The presenter will demonstrate with recorded session vignettes how she handled her feelings of depletion and futility when facing a disturbing impasse in couples therapy. The presenter founded the Dynamic Emotion Focused Therapy Institute, which emphasizes shame-sensitive, compassion-oriented work. Despite her grounding in several models, she found herself thinking after a rough session, "I don't want to work with this client anymore." She had exhausted her known options. This realization made her anxious because she knew she needed to act, but had no idea how to proceed. She did not want to hurt the client or herself.
She pulled out a piece of paper and began brainstorming what she wanted to communicate in the next session, intending to stay kind and potentially helpful to the couple. She decided she needed to take the risk of being authentic, wherever that may lead. She would have to face her fears, as there was no external roadmap.
The presenter will discuss how her decisions were made and how she felt during the process, share the clients' responses with video, and present evidence of positive outcomes. The goal of the presentation is to highlight the importance of therapist authenticity, self-care, and the courage to venture into the unknown.
One therapist who saw this material decided to bring her own case into supervision. The presenter was moved by the depth of her suffering for years with an unmovable client. We can underestimate the toll that unresolved therapeutic barriers take on the therapist who may feel there's no way out. This workshop will explore the signals that tell us it's time to act.