Co-Sponsored by
National Institute of Relationship Enhancement® (NIRE) and Association for Filial and Relationship Enhancement® Methods (AFREM)
Held in Conjunction with the 2011 AFREM Annual Meeting
April 1-2, 2011 in Bethesda, MD
Annual Meeting
The ninth annual meeting of the Association for Filial and Relationship Enhancement® Methods (AFREM) will be held on Saturday afternoon, April 2, 2011 starting at 1:30 p.m. in Bethesda, MD. The agenda includes the announcement of the 2011 Bernard and Louise Guerney Awards for Excellence in Training in RE and Filial methods. In addition, there will be a review of accomplishments of the past year and discussion about setting an agenda for the next year. An afternoon session will include an open discussion with IDEALS Executive Director, Bill Coffin, and planning for the upcoming merger of AFREM with IDEALS. The annual meeting is open to all interested parties.
Organized Friday Night Dutch Treat Dinner
This year’s traditional “Dutch Treat” dinner will be held on Friday night April 1. This well attended event always proves to be a fun time to connect and relax with friends and colleagues around the dinner table. Please join us if you can! Details below. And please RSVP so we can properly plan with the restaurant.
CE Workshops
In conjunction with AFREM’s annual meeting, the National Institute of Relationship Enhancement® (NIRE) and AFREM are co-sponsoring three special workshops on Friday April 1 and Saturday April 2.
Friday will include two half-day workshops. The first workshop is entitled “To Sacrifice or Not To Sacrifice: That is the Relationship Question.” The second workshop is entitled “Relationship
Enhancement Family Therapy: An Integration of Structural, Systemic, Interpersonal and Emotional Processes in a Triadic Model.”
Saturday will feature a half-day morning workshop entitled “Fostering Forgiveness in the Context of Relationship Enhancement® Programs and Therapy.”
Registration
Registration information may be found below.
AFREM Special Workshops Registration Form
Workshop and Annual Meeting Descriptions
To Sacrifice or Not To Sacrifice: That is the Relationship Question.
Presenter: Rob Scuka, Ph.D.
Responder: Maryhelen Snyder, Ph.D.
Friday, April 1, 9:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
3 CE credits
Making sacrifices is generally regarded as an important element of a marriage or committed relationship. But are all sacrifices good sacrifices? Or might some sacrifices be problematic in nature? And how does a person come to terms with the sometimes challenging process of making a decision as to whether or not, in a specific instance, one should make a sacrifice for the sake of another person or a relationship? In other words, on what basis does a person come to a decision as to whether or not to make a particular sacrifice, especially if one has doubts about making the sacrifice? Helping couples get clear about how to think about making a decision about whether or not to make a sacrifice for the relationship may facilitate both people’s internal and interpersonal processes around the making of such a decision. In this workshop we will explore one framework for helping couples better understand what is at stake in making such a decision, and do so in the context of a clinical case example that focuses on the process of decision making rather than on the content of a specific decision. The goal is to highlight the challenges faced and questions to be asked by the one person in deciding whether or not to make a sacrifice for the sake of the relationship, while also highlighting the questions to be faced by the other person relative to the possibility of the partner not making the desired sacrifice. Following the presentation of the framework in the context of a case example, Maryhelen Snyder will present a response to the analysis for the purpose of promoting further reflection and consideration by the workshop attendees of the issues at stake around this complex relationship issue. There will be an opportunity for small and/or large group discussion of the issues raised during the presentation and response.
Workshop Objectives: At the end of this workshop participants will be able to:
- Explain to clients two different forms of sacrifice that can help them better understand what is at stake in the making of a decision relative to a potential sacrifice.
- More effectively facilitate a couple’s therapy process by themselves better understanding what is at stake in anyone evaluating and eventually making such a decision.
- Help couples better accept the complexity of the process of self-evaluation and decision making that is involved in the making of such a decision, with a view to fostering mutual compassion between the partners regardless of the actual decision made.
Robert Scuka, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the National Institute of Relationship Enhancement® in Bethesda, MD (www.nire.org) and author of Relationship Enhancement Therapy: Healing Through Deep Empathy and Intimate Dialogue (Routledge, 2005).
Maryhelen Snyder, Ph.D., is a psychologist in Virginia and former Director of the New Mexico Institute of Relationship Enhancement, and has authored numerous professional articles on Relationship Enhancement Therapy and the intersection of other models with RE. She has also authored a book a book entitled No Hole in the Flame: A Story of Love and Loss in Prose and Poetry (Albuquerque, NM: Wildflower Press).
Relationship Enhancement Family Therapy: An Integration of Structural, Systemic, Interpersonal and Emotional Processes in a Triadic Model.
