Click Here for the Full Program and Learning Objectives
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Note: Participation is limited to 40 people
Click Here for Conference References
For information about NWSP membership, go to the NWSP website — newwsp.org.
For information about potential scholarship opportunities for these workshops, contact Stacey Saltzman at stacey_saltzman@yahoo.com.
Click here for Accreditation Statement and AMEDCO Continuing Education Certification.
Click here for the Collective Trauma Payment Plan, Cancellation & Refund Policy.
Registration closes November 14, 2025 at noon ET.
Reframing Addiction: A Psychoanalytic Lens on Dependency, Desire, and the Therapeutic Relationship
Co-Chair: Cindy Sample, MSW
Date: Coming soon
Time: TBD
Location: Virtual, Online
CEs/CMEs Pending
Program Description:
Reframing Addiction: A Psychoanalytic Lens on Dependency, Desire, and the Therapeutic Relationship is a three-day, nine-hour continuing education course offered live via Zoom by the New Washington School of Psychiatry and instructed by Cindy Sample, MSW. Designed for experienced clinicians, the program examines addiction not merely as maladaptive behavior, but as an expression of unconscious conflict, trauma, and failed attempts at self-regulation. Through lectures, discussion, case vignettes, and experiential learning, participants will integrate classical and contemporary psychoanalytic theory with clinical practice, developing deeper insight, ethical sensitivity, and enhanced therapeutic presence in working with patients struggling with dependency.
Learning Objectives
1. Describe psychoanalytic theories relevant to understanding addiction.
2. Identify unconscious dynamics and defense mechanisms common in addicted patients.
3. Differentiate psychoanalytic addiction treatment from traditional behavioral approaches.
4. Apply clinical tools such as transference analysis and containment in the therapeutic relationship.
5. Formulate treatment plans that integrate psychodynamic and ethical perspectives.
Psychological Origin of Schizophrenia
Saturday, January 10th, 2026
Presenter: Wilfried ver Eecke, PhD
Time: 10 am – 1 pm ET
Location: Virtual Online
Cost: $15 NWSP members; $25 for non-members; Free for students
No CEs Offered
Building on the ideas of Sullivan, Spitz, Lacan, Aulagnier, Vergote, and “Open Dialogue,” we will show that genetic and biological factors can influence schizophrenia and psychoses. Still, the psycho-social dimension dominates the cause of schizophrenia. Hence, I will argue that a psycho-social approach to healing such patients is recommended.
Speaker Bio:
Born: Tielt. Belgium 08/22/1938.
Career: High School Teacher, Belgium, 1962‑1965.
Instructor, Nursing School. Kortrijk, Belgium, 1964‑1965.
Research with the National Science Foundation of Belgium, 1965‑1969.
Washington, D.C. Department of Philosophy. Washington, DC
Assistant Professor, 1967‑1972.
Associate Professor,1972‑1980.
Professor, since 1980.
Registration closes on January 9th, 2026.
co-sponsored with
The Howard University Multidisciplinary Center on Aging
presents
Care Partnerships in Aging
Date: Sunday, January 18, 2026
Time: 10:00am – 5:30pm
Location: Online via Zoom
Co-Chairs: Rob Bamberger, MSW and George Saiger, MD
At some time in our lives, everyone will become a recipient or a giver of care:
These situations force us to grapple with these questions:
Even though caregiving is likely to engage us all at some point, there is deep reluctance to anticipate or explore the realities these roles will present. This conference will highlight this inadequately explored developmental task by identifying aspects of care partnerships from perspectives of systems theory, attachment theory, and psychotherapeutic interventions to support more informed care. The experience of family and professional caregivers as well as recipients of care will also be explored experientially.
Schedule:
10:00 – 10:10 - Welcome and review of conference norms (Rob Bamberger, MSW)
10:10 – 10:30 - Care Partnerships: Ambivalence and Resolution (George Saiger, MD)
10:30 - 11:30 - KEYNOTE: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Care Partnerships (Robert Cosby, PhD)
11:30 – 11:45 - 15 minute break
11:45 - 12:15 - The Role of Attachment in Care Partnerships (Glory Dierker, PhD)
12:15 -12:45 - When the Frame Doesn’t Fit: When A Dyad Isn’t A Dyad (Irene Jackson-Brown, PhD)
12:45 – 1:15 - Plenary Sessions for Questions and Discussion
1:15 – 2:15 - Lunch
2:15 – 3:45 - Action Exploration of Care Partnerships (Margo Silberstein, EdD)
3:45 - 4:00 - 15 minute break
4:00 - 5:15 - PANEL: Therapeutic Interventions in the care partnership universe
a. Therapy with Individuals and Families (Jane Brewster, MSW)
b. The Therapeutic Function of Support Groups (Rob Bamberger, MSW)
c. Health, Parkinson’s Disease and the Therapeutic Support Group (Leon Paparella, MSW)
5:15 - 5:30 - Closing Plenary: Reflections on the day
Learning Objectives:
