• Event Info
  • Agenda
  • Speakers
  • CE Info

Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy for Functional Somatic Symptoms: A 2-Day Immersion

About this event

This two-day immersion training, led by Dr. Joel Town, is designed for clinicians seeking a practical and clinically rigorous review of the ISTDP model for working with functional somatic symptoms. Through a combination of didactic teaching, extensive review of treatment video, and discussion of live clinical process, participants will learn the core framework and interventions that define the model. ISTDP offers a uniquely experiential approach to working with complex transference feelings as they emerge in the therapeutic relationship to identify and address resistance in therapy.

Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) is one of the most active, emotionally focused, and experientially powerful psychodynamic treatments in contemporary psychotherapy. Developed through decades of video-recorded clinical research by Dr. Habib Davanloo, ISTDP offers a systematic framework for helping patients overcome resistance, access complex emotional experience, and resolve longstanding psychological suffering.

Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) has been studied in over 50 published studies for FSD and shown to be an effective treatment in randomized controlled trials and naturalistic clinical settings. ISTDP, informed by attachment theory, targets unprocessed emotions associated with early life relational trauma, dysregulated unconscious anxiety and maladaptive defences. By promoting the experiencing and expression of complex emotional states related to attachment experiences, the psychophysiological pathways producing somatic symptoms can be restructured. Randomized trials of ISTDP report large effects in the treatment of FSD.

In this 2-day in-person immersion, Dr. Joel Town will present clinical videos to illustrate how ISTDP treats FSD. Dr. Town will show cases that involve the treatment of functional gastrointestinal symptoms, functional neurological symptoms, and chronic pain. On day 1, this will include a focus on how to restructure syntonic defensive patterns of emotional avoidance and detachment, and the process of emotional mobilization to unlock the unconscious. On day 2, Dr. Town will present the graded format of ISTDP for building anxiety tolerance, allowing increasing awareness and capacity to experience previously avoided feelings.
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  • Joel Town, DClinPsy
    Dr. Joel Town is a Clinical Psychologist and Assistant Professor at Dalhousie University, and faculty in the Department of Psychiatry and the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience. He holds positions as the Clinical Lead for the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre Medically Unexplained Symptoms Clinic, Associate Director of Training for the Nova Scotia Health Psychology Residency Program, and the Clinical Director of Dynamic Health Psychological Services. He is a clinician, researcher and psychotherapy trainer, with expertise in ISTDP for complex and refractory populations. He is the author of over 50 peer reviewed journal articles on psychotherapy process and outcome research. This includes as the Primary Investigator on clinical trials of ISTDP for depression and somatic symptom disorder. He currently serves as a Consulting Editor of the American Psychological Association Division 29 journal, Psychotherapy and the Society for Psychotherapy Research journal, Psychotherapy Research.
    Sessions
    • 001 : Application of the ISTDP Treatment Model for avoidant and resistant clients with FSD
    • 002 : Day 2: Application of the Graded Format of ISTDP for FSD clients with limited anxiety tolerance

CE Info

Earn up to 13 CE Credit Hours

Each professional is responsible for the individual requirements as stipulated by his/her licensing agency. Please contact your individual licensing board/regulatory agency to review continuing education requirements for licensure renewal. Please note: You must attend "live" (in real-time) for the duration of the training to earn CE credits.

After the event, you will receive access to your evaluation and continuing education certificate via a personalized "attendee dashboard" link, hosted on the CE-Go website. This link will be sent to the email account you used to register for the event.

Upon accessing the CE-Go "attendee dashboard", you will be able to:

  • Complete evaluation forms for the event
  • Download your continuing education certificate in a PDF format

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the CE-Go platform, please contact CE-Go at 888-498-5578 or by email at support@ce-go.com Please Note: Emails for this event will come from "support@ceactivities.com".

If you have any continuing education related questions, please contact your event organizer.

Please make sure to check your spam/junk folder in case those emails get "stuck". We'd also suggest "Allowlisting" support@ceactivities.com. This tells your email client that you know this sender and trust them, which will keep emails from this contact at the top of your inbox and out of the junk folder.

Target Audience

This activity is designed for psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, psychoanalysts, counselors, and advanced trainees. This workshop offers a clinically rich introduction to one of the most sophisticated experiential psychodynamic therapies practiced today. All levels of experience are welcome.

