About Making Connections

MAKING CONNECTIONS is a forum in which TPI members can get to know one another. The forum is designed for clinicians at all levels of experience and practice. On the first Friday of each month—October through June, unless otherwise noted—members and their guests gather at the Institute from 3:45–6:00 pm to discuss a topic that relates to the experience of being a therapist.

At each Making Connections gathering, there is a presentation and time for discussion. The presentations, and ensuing dialogues, often focus on the rich intersection between our professional and personal selves, and how this cross-fertilization both impacts and informs the work we do. One of the main goals of Making Connections is to provide an open and informal discussion of clinical issues and dilemmas not typically discussed in other venues. There also is time to socialize, network, and cultivate collegial affiliation.

Please feel free to bring a guest. Making Connections is a way to give colleagues an introduction to TPI in an intimate professional setting.

Get to know your colleagues at The Psychotherapy Institute in an informal setting. Present ideas-formed or unformed- that intrigue, puzzle, or surprise you. Brainstorm, dialogue, and stimulate thought while building community. Network and participate in small-group discussions and experiential process. Earn CEU's.

About Participating

If you would like more connection at TPI and are looking for a way to participate with fellow colleagues, join our Making Connections Committee. This is a fun and useful way to be part of changing and contributing to the ever-unfolding TPI culture.

Our once a month committee meetings are held on the first Friday of the month—September through June—from 2:30-3:30pm at tTPI. For more information, contact Kate Harling at 510-841-0531.

2011 Forum Calendar

Day: First Friday of the month (unless otherwise noted)
Time: 3:45–6:00 pm (first 15 minutes are for socializing)
Place: The Psychotherapy Institute

Friday, January 6, 2012

Suicide: Fire in the Crucible

Presenter: Bob Shelby, MFT

As therapists we are faced with challenges to our capacity to hold our patients’ anxieties as well as our own. Under most circumstances we are able to do that because of the various resources available to us, such as: the frame itself; the relationships we have created with our intimate others, friends, our therapist, and our consultant; theories which we use as maps to understand the terrain we are exploring; and our knowledge of ourselves and, perhaps, of something greater than ourselves. The patients too have resources similar to ours. While the crucible of the container is meant to hold us and our patients as the heat of the unconscious process catalyzes change, there are times when the fire leaps into the crucible itself and not only the patient but we ourselves are confronted with the struggle to survive. One of those times is when we sit with a patient who is actively contemplating suicide as a means for deliverance from inescapable psychic pain and we have to conduct the treatment, knowing the patient might kill him or herself. Can we tolerate the anxiety we feel in order to provide the psychic space for the patient to feel the anxiety he or she feels? Together we will share some of the questions that have arisen for us as we attempted to maximize the healing potential exposed when a patient is close to the brink of suicide.

Bob Shelby, MFT, has a private practice in Berkeley and supervises at The Psychotherapy Institute and J.F. Kennedy University.

Friday, February 3rd, 2012

Equus and the Psyche: Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy
Presenter: Sally Broder Psy.D.

"There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man." Winston Churchill

In the past 30 years, there has been a movement and refinement of the idea that horses can help to heal humans from psychological wounds. Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy is the practice of enlisting the help of a suitable horse in the psychotherapeutic process with an individual client, or group. It is a therapeutic process which is informed primarily by the body language of both the horse and the client, attended to at all times by the therapist. Rather than coming from a human-centric place, in this modality we strive to practice the etiquette and psychology of the herd.

Clients take a journey within themselves with equine partners as their guide. Intuitively present, horses relate back instantaneously, similar to a bio-feedback machine, what they need from their human counterparts. Clients learn how to be truly present in the moment, take cues from their horse partner and adjust nonverbally. Through a variety of exercises participants are able to practice new behaviors for dealing with real life situations. Come join with me as I share how I came to do this work, and how this mode of psychotherapy works with a client or group.

Sally Broder, Psy.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist with offices in San Francisco and Los Altos. Her areas of expertise are helping patients with substance use disorders/addictive behaviors and traumatic disorders. She is in charge of the equine therapy program for Alta Mira Recovery in Sausalito, Ca. Presently, in partnership with the Presidio Riding Club in Marin, California, she has begun a free equine therapy program for veterans. Personally, Sally has owned horses since the age of 13 and currently owns an American Saddlebred colt named Realize.

Friday, March 2nd, 2012

Sound, Voice & Song in Psychotherapy
Presenter: Laura Soble, MFT, REAT, CST

In this experiential dialogue, I will share my experience of being both a depth psychotherapist, and a singer. My on-going voice training is a form of deep body and soul work. Techniques I work on in the studio with my teacher: making space, trusting that I have enough air, and letting my authentic voice sing-out fully, have direct parallels to the process of psychotherapy and individuation, and I believe influence what happens in my consultation room. I look forward to discussing and connecting with others about these ideas, and will share how this intersection shows up in my practice.

Laura Soble, MFT, REAT, CST works with adults, teens and children, and has had an arts-based depth psychotherapy practice in Oakland since 1995. Theoretically, she is drawn to Jungian and developmental approaches. A registered expressive arts therapist and certified Sandplay therapist, Laura has published and taught on both topics. She is a Founding Member of the Northern California Regional Sandplay Society (www.norcalsandplay.org), and is currently on the program committee for the Sandplay Therapists of America National Conference, to be held in Berkeley in June 2012 (www.sandplay.org). She has been a cantorial soloist and song leader for over 20 years.