THE THERAPEUTIC USE OF OPTIMAL STRESS TO PROVOKE RECOVERY:

From Cursing the Darkness to Lighting a Candle

Presenter: Martha Stark, MD

             Come to the edge. We might fall.

             Come to the edge. It’s too high!

             Come to the edge!

             And they came, and he pushed, and they flew.

                                                              – Christopher Logue

Inspired by this poem, and with a focus always on the translation of theory into technique, Dr. Stark will be demonstrating the use of custom-designed, optimally stressful psychotherapeutic interventions that address the conflict that exists within the patient between what she (adaptively) knows with her head and what she (defensively) feels with her heart. She will show how the ongoing use of anxiety-provoking but ultimately growth promoting “conflict statements” trigger recursive cycles of destabilizing disruption followed by restabilizing repair – the cumulative impact of which is the patient’s attainment of ever more evolved levels of resilience and adaptive capacity.

Martha Stark, MD is a Holistic Psychiatrist/Psychoanalyst and Integrative Medicine Specialist in private practice in Boston, MA. A graduate and faculty member of Harvard Medical School and the Boston Psychoanalytic Institute, which she codirects, Dr. Stark is the esteemed author of seven critically acclaimed books on Integrative Psychotherapy.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

At the conclusion of this presentation, participants will be able to: 

1. Describe typical defenses in terms of automatic reactions to stimuli which are deemed “less 

evolved” in Stark’s theory. 

2. Discuss adaptations as more evolved responses to stimuli. 

3. Demonstrate ways to use Stark’s methodology to transform defenses into adaptations. 

4. Define the concept of a “self-organizing system.”

5. Articulate how self-organizing systems “resist perturbation.”

6. Describe the paradoxical impact of stress on the living system. 

7. Assess the ways in which Stark’s method of psychotherapy, which utilizes the transformation 

of defense into adaptation, helps patients achieve mastery over previously un-mastered 

experience. 

8. Define “optimally stressful” interventions according to Stark’s clinical methodology. 

9. Provide at least two specific, clinical examples of optimally stressful interventions. 

10. Discuss how the initially anxiety-provoking optimally stressful interventions lead to 

psychological growth and improved adaptation

AGENDA:

8:15-8:45 Registration 

8:45-9:00 Introductions

9:00-10:30 Morning Part I. (1.5 CE credits)

10:30-10:45. Break

10:45-12:00 Morning Part II (1.25 CE Credits)

12:00-1:00 Lunch 

1:00-2:15 Afternoon Part I (1.25 CE Credits)

2:15-2:30 Break

2:30-3:30 Afternoon Part II (1.0 CE Credits)

3:30 Thanks and Closing

CE’s: 5 CE’s for Counselors, Psychologists & Social Workers

 For Counselors: CPPNJ has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education       Provider, ACEP No. 6863. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified.   CPPNJ is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

 For Psychologists CPPNJ is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor   continuing education for psychologists.  CPPNJ maintains responsibility for this program and its     contents.  

 For Social Workers: This program is co-sponsored by the New Jersey Society for Clinical   Social Work, which   provides leadership and support to clinical social workers in all practice settings. The New Jersey Society for Clinical Social Work has given voice to clinical social workers dealing with the health care industry. The organization provides outstanding continuing education programs and opportunities for collegial contact. www.njscsw.org  

Target Audience:  Suitable for Psychologists, Social Workers, Licensed Professional Counselors, Psychiatrists, Advanced Practice Nurses, Graduate Students, Marriage and Family Therapists.

Level of Sophistication: This program is suitable for introductory, intermediate and advanced level postgraduate continuing education.

Location:  Lenfell Hall, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison,

Cost: CPPNJ Faculty and Associates $170 at the door/$150 pre-registration by September 15.  CPPNJ Candidates: $85 at the door/$65 pre-registration by September 15; Students with ID: $35; Non-Members: $180 at the door/ $160 pre-registration by September 15. (includes light breakfast and lunch for all) 

ADA accommodations available upon request - Requests required at least 14 days prior to program start date.

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 For further information or registration:

Visit us online at: www.cppnj.org, contact us by email (cppnj@cppnj.org), call 973-912-4432, or by mail at: CPPNJ, 235 Main St. #184, Madison, NJ  07940