide to be a couples therapist anyway?” Finding your way when you feel ineffective with couples

Even the most experienced couples therapists encounter cases where they feel ineffective: deskilled, confused, inadequate, or angry at one or both members of a couple. Are these reactions a response to the dynamics of the couple, or are they coming from the therapist’s countertransference? These questions were considered from a multi-subjective theoretical orientation and discussed with possible interventions using challenging case material as illustration.