Dr. Ferruccio Osimo
Who by fire…[1]
Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy
with different types of self-sabotage.
[1] Leonard Cohen, 1974
Tuesday | March 11, 2025 | 9:00-15:30 (Israel Time) | Online
In our day-to-day work as psychotherapists, we come across innumerable ways of fostering one’s own suffering. This can range from a milder case of passive aggression to a most severe case, involving self-harming and even suicidality. Undoing the self-sabotaging functioning is the objective of one of the 9 IE-DP Therapeutic Ingredients. If we look at this phenomenon closely, we can see that there are two main ways of sabotaging oneself: self-damage can actually be brought about either by passively self-depriving, or by actively self-abusing.
The seminar will address the overall phenomenon of human self-sabotage in an exhaustive way, both theoretically and clinically. Two video-recorded clinical cases will be presented, making it possible to illustrate the step-by-step procedure a therapist can implement, in order to defuse either type of self-attacking functioning, so as to escort the patient to a different position, at a safety distance from the self-inflicted suffering.
Seminar Program:
9:00: Gathering
9:20: OPENING REMARKS Ehud Halak, Coordinator of the EDT Israel training program, certified by International Experiential Dynamic Therapy Association – IEDTA
9:30: OPENING LECTURE: When the price of attachment is unbearably high
Self-sacrifice, self-attack, self-sabotage can be a major obstacle to successful therapy. How to defuse the inner enemy? Theoretical principles and step-by-step techniques.
10:00 First case presentation, and Video # 1 - Who by water: Resuscitating the drowned Self.
11:15 Discussion
11:30 Coffee break
11:45 Second case presentation, and Video # 2 - Who by fire: From actively attempting to die to treasuring life.
12:45 Discussion
13:00 Lunch break
13:30 Continuation of clinical case and Video # 2
15:00 Discussion
15:30 Estimated end
Dr. Osimo is the first president of IEDTA, International Experiential Dynamic Therapy Association. He is the founder of Intensive Experiential-Dynamic Psychotherapy (IE-DP), based on the pioneering work of Habib Davanloo and David Malan. Dr. Osimo's clinical studies with Malan, John Bowlby and Leigh McCullough led him to lay an emphasis on the real human relationship with the patient, which is of the essence to select effective types of intervention. Dr. David Malan wrote in the introduction to Dr. Osimo's book Experiential Short term Dynamic Psychotherapy: "Dr. Osimo explains the principles of his technique with great clarity. His special contribution consists of his detailed description of the various kinds of intervention available for dealing with each of the three corners of the Triangle of conflict. In particular, he introduces the concept of "maieutic" interventions for facilitating the full experience and open expressions of deep feeling (the word is derived from the ancient Greek for “midwife”). Dr. Osimo trained many EDT therapists and instructors in the USA, England, Italy and Israel. The IE-DP approach is described in several articles and books.
