We are pleased to announce that the VAPS Biennial Ethics Conference will feature Dhwani Shah, M.D. Dr. Shah’s presentation is titled, Working with Unbearable Mental States in the Countertransference: Ethical and Therapeutic Implications. The program will explore how the analyst’s uncomfortable and disowned emotional states of mind are inevitably entangled with the therapeutic process and have the potential to derail or facilitate therapeutic work. Specific emotional/mental states will be explored in detail, including arrogance, dissociation, racism, shame, hopelessness and erotic dread. These experiences illustrate common ways in which therapists stop listening and struggle in the face of uncertainty and intensity. Through theoretical and clinical material, Dr. Shah will demonstrate how the analyst’s capacity to experience and work with these states is vital in helping them to understand and metabolize the patients' emotional experiences and maintain an ethical and therapeutic stance.

Dhwani Shah, MD, is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst currently practicing in Princeton, NJ. He is a clinical associate faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and a faculty member at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia. He has authored articles on neuroscience, mood disorders, and psychoanalysis. His book entitled, The Analyst’s Torment: Unbearable Mental States in Countertransference was published this year by Phoenix.

6 Continuing Education Credits (CEs) in Ethics are available for Psychologists, Social Workers, Licensed Mental Health Counselors, and Psychoanalysts.

Early Bird Pricing until April 29th. No refunds after May 3rd. Please see the brochure for additional details, including parking at Main Street Landing.