Embodied Cognition in the Therapeutic Experience

Dr. Margaret Zellner

Starting Friday Jan 10, 11:45 - 1:15 Pacific, 2:45 - 4:15 Eastern
Dates: 1/10, 2/7, 3/7, 4/4, 5/2, 6/6

This seminar will examine how our deep expectations of ourselves and others are developed in early life. The felt sense of these expectations or predictions can be an important aspect of growth and healing.

This seminar will focus on how patients' experience of their own internal templates can be one mechanism of change. Several bodies of literature suggest that our deep expectations of ourselves and others are developed in early life. The felt sense of these expectations or predictions can be an important aspect of growth and healing. Patients and therapists may attend to sensations, subjective moods, metaphors, and other sensory processes to detect old predictions that may be modified over time, expanding healthier ways of being. Exploring some of the literature on early attachment, predictive coding, and mentalization, we will think together about resistance to change and its origins. We will look at the role of “surprise” in changing old expectations and facilitating new learning. We will examine how the emotional, familial, and cultural templates of both therapist and patient can impede or facilitate the therapeutic process. Space will be provided in each class for clinical vignettes and discussion.

CE Credits offered: 9

Course Objectives

After completing this course participants will be able to:

1. to discuss how deep expectations or “priors” are based on early learning.
2. to explain how these priors are built into internal templates.
3. to explain how these priors lead to predictions.
4. to determine when sensations, subjective moods, metaphors and other sensory processes may be indicating old predictions.
5. to describe how “surprise” can impact long held expectations or predictions.
6. to discuss the impact of family on internal templates
7. to describe how the term “Markov blanket” might explain aspects of character

db.pincsf.org/events – 415-288-4050 — 530 Bush St, Suite 703, SF CA USA — pincsf@gmail.com

The Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California (PINC) is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. PINC maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Visit db.pincsf.org/policies for policies and disclaimers.