Working with the Highly Resistant Patient
with Jon Frederickson, MSW
2.11.2023, HELSINKI
Why do we get stuck with patients? Of course, there can be many reasons. But one group poses a unique difficulty: the highly resistant patient. When you ask what they would like help with, they say they don't know, or "I was hoping you could tell me", or they present in a vague, slippery way so that we are not sure what they want to work on. We might work with them for a while but somehow, things remain stuck. What happened? What are we not seeing?
In this video presentation of a case, we will analyze the patient's responses moment by moment to assess what patient behaviors can keep a patient stuck. Further, we will look at defenses from a relational point of view. What kind of relationship is the patient enacting through her defenses? Once we see that relational pattern, we will show how to help the patient see defenses and behaviors she has previously been unaware of. And we will look at how to help the patient see what she has not seen. Further, we will show how to help the patient become aware of her relational patterns in therapy that keep her stuck in life. Finally, we will be able to see how the "resistance" is secretly also our ally because it tells us what the problem is and how to talk about it.
Jon Frederickson, MSW, is on the faculty of the Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) Training Program at the Washington School of Psychiatry. Jon has provided ISTDP training in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Poland, Italy, Switzerland, India, Iran, Australia, Canada, the U.S., and the Netherlands. He is the author of over fifty published papers or book chapters and four books, Co-Creating Change: Effective Dynamic Therapy Techniques, Psychodynamic Psychotherapy: Learning to Listen from Multiple Perspectives, The Lies We Tell Ourselves, and Co-Creating Safety: healing the fragile patient. His book, Co-Creating Change, won the first prize in psychiatry in 2014 at the British Medical Association Book Awards, and it has been published in Farsi, Polish, Hebrew, and Slovak, and is currently being translated into Spanish and Croatian. His book The Lies We Tell Ourselves has been published in Polish, Farsi, Norwegian, Czech, Arabic, and Danish, and is currently being translated into German, Chinese, Hungarian, and Bulgarian. And his book, Co-Creating Safety is being translated into German, Hebrew, and Slovak. He has DVDs of actual sessions with patients who previously failed in therapy at his websites www.istdpinstitute.com and www.deliberatepracticeinpsychotherapy.com There you will also find skill-building exercises designed for therapists. He writes posts on ISTDP at www.facebook.com/DynamicPsychotherapy . His skill-building book for therapists, Healing Through Relating, came out in May, 2023. His forthcoming book, Clinical Thinking in Psychotherapy: how to do it and how to teach it, is forthcoming.
N.B. FURTHER REGISTRATIONS SINCE October 12th: THE PRICE WILL NOT INCLUDE COFFEE & PASTRY (Due to the cafés wishes for preparation)
Date and time: 2nd of November 2023, 9am-5pm
Location: Lapinlahden Lähde, auditorio; Lapinlahdenpolku 8, Helsinki
Price: 180 € + VAT 24% (223.20 € in total). The price includes coffee/tea in the morning and afternoon along with a salty and sweet snack respectively.
Registrations: By filling out the below form. Limited seats. Register before October 11th.
For whom? Licensed health care professionals. Confidentiality about the shown case is required.
Conditions: Registration is binding. For cancellations before October 22:nd, 50% of the fee will be charged. After this date the whole price will be billed.
Language: The presenter presents in English, but it is possible to ask questions in Finnish. Organizer: Psykologipalvelut Katarina Kiiskinen, katarina.kiiskinen@abo.fi, +3584578722343