CONNECT 2022 Schema Therapy Conference
Published 18 April, 2022
Our annual International Schema Therapy Conference ‘CONNECT’ went ahead on April 8th.
We had a blast connecting with some of our favorite schema colleagues who graced us with the latest in creative applications of Schema Therapy.
As a part of the charity drive for the conference 15% of profits to be donated to the Ukraine Appeal. So far that is $AUD5,000!
You can still contribute to this effort by purchasing the post-conference stream which comes with 12-months access to all six presentations and all slides/handouts (for a total of 11.5 Hours of CPD. A certificate of completion is issued upon completion too).
CONNECT 2022 Conference Review
The conference was co-facilitated by Robert Brockman, who has shared his own learnings here –
“This was an awesome conference,” says Rob, “and we’re so thrilled to bring talented, creative individuals together from around the world to share their expertise.”
We opened the conference with Wendy Behary who set a very high standard.
Read on for Rob’s full account –
Presenter: Wendy Behary (USA)
Presentation: Advanced Empathic Confrontation Strategies for Dealing with The Most Challenging Modes in Treatment
Wendy graced us with her deeply empathic communication style – and how this is conveyed to soften the most difficult to engage patients. She also presented a real cool ‘Speaking out of frame’ model of interpersonal interactions that can help us stay aware of our own schema based reactions when working with overcompensating clients.
Presenter: Professor Marleen Rijkboer (Netherlands)
Presentation: Schema Therapy for Dissociative Identity Disorder; Scientific Background and Practical Overview of the Treatment.
Marleen presented some theory, and her clinical observations from working over the past few years on a small trial of Schema Therapy for patients suffering with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). I came away with an understanding of the relevance of ST to these clients, and the adjustments that need to be made to engage clients with this profile. Marleen has the uncanny ability to describe research and practice in a way that is engaging; her humour and positivity is infectious.
Presenter: _Dr Susan Simpson (UK)
Presentation: Working with Self-Flagellation and Guilt in Schema Therapy.
Presentations involving Self-Flagellation and Guilt are among the most difficult presentations to deal with in ST. Susan was able to share her knowledge of these topics with both precision and empathy, drawing on theory and research from diverse fields to inform her schema approach to these issues.
Presenter: Dr Lars Madsen (Aust)
Presentation: The Joker: An introduction to Forensic Schema Therapy.
Every time I talk to Lars I get the feeling I am on a crime podcast. This was no different (ps. I love crime podcasts). Lars masterfully illustrated the development of a set of Forensic Coping Modes (e.g. Bully and Attack, Predator) based on the tragic history of the character of Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker. Really fun and informative way of teaching the forensic schema model.
Presenter: Dr Andrew Phipps (Aust)
Presentation: I Want To Break Free: Accessing and Building the Happy Child Mode in Schema Therapy.
This was just plain fun – no pun intended;) Andrew took us for a deep dive into some of the skills and knowledge relevant to building the capacity for fun, play, and Joy. I came away from this feeling like we have only scratched the surface of ‘building the happy child’ within the general schema approach.
Presenter: Remco Van Der Wijngaart (Netherlands)
Presentation: Emotional growth; how to generate corrective emotional experiences in Limited Reparenting.
I learn something about ST whenever I talk to Remco. He is so passionate and creative about how to involve the clients in experiential techniques. I was lucky enough to be his role-play ‘Guinea Pig’ for this presentation where he shared a specific framework for limited reparenting (a) Activation (b) Corrective Experience; and (c) Consolidation. I really loved this and have been immediately implementing this in my own ST practice.
