Power of Presence Sessions and Panels EHI 8th Annual Conference

EHIin Partnership with CIISPresents:

THE POWER OF
PRESENCE 

Nov 14th & 15th, 2015 San Francisco
TWO FULL DAYS OF EXISTENTIAL HUMANISTIC SESSIONS AND PANELS

EHI Power of Presence SESSIONS*

Updated as of October 25, 2015:
Dr Maureen O'Hara will be unable to join us this conference due to personal reasons. We wish her the best and look forward to having her join us for next year's conference.

• CHRISTINE ARMSTRONG & LOUIS DANGLES
  Dancing Dragons: Working with Couple's Core Wounds
  “Behind the wound lies the genius.” - C.G. Jung
  Dragons guard treasure. Like the serpents of the caduceus, they carry both maleficent and beneficent aspects, and they are associated with healing. Dragons protect our core wounds. Left unattended they can also prevent us from getting to the treasure behind the wound. We will present an approach to engaging dragons in the here and now.
  Couples often arrive in therapy with a compelling legal brief documenting grievances and the other’s egregious behavior. It is not uncommon that they also arrive with a hope (conscious or not) that if they can demonstrate to the therapist how the other guy is the problem, the road to resolution will open. We will present an approach that emphasizes an empathetic recognition of partner’s mutual contributions to relationship difficulties. Didactic elements and case material reinforced by experiential exercises will provide participants with a conceptual frame to formulate relational problems and practical here and now interventions which promote a collaborative process between partners.
  Objectives
  Participants will be able to:
  Utilize therapist presence/empathic attunement to help facilitate client’s recognition of core wounds and the self-protective behavior patterns that arise from that wounded place.
  Identify how partner’s core wounds lead to self-protective behavior patterns that are mutually reinforcing.
  Help partner’s cultivate a collaborative approach to interpersonal problems grounded in a compassionate attitude towards each other’s core wounds.
  Christine Armstrong MFT (Lic 7529) and Louis Dangles MFT (Lic 8207) established private practices in 1976, specializing in individual, couple, and group psychotherapy from an existential perspective. They frequently present on clinical issues at various community mental health agencies. Over the past 25 years they have studied and consulted with two of the seminal teachers and practitioners of the existential perspective; James F. T. Bugental Ph.D. and Irvin Yalom M.D.
• SUZAN BOLLICH
  Radical Intersubjectivity: Attunement Through as a Portal to Authentic Existence
  There is a rather numinous way that attunement through, rather than attunement to words, experiences and emotions, can illicit for the opened, sensitive therapist a stirring clarity of clients’ living experience. With regard to intersubjective attunement, Bugental (1976) stated, “I open myself to experience within myself what these people [clients] tell me they’re experiencing within themselves” (p. xi). Employed therapeutically and relationally, such clarity can function as a portal to greater authentic existing for both client and therapist.
  This presentation aims to demonstrate a more radical approach of intersubjective work with (a) an enthusiastic talk that integrates actual case vignettes from Dr. Bollich’s clinical work with relevant short quote selections from Jim Bugental’s writings, and (b) an experiential exercise to demonstrate radical intersubjective attunement.
  Suzan Bollich, PhD is an existential clinical psychologist specializing in adult and geriatric clinical psychology, death, dying and bereavement, behavioral medicine for individuals with medical and psychological concerns, and psychotherapy with retired Catholic sisters. She is an adjunct psychology professor at Diablo Valley College and John F. Kennedy University, and co-teacher in the Existential-Humanistic Institute’s certificate training program.
  Her clinical work is grounded in existential sensibilities to how humans relate to the living experience and to the dying experience. Such sensibilities have come rather naturally to her as a native of south Louisiana, where she came of age curiously attuning to the movements of its natural world, from listening to hurricane-force winds, to observing with awe diverse bayou creatures.
  She also has enjoyed the good fortune of receiving and participating in extensive training, supervision, and consultation in Existential-Humanistic philosophy and psychotherapy with Drs Kenneth Bradford, Orah Krug, and Kirk Schneider, to all of whom she is in deep gratitude.
• PAUL BRACKE & BRUCE MCBEATH
  Raising the Stakes: Increasing Client Presence and Commitment in Living Moment
  A central concept in James Bugental’s Existential Psychotherapy is the significance of the client’s concern. It is “concern” that brings the client into therapy and this concern or issue is often accompanied by a subjective degree of urgency. The strength of the relationship between the client and therapist contains and focuses the client’s concern and evokes greater commitment to his/her own growth.
  The presentation will include fresh perspectives from Bugental’s original teaching, clinical case examples and participant interaction.
  The presenters are members of The Masters Group, the original group of therapists who trained with Dr. James F. T. Bugental in his professional training course: The Art of the Psychotherapist (1987-2005). The Masters’ Group continues to meet annually to broaden and deepen Dr. Bugental’s perspective of Existential Psychotherapy.
  Paul Bracke, PhD, is a licensed psychologist, executive coach, and consultant. During more than 30 years of practice, he has developed a highly effective approach to psychotherapy that combines concepts of existential-humanistic psychology with cognitive-behavioral strategies. He has studied and collaborated extensively with Dr. James F.T. Bugental, an internationally known leader in existential-humanistic psychology and depth-psychotherapy. He has written on the nature and effectiveness of existential psychotherapy and has led professional training for psychotherapists in the United States, Europe and Russia.
  After receiving his doctorate from Stanford where he focused on Type A behavior, cardiovascular disease and cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, Dr. Bracke was a senior consultant a the Meyer Friedman Institute (MFI) of Mount Zion Hospital in San Francisco, the clinical research institute that completed the original research defining and examining Type A behavior. As a senior consultant at the MFI he led groups that reduced Type A behavior, contributed extensively to the development of the MFI treatment program, and helped train group leaders. In addition, he has written extensively on understanding and elimination of Type A and toxic stress.
