Michael’s Psychotherapy CPD Blog

Online CPD blog  for counsellors and psychotherapists who want to develop their integrative, embodied, relational understanding and deepen their practice.

Sustainable practice in the ‘impossible profession’? – Interview with Michael Soth

An interview with Michael in preparation of this CPD workshop "Sustainable practice in the 'impossible profession'?" organised by the Wimbledon Guild Your workshop "Sustainable practice in the ‘impossible profession’?" is unique in its concept, what led you to its creation? There are two separate but linked recognitions which inspired the workshop, and the 2017 article [...]

By |2019-11-25T23:32:12+00:00May 9th, 2018|Michael's Psychotherapy CPD Blog|0 Comments

Integrative Trauma Therapy – CPD Workshops in Oxford with Morit Heitzler 2018

in Oxford with Morit Heitzler integrative - embodied - relational trauma therapy for counsellors and therapists working with trauma (suitable for practitioners from across all therapeutic approaches) If some of your trauma clients show resistance, manifest stuckness or get caught in hidden dissociation or re-traumatisation dynamics, or you encounter unexpected ruptures, impasses or enactments, these workshops are for [...]

Pakistan: TherapyWorks Level V Diploma – Psychotherapy Integration

  Starts 5 February 2018 in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad The aim of the course is to work towards a comprehensive map of the field and develop a relational meta-position that integrates the whole broad range of approaches. This can help us evolve beyond a merely eclectic stance which picks and chooses pragmatically or [...]

Integrative Trauma Therapy – CPD Workshops in Oxford with Morit Heitzler 2016/17

CPD Training Days with Morit Heitzler These workshops are designed for practising counsellors and therapists who have some previous training and experience with trauma work. They might best be described as 'intermediate' workshops, for therapists who have completed basic training in one of the modern trauma therapies: Somatic Trauma Therapy (Babette Rothschild), Somatic Experiencing [...]

How are Chaos and Complexity Theory Relevant to our Work as Therapists?

This is a much expanded and updated version of an earlier post two years ago -  I have now also added  a resource section at the bottom, with commentaries on useful books.  I've been doing this work in preparation for the CPD weekend “Working at the Edge of Chaos” on 29 & 30 April 2017 [...]

By |2017-06-10T00:01:12+00:00April 1st, 2017|Michael's Psychotherapy CPD Blog|0 Comments

What is the role of transference in trauma work?

As we are just planning and thinking about Morit’s forthcoming CPD workshops on integrative trauma therapy, this topic is currently at the forefront of our minds, so I'm sharing it with you. There is a wide spectrum of opinion as to what role working with the transference plays in trauma work. I believe that the [...]

By |2017-03-07T19:53:38+00:00September 17th, 2016|CPD Tutorials|0 Comments

Book Review: “Bullshit in Psychotherapy” by George Steinfeld

This is a sweet and interesting book, with an obviously attractive title (well - attractive to me!), written as an autobiographical look back over his professional life as a therapist by the 80-year-old George Steinfeld. It is exceptional in its honesty, and it pulls no punches about delivering some uncomfortable home truths about this profession [...]

By |2017-03-07T19:53:39+00:00September 11th, 2016|Michael's Psychotherapy CPD Blog|0 Comments

What do we mean by ‘relational’?

Over the last 15 years or so, relational perspectives have had a significant impact across the field of psychotherapy. However, the wider its increasing influence has spread, the less clear it has become what we actually mean by ‘relational’. The default common denominator would be the recognition that in therapy it's the relationship between client [...]

By |2018-01-13T15:37:50+00:00June 16th, 2016|Michael's Psychotherapy CPD Blog|0 Comments

A Multiplicity of Relational Modalities – 25 years on

Part 1: Integrating ideas on relational stances from Gomez, Stark & Clarkson Introduction: Clarkson’s seminal contribution I sometimes get asked why I put such emphasis in my teaching on relational modalities - an idea first formulated in a paper by Petruska Clarkson in 1990. Because it is such a well-known model, that has formed the [...]

By |2017-06-09T23:54:59+00:00April 4th, 2016|Michael's Psychotherapy CPD Blog|Comments Off on A Multiplicity of Relational Modalities – 25 years on

Potentials and Pathologies of Character Structure Theory

Michael Soth: European Congress of Body Psychotherapy: the Embodied Self in a dis-Embodied Society: A presentation proposal A presentation addressing the shadow aspects of this central theoretical model of our tradition Character Structure theory is a central element of Body Psychotherapy, building on Reich’s monumental achievement to bring together biology and psychology through his notion [...]

