AEDP® Advanced Skills February 2027

4 Day AGENDA

Day 1

11:00 – 11:30 AM
I: Course Overview 

11:30 AM – 1:00 PM
II: Portrayals and Emotion
a. Introduction to portrayals and how they are used in AEDP
b. The neuroscience of portrayals and the lived imagination
c. Review of emotion theory
d. Review of the AEDP 4-State model of transformation
e. Processing State 2 Affective Experiences
f. State 2 transformation and the emergence of resilience
g. Examples of clinical case studies: video recorded illustrations

1:00 -1:15 PM Break

1:15-3:00 PM
III: The different types of portrayals: Emotion to Completion, Rescue, Reunion and Reparative portrayals
a. Defining the different types of portrayals
b. Distinctive characteristics of each type and when to use in sessions
c. Shifting Internal Working Models and Memory Reconsolidation with different types of portrayals
d. Examples of clinical case studies: video recorded illustrations

3:00-3:30 PM
IV: Large Group Discussion

Day 2

11:00-11:30 AM
I: Overview, Introduction to Experiential Exercises and Participant Roles

11:30-11:45 AM
II: Instructions for Experiential Exercises

11:45 A. – 1:15 PM
III: Experiential Exercises: Finding Entry Points for Portrayals and using them to access and process emotion

1:15-1:30 PM  Break

1:30-3:00 PM  
Experiential Exercises Continued

3:00-3:30 PM  
IV: Group Discussion

Day 3

11:00 – 11:30 AM  
I: Review of Days 1 & 2, Group Discussion, Day Overview

11:30 AM – 1:00 PM
II: Tools, Techniques and Skills for Portrayals
a. Finding an entry point for a portrayal
b. Setting up a portrayal
c: The necessity of moment to moment tracking to guide interventions
d. AEDP Representational Schemas: Triangle of Experience, Self-Other Triangle and the Triangle of Social Experience
e. The role of relational experience inter-relationally and intra-relationally
f. Bringing portrayals to a close
g. The role of metaprocessing throughout a portrayal and at the end of a portrayal
h. Examples of clinical case studies: video recorded illustrations

1:00 – 1:15 PM Break

1:15 – 3:00 PM 
III: Integrating Portrayals into Clinical Practice
a. When to reconsider and when to proceed
b. The importance of flexibility in practice: when one portrayal leads to another
c. Portrayals over time: creating new possibilities with each portrayal
d. Examples of clinical case studies: video recorded illustrations

IV: 3:00 – 3:30 PM 
Large Group Discussion, Q & A

Day 4

11:00 – 11:30 AM 
I: Day Overview, Introduction to Experiential Exercises and Participant Roles

11:30 – 11:45 AM 
II: Instructions for Experiential Exercises

11:45 AM – 1:15 PM
III: Experiential Exercises: Finding Entry Points for Portrayals and using them to access and process emotion

1:15 – 1:30 PM  Break

1:30 – 3:00 PM   
Experiential Exercises Continued

IV: 3:00 – 3:30 PM 
Large Group Discussion, Q & A

Click here for learning objectives

In this course, participants will increase their understanding of how to use portrayals to help clients process their emotions to completion and deepen healing and transformation. Ben will emphasize practical application, techniques, and tools for introducing portrayal methods within the AEDP framework and for utilizing them over time to fortify clinical gains

• 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
  
  

The 2-day Agenda is here.

This program was developed for:
Licensed and pre-licensed mental health professionals who are practicing under the supervision of a qualified, licensed clinician. Participants typically hold (or are actively working toward) one of the following credentials:

Graduate students enrolled in accredited mental health training programs practicing under a licensed Supervisor

Psychologists (PhD, PsyD, EdD)

Psychiatrists (MD, DO)

Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSW, LICSW, MSW)

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists (LMFT)

Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC, LPCC, LCPC, etc.)

Licensed Mental Health Counselors (LMHC)

Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners (PMHNP, APRN)

Registered Psychotherapists (as recognized regionally)

Occupational Therapists with training in mental health

Licensed or registered art, music, or dance/movement therapists

Advanced Course Content Level: Advanced
This training is approved for 16 continuing education credits

Intermediate Seminar Course Content Level: Beginner, Intermediate
This training is approved for 8 continuing education credits

Continuing Education Information

To receive continuing education credit, participants must pay the applicable CE fee, attend the entire training, and complete the course evaluation. Partial credit is not available. CE certificates are issued after the evaluation is submitted.