  Bruce McBeath, PhD, is a clinical psychologist practicing within an existential-phenomenological perspective with an emphasis on the psychology of aging. He brings this orientation to the "lived experience" of older adults into collaborative work with governmental and non-profit agencies in Goodhue County MN and to his private practice in St. Paul, MN. He has taught psychology of aging courses for the Minnesota Psychological Association and at St. Mary's University of Minnesota, and Existential -phenomenological Dimensions of Aging at the University of Montana. He has also developed a Senior mental health oriented peer counseling program in conjunction with Goodhue County, MN Health & Human Services in Red Wing. His recent book Reflections on Aging: Greeting the Changing Face in the Mirror is a series of essays on the phenomenology of aging, with accompanying photographs by Minnesota photographer Robin Wipperling. His essays also appear in Today magazine.
• KEN BRADFORD
  Beyond the Search for Authenticity: The Natural Freedom of Being
  The search for authenticity occurs along a continuum of personal actualization to nondual realization. Depending on a person’s capability for being fully present in the emerging moment, a therapeutic/awakening continuum extends from practicing a courageous inward search for truth to that of resting in the free and spontaneous play of one’s true nature.
  It is a mark of human existence that we tend to lose touch with the astonishing truth of the nature of being human as a capacity of openness and spontaneous responsivity. As inner searching deepens, one may discover that no particular state of authenticity or selfhood can be found. At this point, one may relax the search for authenticity and rest in its open-ended unfindability. Deepening authenticity becomes a letting be in which there is a release of searching for any particular meaning and a yielding to unconditional liveliness, the ever-renewing source of all meaning.
  Ken Bradford, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, currently offering advanced training, workshops, and lectures in the United States and Europe in Contemplative-Existential oriented psychotherapy and consultation. Formerly, he was in private psychotherapy practice for 25 years, an Adjunct Professor at John F. Kennedy University and CIIS, Co-Director of Maitri Psychotherapy Institute, and a teaching associate with Jim Bugental. Ken has been a practitioner in the Theravada and Tibetan Buddhist traditions since 1975, and engaged in introducing meditative sensibilities and nondual wisdom streams into the experience-near practice of psychotherapy since 1988. His publications include, The I of the Other: Mindfulness-Based Diagnosis and the Question of Sanity, Listening from the heart of silence: Nondual wisdom and psychotherapy, Vol. 2 (with John Prendergast); and articles addressing “Therapeutic Courage”and “The Play of Unconditioned Presence in Existential-Integrative Psychotherapy,” among other topics at the interface between Existential-phenomenological and Buddhist thought & practice.
• BOB EDELSTEIN
  The Art of Jim Bugental's Psychotherapy
  Jim Bugental was a master at facilitating a client in their self-discovery in what is alive for them in the moment. Through lecture, discussion, an experiential exercise, and demonstration, five key concepts that informed Jim’s work will be explored. The concepts are: inward searching, self-and-world constructs, resistance, subjectivity, and presence.
  I will define and explore five key concepts that are core to both facilitating the client’s self-discovery and needed for in-depth therapeutic change to happen. The five concepts are: Inward searching, self-and-world constructs, resistance, subjectivity, and presence. Through an experiential exercise, the participants will experience subjectivity, inward searching, and presence. Finally, within a brief therapeutic interview, I will work with a volunteer to demonstrate the application of these concepts as the participant explores a concern. Debriefing will follow.
  Objectives
  1. Participants will be able to define and understand five key concepts central to Jim Bugental’s work as an existential-humanistic psychotherapist. 30 minutes
  2. Participants will experience their subjectivity, the inward searching process, and presence through an experiential exercise. 30 minutes.
  3. Participants will observe, through a brief therapeutic interview, the application of the concepts. 30 minutes
  Bob Edelstein, LMFT, MFT, is an Existential-Humanistic psychotherapist. In addition to being a therapist since 1973, he also provides consultation, supervision, and training for clinicians and students. Bob offers a one-day workshop entitled "Deepen Your Therapeutic Work Using an Existential-Humanistic Perspective" and a one-day workshop entitled "Authentic Engagement: A Radical Way of Being in the World". Bob is a blogger for Psychology Today and has published a number of articles on the Existential-Humanistic Perspective. Bob is a former board member of both the Existential-Humanistic Institute and the Association for Humanistic Psychology. He is a founding member of the Existential-Humanistic Northwest Professional Organization.
  Bob read Freedom to Learn by Carl Rogers, Ph.D. in 1971, and has had a passion for both the Existential Humanistic perspective and what it means to be authentic ever since. He is fascinated by the ways in which all of us as human beings construct and discover meaning in our lives and the uniqueness of each person's lived experience.
  After studying the works of the existential humanistic pioneers - Carl Rogers, Rollo May and Abraham Maslow - Bob entered into a mentorship with Jim Bugental. Starting in 1991, Bob participated in Jim's yearly week-long intensive training on "The Art of the Psychotherapist." These trainings served to deepen the participants' work as psychotherapists within the existential humanistic perspective, and within Jim's unique lens. After Jim retired, the trainings became collegial and consultant-led. Bob took what he learned from these trainings to Portland and created an existential humanistic training and case consultation group for professionals and students, which he has provided annually since 1995.
• TOM GREENING
  The Poetics of Psychotherapy
  I will talk about how Jim and I met, the common interests and context that deepened our relationship, and how our relationship evolved over decades.
  AUTHENTIC
  