Presenter: Barry Ginsberg, Ph.D.
Friday, April 1, 2:15 – 5:15 p.m.
3 CE credits
Relationship Enhancement, including Filial Therapy, was conceived from the beginning as a family therapy. Within this context, the emphasis has often been on dyadic relationship systems such as parent-child and couple relationships. The Parent-Adolescent Relationship Development (or PARD) Program, first developed by this presenter, sought to focus on the complex reciprocal triadic processes that contribute to the continuity, stability and instability in families and all relationships. FIVAZ-DEPEURSINGE (2009) and Fivaz-Depeursinge & Favez (2006) have demonstrated that by 18 months, toddlers have the capacity to handle triangular interactions in their relationship with their parents. Depending on a particular family’s dynamics, various parent- parent and parent-child coalitions are formed. These can manifest either as negative-negative (and rigid) cycles of interaction — potentially interfering with the functional launching of children into adolescence and onwards toward becoming independent adults — or as positive-positive (and flexible) cycles of interaction — ideally providing for optimum individual and family functioning and development. This workshop will describe how Relationship Enhancement Family Therapy can facilitate positive-positive triadic and dyadic processes that can be integrated into an approach that fosters the functional development of individuals and families across the lifespan and in the process help prevent problems as well as ameliorate rigid negative-negative cycles. Special attention will be given to managing the emotional language that contributes to these negative- negative cycles. Examples will be drawn from the PARD program and Relationship Enhancement Family-of-Origin Consultation program developed by this presenter. The workshop will include experiential family role-play sequences supplemented by video samples from PARD and Relationship Enhancement Family-of-Origin Consultation.
Learning Objectives: At the end of this workshop participants will be able to:
- Identify how the presence of coalitions impact family functioning and development in positive or negative ways.
- Identify how negative emotional language contributes to family organization and functioning.
- Integrate a dyadic skill training model into triadic (family) therapy.
- Utilize the Relationship Enhancement communication model to help change negative-negative emotional cycles to positive-positive ones.
Dr. Ginsberg is the originator of the Parent-Adolescent Relationship Development Program (PARD) and author of Relationship Enhancement Family Therapy and 50 Wonderful Ways to Be a Single-Parent Family.
Dinner, Friday Night, 6:30 p.m. Dutch Treat.
Following the Friday afternoon workshop, those who are interested will go out together as a group for dinner for fun, relaxation and an opportunity to connect with friends and colleagues. If you are interested in joining the group for dinner: Please be certain to sign up on the Registration Form. Advance payment is not necessary, but we do need to be able to give an accurate count to the restaurant.
Fostering Forgiveness in the Context of Relationship Enhancement® Programs and Therapy
Mary Ortwein, MS, LMFT
Saturday, April 2, 9:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
3 CE Credits
What can you do when a client or program participant “gets” empathy and gives good “surface” empathic responses, but is not touched by the pain or needs of the other? While therapist strategies of Becoming, Laundering, Troubleshooting or coaching to deepen dialogue can help, they help only to relieve a particular impasse. We do not go home with our clients, and our skills cannot always mitigate effects of wounds built up through the years.
An additional strategy that clients can take home with them to keep is to teach Forgiveness as a skill. This workshop will look briefly at issues and research around forgiveness, in both secular and religious settings, then teach Forgiveness as an eleventh RE skill, provide participants practice with forgiveness focused dialogues, and conclude with group discussion of: (1) signs within couple dynamics of the presence of forgiveness issues; (2) when and how to introduce forgiveness in therapy contexts; (3) when and how to add forgiveness into MML or RE Programs; and (4) how to use forgiveness skill in individual therapy sessions.
Objectives: At the end of this workshop participants will be able to:
- Identify the value of including forgiveness as a skill into couple and individual therapy
- Teach Forgiveness Skill, using provided materials
- Insert Forgiveness Skill at an appropriate time in RE therapy or RE programs
Mary is Executive Director of IDEALS of Kentucky and co-author with Bernard Guerney of several Relationship Enhancement® programs, including Mastering the Mysteries of Love, Mastering the Mysteries of Sacramental Love, Relationship Enhancement for Refugees and Immigrants, Love’s Cradle, Ready for Love, Mastering the Mysteries of Step-families (with Nancy Landrum), and Mastering the Magic of Play. She is a supervisor and trainer across the spectrum of RE based methods. Her current focus is on application of RE methods for people on the margins and in religious contexts.
AFREM Annual Meeting
Saturday, April 2, 1:30 – 5:00 p.m.
No CE Credit.