Continuing education applications may be underway for various national and state-level boards and agencies. Please refer to the individual course page for current CE availability, approvals, and the number of continuing education credits offered for that training. For questions, please contact admin@aedpinstitute.org.

Disclosure

All planners and presenters have disclosed that they have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies. There is no commercial support for these programs, nor are there relationships between AEDP Institute, presenters, program content, research, grants, or other funding that could reasonably be construed as conflicts of interest.

Continuing Education (CE) Approvals

Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB)
AEDP Institute, provider #2307, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: October 31, 2025 – October 31, 2026.

Psychologists – American Psychological Association (APA)
AEDP Institute is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. AEDP Institute maintains responsibility for its programs and their content.

New York Psychologists
AEDP Works, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists, #PSY-0256. AEDP Works, LLC maintains responsibility for its programs and their content.

New York Social Workers (LMSWs and LCSWs)
AEDP Works, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers, #SW-0805.

National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC)
AEDP Works, LLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7622. Counselors in all states except New York and MFTs in all states except New York and Massachusetts are eligible.

The AEDP® Model of Psychotherapy

The following statements describe the empirical foundation, accuracy, utility, scope, limitations, and clinical considerations relevant to the content presented in AEDP Courses.

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Empirical Basis

AEDP® Psychotherapy is supported by peer-reviewed empirical research published in established scholarly journals. Effectiveness studies conducted within a practice research network demonstrate significant symptom reduction (e.g., depression, maladaptive negative cognitions, interpersonal functioning, experiential avoidance) and significant increases in positive indices of mental health (e.g., self-compassion, flourishing) across diagnostic presentations (Iwakabe et al., 2020), with longitudinal follow-up findings indicating maintenance of gains at six and twelve months (Iwakabe et al., 2022). These outcome studies evaluated a 16-session AEDP treatment protocol.

Additional empirical investigations examine therapeutic process variables associated with flourishing and metatherapeutic processing (Fosha & Thoma, 2020; Fosha, Thoma, & Yeung, 2019), as well as psychometric validation of measures assessing positive affective transformation, including the Moments of Flourishing Experience Scale (Fosha et al., 2024). Collectively, this body of outcome and process research provides empirical support for the clinical principles and interventions taught in AEDP Courses.

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Accuracy, Utility, Scope and Limitations

AEDP is a transdiagnostic, transformation-oriented model of psychotherapy practiced with clients experiencing a wide range of psychological difficulties. Developed and primarily taught for individual psychotherapy, the model may be adapted by trained clinicians for work with couples, families, children, and groups when clinically appropriate; however, formal empirical research has focused primarily on its application in individual treatment.

AEDP was developed to address affective, relational, trauma-related, and depressive symptom presentations within an attachment-based, experiential framework. The empirical base is strongest for these domains, and findings from the 16-session research protocol should not be assumed to generalize automatically to all treatment formats, durations, or to individuals with severe or unstable psychiatric conditions.

AEDP was not designed as a first-line or stand-alone treatment for active psychotic disorders, bipolar disorder that is not medically stabilized, or active substance use disorders. In such cases, clinicians should ensure appropriate stabilization and integration with disorder-specific and medically coordinated care. As with all clinical models, effective application requires sound professional judgment, adherence to ethical standards, and practice within one’s scope of competence.

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Ongoing Research

Current research continues to investigate the therapeutic processes and specific AEDP interventions associated with transformational change. In addition, AEDP-informed psychotherapy is being studied in collaboration with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai within randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy.

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Risks and Clinical Considerations

As with all experiential and trauma-focused psychotherapies, potential risks include temporary increases in emotional distress, activation of traumatic memories, heightened affective arousal, interpersonal sensitivity, or destabilization if interventions are misapplied or insufficiently titrated. Severe risks are uncommon but may include significant dysregulation in vulnerable individuals if adequate screening, stabilization, and monitoring are not conducted. The model emphasizes careful attunement, pacing, and ongoing assessment to mitigate these risks.