  I searched for authenticity
  but faked it with duplicity.
  My real, true self evaded me,
  replaced by sheer hypocrisy.
  Jim Bugental showed me the way
  and so you see me here today,
  no longer phony and pathetic,
  but with an act that is “authentic.”
  It’s thanks to Jim that I can pass
  as someone with a touch of class.
  Tom Greening, PhD, has been in private practice in the same office since 1958, offering existential/humanistic/psychodynamic psychotherapy. His earlier training was psychoanalytic, including a personal psychoanalysis, and he has been influenced by the person-centered approach.
  Dr Greening is interested in what makes deep, life - changing psychotherapy work. His concern is with how therapists can be with clients in ways that respect and support their potential for change and active self-development, no matter how obscured it may be by psychopathology. Dr Greening opposes the medical model of "treating" "mental illnesses" and reductionistic depersonalizing theories and methods that over-emphasize bottom-up, biogenetic causation, and neglect top-down, psychological causation. He isconcerned about how social, cultural, economic, political and ideological forces affect individual lives and the practice of psychology, often to the detriment of the field and the people it purports to serve.
  Tom's goal is to help people empower themselves in the face of the external and internal forces that threaten to determine their choices and reduce their freedom and creativity.
• LOUIS HOFFMAN & MICHAEL MOATS
  Poetics Expressions in the Shadows: The Use of Poetry to Facilitate the Grieving and Loss
  Long before psychotherapy, poetry was used to facilitate painful expressions of grief and loss. In so doing, poetry often served roles similar to psychotherapy in promoting the grieving process. Poetic expression allows one to communicate what is evasive in everyday language and, in doing so, often deepens one’s own awareness of one’s experience. Poetry serves at once a way to honor and preserve what is being grieved while beginning the healing path. This presentation will examine ways that poetry can be used to facilitate healing in psychotherapy as well as other contexts. Particular attention will be given to the ways that using poetry to facilitate grieving and loss fits with existential-humanistic perspectives. Bugental, for example, emphasized process and nonverbal communication in therapy. Similarly, in poetry it is often the comas, line breaks, and imagery that go beyond words and create the most powerful impact.
  Louis Hoffman, PhD, is a faculty member and director of the Existential, Humanistic, and Transpersonal Psychology Specialization at Saybrook University. He is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, and a fellow/past-president of the Society for Humanistic Psychology. Dr. Hoffman has seven books to his credit, including Existential Psychology East-West, Stay Awhile: Poetic Narratives on Multiculturalism and Diversity, and Capturing Shadows: Poetic Encounters Along the Path of Grief and Loss. Dr. Hoffman also regularly travels to China to engage in dialogues and offer trainings relevant to existential and humanistic psychology.
  Michael Moats, PhD, first and foremost describes himself as a father, a husband, and a friend. His passion as a clinical psychologist lies in working with clients who are learning to redefine their lives and create new meaning, especially those dealing with grief and loss in its many forms (e.g, death, divorce, job loss, recent move, natural disaster, war). His favorite job was working in an in-patient hospice setting, and his research includes a qualitative, cross-cultural study (China and the US) that investigated meaning making and the lessons learned through loss. Additionally, he is credited an author of the book Capturing Shadows: Poetic Encounters Along the Path of Grief and Loss, a published poet, and author of various book chapters and articles, as well as a co-founder of the Zhi Mian International Institute of Existential-Humanistic Psychology, promoting continued international dialogue and training to contribute to a more rounded perspective within the global, psychological community.
  
