Dr Joan Haliburn

Saturday, 8th February, 25

11.00 a.m  to 12.30 p.m (AEDT)

The paradox is that the more one tries to become who one is not, the more one stays the same (Yontef & Jacobs, 2008, p329).

Psychotherapy for adolescents requires an active, engaged therapist who recognizes the importance of involving parents when necessary and is attuned to the presence of transference early on. The therapy needs to be structured into three phases—beginning, middle, and end—each with clear objectives, all within a trauma-informed framework. Special attention also needs to be given at the conclusion of therapy, focusing not only on the adolescent but also on the parent, if involved. This comprehensive approach ensures that both the adolescent and their family receive the support they need throughout the therapeutic process. In this webinar, Dr. Joan Haliburn will explore the complexities of adolescent psychotherapy, using case studies to illustrate the practical application of key concepts and techniques.

Dr Kevin Keith

Saturday, 22nd February, 25

11.00 p.m to 12.30 p.m (AEDT)

Erich Fromm [1900-1980] was a truly an exceptional figure. He lived through eight decades of the 20th Century. We still have much to rediscover from his life’s work, which actively engaged a fracturing world. Fields as broad as psychoanalysis, sociology, economics, critical theory and philosophy have all benefited from his accessible style and courageous focus. Indeed, his highly influential ideas—including ‘love’ ‘listening’ ‘hope’ and ‘social justice’—expressed throughout his prolific career have gained rightful recognition decades after his death.   

The three webinars will roughly follow a chronological order: (1) his early life, key influences and emergence of a refined social-theoretical psychoanalytic foundation, (2) key clinical contributions and technique from love and listening, and finally, (3) how his ideas match with contemporary issues and have been taken up by current scholars and therapists to address global concerns. Central ideas, select publications, and comments by Fromm scholars will be curated throughout the series to bring back to life relevant practical applications for work in 2025.

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Prof Andrew Moskowitz

The American psychologist Philip Bromberg, more than any other contemporary thinker and clinician, built a bridge between dissociation and contemporary psychoanalytic thinking and theory. Through his writings and teachings, Bromberg emphasized the core relevance of dissociation to the interpersonal psychology of Harry Stack Sullivan and relational psychoanalysis. He quipped that Janet’s ghost had come home to haunt Freud – who had famously eschewed dissociation for repression. Bromberg argued forcefully for a central role for trauma and dissociation in normal personality, and for pre-emptive dissociation in personality disorders – which maintained interpersonal distance in order to prevent psychological pain. He also believed that effective therapy required the activation of parts of the therapist’s self that could engage with the client’s parts (essential for the enactments he viewed as necessary for therapeutic progress) all the while respecting the other (normal) dissociative parts that were in the background; in addition, Bromberg insisted on – in striking contrast to classical psychoanalysis – the necessity of periodic therapist disclosures in order for therapy to be effective. And in his use of dreams in therapy, as in many of his teachings, he echoed – without apparently realizing it – the writings of another major historical figure who locked horns with Freud – Carl Jung.

Dr Nick Bendit

One of the most difficult areas in psychotherapy is deciding how to manage a chronically depressed patient who presents with a chronic pattern of deliberate self-harm (cutting, burning, punching oneself, non-lethal overdoses, etc). To ensure being able to safely and effectively work with such clients, the therapist has to concurrently do three things (1) Effectively assess the risk associated with their deliberate self-harm behaviours (2) Attempt to understand what is generating these experientially-driven behaviors (3) Try to manage their own anxiety on the client’s presentation In this webinar, Dr Nick Bendit will discuss the etiological factors associated with deliberate self-harm, as well as explain what drives and maintains those client patterns. He will also discuss assessment, severity of risk of deliberate self-harm, as well as the importance of managing countertransference responses in therapists. Dr Bendit will also clarify how to treat deliberate self-harm with psychotherapy.

Learning Objectives

1. Understand what is deliberate self-harm

2. Identify which type of clients use deliberate self-harm in an ongoing way.

3. Understand what drives clients to deliberately self-harm

4. Learn how to assess severity and risk of deliberate self-harm

5. Identify how to manage countertransference responses, and use those therapeutically to help clients.

6. Learn how to treat deliberate self-harm with psychotherapy.

Dr Nick Bendit

Dissociation is an area of mental health that few practitioners know much about. It is shrouded in mystery and controversy, but in the last 10 years there is an increasing literature of the science and clinical practice of dissociation. In particular, complex dissociation appears in clients with severe borderline personality disorder and clients with dissociative identity disorder. This Online Course will introduce you to dissociation, discuss cognitive neuroscience of dissociation, clinical syndromes in dissociation with both PTSD and BPD subtype, Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and treatment of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).

Dr Kevin Keith

Personality research remains a vibrant, yet relatively untapped resource for counsellors, psychotherapists, psychologists and other mental health workers. Research continues to offer more robust integrative life-span approaches to human difference. And along the way, new insights for care in mental health settings continue to emerge. This Online Course addresses ‘research to practice gaps’ and highlights current perspectives on personality, impacts on mental health and practical implications for treatment.