The ninth annual meeting of the Association for Filial and Relationship Enhancement® Methods (AFREM) will be held on Saturday afternoon, April 2, 2011 starting at 1:30 p.m. in Bethesda, MD. The agenda includes the announcement of the 2011 Bernard and Louise Guerney Awards for Excellence in Training in RE and Filial methods. In addition, there will be a review of accomplishments of the past year and discussion about setting an agenda for the next year. An afternoon session will include an open discussion with IDEALS Executive Director, Bill Coffin, and planning for the upcoming merger of AFREM with IDEALS. The annual meeting is open to all interested parties.
Registration Information
Location: The AFREM annual meeting and workshops will be held at the National Institute of Relationship Enhancement® (NIRE) conference suite on the Roof level of the Topaz House at 4400 East-West Highway, Bethesda, MD. The Topaz House is located six miles from the White House and Georgetown. NIRE is less than three blocks from the Bethesda metro stop.
Parking: Parking on Friday may be available at the Topaz House’s underground garage on a first come first served basis. There is a public parking lot at East-West Highway and Waverly Street, a block and a half from the Topaz House. Be certain to bring plenty of quarters for the public parking lot. Parking on Saturday should be easier at Topaz House, and is free at the public parking lot on Saturday.
Schedule: Each CE workshop will be 3 hours long. There will be one 15 minute break during each workshop. The AFREM Annual Meeting will be held on Saturday afternoon beginning at 1:30 p.m.
Refreshments: Starting at 8:40 a.m., and available all day, each day, there will be a sidebar with fruit, coffee and tea, soda, and snacks.
CE Credits: IDEALS/NIRE is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. IDEALS/NIRE maintains responsibility for each program and its content. IDEALS/NIRE also is approved by the National Board of Certified Counselors to provide continuing education for National Certified Counselors. NBCC Provided #5560.
IDEALS/NIRE is approved by the Maryland State Board of Social Workers to offer Category 1 continuing education programs for social workers. NIRE also is approved by the Association for Play Therapy to offer continuing education specific to play therapy. APT Approved Provider 95- 009. IDEALS/NIRE maintains responsibility for the program. Each half-day workshop will earn attendees 3 CE credits. CE credit is not available for the AFREM Annual Meeting.
A Certificate will be issued to you attesting to your completion of each workshop attended and documenting the CE credits you have earned.
Cost: The fee for each 3-hour workshop is $60. The fee for currently enrolled, full-time graduate students is $20.00 for each 3-hour workshop.
Lunch: Lunch each day is the responsibility of each participant, though arrangements will be made to provide lunch on Saturday prior to the AFREM Annual Meeting for those who wish. The cost will be $10.00 per person. Please see the registration form for details at www.nire.org.
Optional Friday Night Dinner (Dutch Treat): Many participants at past AFREM annual meeting workshops have enjoyed each other’s company over dinner at a restaurant in Bethesda. We will do the same this year, on Friday, April 1, at 6:30 p.m. While prepayment is not necessary, it is necessary for planning purposes to know who plans to attend, so please indicate on the registration form that you would like to attend the dinner so that we can make appropriate arrangements and reserve table space for our group. Some participants may also choose to go out to dinner on Saturday evening, but that will not be a formally organized event.
Travel: For those coming by air: NIRE is 15 miles from Washington National, 22 miles from Baltimore-Washington, and 18 miles from Dulles Airports. For those coming by car: NIRE is two miles south of the Connecticut Avenue exit or the Wisconsin Avenue exit of the Beltway (I- 495). Municipal parking is very close and is free on Saturday. Be certain to bring plenty of quarters to feed the meter for parking on Friday. All registrants will be sent a map detailing how to reach NIRE.
Accommodations: Discounted hotel rooms are available at the Bethesda Court Hotel. To secure the discounted rate, please call 1-800-874-0050 and ask for the National Institute of Relationship Enhancement rate, which for 2011 is $129 per night Thursday through Sunday, plus a $12.00 per night fee for parking. This discounted rate is available until the hotel reaches a certain point of capacity for the respective dates, so you are advised to make reservations as early as possible. Information about alternative accommodations can be provided when you register.
For Further Information about arrangements, call Mrs. Laura Landi, at 301-680-8977.
Registration: To register, please call NIRE at 301-680-8977, send your Registration Form by fax to 301-680-3756, or mail your Registration Form and check to IDEALS/NIRE, Administrative Office, 12500 Blake Road, Silver Spring, MD 20904-2056. Caution: Do not send credit card
information via email.
AFREM Special Workshops Registration Form
We look forward to seeing you there!
Rob Scuka
Executive Director
National Institute of Relationship Enhancement®