An Advanced Skills Course with Ben Medley, LCSW
Course Option (counts toward certification) | Includes Experiential Work | Open to AEDP Level 2 and up
4-days: Friday thru Monday | September 5 – 8, 2025
Advanced Seminar Option (does not count toward certification) | Didactic Only | Open to AEDP Level 1 and up
2-days: Friday & Sunday | September 5 + 7, 2025
Deepening Emotional Processing with AEDP
Course Description
Portrayals have been described by Diana Fosha as “the pinnacle of experiential dynamic-affect work.’ Using the power of the imagination, they can help the client access, heighten and deepen the visceral experience of core affect and then process it to a satisfying completion. Portrayals are real or imagined scenes and/or conversations from the past, present or future in which the patient is invited to have a reparative, feared or longed-for experience. Simply put, they help clients get unstuck.
In this course, participants will deepen their understanding of how to use portrayals to promote healing and transformation. Ben will emphasize practical application, techniques, and tools for introducing portrayals into participants’ clinical work, including an exploration of the different kinds of portrayals, when to use them, and how to use them to maximum effect.
Extensive video of clinical work with portrayals will be reviewed and discussed. Experiential exercises for skill-building with portrayal work are available for Level 2 AEDP practitioners.
Course Objectives
- Define what portrayals are and how they are utilized in AEDP
- Identify and describe 4 different types of portrayals used in AEDP
- Identify techniques and skills for using portrayals to process emotion to completion
- Utilize portrayals to increase self compassion and shift internal working models
- Use portrayals to access and process thwarted and blocked adaptive action tendencies and see them through to their natural conclusion
- Identify and track clients’ affective experiences to help guide interventions
- Demonstrate ability to process clients’ experiences of change and expand positive affect following a portrayal
Who Should Attend
Licensed mental health practitioners (or the local/regional equivalent to ‘licensed’*) as well as interns legally practicing under the license of a supervising practitioner. These include Counselors, Psychoanalysts, Psychologists, Psychotherapists, Social Workers, other Behavioral Health Therapists and related professionals.
Course Level: AEDP Level 2 (Graduates of both Immersion and Essential Skills)
Seminar Level: AEDP Level 1 (Graduates of Immersion)
If you have a question about the relevance of this course for you and/or your eligibility for this course please contact admin@test.aedpinstitute.org.
Meet the Presenter
Ben Medley, LCSW
Ben is an AEDP senior faculty member and has taught AEDP internationally with the AEDP Institute, the National Institute of Psychotherapy, the Cape Cod Institute, NASW and in mental health organizations and clinical practices. He has a private practice in New York City and specializes in working with the LGBTQ+ community. Ben earned his degree in Clinical Social Work with the NYU Silver School of Social Work. Before private practice, Ben worked in Greenwich House’s HIV mental health program and the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services’ LGBTQ+ mental health treatment unit. His paper “Recovering the True Self: Affirmative Therapy, Attachment and AEDP in Psychotherapy with Gay Men” is published with the SEPI Journal: the Journal of Psychotherapy Integration and he has written a chapter on using (Read More…)Registration Options, Location, Dates & Times
- Online sessions use the U.S. Eastern Time Zone
- Please double check the meeting times for your local time zone if not U.S. Eastern Time Zone by visiting https://www.24timezones.com/ or your resource of preference.
- Please check the dates and times closely for conflicts with Local Holidays, Religious Holidays, etc.
Location: Live Online and highly interactive
AEDP’s Live, Online Learning: Requirements & FAQ’s
Option 1: Course (didactic plus experiential practice) | Open to Level 2 and up
Friday – Monday, September 5 – 8, 2025
Time: 11:00 AM – 3:30 PM Eastern time USA + Canada
- Attend all four days
- Will count toward certification
- $649 USD Member (must be logged in to register)
- $679 USD Non-Member
Option 2: Seminar (no experiential practice) | Open to Level 1 and up
Friday + Sunday (only) September 5 + 7, 2025
Time: 11:00 AM – 3:30 PM Eastern time USA + Canada
- Attend the didactic, skip the small group experiential work
- Will not count toward certification
- $379 USD Member (must be logged in to register)
- $399 USD Non-Member
Fees & Scholarships
Scholarships
Limited Scholarships are available. Learn more and apply here
Non-Member Course Fee:
Are you a Member? Log in to get a Member discount
There is no conflict of interest or commercial support for this program.
ADA Accommodations | Attendance | Refund Policy | Questions
Disability Access: If you require ADA accommodations please contact Marilia Rodriguez, admin@test.aedpinstitute.org or call 813-553-1294 thirty days or more before the event so we can be sure to accommodate you.
Attendance and Makeup Policy & Refunds:
Questions:
Course and all customer service related questions:
Please contact Customer Service Administrator
Marilia Rodriguez: admin@test.aedpinstitute.org