• JOHN INGLE & ELENA MAZUR
  From Russia with Love: 25 years of EH Therapy & an Existential-Somatic Approach to Trauma
  This presentation is a combination of theory and practice. Dr. Mazur will talk about the history of development of the Existential-Humanistic approach in Russia from the nineties to present day. The presenters will show how the combination of the somatic and the existential approach is useful in the work with existential crises and trauma. They will discuss the program of trauma therapy in Russia and Europe. This presentation will include live demonstrations.
  John Ingle, MA, is an educator, somatic therapist, seminar facilitator with 32 years experience, specializing in complex PTSD, in diverse, multicultural, community based clinical settings. Bridging traditional psychotherapy modalities with alternative healing and complementary medicine together with the latest developmental neuroscience research.
  Specialties include secondary trauma, PTSD and severe illness, near death experiences, domestic violence and abuse, and traumatic family systems.
  John has provided post graduate trainings and certifications as trauma specialists to clinicians, medical doctors, nurses, emergency personnel, and mental health professionals. He has also taught live demonstrations, providing crisis intervention and outpatient psychotherapy to adults, infants, children and families. He has an extensive experience with issues relating to or caused by PTSD such as depression, panic, anxiety and shock, learning disorders, sport injuries, car accidents, all stages of life transitions from birth to death, sexual attack, drownings, war, medical trauma, natural disasters.
  Elena Mazur, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, researcher, gestalt therapist, existential therapist, trauma therapist. She is currently a leading trainer and a Board member and a co- founder of Moscow Gestalt Institute (since 1992). In addition she is professor of Psychology at Moscow Psychological-Pedagogical University and also supervisor at Moscow Service for Psychological Help.
  Dr. Mazur received her Ph.D. in Psychology from Moscow State University, named after Lomonosov, as well as Diploma in Clinical Psychology at the State Scientific Center for Social Psychiatry. She has earned Certificates of Gestalt Therapist from Fritz Perl’s Gestalt Institute(Germany) and French Gestalt Institute(France.) Also she has trained in Existential-Humanistic Therapy(EHT), Process-Oriented Psychology(POP) Somatic Trauma Therapy, and Bodymanic (Somatic Developmental Psychology).
  Dr. Mazur was Director of the Russian-American Program of Existential-Humanistic Therapy (1993-2005), continuing the cooperation with EHI. Also she is Director of the International Professional Program of Somatic Trauma Therapy ( since 1998), developing the Program in Russia and Europe. She was the translator and editor of the book of Peter Levine “Waking the Tiger. Healing trauma” in Russia.
  Elena Mazur is an international trainer, teaching long-term program and workshops on gestalt, existential and trauma therapy in Russia, Ukraine, France, Spain, USA, and Montenegro. She is teaching the course of Existential - Humanistic Therapy at Moscow Psychological-Pedagogical University. Her publications include about 60 articles and papers, some of them published in USA, France, and England. She is has been in private practice over 20 years.
  Elena Mazur is part of the first generation of psychotherapists, created the field of Gestalt, Existential-Humanistic and Trauma Therapy in Russia, cooperated with American and European professionals.
• CHERYL KRAUTER
  A Box of Darkness: Being Present with Life Threatening Illness
  "Someone once gave me a box of darkness. It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift.” - Mary Oliver
  “In inner search work, the ideal client condition is one of being intensely “present” – that is, genuinely and nearly totally in the moment and what is going on.” --James F.T. Bugental, Psychotherapy and Process
  What if we could bring this way of being present with ourselves, facing our lives, our experiences when they are in the realm of cancer, illness, disease? How do we sit with life threatening illness, bringing presence to the process and offering an alternative to the solution based, behavioral therapies that are most common in the medical setting?
  Objectives:
  This experiential workshop will explore how we can bring humanistic values and utilize subjective experience, the search process and presence into the exploration of the self-facing mortality.
  Cheryl Krauter, MA, MFT, is an existential humanistic psychotherapist with over 35 years of experience in the field of depth psychology and human consciousness. In 2007 she was diagnosed with an aggressive breast cancer, was "cut, poisoned and burned" and is currently in remission. Krauter integrates her years of experience as a depth psychotherapist with her personal journey as a cancer survivor. She strongly believes that there is a need to provide psychotherapy for those who choose to turn and face the monster of mortality, the dark dream figure in the corner of the room. She began working with women in various stages of a cancer diagnosis after her own experience seeing other survivors as well as those who are in treatment, living with cancer or dealing with chronic illnesses and has presented numerous talks and workshops on living with the uncertainty of life-threatening illness.
• ORAH T. KRUG
  Existential Meaning Making: The Heart of Therapeutic Change
  This presentation combines lecture, case examples and experiential exercises to: a) identify and describe the process of existential meaning making, and b) explore how meaning making—the act of “making sense” of an experience is central to therapeutic change. Recent research has identified “contextual factors”—and not specific techniques or treatments—as overwhelming responsible for effective therapy in general. Several prominent researchers have suggested that meaning making in particular, a contextual factor fundamental to existential-humanistic therapy, may be at the heart of transformational healing and change. Singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt got it right when she wrote: “With our glasses on or off we see the world we make.” Existential theory challenges the notion of a world made up objects, and subjects who perceive those objects. Instead we understand that individuals in fact participate in constituting their realities by making meanings of their perceptions and experiences from the real world—then often use these past constructs to make sense of their present experiences.
  Objectives:
  1. Define and describe the existential meaning making process.
  2. Explain how and why it is foundational to therapeutic change.
  3. Illustrate the significance of meaning making with a case example.
  4. Experientially understand the meaning making process by participating in experiential exercises.
  5. Experientially understand the meaning making process by viewing a live demonstration and case consultation.
  Orah T. Krug, PhD, is a licensed psychotherapist with a private practice in Oakland, and Sausalito, CA. She is a faculty member of Saybrook University, and an editor for the Journal of Humanistic Psychology. Dr. Krug is a founding member and Clinical Director of the Existential-Humanistic Institute (EHI) of San Francisco. Under Dr. Krug’s direction, EHI offers consultation, foundational and advanced certificate programs and retreat style trainings in E-H Therapy, one in partnership with Saybrook University. (Information about the certificate programs is available on the EHI website.) Most recently, Dr. Krug authored the chapter, “Existential, Humanistic, Experiential Therapies in Historical Perspective,” (2016) in The Comprehensive Textbook of Psychotherapies, Oxford Press, in publication. She co-authored the chapter, with J. Pearson, “Cultivation Psychotherapist Artistry: Model Existential-Humanistic Training Programs,” (2014) in The Handbook of Humanistic Psychology (2nd edition) (Eds., Schneider, K., Pearson, F., & Bugental, J.). Dr. Krug co-authored the textbook, with K. Schneider, Existential-Humanistic Therapy (2010) part of a monograph series for the American Psychological Association. Currently she is writing, with Dr. Schneider, the companion APA monograph on supervision and training in E-H therapy. She has interviewed, in three videos, her mentors James Bugental and Irvin Yalom. Two with Bugental (2006) entitled, Conversations with Jim and “Joe” A Demonstration of the Consultation Process, with James Bugental and with Irvin Yalom the recently released video (2015) entitled Irvin Yalom: On Psychotherapy and Writing. Her current research focuses on the relationship between existential meaning-making processes and therapeutic change. In May 2015, Dr. Krug interviewed Irvin Yalom at the First World Congress of Existential Therapy in London and in October 2015, Dr. Krug presented a day-long workshop on "Meaning Making: The Heart of Therapeutic Change" in Portland, Oregon.
• BRUCE MCBEATH & NADER SHABAHANGI
  Who's Aging are We Living?: Re-Visioning the Purpose and Meaning of Aging
  Aging can be recognized as a process of on-going maturity, informing “elder values” entirely necessary to address contemporary personal, interpersonal and environmental struggles. Jim and Elizabeth Bugental supported each other in their life affirming professional pursuits and in their deep and abiding connection with each other. Jim’s contribution to understanding human subjectivity was applied specifically to the many life transitions accompanying aging in his own life, and through Elizabeth’s professional practice and writing about aging. Their combined efforts to understand the “lived experience” of growing older probed the authentic though less understood landscape beyond our common stereotypes regarding aging. The Bugental’s emphasis on mining subjective experience, and grappling with the paradoxes that often emerge, have informed the work of their students and colleagues.