By |2017-03-07T19:53:44+00:00February 27th, 2016|Michael's Psychotherapy CPD Blog|0 Comments

Relational Modalities in the History of Body Psychotherapy

(from my chapter "Transference, Countertransference and Supervision in the Body Psychotherapy tradition" in: The Handbook of Body Psychotherapy and Somatic Psychology)   I have been asked a few times for a brief summary regarding relationality in Body Psychotherapy - here's a very condensed paragraph from the above chapter:   A Multiplicity of Relational Modalities in [...]

By |2017-03-07T19:53:45+00:00February 24th, 2016|Michael's Psychotherapy CPD Blog|0 Comments

Beyond antagonising: towards a mature integration of embodiment and dis-embodiment

European Congress of Body Psychotherapy: the Embodied Self in a dis-Embodied Society: A keynote proposal This keynote proposal aims at re-defining and refining our notion of ‘embodiment’ in non-polarising terms that are actually helpful in transcending Cartesian dualism As the title of our conference suggests, Body Psychotherapy has always found itself in a counter-cultural position, [...]

By |2017-03-07T19:53:46+00:00February 23rd, 2016|Michael's Psychotherapy CPD Blog|0 Comments

“And So It Goes On” – a story of one therapy by Russell Rose

Sat in the waiting room of the clinic, wide-eyed big-haired and spindly-limbed, David’s anxiety was a presenting feature, most apparent in the firmness with which he was pressing the palms of his hands into his thighs, giving me the impression that his legs would shake furiously otherwise. Despite being fashionably well-dressed, he seemed [...]

By |2017-03-07T19:53:48+00:00January 28th, 2016|Michael's Psychotherapy CPD Blog|0 Comments

Commentary and critique of introductory chapter of Martha Stark’s 1999 “Modes of Therapeutic Action”

Martha Stark (1999) “Modes of Therapeutic Action” A summary of the introductory chapter to the book, with commentary and critique by Michael Soth © 2015 I have been using Martha Stark’s book “Modes of Therapeutic Action” for some time as one of the main texts for exploring the fundamental ideas and principles of the relational [...]

By |2017-04-12T08:32:10+00:00November 13th, 2015|Michael's Psychotherapy CPD Blog|0 Comments

Mark Solms: “If the Id is conscious, where and what is ‘the unconscious’?”

Here is a highly recommended video of Mark Solms’ presentation at the NYSPA’s Fall Conference: Neurosciences and Psychoanalysis: From Early Freud to Contemporary Practice held on October 4, 2015. The title of the presentation is: “If the Id is conscious, where and what is ‘the unconscious’?” Whilst we might find some arguments with what he's [...]

By |2017-03-07T19:53:51+00:00November 9th, 2015|Michael's Psychotherapy CPD Blog|0 Comments

Presentations from Conference ‘Embodied Intersubjectivity in the Clinic’ with Shaun Gallagher

Shaun Gallagher: "4E cognition in therapeutic settings" (4E = embodied,  embedded,  enactive,  extended) Shaun's presentation in PDF format ‘Embodied Intersubjectivity’ – Preparatory Notes by Michael Soth Questions inherent in our theme ‘Embodied Intersubjectivity’ What are our ideas/concepts of ‘mind’ and how two ‘minds’ understand each other and relate? What [...]

By |2017-06-09T20:22:47+00:00July 5th, 2015|Michael's Psychotherapy CPD Blog|0 Comments

Online Enquiry: Overestimating the Working Alliance?

Investigating our shared ‘implicit relational knowing’ about the working alliance by considering the question: Do therapists tend to over-estimate the working alliance they have with their clients? Take part in our online enquiry and join us in a shared experimental learning process. You are welcome to join in the enquiry around this topic which I [...]

By |2017-08-31T17:56:09+00:00July 1st, 2015|Michael's Psychotherapy CPD Blog|0 Comments

Challenges in Making a Sustainable Living as a Therapist

What are the emotional/psychological factors that limit a thriving practice for therapists (and helping professionals generally)? Preparatory considerations for workshop in Brighton on 4 July 2015.   Most workshops for therapists on this topic of making a living focus on the actual business skills needed, or on your own ambivalence about charging money (self-worth). The [...]

By |2017-03-07T19:54:17+00:00June 9th, 2015|Michael's Psychotherapy CPD Blog|0 Comments

How is Countertransferential Enactment Worked Through?

In response to a question by Larry Josephs in the context of the IARPP colloquium on: “The Body as Experience, The Body as Experiencer: A Multi-Perspectival Conversation” – Author: Steven Knoblauch (May 11 - May 24 , 2015) Larry Josephs: “In body work, how is countertransferential enactment worked through? What if the way in which [...]

By |2018-09-12T22:55:11+00:00May 20th, 2015|Michael's Psychotherapy CPD Blog|0 Comments