Our capacity for presence, our attention to contacting, our commitment to dialogue, are our therapeutic foundation. But questions always arise; “is my presence in this moment facilitating or inhibiting our dialogue?” “Is our contacting supporting us to develop a relational style that serves the clients further development over time?”

Understanding Enduring Relational Themes (ERT) supports therapists to determine the most clinically relevant forming figures. Hopes and fears, configured in enduring relational themes, comprise the background of our life choices, passions, ambitions, and relationships. They also shape the therapeutic relationship. The Enduring Relational Themes (ERT) are evident and best worked with, as they show up in the therapy process, primarily in the hopes and fears clients experience regarding the therapeutic relationship. Attention to enduring relational themes and their implications for the dialogue between therapist and client provide context for presence and contacting.

In this webinar, Dr Lynne Jacobs will describe in detail Enduring Relational Themes (ERT), and the clinical benefit of working with Enduring Relational Themes in therapy. We will also explore together some of our own Enduring Relational Themes with a discussion on how to work with them.

During this webinar you will:

• Understand how Enduring Relational Themes shape our personality style
• Identify how Enduring Relational Themes shape the therapeutic relationship
• Understand the meanings and implications of contact process in therapy 
• Understand the importance of dialogic therapeutic relationship towards the clients

About Dr. Lynne Jacobs

Dr. Lynne Jacobs, Ph.D., is a both gestalt therapist and a relational psychoanalyst based in Los Angeles. She is a co-founder of Pacific Gestalt Institute and has long been interested in the relational dimension of psychotherapy, and in integrating humanistic theories with contemporary psychoanalytic theories. Lynne teaches at Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis, Los Angeles and teaches gestalt therapists in the United states, and internationally. She has published numerous articles in both realms, and her most recent work is Relational Approaches in Gestalt Therapy (co-edited with Rich Hycner).