Empowering Therapists, Overcoming Obstacles with David P. Bernstein

"Empowering Therapists, Overcoming Obstacles" 

by David P. Bernstein, PhD

The Workshop: Friday 12 June & Saturday 13 June @ Maastricht

As therapists, we have all experienced stuck-points with our patients: situations where patients’ challenging behavior – emotionally distant, hostile, dominant, bullying, etc. – brings the therapy to a standstill. In Schema Therapy, we conceptualize these stuck-points in terms of “schema modes”– emotional states that dominate a person’s thoughts, feelings, and behavior at a given moment. When patients flip into schema modes, they can trigger painful feelings in us, leaving us demoralized, uncertain of how to proceed. We can (unconsciously) flip into schema modes ourselves, preventing us from working effectively. In this workshop, we will use several self-experience exercises that I have developed to help therapists overcome stuck points by learning to recognize and work with their own emotional reactions. The exercises combine Schema Therapy techniques, such as imaginary rescripting and role playing, with Mindfulness practices from Buddhist Psychology, such as meditation, compassion, and self-compassion. Participants will use their own cases as a basis for the exercises that we will do. In my experience, therapists have found these exercises to be very helpful, empowering them to be more comfortable and authentic with their patients, and to overcome obstacles in the therapy. 

No prior experience with Schema Therapy or Mindfulness is required to take this workshop.

Friday, 12 June:  

Reception from 14:00-15:00
Workshop from 15:00-19:00

Saturday, 13 June:     

Workshop from 9:00-16:00
Lunch provided from 12:30-14:00

Fee: € 320 

Registration is limited to a maximum of 50 participants.

To register or make inquiries, please contact
Jacomina Gerbrandij: EMAIL

The workshop will take place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, overlooking the Maas River in Maastricht; www.crowneplazamaastricht.nl.
Participants need to book their own accommodations. We provide some recommendations of local hotels. 

This is an international workshop with participants expected from several countries. The workshop will be presented in English.  Most of the exercises involve individual self-experience exercises, with some sharing of experiences in pairs with other participants.  A few exercises involve groups of 3 persons.  If there are other participants who speak the same language as you, you are welcome to do 

Your registration fee will be used to support the Safe Path Foundation, a newly created non-profit organization that promotes the safe and healthy integration of people with addictions, aggression, and criminal behavior into the community.

Your registration fee will be used to support the Safe Path Foundation, a newly created non-profit organization that promotes the safe and healthy integration of people with addictions, aggression, and criminal behavior into the community.

Workshop testimonials:

“I participated in a self-experience workshop led by David Bernstein in November 2014.  It was brilliant.  The workshop was very practice-oriented, presented by David and performed by ourselves in role plays and other exercises under his close supervision.  It was very impressive because it released intense emotions and thus was very helpful in my understanding of myself.  David is a gifted teacher with a big heart and a great sense of humor.  Since this workshop, Schema Therapy has really grabbed me.”

Dr. med. Anja Agyemang, Freiburg

“David’s workshops are always unique. Besides his huge knowledge of Psychotherapy, he takes care for the health of the therapist! In this workshop, you have the chance to learn a lot about difficult interactions with clients and to bring in personal situations. David offers very individual support.  In the end you leave feeling that you have a lot of “left brain” knowledge but also of having done a self-nourishing course. Thank you so much, David!”

Dr. Anne Zahn, Freiburg

"Safe Path" Foundation mission statement:

“Safe Path”® utilizes the principles of Schema Therapy – an evidence-based treatment for personality disorders -- to help people with aggressive, addictive, and criminal behavior recover and safely return to the community.  Safe Path aims to empower recovering persons, the people who work with them, and the communities and societies in which they live.  This vision affirms the intrinsic worth of all individuals.  A healthy society embraces and accepts all of its members, while at the same time insuring their safety and protection.  Everyone has a role to play in this mission: the recovering person who learns how to change destructive patterns and take productive roles in society; the people who dedicate themselves to working with him; and the community as a whole, which gives him a fair chance to demonstrate his integrity through his present behavior, and not just his past actions.