Philip Ringstrom, PhD, Psy.D. is a Senior Training and Supervising Analyst, Faculty Member, and Member of the Board of Directors of the Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis in Los Angeles, where he is also in full-time private practice. He is a Member of the Editorial Boards of both the International Journal on Psychoanalytic Self Psychology and Psychoanalytic Dialogues, and Psychoanalytic Perspectives. He is also a member of the International Council of Self-Psychologists, and a founding member of the Board of Directors of the International Association of Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy. His book A Relational Approach to Couples Psychotherapy is an outstanding contribution to the field and winner of the Goethe Award for the best book in psychoanalysis in 2014.  He has published over 50 journal articles and has presented at conferences all over the world. 

In this workshop Dr. Ringstrom will discuss his model for doing relational couples work. Treatment goals include tthe actualization of self experience in an intimate relationship, the capacity for mutual recognition, and the relationship having a mind of its own. Based on his book, A Relational Psychoanalytic Approach to Couples Psychotherapy, Dr. Ringstrom will describe the six steps in which these themes are achieved. The steps wed theory and practice, are non-linear, and offer specific clinical guidelines for working with couples. His presentation will use illustrative clinical material to bring the concepts to life. An engaging and stimulating presenter, Dr. Ringstrom will combine didactic material with extensive audience interaction. A master at using playfulness and improvisation in therapy, he has an amazing talent for making complex concepts clear in practical ways, usable on Monday morning!

In this workshop, you’ll learn how to:

• Discuss how attunement is necessary but insufficient for genuine change in couples
• Define the use of enactments and how to analyze them
• Use techniques to help couples translate what’s experienced as demands or attacks into messages of attachment needs and vulnerability
• Explain how the “relational turn” of his model, beyond self psychology, enables couples to reconcile their dissociated self-states and better negotiate interpersonal conflicts

Click here to read an interview with Dr. Ringstrom by Christina Emmanuel of the IARPP.