The Therapist’s Torment

Through theoretical and clinical material, Dhwani Shah will focus on some of the most agonising experiences he has had in the clinical encounter, including extremities of terror, dissociation, and shame. He will explore how these unique subjective reactions can arise spontaneously in relation to certain clients and how the risk of feeling the intolerable can quickly lead to therapeutic disengagement.

How we make choices when confronted with such mental states, he suggests, is at the heart of ethical practice. Dhwani will demonstrate how the therapist’s capacity to stay with their own deep emotions is both vital to understanding and metabolizing our patients’ emotional experiences, and to our own development as therapists. Acknowledging how difficult this can be, he will share key moments from his most challenging therapy relationships showing how, ultimately, these came strengthen both his work and resilience.