Conference Presentations
AEDP Conference: In It Together –Experience presentations that deepen connection, expand healing, and bring the heart of AEDP to life. Join us as we learn, grow, and celebrate the power of being in it together.
Friday April 4 (day 1)
8:00 – 8:45 am EST: Enjoy a nice breakfast, find your seat!
Online login opens at 8:30: make sure you log into zoom using the same email address that you registered for the conference with.
8:45 – 9:00: Day 1 Orientation, welcome and reminders.
Opening Remarks
The ABC’s of AEDP: Acronyms to Get You Started or Keep You on Track with the Practice of AEDP
Benjamin Lipton, LCSW
Friday, April 4, 9:30 – 10:30 AM EST
In this presentation, which includes a live demonstration of AEDP, Mr. Lipton shares essential–and memorable–acronyms for practice that he has developed over the past 20+ years as a teacher of AEDP. These acronyms capture fundamental, but often complex principles and strategies of AEDP theory and technique, and translate them into accessible and directly applicable steps for effective practice.
Read Bio Here
Download handouts here
CE eligible for many participants. Learn about conference CE here.
The AEDP Institute is offering 1 CE credit for each eligible conference presentation hour, for a total of 11.5 CE credits.
To qualify, attendees must:
- Attend all eligible presentations, either live online or in-person
- Complete an online evaluation; after the conference you will be given a link to access evaluations for all CE eligible presentations. Once you complete the evaluations, you will receive 1 CE for each presentation hour.
Eligible license types include:
- New York: Social Workers, Psychologists
- Counselors: All U.S. states except NY
- Marriage & Family Therapists: All U.S. states except MA and NY
For attendees from other states and license types, we are offering up to 11.5 CE credits through any non-conference On Demand videos in our library—free of charge only through June 30, 2025 (please complete both the on demand training and CE post test by then).
Neuroscience, Critical Periods, Psychedelics Research
Gul Dolen, PhD
Friday, April 4, 10:30 – 11:30 AM EST
Our featured keynote speaker is Dr. Gul Dolen, professor in the Psychology Department at UC Berkeley where she holds an endowed chair, teaches, and runs Dolen Lab where she and her team work on Behavioral and Systems Neuroscience.
Ms. Dolen, MD , PhD (Brown/MIT) is a world renowned researcher whose areas of interest include: Psychedelics, Critical Periods, Research with Octopus, Synaptic Plasticity, Extracellular Matrix, Oxytocin, Stroke, Fragile X, Autism, PTSD and Addiction.
Read Bio Here
CE eligible for many participants. Learn about conference CE here.
The AEDP Institute is offering 1 CE credit for each eligible conference presentation hour, for a total of 11.5 CE credits.
To qualify, attendees must:
- Attend all eligible presentations, either live online or in-person
- Complete an online evaluation; after the conference you will be given a link to access evaluations for all CE eligible presentations. Once you complete the evaluations, you will receive 1 CE for each presentation hour.
Eligible license types include:
- New York: Social Workers, Psychologists
- Counselors: All U.S. states except NY
- Marriage & Family Therapists: All U.S. states except MA and NY
For attendees from other states and license types, we are offering up to 11.5 CE credits through any non-conference On Demand videos in our library—free of charge only through June 30, 2025 (please complete both the on demand training and CE post test by then).
Panel Discussion: Gul Dolen, PhD, Diana Fosha PhD, Kari Gleiser PhD, & Lauren Lepow, MD
The panel will ask Dr. Gulen questions that will tie her work to our own research and clinical work in & with psychedelics.
Friday, April 4, 11:30 AM – 12:00 PM EST
Read Dolen’s Bio, Read Fosha’s Bio, Read Gleiser’s Bio, Read Lepow’s Bio
Lunch: 12:00 – 1:15 pm EST
Connect with a friend, find a companion at the Lunch Buddy table or have some quiet time. Suggestions for Lunch Spots Click here
How to use Deliberate Practice in your AEDP Clinical Practice both as a Therapist and as a Supervisor
Natasha Prenn, LCSW
Friday, April 4, 1:15 – 2:15 PM EST
Master essential AEDP skills through Deliberate Practice. Learn 12 core techniques bridging theory and clinical application. Transform challenging concepts into practical skills through behavioral rehearsal.
