Study/Supervision Group – January 2012
This will be a six meeting study/supervision group to discuss two important clinical books: Sue Gerhardt’s Why Love Matters and Dan Siegel’s The Mindful Therapist. Together they bookend the developmental process from how a baby builds a brain to how an adult gathers a sense of self and increasing consciousness to meet life in a fuller, hopefully more joyful way.
Each meeting will be two hours. I will talk for the first part of that time, laying out key points of the assigned readings. The second part of the time will be questions and supervision, applying this information to participant’s patients.
We will meet on 6 Friday afternoons, 2-4pm January 20, 2012 February 17, 2012 March 9, 2012 April 13, 2012 May 11, 2012 June 15, 2012
Meeting 1: Part One of Gerhardt. The scientific basis for understanding the importance of early childhood development. Prefrontal cortex not developed. Biological systems that manage emotion life are created in social contexts
Meeting 2: Part Two of Gerhardt: Shaky foundations and their consequences. Understanding the stress response. The relationship between inability to self-regulate and narcissism. Understanding how early experience affects brain chemistry throughout life cycle
Meeting 3: Part Two of Gerhardt: the links between personality disorders and a continuum of early abuse. Discussion of empathy and how it can become lost
Meeting 4: Siegle’s concepts of presence, attunement and resonance
Meeting 5: Siegle’s understanding of trust, both at the neurological level and the space between patient and therapist. Using imaginal exercises to explore trust and safety, danger and rupture. Learning to use loving-kindness meditations
Meeting 6: Siegle’s understanding of tracking, at the micro level, the body, the gestures, the metaphors, what is inside and what is outside. Using Sielge’s Wheel of Awareness to develop mindfulness
CEC’s from NASW-CT have been applied for
This group will meet monthly on Friday afternoons at Alexis’ home in South Salem.
If interested in joining, please email Alexis: alexisajohnsonphd@gmail.com