  In this session we will explore participants personal images of aging, address the impact of cultural stereotypes on our perception of aging, and move beyond culturally imposed limitations to recapture the gifts aging offers for personal development and sorely needed cultural maturity.
  Bruce McBeath, PhD, is a clinical psychologist practicing within an existential-phenomenological perspective with an emphasis on the psychology of aging. He brings this orientation to the "lived experience" of older adults into collaborative work with governmental and non-profit agencies in Goodhue County MN and to his private practice in St. Paul, MN. He has taught psychology of aging courses for the Minnesota Psychological Association and at St. Mary's University of Minnesota, and Existential -phenomenological Dimensions of Aging at the University of Montana. He has also developed a Senior mental health oriented peer counseling program in conjunction with Goodhue County, MN Health & Human Services in Red Wing. His recent book Reflections on Aging: Greeting the Changing Face in the Mirror is a series of essays on the phenomenology of aging, with accompanying photographs by Minnesota photographer Robin Wipperling. His essays also appear in Today magazine.
  Nader Shabahangi, PhD, is CEO and cofounder of AgeSong, a vision-driven group of eldercare communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. As CEO, Nader ensures that the company's vision drives its decisions and plans for elder care services. Acknowledging this work, the American Society of Aging (ASA) presented AgeSong in 2006 the Excellence in Innovation in Aging award.
  In 1992, Nader founded the Pacific Institute, a nonprofit organization that defines its mission as one of helping elders live meaningful lives through an existential-humanistic approach to care. Current president of the Existential-Humanistic Institute (EHI), he helped co-found this program of Pacific Institute in 1997. EHI serves as a training center for interns and professionals in existential-humanistic therapy and was recently awarded by the APA, Division 32, the Charlotte and Karl Buhler Award (2016) for an organization that has made an outstanding contribution to humanistic psychology.
  Nader is a frequent guest lecturer, including presenting at international conferences focusing on aging, psychotherapy, and forgetfulness (dementia). In 2003, he authored Faces of Aging, a book challenging stereotypical views of the aging process and of growing old.
  In 2008, he co-authored Deeper Into the Soul, a book aimed at de-stigmatizing and broadening our understanding of dementia. In 2009 he co-authored Conversations With Ed, a book challenging readers to look at dementia in different ways and in 2011 he wrote Elders Today, a photo essay describing the opportunities awaiting us in our second half of life. In the same year he also edited Gems of Wisdom, a book of poems written largely by elders living in assisted living communities throughout California. In 2012, 2014 and 2015 he published Encounters of the Real Kind, Books I, II, and II which are compilations of stories highlighting his innovative GeroWellness program where young psychotherapy interns work hand in hand with often very frail and forgetful elders in assisted living communities. His recently released book Ambiguity of Suffering (2015) outlines his research on the importance of understanding the underlying meaning of psychological as well as physical symptoms for individuals. Such an approach stands in contrast to a mainstream, overly simplified bio-psychiatric approach to mental health. Nader received his Doctorate from Stanford University and is a licensed psychotherapist.
• JOAN MONHEIT
  Evoking Presence In The Face Of Loss: Writing Through Grief
  Grief from the death of a loved one calls us awake. It insists we pay attention. It insists that we let it have its way with us. Writing provides a way of containing the seemingly uncontainable. It provides a way of organizing and understanding our experience; a way of getting out what’s inside. Writing can express what cannot yet be said out loud. In this presentation we will look at how writing can evoke our exquisite presence and facilitate the healing process of grief.
  Through the perspective of curiosity about the use of language, imagery and metaphor, there will be discussion of client material including examples of client writings. There will also be an experiential writing exercise guiding participants in their own exploration of grief.
  Joan A. Monheit, LCSW, is a writer, award-winning poet and an experienced psychotherapist and grief counselor in private practice in the East Bay. She has been facilitating Writing Through Grief® Groups and Workshops for over 21 years. She is a member of The Art Of The Psychotherapist Master’s Group and considers herself part of the “James Bugental lineage.” Joan works with individuals and couples providing depth psychotherapy from an existential-relational perspective. She is a national presenter on the use of writing as a therapeutic process. Her poems have appeared in Zyzzyva, Calyx, Mediphors, and The Santa Clara Review. Joan hopes to have her book, A Crowd of Sorrows: The Writing Through Grief® Workbook And A Guide To Grief finished this year.
• JOHN PRENDERGAST
  The Subtle Somatic Qualities of Presence
  Our bodies express presence in subtle, recognizable ways. As our bodies become increasingly free of conditioning and as our capacity for felt-sensing refines, we are able to experience one or more of the following facets of presence: spaciousness, groundedness, open-heartedness, and an inner alignment/aliveness. These subtle somatic markers can be experienced by both therapist and client in the shared field. Therapists can use these signals to help track experience and to mirror clients’ deepening authenticity and presence during an inner search, facilitating greater self trust and autonomy.
  John J. Prendergast, PhD, is a retired professor of psychology at CIIS and a psychotherapist in private practice. He is the author of In Touch: How to Tune in to the Inner Guidance of Your Body and Trust Yourself (2015), the co-editor (with Ken Bradford) of Listening from the Heart of Silence (2007), senior editor (with P. Fenner & S. Krystal) of The Sacred Mirror (2003) and the editor-in-chief of Undivided: The Online Journal of Nonduality and Psychology.
• STEPHEN SCHMITZ
  Authenticity, Presence, and the Shamanic Journey: Jim Bugental as Shaman
  Dr. James F. T. Bugental is quoted as saying, “Humanistic psychology is founded on a dedication to the wholeness of human life, a conviction that life has greater potential than has yet been realized, and an openness to a wide range of observations, methods, and practices. In this perspective we draw humility, challenge, and encouragement from the realization of how much about human beings is yet unknown." In his book, Psychotherapy and Process, Jim wrote about psychotherapy as a journey. This talk will explore how Jim’s psychotherapy was like a shamanic journey to become more present and authentic in one’s life, and to discover the “greater potential than has yet been realized.”
  Steven Schmitz, PhD (Transpersonal Psychology), has a private practice in transpersonal counseling, shamanic counseling, and dream work. Dr. Schmidt is an international professor, lecturer, and seminar leader on topics of transpersonal psychology, shamanism, and healing. He was initiated into shamanic practice in 1974, and was fortunate to participate in a three-year Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy training by Dr. Bugental. He is Co-President of the Association for Transpersonal Psychology (ATP) and a board officer of the European Association of Transpersonal Psychology (EUROTAS).
• KIRK SCHNEIDER
  Presence and the Polarized Mind: Applying Jim's principles to Social Conflict
  This talk will depict my own inspiration, based on Jim's inspiring model, to apply the sensibility of presence to a range of social conflicts beyond the consulting room. Drawing from my books Rediscovery of Awe, Awakening to Awe, and The Polarized Mind, I will consider how presence, or the holding and illuminating of that which is palpably significant between therapist and within client (or partners) can facilitate the rejuvenation of child-rearing, the educational system, the work setting, the spiritual and religious setting, and the governmental-deliberative setting to enhance the enrichment and stabilization of our world. I call for an "army" of present-centered facilitators to counterbalance the army of military-industrialists who now dominate our social-cultural mindscape.
  Kirk Schneider, Ph.D., is a leading spokesperson for contemporary existential-humanistic psychology. Dr. Schneider is the president-elect of the Society for Humanistic Psychology of the American Psychological Association, recent past editor of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology (2005-2012), cofounder and vice-president of the Existential-Humanistic Institute (EHI), and adjunct faculty at Saybrook University and Teachers College, Columbia University. A Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA), Dr. Schneider has published over 100 articles and chapters and has authored or edited 10 books (several of which have been translated into Chinese, Korean, German, Portuguese, Greek, Turkish, Russian, and Slovakian). These books include The Paradoxical Self , Horror and the Holy, The Psychology of Existence (with Rollo May), The Handbook of Humanistic Psychology (with James Bugental and Fraser Pierson)

