Foundational Training in Dialogue Therapy & Real Dialogue
Intimate and other relationships in the 21st century present unique demands in regard to equality, authenticity, reciprocity, and accurate witnessing. All adults who are in equal relationships – spouses, partners, siblings, grown children and parents, friends, co-workers – are stressed by the demands of equity and equality. Leaders, teachers, and managers are also stressed. People in all walks of life want to be seen and heard accurately, instead of being misperceived, due to bias, indifference or stereotypes.
Many people avoid conflicts in these circumstances because they can become so painful and unrewarding as to be emotionally threatening and dangerous. Without effective and respectful conflict, however, decisions and negotiations cannot take place. In intimate relationships, destructiveconflict or avoidance of conflict also undermines trust. Transformative and respectful conflict between equals restores trust, and between intimate partners or grown children and their parents, it allows for the deepening of love.
The skills and knowledge needed to sustain trust, in an atmosphere of attunement and equality, go beyond the parameters of “better communication” or secure attachment bonds, often the focus of couple counseling. They require an ability to be mindful, insightful, and self-reflective, even in the midst of emotional activation (triggering). Negotiating differences of desires, styles, opinions, beliefs, and preferences, while remaining emotionally open to transformation, requires methods beyond what most popular psychologies offer.
Dialogue Therapy is a time-limited, short-term structured couple therapy that addresses these 21st-century demands. Drawing on psychoanalysis, mindfulness, and techniques of psychodrama, Dialogue Therapy is designed to transform emotional entanglement (projectiveidentification), active and passive aggression, and hostile by-products of unconscious desires and needs.
In-person trainings begin June 27, 2024
Early registration is available now. Register Here.
These three sessions of foundational training, taken together, offer 78 CEs for mental health professionals or 26 CEs per session. Applicants are encouraged to enroll for the entire training; CE certificates will be presented only at the conclusion of the third session. In order to become a certified Dialogue Therapist, a participant must complete all of the training and other requirements (such as supervision/consultation).
“Transformative. I feel the shifts in my perceptions in a personal…relational…global way. Understanding the humiliation-rage cycle and the power of empathy and curiosity to alter that cycle in substantive ways all in a relatively short period of time.””
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Dialogue Therapy for Couples and Real Dialogue for Opposing Sides: Methods Based on Psychoanalysis and Mindfulness by Jean Pieniadz, Ph.D. & Polly Young-Eisendrath, Ph.D. is available now!
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Clinical Faculty for the Institute for Dialogue Therapy
CEO & Director: Polly Young-Eisendrath, Ph.D.
Susan Lillich
Susan E. Lillich, Ph.D., Licensed psychologist – doctorate. Susan is a clinical psychologist seeing couples and individuals in her private practice in Williston, Vermont.
Sarah Brodie
Sarah Brodie, MA, Registered Psychotherapist, Dialogue Therapist. Sarah is a psychotherapist with a specialty of art therapy, child psychoanalysis (Dipl. CICAPP), and Dialogue Therapy for Parents in Burlington, Ontario, Canada.
Leland Peterson
Leland Peterson, MA, ATR-BC. Leland is in private practice with individual and couples in Montpelier, Vermont.
Certified Dialogue Therapists
Bree Greenberg Benjamin
Bree Greenberg Benjamin, LMFT is the founder and clinical director of the Vermont Center for Integrative Therapy.
Rachel Jadkowski Rachel Jadkowski has been a licensed doctoral level psychologist in Vermont since April 2014. In February 2023 she became licensed as a psychologist in Massachusetts. In August 2012, she received my Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from George Fox University. she received her Master’s in Clinical Psychology (MA) from George Fox University in May 2009.
Lisa Lewis
Lisa D. Lewis, Ph.D. provides couples therapy using Dialogue Therapy in California’s Bay Area, Central Valley and Central Coast. She also holds weekend intensives in CA, Hawaii and Montana.
Stella Marrie
Stella Marrie, Psy.D. is a clinical psychologist in private practice specializing in psychoanalytic psychotherapy and clinical supervision. She is a professor of psychology at the Union Institute & University where she teaches psychodynamic and mindfulness informed psychotherapy.
Irene McHenry
Irene McHenry, Ph.D. Licensed Clinical Psychologist. Irene maintains a private practice in psychotherapy with couples and individuals in the greater Philadelphia area.
