For Practitioners

To accommodate class size, PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED FOR GROUPS AND WORKSHOPS.
You will be contacted prior to the event with its specific address.

You Can Never Get Enough of What You Don't Really Need:
Working with Compulsive Buyers
Compulsive buying is finally coming out of the closet. Although the study of compulsive buying is still in relative infancy compared with some of its psychological siblings -- alcoholism, for example, or eating disorders or drug abuse -- there is more and more evidence that it poses a serious and worsening problem, one with significant emotional, social, occupational, and financial consequences. Prevalence studies suggest that at least six percent of the population may be full-fledged compulsive buyers and that perhaps 15 million people have little control over how much they spend or what they buy.
Sometimes termed the “smiled upon” addiction, compulsive buying may be an even greater source of guilt and shame than other addictions, which are commonly thought of as diseases, or at least recognized as serious problems requiring treatment.
This Workshop will provide an overview of the disorder, focusing on a number of aspects -- the sociocultural context, assessment, associated disorders, gender issues, characteristics of compulsive buyers, and the underlying dynamics. I’ll describe the various treatment options that are available, including the model that I’ve developed, present some case vignettes, and provide an extensive bibliography. Through this exploration, the attendees will more easily recognize and identify this problem in patients and come away with a variety of ways to be helpful, both within the treatment setting and by directing patients to extra-therapeutic resources.

April Lane Benson, Ph.D.
Friday, February 10, 2012, 7:00pm-8:30pm
Location: TBD; Fee: $65

Somatic Cognition: Accessing The Narrative of the Gendered Body
In recent years psychoanalysis has turned its attention to the role of the body in treatment. What is missing from the current discourse is the role gender plays in our experiences of and expressions through our bodies. Decoding somatic and non-verbal material, both ours and our patients', offers another route to understanding gendered human experience. Utilizing clinical material, we will examine the physical manifestations of psyche and culture, learning to "read" the body in order to make use of knowledge held in the body as a vehicle for change.

Andrea Gitter MA,LCAT, BC-DMT
Thursday November 17, 2011 10:30am-12:00pm
Location: West Village; Fee: $75

THIS WORKSHOP IS FILLED:
Seven Levels of Selfhood: Understanding Development Through the Body-Self
In order to assist clients in healing and developing an expanded sense of self, therapists are increasingly integrating the body and somatic experience into treatment. Often, however, therapists have neither a sufficient theoretical map nor techniques needed to do so. Drawing on both Eastern and Western wisdom, and proposing that the core of the body self is an energetic one, participants will be given exercises to use with clients that will assist in accessing the body's wisdom to help in the healing process. The workshop will be both didactic and experiential, allowing participants a unique perspective on human development, both felt and conceptualized.

Tulasi Jordan, LCSW, ERYT-500
Saturday, January 14, 2012 10:30am-1:00pm
Location: West Village; Fee: $55