, Rediscovery of Awe, Existential-Integrative Psychotherapy, Existential-Humanistic Therapy (with Orah Krug—accompanied by APA video), Awakening to Awe, and most recently, The Polarized Mind.

WILLIAM STAUDENMAIER
Resilience and Depth Existential Psychotherapy

Core to the Existential Humanistic Psychotherapy of James Bugental is the development of client awareness and the deepening of subjective experience. The therapy process cultivates experiences of presence, subjective aliveness and a greater capacity for intimacy.
Clients with a history of trauma can be significantly compromised in the ability to be present and subjectively engaged. The client may present as withdrawn, dissociated or over-activated and may be so significantly stuck in a pattern of reacting that there is very little possibility of cultivating any sense of subjective aliveness, intimacy or meaning.
The wedding of the Existential perspective with the Trauma Resiliency Model offers the possibility of more openness and resilience. Therapy focuses on awareness practices and an informed sense of the biological basis of the trauma response. The client is invited to greater awareness of immediate experience and the on-going exercise of personal choice.
William Staudenmaier, Ph.D., ABPP, is a Clinical Psychologist practicing within an existential-phenomenological perspective. He brings a background of working with diverse populations in multiple settings including hospitals, prison, military veterans, and academic programs. Currently he is in private practice in Denver, CO, USA, providing depth-oriented psychotherapy, trauma resilience training, and clinical supervision/consultation to individuals and groups. He trained for a many years with Dr. James F.T. Bugental, ABPP, in his course "Art of the Psychotherapist" along with other members of the "Masters Group," with whom he continues to meet regularly, extending and deepening the perspectives of Dr. Bugental.

MIKE GUY THOMPSON
The Search for Authenticity: Conversations with Jim Bugental

I met Jim Bugental in 1972 when I was a student at CSPP; Jim was on the Advisory Faculty there. I was an avid existentialist and came across his book, The Search for Authenticity. I loved the book, contacted him in Palo Alto, where he was then located, and said I would love to do a tutorial with him on authenticity. He graciously agreed to meet with me one hour a week during his lunch break and we spent fifteen weeks exploring the nature of authenticity over lunch. We discussed his views on that topic, as well as Jean-Paul Sartre, Martin Heidegger, and R. D. Laing, with whom I subsequently trained with in London. It was a rich and rewarding experience that I will share at this presentation and discussion.
Michael Guy Thompson, PhD, is Personal and Supervising Analyst and Faculty member, Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California, and Adjunct Professor, Alliant International University and the California Institute of Integral Studies. He is the author of more than 100 journal articles and book reviews on phenomenology, psychoanalysis, and schizophrenia, as well as four books, The Death of Desire (1985), The Truth About Freud’s Technique (1994), The Ethic of Honesty (2004), and soon to be released, The Legacy of R. D. Laing (Ed.), published by Routledge(Routledge is also publishing a completely revised and expanded edition of Dr. Thompson’s first book, The Death of Desire: An Existential Study in Sanity and Madness, to appear in 2015). Dr. Thompson has lectured extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, Spain, and Australia over the past thirty years, and currently lives in San Rafael, California.

BENJAMIN TONG
The no-self and Multiple Selfhood: When Existential Psychotherapy Works

The healing presence between therapist and client consists of a state of shared being in which there is a momentary experience of a Zen-like “no-self” on the part of both. This is a nonpathological one-ness which contains possibilities for the appearance of any of a number of distinct selves, each grounded in a momentary social and historical context, and responsive to presented issues with which the client is struggling.
Benjamin Tong, PhD is Professor of the Clinical Psychology Psy.D. Program, California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco. Dr Tong is Tai Ch’i and QiGong instructor, School of Taoist Internal Arts, San Francisco. Dr Tong is Emeritus faculty, Asian American Studies Department, San Francisco State University. Psychotherapist and organizational consultant in private practice.

ROGER WALSH
Keynote: My Therapy with Jim

Jon Carlson, who created the videotape series of expert therapists for the American Psychological Association, has probably seen more master therapists in action than anyone else in history, and he said of Jim Bugental, “He was the best therapist I ever saw.” I had the privilege of being in therapy with Jim for almost two years and it was the most transformative experience of my life, changing everything from my values, career, and worldview to my understanding of human nature and potentials. Many others were similarly affected. In this talk I'll share what it was like to work with Jim, the kinds of insights he fostered, how and why he was so effective, the risks he was willing to take, the many things we can learn from him, and the legacy he leaves.
Roger Walsh, MD, PhD, DHL, graduated from Queensland University with degrees in psychology, physiology, neuroscience and medicine. He then came to Stanford University as a Fulbright scholar to study psychiatry, and is currently professor of psychiatry, philosophy and anthropology, and a professor in the religious studies program at the University of California at Irvine.
His interests include contemplative practices, psychological wellbeing, religion, Asian philosophies, and the psychological roots of our global crises. His publications include the books Paths Beyond Ego, The World of Shamanism, and Essential Spirituality: The Seven Central Practices, and he recently edited The World's Great Wisdom. His research and writings have received 20 national and international awards and honors, while his teaching has received one national and seven university awards. He has practiced and taught contemplative practices for the last three decades. Recently, he tried to learn trapeze and standup comedy (not simultaneously) with extremely limited success in both. For more information see DrRogerWalsh.com
Roger’s books include Paths Beyond Ego (one of Common Boundary’s “Most Influential Books”), Meditation: Classic and Contemporary Perspectives (“Outstanding Academic Book of the Year Award”), Essential Spirituality: The Seven Central Practices with a foreword by The Dalai Lama, and The World of Shamanism. He is currently editing The World’s Great Wisdom: What Sages Say about Living Wisely and Well.

BRYAN WITTINE
The Dark Night of the Soul: Existential and Jugian Perspectives

The term “dark night of the soul” was first used by John of the Cross to describe the threshold at which mystics face their psychological death and open fully to their oneness with God. Many clients in psychotherapy undergo a similar process. Bugental wrote on the turbulent “existential crisis,” the death of one’s life-limiting self-and-world constructs and liberation of one’s greater creative potential, while Jung said the “night-sea journey” flows from the death of the old self and the birth of a new consciousness, which encompasses more fully both inner and outer worlds and the mystery of Being. In this storm-tossed period one wonders if one is actually dying. Dr. Wittine will use clinical cases to illustrate the dark night in psychotherapy. He will focus especially on the therapist’s healing presence as well as practical considerations for navigating this transforming crisis in psychotherapy.
Bryan Wittine, LMFT, PhD is a Jungian psychoanalyst and spiritual director in private practice in Mill Valley and an analyst-member of the C. G. Jung Institute of San Francisco. He is co-founder of the graduate program in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology and former professor of psychology at John F. Kennedy University, Pleasant Hill, California. He has been a student of religion and mysticism for nearly 50 years and teaches regularly on various topics in contemporary Jungian and mystical studies. He trained extensively with Jim Bugental and was Jim’s client in psychotherapy for nearly four years.

