Beyond Medication Management.

Bring therapeutic depth into the encounters you already have.

A patient may want help and feel afraid of change at the same time. A conversation can become tense, overly analytical, self-critical, or suddenly quiet. These moments can offer a glimpse of how a person has learned to manage distress.

This workshop creates space to slow those moments down. Through case examples, guided reflection, and brief practice exercises, we will explore how to recognize what a response may be protecting, ask more useful questions, and think carefully about what to do next.

The workshop draws on a parts-informed perspective: different responses within the same person can be trying to meet different needs. You do not need prior training in this approach to participate.

What we will explore and practice

• Recognize the protective pattern. Look beneath withdrawal, self-criticism, or a need for control and consider what may feel difficult or threatening for the patient.
• Make sense of mixed feelings. Explore moments when a patient wants support while also feeling an urge to pull away, resist, or stay in control.
• Notice the body’s signals. Pay attention to changes in pace, posture, breath, and physical tension, and practice simple ways of helping someone reconnect with the present moment.
• Find language that opens dialogue. Practice responses that acknowledge a patient’s experience and invite curiosity when a conversation feels stuck.
• Think through the next response. Use a case demonstration and brief role-play to consider possible responses, notice your own reactions, and reflect on what the person may need.

Who it is for

Psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, and trainees interested in expanding relational and psychotherapy-informed skills without changing their primary clinical modality.

What you will leave with

• A practical way to recognize protective responses beneath withdrawal, self-criticism, or a need for control.
• Questions and phrases for acknowledging a patient’s experience and exploring what feels difficult.
• A simple sequence for noticing a shift, pausing, and choosing a more deliberate response.
• Greater awareness of your own reactions and how they shape the clinical encounter.

Bring this workshop to your team.

For psychiatric practices, training programs, and clinician groups interested in hosting a workshop, I welcome a conversation about your team’s learning needs.