Friday Lunchtime Program: Imago: The Pioneering Dialogical Approach to Relationship Therapy, Presented by David Kest, LMFT and Ralph Butcher, LMFT

When
Fri, June 12, 2015
11:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Location
Corte Madera Town Center, Room 201 - 770 Tamalpais Drive, Corte Madera, CA

MARIN COUNTY CHAPTER OF CAMFT

FRIDAY LUNCHTIME PROGRAM

Friday, June 12, 2015

Imago: The Pioneering Dialogical Approach to Relationship Therapy

David Kest, LMFT and Ralph Butcher, LMFT

Imago therapy is a highly effective form of relationship and couples therapy that has positively affected a myriad of couples around the world. Thousands of therapists in countries across the globe are “changing the world one relationship at a time” by modeling and teaching the Imago Dialogical processes. Some have called it "the great listening cure." This approach to communication comes out of new understandings about the Relational Paradigm, Mindfulness, and Attunement practices, combined with the awareness that childhood wounding adaptations require corrective experiences. Imago therapy is helpful for both new and seasoned couples who are seeking to acquire the skills necessary to attend to their conscious relationship.

What differs in the Imago Dialogical model is that the deep therapeutic encounter leading to transformation is experienced primarily between the partners rather then through the therapist. This transformational method of therapy was developed over 30 years ago by Dr. Harville Hendrix, PhD, and illustrated in his best selling book Getting the love you want. In this presentation, David Kest and Ralph Butcher will focus on the basics of Imago theory and emphasize the benefits of teaching dialogical skills to our couples in conflict, which allows them to rediscover the experience of a loving connection. The speakers will provide a Dialogue demonstration and an experiential dyadic exercise for therapists in the audience in the hopes that you will be introduced to some basics of working dialogically with your couples and clients.

Ralph Butcher, LMFT, is a Certified Imago Relationship Therapist, workshop Presenter and Trainer, and Clinical Consultant. He has presented seminars on Imago Relationship therapy throughout the United States and Europe. At his San Ramon office, he specializes in couples counseling, and he offers monthly "Getting The Love You Want" weekend workshops for couples. Ralph Butcher usually works with couples who are experiencing conflict over one of the major presenting problems, such as sex, money, communication, and parenting, and he views these issues as the tip of the iceberg. With imago relationship therapy, he focuses on unraveling the driving force hidden under the surface that fuels the conflict, such as feelings of being disconnected, not being seen, the fear of intimacy, and the struggle over differentiation.

David Kest, LMFT, is a Certified Imago Relationship Therapist, Group Facilitator, and Clinical Consultant with private practices in San Rafael and San Francisco. He specializes in Couples Counseling and Analytic Somatic Psychotherapy, and he works with the full spectrum of character formations in the Imago couples. He views marriage as a developmental process that recapitulates in adult form the developmental process of individuals, and, to heal or reverse the developmental arrests of each partner, it is the other partner who supplies the stage-appropriate nurturing missed in their partner's childhood. As Imago therapist, David Kest facilitates this interaction and dialogue between partners, empowering them to become expert listeners and agents of healing for each other. He has also served on the advisory board for the Marin Suicide Prevention Program for seven years, and he is a Diplomat of the American Psychotherapy Association. He has further served as a clinical trainer and volunteer supervisor at Apple Family Works Counseling, West Marin Human Services, and the Lomi Community Counseling Clinic.

Date: Friday, June 12, 2015

Time: Networking is from 11:30 to 12:00 p.m. Presentation begins at 12:00 pm and ends at 1:30 p.m.

Cost: $10 fee for non-Marin CAMFT members.

CEUs: 1.5

Location: Corte Madera Town Center, Room 201 - 770 Tamalpais Drive, Corte Madera, CA (map)

Information: For more information about the Friday Lunchtime Program Series and about joining the Committee, please contact the Chair, Nerina Cecchin.

Marin County Chapter of CAMFT

PO Box 9065 San Rafael, CA 94912-9065

(415) 459 3484 www.marincamft.org

Marin CAMFT is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT Provider #56895) to sponsor continuing education for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and LEPs