PANELS

• An Existential Humanistic Approach to Programs Addressing the San Francisco Black Community
  CEDRIC JACKSON, MARY ANN JONES, and ANDREA MORRISON KAPLAN
  As the Bay Area continues to experience a demographic shift away from a European numerical majority; there is a growing awareness of cultural issues in psychopathology. One area of grave concern is the criminal justice system’s impact and how it correlates to social justice. By borrowing from the theoretical perspective of Critical criminology, we can start the process of challenging traditional understandings and uncovering false beliefs about crime and criminal justice as it relates to social status, ideology, morality, religion, race or ethnicity with specific emphasis put on its disproportionate impact on the black community. The premises being that the San Francisco Black community is part of a social /behavioral research process that routinely ignores Belmont report principles of engagement. This panel critically investigates a more informed approach that uses a person’s reflection of feelings and acceptance instead of advice to help the client actively evaluate his or her own experience. This presentation will begin to create a dialogue on basic psychosocial principles of ethical practice that feature beneficence, and informed consent. This critical examination will conclude by advocating for a new clinical approach to social programs and interventions in psychopathology.
  Mary Ann Jones, PhD, has over twenty years of knowledge and experience as a clinician and administrator in senior management positions. She became interested in healthcare management and advocacy through her work in the San Francisco Department of Public Health AIDS Office in the late 1980’s. From there she would go on to work as a research assistant at the Bay Area Perinatal AIDS Clinic at the University of California, San Francisco on the first AZT study with pregnant women; the Family Addiction Center for Education and Treatment with pregnant women addicted to crack and heroin; and, the Bayview Hunter’s Point Alice Griffith Crack Cocaine Program.
  Her dedication to women’s issues such as sexual and domestic violence earned her special recognition, and provided her with an avenue to shape public policy, as she was appointed by then Governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, to serve as his Vice-Chair on the Governor's Task Force on Domestic Violence. She has also served on the Florida Leadership Team of the Family Violence Prevention Fund; and Board President of the New Sudan Generation. In 2008, she partnered with FAVACA and Educare to address childhood labor and bring violence prevention strategies to youth and professionals living in Georgetown, Guyana. She has provided consultation to the Directorate of Gender Affairs in Antigua and the Ministry of Social Development, Community and Gender Affairs of St.Kitts. Her work in grass roots program development, sexual violence and mental health care literacy extends around the world and includes India, Pakistan, Brazil, Africa and the Caribbean.
  Dr. Jones received her Ph.D. from the Wright Institute and her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Mills College. Her academic and clinical training include: Georgetown University School of Medicine, Indiana University Bloomington, SUNY Upstate Medical Center at Syracuse, the University of California, San Diego, South County Mental Health Center and Oakwood Center of the Palm Beaches. Mary Ann was a recipient of a Society for Neuroscience Fellowship through her work with C. Ovid Trouth, M.D., Ph.D., professor emeritus at Howard University College of Medicine and continued her interest in laboratory research while working at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in the Department of Biophysics.
  Andrea Morrison, PhD is Associate Dean of the College of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences at Argosy University as well as Professor of Clinical Psychology at Argosy University, San Francisco. Andrea Morrison has been interested in training in professional psychology for more than twenty years. She is past President of the National Council of Schools and Programs of Professional Psychology (NCSPP) and past Chair of the California Psychology Internship Council (CAPIC).
  Dr. Morrison has been active in both regional and professional accreditation. She has been a site visitor for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and the APA’s Commission on Accreditation.
  Dr. Morrison was a member of APA’s Commission on Accreditation from 2003 to 2006. She has been a licensed clinical psychologist in California since 1987.
• Revealing Presence: A Group Search Process
  SUE BROWN, MARTY LAWLOR, JOAN MONHEIT, PAT LECALIR, and MOLLY STERLING
  Presently means having arrived to linger awhile in the expanse of unconcealment. (Heidegger) We are five women, who, while studying and consulting in depth with Jim Bugental, formed our own consultation group which has been meeting monthly for over 20 years. Taking seriously Jim’s admonition not to become “Bugentalians,” we have cultivated a wider understanding of presence from our five unique therapist selves. We each have chosen a moment from our years of practice to convey a vital experience of shared presence. We begin with the dilemma of how to be with our clients’ experience after having first gotten in our own way, and therefore, our clients’ way. We are inviting you to join us in a conversation – to play with us – in presence. Presenter Bios:
  Sue Brown, MFT first discovered Jim Bugental when she read The Search for Existential Identity in 1976. “This is what I want to be learning!” Sue enrolled in the Masters in Counseling Program at Sonoma State University, and was licensed as an MFT in July of 1985. Her post-licensing experience includes, in addition to a private practice, training in fundamentally existential settings: a rehabilitation hospital for people recovering from accidents, strokes, and surgeries; training in working with grief and loss; and in 1987, a weekend workshop at Asilomar with James F.T Bugental, and his assistant at the time, Molly Sterling. Sue has published an article, “Death Does Not End Relationship” in the CAMFT journal, The Therapist, has conducted many workshops and seminars on death and dying, and has presented papers at the annual Art of the Psychotherapist gathering.
  Patricia LeClair, MFT has been a marriage and family therapist in private practice in Santa Cruz County for over 25 years and has associated for as long with Jim Bugental and colleagues connected to Jim’s work in consultation groups and yearly workshops. Prior to that she was a supervisor of non-profit programs treating youth and families with chemical dependency. She also worked for several years in an inpatient psychiatric setting with severe psychiatric disturbances. Pat believes that the patient needs an experience – not an explanation – and this guides her work. She is a member of CAMFT and the Santa Cruz Psychoanalytic Society.
  Marty Lawlor, MFT studied Existential Humanistic Psychotherapy with Jim Bugental from the late 80's until he retired from teaching. She continues to pursue her interest in Existential Psychotherapy with colleagues and with the Art of Psychotherapy Group that has been meeting yearly since 1989. Marty is a certified Jungian analyst and an active member of the Jung Institute in San Francisco. She teaches extensively on couples therapy in various settings and has a private practice in San Rafael working with adults and couples.
  Joan A. Monheit, LCSW, is a writer, award-winning poet and an experienced psychotherapist and grief counselor in private practice in the East Bay. She has been facilitating Writing Through Grief® Groups and Workshops for over 21 years. She is a member of The Art Of The Psychotherapist Master’s Group and considers herself part of the “James Bugental lineage.” Joan works with individuals and couples providing depth psychotherapy from an existential-relational perspective. She is a national presenter on the use of writing as a therapeutic process. Her poems have appeared in Zyzzyva, Calyx, Mediphors, and The Santa Clara Review. Joan hopes to have her book, A Crowd of Sorrows: The Writing Through Grief® Workbook And A Guide To Grief finished this year.
  Molly Merrill Sterling, MFT, PhD was educated at Stanford University and San Francisco State University before she entered Jim and Elizabeth Bugental's training group, Interlogue, in 1983. By 1986 she had joined the James F .T. Bugental Psychology Corporation and was teaching with Jim in the Art of Psychotherapist workshops and at training centers in Marin County, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. She practiced Long Term Depth Therapy for over 30 years while consulting, supervising, and writing. Jim used role-play extensively while teaching and supervising. Dr. Sterling's phenomenological study of role-playing a client during supervision alerted her to bodily felt awareness being transformed into individual awareness of the Other's inner world. Amadeo Giorgi, PhD, chaired this dissertation; Jim Bugental was on the committee. Practicing Existential Psychotherapy while immersed in phenomenological research and writing synergistically reinforced opening to the Other.
• Young Professionals Panel
  RAY GREENLEAF, GRACE FISHER, JUSTIN McGAHAN, LACY MARTINEZ, SARAH SHERETZ, ANDREA COLOMBU, and TROY PIWOWARSKI
  CHAIR: JEN GOMOLL
  Andrea Colombu, MA, LMFT, is a licensed psychotherapist who has been practicing with individuals and couples since 2008 and has been in private practice in Oakland, CA. since 2014. The interface between psychology and spirituality is central to my work and approach, which integrates contemporary psychotherapy with the timeless wisdom of contemplative traditions.
  Andrea received a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from John F. Kennedy University with a specialization in Transpersonal Psychology. Her preparation also included studies and training in Buddhist Psychology and Philosophy, Humanistic Psychology, Existential-Contemplative Psychotherapy, and Somatic Psychology.
  In addition to psychotherapy, Andrea offers nondual therapy and coaching to individuals and couples. She also facilitate nondual exploration groups, workshops, and retreats in and outside of California. This area of her work has been supported and encouraged by her teacher Peter Fenner, PhD., with whom she has studied and worked closely since 2010. By his invitation, she has also been coaching in his Radiant Mind programs since 2011. Andrea Colombu is a founding member of the Center for Nondual Awareness.
  Jen (Gomoll) Daugherty, LPC is a therapist in Portland, OR. In 2003 she earned her masters in counseling psychology from John F Kennedy University where books by Jim Bugental were a staple of the curriculum. She had the good fortune to participate in a case consultation group with Jim for about a year while living in California. Jim introduced Jen to Bob Edelstein, LMFT, a Portland therapist who has mentored her since.
  Jen is the past president of the Oregon Mental Health Counselor’s Association and an active board member of Existential-Humanistic NorthWest Professional Organization. In addition to providing crisis intervention in an emergency department, Jen has a private practice working from the existential-humanistic perspective.
  Troy Piwowarski, PsyD, is an Existential-Humanistic psychotherapist working in the Bay Area of California, and he is the Student Outreach Coordinator and Teacher in Training at EHI. He received his doctorate in clinical psychology at the Michigan School of Professional Psychology in Detroit, a school rooted in the work of Clark Moustakas. Troy is an avid writer and has investigated how phenomenologically-minded therapists attune to their clients as persons-in-context in his dissertation. He has published one article on Terror Management Theory entitled "The Effects of Mortality Salience and Belief in Afterlife on the Manifestation of Homonegativity," is a co-author of a chapter in the second edition of The Handbook of Humanistic Psychology entitled "Cultivating Psychotherapist Artistry: Model Existential-Humanistic Training Programs," and has assisted in editing two books by EHI President Nader Shabahangi. He is currently co-conducting research with Orah Krug on what factors are most powerful in teaching E-H therapy.

