An Introduction to Clinical Practice through the Lens of Relational Psychotherapy and Mind-Body Principles

This four-week training opportunity (meeting every Tuesday for 4 weeks) is designed for students, beginning practitioners and those new to direct clinical practice.  The course will introduce an integrative model of treatment focusing on relational psychotherapy, neuroscience, and mind-body work.  A didactic and experiential format will be employed.  Through the use of readings, discussion of clinical cases and demonstration, we will explore the following areas:

1.    Approaching the clinical encounters;

2.    Establishing goals of treatment;

3.    Viewing the client/therapist interaction through the centrality of attachment and therapeutic relationship;

4.    Discussing some of the central concepts that are related to positive outcome in treatment, such as empathic attunement, limbic resonance and revision, neural integration, and neural plasticity;

5.    Incorporating evidence-based mind-body techniques to deepen the therapeutic process, focusing on the scientific bases and current empirical research for these practices;

6.    Exploring the role of social and affective neuroscience in promoting healing and growth in the therapeutic relationship; and

7.    Discuss the crucial role of therapist self-care and the use of these aforementioned mind-body practices in self-care. 

This workshop will begin on Tuesday, May 19, 2015 through Tuesday, June 9, 2015, meeting at 7:00 p.m. The facilitators will be Dr. Stephen Stein, Ph.D and Jade Wood, MA, LMFT, MHSA.  This group will be limited to eight participants. 

Interested individuals should contact Dr. Stein at 202-745-2556.  This group will be free of charge and open to any interested participants.  This training experience is offered as a service of DCPA to facilitate the professional development of the mental health community.