Speaker

Jeff Conway LCSW

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Date & Time

Thursday, December 14 from 11am -1 pm EST

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Type

Virtual (Zoom Video)

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Abstract 

The purpose of this Workshop is to engage in a deeper and more expansive exploration of the Enmeshment & Undeveloped Self Schema and to consider viable strategies and interactions for healing this Schema. This is a powerful core Schema that is experienced by many therapy patients and perhaps several the therapists who work with them. Unhealed, this Schema can be a deep pattern that undermines self-understanding, causes confusion, and provokes anxiety around forming close relationships and limits the ability to function in the world at full potential. Attention will be given to the ways in which the Schema is engendered in the family system and the impact of cultural variables that help inculcate this Schema. Emphasis will be placed on the 2 main unmet needs that foster Enmeshment and the Undeveloped Self: Attunement and Autonomy. These 2 needs will be explored and discussed in terms of how they contribute to the development of a strong sense of self and that when these 2 needs are not adequately met, a person is likely to struggle with an “Undeveloped Self.” We will consider how limited reparenting, a central way of being for a Schema Therapist, can help a person develop greater autonomy and a deeper awareness and value of one’s thoughts, emotions, and inclinations.

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Brief Overview 

This workshop would be of interest for therapists who feel stalled or confused in their work with one or more patients as it will provide an alternative way to think about and interact with these patients. It can also be helpful for anyone working with patients who struggle in their understanding interpersonal boundaries, struggle to maintain boundaries in their relationships and who challenge their therapists to manage comfortable boundaries. Also provided will be strategies for healing this Schema and weakening Modes that perpetuate the Schema while strengthening the Modes that help dissipate this Schema. Special highlight will be given to the leveraging of the therapeutic relationship in the service of Schema healing and Mode change. Finally, this could also be an opportunity for therapists to do some personal reflection on how the Enmeshment & Undeveloped Self
Schema might be impacting their personal relationships and their professional clinical work and to consider personal applications for healing this very potent Schema.

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BY THE END OF THIS WORKSHOP, PARTICIPANTS WILL BE ABLE TO:

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1. How the unmet needs of autonomy and attunement contribute to the development of the Enmeshment and Undeveloped Self Schema.

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2. List three family roles that contribute to the development of the Enmeshment and Undeveloped Self Schema.

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3. Describe two Schema Therapy Emotion-focused interventions that help heal the Enmeshment and Undeveloped Self Schema.

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4. Describe two therapeutic relationship interventions that address the Enmeshment and Undeveloped Self Schema.

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Biography 

Jeff Conway is the current President of the International Society of Schema Therapy (ISST), is a founding member of the ISST and has cultivated a Schema Therapy practice for over 20 years and has been a ST Trainer and Supervisor since the inception of the ISST. Jeff is also trained in EMDR, Emotion-Focused Therapy, Group Therapy, and Object Relations Theory. He is also a founding member of the New York Center for Emotion Focused Therapy. Before being elected President, Jeff has taken on many roles within the ISST, inspired by a commitment to deepening the understanding of the ST Model and the provision of quality of Schema Therapy Treatment. Jeff has cultivated a special interest in the Enmeshment and Undeveloped Self Schema and has provided numerous workshops, webinars, presentations, and supervision groups around the world on this topic.