EHI 8TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE DATES November 14th -15th, 2015 Saturday 9:00am-7:00pm Sunday 9:00am-5:30pm LOCATION CIIS Main Building: Namaste Hall 1453 Mission Street San Francisco, CA 94103 REGISTER Online Registration Honoring the centenary of James Bugental's birth and the 50th Anniversary of the publication of The Search for Authenticity CE's 15 BBS CEs available for MFT, LCSW, RN  COST Conference: $275/$300/$325 One-day: $150/$170/$190 (CIIS tiered pricing -when one price tier sells out, that tier is closed) Honoring the Centenary of James Bugental’s birth and the 50th Anniversary of The Search for Authenticity The Existential-Humanistic Institute (EHI), in collaboration with CIIS, honors the centenary of James F. T. Bugental's birth and the 50th anniversary of The Search for Authenticity. EHI dedicates its 8th Annual Conference to Jim Bugental, a founder of Humanistic Psychology, co-founder of the Existential-Humanistic Institute, master Existential Therapist and pioneer of Transpersonal Psychology. In these sessions and panels, the presenters honor Jim as a strong advocate of experience-near psychotherapy, highlighting his recognition of inward sensing and the subjective experience of the individual. Such therapy emphasizes spontaneous engagement in the present moment, in the here and now. This conference brings together a number of Jim's former students and associates, many of whom now are respected mentors, therapists and teachers themselves.

Questions regarding the upcoming conference? Contact CIIS at publicprograms@ciis.edu

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