Anxiety & School Refusal in Adolescence
This workshop will explore a Gestalt approach to working with adolescents whose presenting symptom issues include anxiety in all its forms, with a particular emphasis on the increasingly prevalent clinical presentation of school refusal.
We will examine the symptom structure of these presentations and the transference issues which emerge in the work. Participants will appreciate how under-supported developmental process, transitional insecurity, the presence of trauma and wider environmental influences often shape the adolescent’s lifespace, giving rise to psychological, physiological and relational dysregulation which manifests in these symptoms.
Gestalt adolescent psychotherapy is not defined by treatment protocol and technique, but rather by the cultivation of meaningful therapeutic contact with the adolescent. During this training workshop, we will broadly address the therapeutic, ethical, legal and child protection issues which arise in the work with young people who are struggling with these presentations.
About The Presenter:
Bronagh Starrs is Founder & Director of Blackfort Adolescent Gestalt Institute and Programme Director for the MSc Adolescent Psychotherapy in Dublin Counselling & Therapy Centre. She maintains a private practice in Omagh, Northern Ireland, as a psychotherapist, clinical supervisor, writer, and trainer, specialising in working with adolescents. Bronagh is an adolescent development specialist and has considerable experience teaching and presenting throughout Ireland and internationally on the developmental implication of trauma on the adolescent journey. She has authored numerous articles and chapters on the subject. Her new book on adolescent psychotherapy will be published this year.
Dates: 2nd & 3rd June 2018
Time: 10 am – 5 pm
Venue: Dublin Counselling & Therapy Centre, 41 Upper Gardiner St., Dublin 1.
Fee: €240.00
For information and booking please email Bronagh: bronaghstarrs@gmail.com