Out of the Box: Working with a Difficult Patient who Challenges the Clinical Sensibility of the Therapist

November 15, 2014 | San Francisco, California

Presented by Northern California Chapter
Program

Seating is Limited | 2.5 CEUs
Co-Chairs: Velia Frost, LCSW & Rita Karuna Cahn, LCSW
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
CEU Fees: Free for AAPCSW & CSCSW members. Non-members, $25 check or cash.
New Location: Home office of Gabie Berliner, PhD, LCSW, [ MAP ]
120 Commonwealth Ave., (Between Euclid & Geary) San Francisco, CA 94118

Please RSVP by email to Rita Karuna, LCSW:
ritakaruna@mac.com
(415) 751-3766

In this presentation, Ms. Kwun discusses her work with a twenty year old Korean patient with whom she felt a deep kinship. Although she came asking for help, the young womancontinually sabotaged the therapy, generating profound frustration and self-doubt for Ms. Kwun, who asked herself, “why did I ever agree to work with this patient?” Yet, at the same time she was able to mobilize her skills to meet the patient’s needs. Ms. Kwun will discuss how she marshaled her knowledge and capability as both social worker and analyst, immersing herself in the writing of Thomas Ogden and Nancy McWilliams to solidify what she names her “clinical sensibility,” enabling her to remain integrated in the face of the pressures she encountered. After several challenging years of work, the patient accomplished a dramatic shift. She relinquished fantasy as a primary coping mechanism, built up frustration tolerance and was able to mourn in order to make way for fashioning a real adult life. We look forward to a lively discussion on an issue that is relevant to us all.

Clara Kwun, LCSW is a psychotherapist and psychoanalyst in private practice in San Francisco, seeing adolescents, adults and couples. She also supervises for CPMC, Smith School of Social Work, RAMS, and CAPA.