Am I to Blame Or Are You? Working with Shame and Coping Mechanisms Against Shame
in Psychotherapy and Psychological Assessment 

Via Nirone 15, Milan, Italy - Thursday-Saturday, November 29-December 1, 2018

PROGRAM AND OBJECTIVES 
It is now recognized that shame is one of the most important and frequent client experiences in psychotherapy and psychological assessment, yet few mental health professionals and psychotherapists receive direct training in how to help their clients with shame. 

In this 3-day intensive workshop, Stephen E. Finn and Camillo Caputo will first review the concepts presented at the previous workshop in 2012 organized by the European Centre for Therapeutic Assessment and then detail a new integrated theory on working with clients with potent coping mechanisms against shame. Videotapes will be used to illustrate interventions with aggressive/blaming clients and with clients trapped in victim roles.

Finn and Caputo will review contemporary research about shame, outline a theory based in interpersonal neurobiology, and discuss implications for applied clinical work. They will show videotapes--of themselves and other clinicians from the European Center for Therapeutic Assessment--working with clients around shame, and will teach a number of specific, effective interventions that can help clients heal shame. At various points during the workshop, participants will work in small groups doing role plays of these shame interventions, but at no point will participants’ personal issues be directly exposed. The final day will focus on working with clients who defend strongly against feelings of shame, and on how to help them face their underlying painful feelings about themselves.

At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
• Describe contemporary psychobiological theories of shame and recent research about shame
• List and recognize signs of shame in themselves and in their clients
• Utilize three specific interventions that can help clients heal from shame
• List the most common coping mechanisms against shame
• Describe a structured model for working with coping mechanisms against shame 
• Identify and be more aware of their personal shame

The workshop will be presented in English and Italian with simultaneous translation.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
This workshop is open to mental health professionals, psychiatrists, psychologists, psychotherapists and graduate students.  The course attendance is limited to 120 participants. 

TIMETABLE
The workshop will be held from 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. on Thursday November 29, Friday November 30 and Saturday December 1.