Monthly Group Case Consultation Seminar

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The Art and Practice of Depth Psychotherapy with Personality Disorders

Each monthly Group Case Consultation Seminar is solidly grounded in an eclectic blend of psychoanalytic Ego Psychology, Object Relations Theory, Attachment Theory, Self-Psychology, Reichian Character Analysis, and drawing heavily from the work of James Masterson, everything is geared toward what is practically useful in our day-to-day clinical work.

The Disorders of The Self proliferate in society and our psychotherapy offices. The diagnostic labels associated with this challenging population conjure negative stigmatization of untreatable emotional pariahs in popular culture and psychological literature as well. Contrary to social media depictions Personality Disordered patients need not be hopelessly stuck with their pathology. Working with, around and through the myriad defenses of the “false self” can lead from developmental arrest to growth, deep structural change, and the emergence of the “true” or “real self”.

Patients are viewed from the standpoint of their entire organism, the intrapsychic structure of the mind inextricable from the characterological armoring of the soma. The course offers a distillation of 40 years and over 115,000 hours of direct service psychotherapy with Personality Disordered individuals and couples, avoiding pitfalls and refining what really works.

The monthly Group Case Consultation Seminar is a 3-hour ongoing Zoom Seminar that meets the second Saturday of each month from 9 AM to 12 noon. Didactic material is presented the first hour, answering pertinent questions specific to the content. The second hour is designated for consultation questions regarding participant’s cases. Seminar participants are encouraged to sign up to present a current case the third hour. The group will discuss and diagnose the case presented; the appropriate treatment modality with suggested specific interventions. 

Even if working in depth with Personality Disorders is not your particular interest, this course fully imparts the elements of effective practice of psychotherapy with your chosen patient population.

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Lectures will cover the following topics:

1. The Formation of Character Structure
2. The “real self” and the “false self”
3. The Abandonment Depression
4. Differential Developmental Diagnosis and Treatment
5. Setting up the treatment to optimize success
6. Projective Identification and Countertransference
7. Presentation of each of the 5 Personality Disorders: Borderline, Narcissistic, Schizoid, Antisocial, and Paranoid
8. Couples therapy with Personality Disorders
9. Use of dreams in the psychotherapeutic work

Each participant will receive an email packet consisting of charts with Margaret Mahler’s developmental stages, the intrapsychic structure of each of the Personality Disorders, diagnostic charts, bibliographies, etc. This information will be referred to throughout the course.

Seminar Details

FEE	The fee for each 3-hour meeting is $100.00. Full fee will be charged irrespective of attendance. Following each meeting audio tape links containing the full content of each meeting will be emailed to all participants.
PAYMENT	Payment is due the week prior to each meeting. Payment may be in the form of Zelle, or credit card. A $3.00 processing fee ($103.00 total) is required for Credit Card payments.
REGISTRATION	To begin the process, complete the form on the contact page. Payment is required before the first Seminar and serves as registration for the course. You may discontinue participating in the Case Consultation Seminar at any time however a 30 days’ notice would be appreciated. Note: The Case Consultation Seminar does not offer C.E.U.s.

Seminar Schedule

2025 Seminar Dates:

January 11	July 12
February 8	August 9
March 8	September 13
April 12	October 11
May 10	November 8
June 14	December 13

2026 dates will be published in October/November 2025

Seminar Access: Each participant will receive a Zoom link by email within the week of each scheduled meeting. The virtual “waiting room” will open 15 minutes before the start of the seminar.

Questions regarding the monthly Group Case Consultation Seminar, please contact me by email at scottdb@pacbell.net.