Continuing Education Credit Hours are available from the following organizations

In-Person

Joint Accreditation
Joint Accreditation
In support of improving patient care, CE Learning Systems is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
American Psychological Association
Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP office maintains responsibility for the content of the programs.
New York Education Department's State Board for Social Work
CE Learning Systems, LLC  (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #0060.
New York Education Department for Licensed Mental Health Counselors
CE Learning Systems, LLC  (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0072.
New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology
CE Learning Systems, LLC  (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #PSY-0016.
New York Education Department's State Board for Marriage and Family Therapy
CE Learning Systems, LLC  (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Marriage and Family Therapy as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MFT-0045.

Virtual

Joint Accreditation
Joint Accreditation
In support of improving patient care, CE Learning Systems is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
American Psychological Association
Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP office maintains responsibility for the content of the programs.
New York Education Department's State Board for Social Work
CE Learning Systems, LLC  (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #0060.
New York Education Department for Licensed Mental Health Counselors
CE Learning Systems, LLC  (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0072.
New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology
CE Learning Systems, LLC  (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #PSY-0016.
New York Education Department's State Board for Marriage and Family Therapy
CE Learning Systems, LLC  (d/b/a impactce.com) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Marriage and Family Therapy as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MFT-0045.

Event Learning Objectives

  • Psychodiagnostic assessment of functional somatic symptoms.
  • Develop skills at identifying defensive processes in real time.
  • Track voluntary muscle anxiety to help guide the pacing and focus of interventions.
  • Describe the transference relationship and help patients experience previously defended emotions.
  • Apply pressure and challenge without rupturing the alliance (maintain collaboration and safety with patients)
  • Identify signs of dysregulated anxiety early.
  • Identify markers of defensive functioning requiring capacity building.
  • Demonstrate how to restructure unconscious anxiety and defences before deep affect work.
  • Demonstrate how to sustain therapeutic attachment while working gradually and precisely.
  • Use a graded emotional experiencing to work within the patient window of tolerance.

Policies

Disability Accommodation

We are committed to providing ADA accommodations in compliance with the law. To ensure your needs are met, please inform us of any requirements when you register, ideally at least 30 days before the event. You can do so by emailing support@ce-go.com or calling 888-498-5578.

Technology

1. This virtual event will be hosted via Zoom Webinar, and you may be prompted to download or upgrade your Zoom app if using a mobile device. A strong WiFi connection will be required for best quality.


2. We recommend clicking your "Join Webinar" button early and checking that your speakers are on before the event begins. Please do not worry about being seen or heard! Attendee video feeds and mics are turned off by default when entering a webinar. You will be able to ask questions via the Q&A feature.


3. Please respect that no copying, recording, or distribution of live session content is allowed. CE's are provided for the "live" sessions only. CE's will not be available for the recordings.

Where can I find my Attendee Dashboard link?
Upon registering, you should receive an email from support@ceactivities.com with a link to access your Attendee Dashboard. If you do not see it in your inbox, please check your spam/junk folder. If you still cannot locate the email, you may retrieve your Attendee Dashboard link by clicking HERE

.

CELS Grievance Policy
If a grievance arises pertaining to continuing education activities or processes, please contact Tyler Gibson via confidential email to tyler@celearningsystems.com as soon as possible, so that the nature of the concern may be addressed in a timely fashion.
Refund Policy

Silver Hill Collective will provide a refund with a minimum of two weeks advance written notice. In the unlikely event the activity must be canceled, prepaid registrants will be given a registration-fee refund. Please note: prices include a 5.2% NON-REFUNDABLE credit card processing fee


Question or Concerns

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this event please contact Bree Scott at bscott@ellenhorn.com.

Disclosures

DISCLOSURE OF RELEVANT FINANCIAL RELATIONSHIPS
CE Learning Systems adheres to the ACCME’s Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Medical Education. Any individuals in a position to control the content of a CE activity ― including faculty, planners, reviewers, or others ― are required to disclose all relevant financial relationships with ineligible entities (formerly known as commercial interests).

The following relevant financial relationships have been disclosed by this activity’s planners, faculty, and the reviewer:


PLANNERS AND REVIEWER
The planners of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships.

FACULTY
The faculty of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships.
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Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy for Functional Somatic Symptoms: A 2-Day Immersion
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$600.00
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  • CE Hours
    13
  • Type
    Hybrid Event
  • Location
    Silver Hill New York (515 Madison Avenue, 13th Floor, New York, NY 10022)
  • Date
    August 06 - 07, 2026

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