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.

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

Short Course: Circling the Chairs: Starting Groups in Private Practice ~ September 20, 2019

Launching a group can be one of the most challenging tasks you face as a group therapist. It is easy to get stuck because you are unsure what to do next. In this workshop participants will explore the potential pitfalls of starting a group and learn how to avoid them. Using practical advice that is grounded in group theory, participants are guided through a stepwise process of launching a group.

The Female Gaze in/on the Female Body in Art + Psychoanalysis: Why Does the Work of Artist Paula Modersohn-Becker Challenge Embedded (or Unconscious) Misogyny + Epistemic Injustice? Mar 1

Get Diversity CEs ~ The work of artist Paula Modersohn-Becker (1876-1907) who in 1905-07, painted her body and those of mothers and babies in the nude, defied centuries of representations of idealized female nudes and nudes painted through the male gaze.

Short Course: To Group or Not to Group: Assessment and Preparation of Potential Group Members ~ February 8, 2019

Group therapy can be integrated with, or follow, individual treatment to expand and broaden the client’s therapeutic experience beyond the traditional dyad. This workshop is an exciting opportunity for clinicians who may or may not run groups themselves: to learn specific ways in which participating in group may be beneficial; to explore having a dialogue with clients about group; and to connect clients with a group experience, if appropriate.

Short Course: Building Intimacy – Connecting Couples Sexually and Emotionally ~ October 26, 2018

This workshop explores the intersection of sexual and emotional intimacy for couples who are having little or no sexual activity. A treatment model of intervention will be presented. We’ll discuss various factors that could result in this breakdown and consider the initial options for beginning therapy...

Short Course: Beyond the Words: Incorporating Somatic Interventions into Psychodynamic Psychotherapy ~ April 13, 2018

Given the increasing attention to the role of the body in treating trauma, dissociative disorders and other clinical conditions, many traditionally trained psychodynamic psychotherapists are exploring somatic interventions. Following ICP+P’s Institute on Embodying the Unspoken Self last year, this short course explores how to incorporate somatic interventions into psychodynamic psychotherapy.

Short Course: Integrating Somatic and Relational Approaches: Holding Space ~ November 10, 2017

This course will explore how somatic awareness can be successfully incorporated into a relationally based psychotherapy approach. We will focus on two somatically based procedures: activation of the social engagement system and dual awareness.

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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.