1. Describe the complexities of the relationships between the caregiver, the individual receiving care and the family.
2. Identify interventions that will facilitate optimal functioning within the care partnership relationship.
3. Describe the various impacts that attachment styles can have on the caregiving partnership.
4. Utilize their own experiences to provide more informed care
5. Describe the dance between psychotherapeutic interventions and caregiving as case work
6. Identify effective psychotherapeutic interventions to improve functioning and quality of life for caregivers and care recipients.
7. Integrate psychotherapeutic work addressing a client's caregiving issues with other mental health issues being addressed concurrently with that client in psychotherapy.
8. Identify and manage transference and countertransference issues that manifest during psychotherapy with caregivers and care recipients.
Registration closes January 16, 2026 at noon ET.
The National Group Psychotherapy Institute (NGPI) of the New Washington School of Psychiatry (NWSP)
has now opened registration for individuals interested in single-weekend participation for its award-winning, 2-year Intensive Training Program, Group Therapy in the 21st Century: Dynamics, Identities, Hope and Healing
What Large Group Experience Teaches Us About Group Therapy and Ourselves as Therapists
Co-Chair: Large Group Team Members
Date: January 23-24, 2026
Time: Friday - 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM and Saturday - 8:30 AM – 5:15 PM
Location: Friends Meeting House of Washington, 2111 Decatur Pl NW, Washington, DC 20008, In-Person Only
CE/CMEs Pending
Space is limited
This Conference provides a forum for participants to relate their learning from large group experience to the challenges of group therapy practice and to explore the impact of that experience on the person of the therapist.
We will use small and large group experiences, demonstration groups, and discussion to explore what it means to be a socially aware and attuned group therapist, to approach a therapy group with diversity, context, and humility in mind, and to reflect on one’s personal style and values as a group therapist.
The NGPI Large Group Team will serve as conference co-chairs.
Ayana Watkins-Northern, PhD, CGP, AGPA-F
Robert Schulte, MSW, CGP
Kavita Avula, PsyD, CGP
Karen Eberwein, PsyD, ABPP, CGP
Victoria Lee, PhD, CGP
Farooq Mohyuddin, MD, CGP, FAPA, AGPA-F
By the conclusion of the conference, participants will be able to:
Registration closes January 22, 2026 at noon ET.
Space is limited.
Book Signing & Dialogue on the Interpersonal Tradition
Date: Saturday, February 7, 2026
Time: 2:00 - 5:00 PM ET
Location: St. John's Episcopal Church 6701 Wisconsin Avenue, Chevy Chase, MD
Speakers: Jon Frederickson, MSW and Carlton Cornett, MSW
No CEs/CMEs
Join us for an engaging afternoon with Carlton Cornett and Jon Frederickson as they explore the interpersonal tradition and its influence on contemporary psychotherapy.
The event will begin with Carlton and Jon discussing a therapy video from an interpersonal perspective, introducing the work of Harry Stack Sullivan and the interpersonal school. This will be followed by a broader discussion with the audience.
The event is free to members of the NWSP, $15 for non-members.
We'll conclude with a book signing celebration for Carlton Cornett's Nothing Human is Alien: The Life and Work of Otto Allen Will, M.D., which will include wine and other beverages. Carlton will have books available for purchase.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Speakers:
Carlton Cornett, MSW, is a social worker, psychotherapist, author, and educator whose diverse work has included pioneering books on gay-affirmative psychotherapy and spirituality. His book, Being with Patients: An Introduction to the Psychotherapy of Harry Stack Sullivan, M.D. and Otto Allen Will, Jr., M.D (published in 2018), outlines the history and current practice of psychodynamic interpersonal psychotherapy.
Jon Frederickson, MSW, Author, Co-Creating Change: effective dynamic therapy techniques
The Lies We Tell Ourselves: how to face the truth, accept yourself, and create a better life
Co-Creating Safety: Healing the Fragile Patient
Psychotherapy videos and skill building exercises at: www.istdpinstitute.com
Registration closes February 6, 2026 at noon ET.