Jean Pieniadz
Jean Pieniadz, Ph.D. Clinical Psychologist and Psychoanalyst. Jean maintains a private practice with individuals and couples in Burlington, Vermont.
Jeanne Plo
Jeanne Plo, M.Ed., M.A., Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor. Jeanne maintains a private practice with individuals and couples in Burlington, Vermont.
NK Raven Bruce
NK Raven Bruce, Psy.D. Clinical Psychologist. NK maintains a private practice with individuals and couples in Middlesex, Vermont.
Joel Shapiro
Joel Shapiro, LICSW is a licensed independent clinical social worker in private practice in Burlington, Vermont providing psychotherapy for individuals and couples.
Rosa María Rigol Rosa María Rigol, Ph.D. is a bilingual (English/Spanish) licensed clinical psychologist and certified Dialogue Therapist in Miami, Florida
Raymond Coppola Raymond Coppola, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist with over 25 years of clinical experience in support of the wellbeing and deepening of life in individuals from across the lifespan. He received a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology from Vermont College of Norwich University, and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology.
Margot Parker Margot Parker, LMFT is a certified Dialogue Therapist and licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Los Angeles, California
Emily Thurber Emily Thurber, LCMHC, LADC is a certified Dialogue Therapist based in Middlebury, VT who focuses on patients in need of; Individual & Couples Counseling ~ Grief & Loss ~ Depression ~ Anxiety Trauma ~ Alcoholism & Addiction ~ Life Transitions ~ Mindfulness LGBTQ+.
Praise for Dialogue Therapy for Couples and Real Dialogue for Opposing Side by Jean Pieniadz, Ph.D. & Polly Young-Eisendrath, Ph.D.
“This ambitious, beautifully written text represents decades of accumulated clinical wisdom. Integrating feminism, Buddhism, psychoanalysis, and empirical scholarship, the authors show how to help antagonistic parties to listen respectfully, grow in self-knowledge and autonomy, and appreciate the equal humanity of the other. Their work is both inspiring and quintessentially practical. I recommend this book to all therapists who work with couples as well as to professionals in the fields of coaching, consulting, and conflict resolution.”
“Drs. Pieniadz and Young-Eisendrath are on the pioneering edge with their elegant and highly effective model of Dialogue Therapy and Real Dialogue. As someone who has worked for years to help heal the broken-hearted and offers hope to those who steadfastly believe in love despite their many bumps and bruises along the way, I’m thrilled to discover this graceful, heartfelt, compellingly simple, yet brilliantly deep work to awaken our ability to grow greater levels of compassion and care between us. These two superb luminaries are my new relationship gurus.”
“We live – politically and psychologically — in a world of deaf ears, isolated silos, and grotesque caricature. For democracy to survive, we need to find ways to listen deeply, see others’ points of view, respect differences, and generate creative dialogue. In this exciting and ground-breaking book, Pieniadz and Young-Eisendrath describe the conceptual and practical tools this requires. Elegantly eclectic, they integrate ideas from psychoanalysis, feminism, psychodrama, attachment theory, and Buddhism. Central to their practice are attentive witnessing, dialogic space, and validation of autonomy. Real Dialogue has implications that extend far beyond couple therapy to conflict resolution and political change. Beautifully and accessibly written, it will appeal to a wide audience of both professional and lay readers.”
“It is well known that Dialogue Therapy— since its creation four decades ago by Polly Young-Eisendrath—has helped lift countless intimate partners out of deadening emotional ruts. This book describes and develops the model which makes brilliant use of psychoanalysis, mindfulness, and psychodrama. Couple therapists of all schools of thought will benefit from the authors’ description of a method that goes beyond interpretation and transference cures. It will be essential reading for those who aspire to see love as a form of psychological and spiritual development.”
“A case could be made that Mindfulness Skills are central for achieving happiness independent of conditions—extraordinary happiness. The case could also be made that successful Communication Skills are key for happiness that depends on conditions, i.e., what people ordinarily call happiness. Bring those two skills together, and you have an effective new way to deal with pernicious old problems. Drs. Pieniadz and Young-Eisendrath invite you to a deep dive in a bracing pool.”