We have invited world leading experts from a range of psychotherapeutic approaches to shed light on challenges like: When to regulate and when to activate emotions? How to get pass the obstacle of not feeling? What to do when emotions from past memories present themselves in the present? Our goal is to provide a deeper understanding of how these emotional impasses can be turned into healing and growth.
We are honored to introduce Dr. Ann Weisser Cornell, a renowned figure pioneering the world of self-awareness and emotional healing. Dr. Cornell, with her groundbreaking work on Focusing, has carved a distinctive path that connects the intricacies of our inner emotional landscapes with tangible therapeutic practices.
Her innovative approach transcends traditional therapy boundaries, offering practitioners and clients alike, fresh perspectives on how to navigate the complexities of the self with compassion and authenticity.
Prepare to delve deep into the fascinating nexus of neuroscience and psychoanalysis as we shine the spotlight on the esteemed Dr. Mark Solms. A titan in the field of neuropsychology and a leading light in contemporary psychoanalytic thought, Dr. Solms has ceaselessly bridged the gap between the clinical and the cerebral.
His pioneering research into brain mechanisms and conscious experience has redefined our understanding of the mind, shedding light on the enigmatic interplay between neuroscientific findings and psychotherapeutic processes.
Dr. Allan Abbass is the founding Director of the Centre for Emotions and Health at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada.
Dr. Abbass's clinical speciality and research focus is the use of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP), for the treatment of somatic symptom disorders, anxiety, depression and personality disorders.
Leslie Greenberg, Ph.D. is Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus of Psychology at York University in Toronto.
He has authored the major texts on Emotion-focused approaches to treatment. His latest books are Changing emotion with emotion: A practitioners guide(2021) and Working with shame and anger(2023).
He received the American Psychological Association Award for Distinguished Professional Contribution to Applied Research, the Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR) Distinguished Research Career award and the Carl Rogers award of the APA Society for Humanistic Psychology.
Nancy McWilliams is Visiting Professor Emerita at Rutgers University's Graduate School of Applied & Professional Psychology and practices in Lambertville, New Jersey.
She is author of Psychoanalytic Diagnosis (1994, rev. ed. 2011), Psychoanalytic Case Formulation (1999), Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy (2004), and Psychoanalytic Supervision (2021), and is associate editor of the Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual, 2nd ed. (2017). A former president of Division 39 (Psychoanalysis) of the American Psychological Association, she has been featured in three APA videos of master clinicians, the most recent being "Three Approaches to Psychotherapy". She is on the Board of Trustees of the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Her books are available in 20 languages; she lectures widely both nationally and internationally.
Jon Vøllestad is a clinical psychologist and associate professor at the Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Bergen. His research focuses on the treatment of anxiety and depression from a transdiagnostic perspective. Vøllestad is a certified UP therapist and has been working with the UP in an outpatient setting since 2017.
Elisabeth Schanche is a clinical psychologist and professor at the Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Bergen. Her research focuses on therapist training and change processes in various therapeutic approaches. Schanche is a certified UP therapist and is involved in ongoing research related to the model at the University of Bergen.
Isdal have worked as a psychotherapist with perpetrators of domestic violence for more than 37 years. Together with a colleague he founded the organization “Alternative to Violence” in 1987. He has written several books on the topic of violence and on how our work affects us as therapists: “The Price of Compassion” (“The Cost of Caring”). He is a trained EFT therapist.
Dr. Katharina T.E Morken is a clinical psychologist and has a PhD degree. She is an associate professor of the Department of Clinical Psychology at the University of Bergen. She works as a researcher and leads a clinical team that provides Mentalization based treatment for patients with dual personality disorder and substance use disorder in Haukeland University Hospital. She is also the leader of the Department of Substance Use and Addiction within the Norwegian Institute of Mentalizing. Her research is mainly focused on psychotherapy, patient experiences and characteristics of patients with dual personality disorder and substance use. She has published book chapters and scientific studies. In this conference she is presenting clinical vignettes and experiences from an ongoing pilot study on mentalization based treatment for antisocial personality disorder.
Antonsen is a clinical specialist both in child psychology and in psychotherapy - EFT. She is a trained EFT supervisor and has worked in the field of domestic violence for more than ten years. She has a special interest in adjusting EFT to the treatment of people struggling with aggression in intimate partner relationships.
Fredheim is trained in Emotion Focused Therapy, Mentalization Based Therapy, Yoga and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. She is passionate about adapting EFT to treatment for survivors of intimate partner violence, and how to integrate the body into therapy. She is also interested in how yoga can help therapists build resilience towards the emotional strain of the work.
Nadia Ansar is a clinical psychologist, specialized in Clinical Family Psychology and Emotion-Focused Therapy. She has completed a PhD in Emotion-Focused Skills Training for parents and works at The Institute of Psychological counselling clinic in Oslo as a clinician, researcher, lecturer and supervisor.
Remco van der Wijngaart works as a psychotherapist in a private practice in Maastricht, the Netherlands. Initially trained in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, he was trained and supervised in Schema Therapy personally by Dr Jeffrey Young from 1996 till 2000. Remco specializes in borderline patients, patients with cluster C personality disorders as well as Anxiety and depressive disorders.
As a director of the Dutch Institute for Schema Therapy (in the Netherlands known as Van Genderen Opleidingen), he organizes training courses and workshops in the field of schema therapy. More than 7000 therapists have participated in one or more of these training courses. He produced and directed several audio-visual productions, e.g. “Schema therapy, step by step” and “Fine Tuning Chairwork”. Remco is the author of ‘Imagery Rescripting, theory and practice’ (2021), ‘Chairwork, theory and practice’ (2023), co-author of the ‘Cambridge Guide to Schema Therapy’ (2023) and Schema therapy for the dependent-, avoidant- and obsessive-compulsive patients’ (2024).
Harald Eia is a renowned Norwegian comedian, tv-personality, and sociologist, known for his unique ability to blend humor with deep insights into human behavior, emotions and societal issues.
With a career spanning several decades, Eia has established himself as one of Norway's most influential and respected media personalities. Eia's work often explores the boundaries between humor and seriousness, using comedy as a tool to shed light on important societal issues. His acclaimed documentary series Hjernevask (Brainwash) challenged established academic and societal truths and sparked significant debate on topics like gender, nature versus nurture, and more.
At this conference, he will illustrate how humor can serve not only as a means of entertainment but also as a powerful way to communicate complex emotional messages.
