Psychodiagnosis in the ISTDP approach

The training is devoted to an in-depth understanding of psychodiagnosis in ISTDP, going beyond the most obvious criteria of tolerance and anxiety thresholds. The instructor focuses on what most often blocks therapists in their clinical work: difficulties in understanding who the patient is and what level of functioning they are currently at.

The lecture presents psychodiagnosis as a dynamic process embedded in the development of the self, attachment history, and the therapeutic relationship. Particular emphasis is placed on the importance of denial and externalization as key forms of resistance that often prevent real work on the conflict triangle.

The training organizes the understanding of three main areas of patient functioning: fragility, repression, and affect isolation. Differences in the structure of emotional conflict, superego, and the relationship with aggression in each of these areas are discussed. The lecture integrates a developmental perspective, attachment theory, and ISTDP clinical practice. Through numerous analyses of therapy session transcripts, the training provides specific tools for working with patients who are depressed, anxious, or struggling with relationship difficulties.

Through the training, you will learn advanced strategies for working with superego resistance, learn to identify destructive mechanisms of denial and externalization, and learn how to effectively block them in order to build a mature ego in your patients.