John Fredrickson

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John FredricksonJohn Fredrickson MSW

Jon Frederickson, MSW, is on the faculty of the Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) Training Program at the New Washington School of Psychiatry. Jon has provided ISTDP training in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Poland, Italy, Switzerland, India, Iran, Australia, Canada, the U.S., and the Netherlands.  He is the author of over fifty published papers or book chapters and seven books, including Co-Creating Change: Effective Dynamic Therapy Techniques, Psychodynamic Psychotherapy: Learning to Listen from Multiple Perspectives, The Lies We Tell Ourselves, Co-Creating Safety: healing the fragile patient, Healing Through Relating: a skill-building book for therapist, and Clinical Thinking in Psychotherapy: how to do it and how to teach it. His book, Co-Creating Change, won the first prize in psychiatry in 2014 at the British Medical Association Book Awards. His books have been translated into fifteen languages. He has DVDs of actual sessions with patients who previously failed in therapy at his websites www.istdpinstitute.com and www.deliberatepracticeinpsychotherapy.com  There, you will also find skill-building exercises designed for therapists. He writes posts on ISTDP at www.facebook.com/DynamicPsychotherapy.  

 

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Working with the Treatment-Resistant Client
Friday | May 2, 2025
8:30 am – 10:30 am
(2 CEs)


Workshop Description

A videotaped psychotherapy session will show how to identify and address resistance behaviors that can prevent the development of a conscious therapeutic alliance. The audience will be asked to assess each patient response to understand how to identify and block the resistance behavior the patient uses. This moment-to-moment analysis will strengthen the audience’s assessment skills. 

Main Point 1: The audience will be asked to identify three forms of projection the patient uses in the video. Then, they will be shown how to block those specific projections. Through the continual moment-to-moment assessment of the patient’s responses, they will see how these defenses form a recognizable pattern. Then, they know what to treat and how to treat it. 

Main Point 2: The audience will be asked to identify denial each time the patient uses it. They will be asked to notice what reactions the patient’s denial stirs up in them. Then, they will see how the patient provokes them to be the voice of sanity while he remains in denial. Then, they will learn how to mirror denial, so the patient becomes in conflict with his denial, and the therapist avoids being in conflict with the patient. 

Main Point 3: The audience will be asked to identify the patterns of the patient’s resistance. Then, they will be asked to notice what reactions the patient’s resistance stirs up and how we can be provoked into getting into conflict with the patient’s resistance. Then, they will learn how to identify each of these resistance elements and how to intervene effectively. Thus, we help the patient become in conflict with his resistance instead of with the therapist.  

Educational Goals: 

  • Improve clinical skills 
  • Learn to assess resistance behaviors 
  • Learn how to avoid being in conflict with the patient’s resistance 

Learning Objectives:

  • Participants will identify and block three kinds of projection: projection of awareness, projection of will, and projection of the capacity to think. 
  • Participants will distinguish how to mirror denial rather than argue with denial. 
  • Participants will identify and block three elements of resistance: the patient’s identification with the resistance, the expectation that the therapist will take on all responsibility for the therapy, and the patient’s projection of his healthy desires upon the therapist and others. 

 

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To inquire about CAMFT Annual Conference Sponsorships, contact Carrie Shen, Education and Event Manager at cshen@camft.orgSee CAMFT’s 2025 Sponsorship and Event Prospectus.

 

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