Read Bio Here
Download handouts here
CE eligible for many participants. Learn about conference CE here.
The AEDP Institute is offering 1 CE credit for each eligible conference presentation hour, for a total of 11.5 CE credits.
To qualify, attendees must:
- Attend all eligible presentations, either live online or in-person
- Complete an online evaluation; after the conference you will be given a link to access evaluations for all CE eligible presentations. Once you complete the evaluations, you will receive 1 CE for each presentation hour.
Eligible license types include:
- New York: Social Workers, Psychologists
- Counselors: All U.S. states except NY
- Marriage & Family Therapists: All U.S. states except MA and NY
For attendees from other states and license types, we are offering up to 11.5 CE credits through any non-conference On Demand videos in our library—free of charge only through June 30, 2025 (please complete both the on demand training and CE post test by then).
Hearkening Together in One Spirit: I-and-Dao in the Here-and-Now as AEDP Therapist’s Transpersonal Use of Self
Danny Yeung, MD
Friday, April 4, 2:15 – 2:35 PM EST
Focusing on the transpersonal use of self, the AEDP therapist hearkens responsively moment-to-moment for intuitive signs of Spirit (or “Dao”) in the therapist / client’s intra-psychic worlds, and therapist-client’s intersubjective field. Ultimately, the AEDP therapist fosters the client’s unitive One-in-Dao experience through Hearkening Together-in-One Spirit in AEDP work.
Read Bio Here
Black Men Do Cry: The Transformational Tear, Father Wounds, and the Healing Power of AEDP
Gerald Brooks, LCSW
Friday, April 4, 2:35 – 3:00 PM EST
Brooks explores the emotional journey of Black men as they heal from the ‘Father Wound’ through the process of crying for the inner child with the support of a Transformational Other (Russell, 2021). The presentation, including clinical video, challenges the stereotype that emotional expression, particularly crying, signifies weakness in men, and instead reframes it as a powerful act of healing and strength.
Read Bio Here
Download handouts here
Break: 3:00-3:30 PM
Snacks and soft drinks available on main level and balcony.
Championing and Celebrating the True Self: An AEDP “True Other” is an Agent for Lesbian Liberation
Kate Halliday, LCSW & Andrea Northwood, PhD
Friday, April 4, 3:30 – 3:55 PM EST
While our gay male colleagues (Tunnell & Greenan, Lipton and Medley) have contributed to the dialogue, we lesbians have been under recognized in the AEDP literature, even though there are many female AEDP clinicians who identify as queer. Andrea and I are working on a writing project to rectify that omission; this presentation will be our “coming out” event.
Read Halliday’s Bio,
Read Northwood’s Bio
Download handouts here
In Defense of Defenses: Lessons from Integrating DBT with AEDP When Feeling Emotions Leads to High-Risk Behaviors
Yuval Moses, LCSW
Friday, April 4, 3:55 – 4:20 PM EST
It is widely recognized that borderline personality disorder is at its core a disorder in emotion regulation. In AEDP, bypassing defenses can risk intensifying high-risk behaviors for some clients. Viewing such behaviors as defenses, we can use DBT’s framework to safely transform and restructure them.
Read Bio Here
Download handouts here
Pressing One’s Edges from Safety: Working in Core State to Expand Relational Receptive Affective Capacity
Sigal Bahat, MA
Friday, April 4, 4:20 – 5:20 PM EST
AEDP uniquely leverages safety to expand emotional and relational capacity. Learn techniques to help clients stretch their edges while remaining grounded in secure attachment. Through clinical demonstration, witness how working from Core State creates profound opportunities for new experiences and deeper connection.
Read Bio Here
Download handouts here
For Participants here
CE eligible for many participants. Learn about conference CE here.
The AEDP Institute is offering 1 CE credit for each eligible conference presentation hour, for a total of 11.5 CE credits.
To qualify, attendees must:
- Attend all eligible presentations, either live online or in-person
- Complete an online evaluation; after the conference you will be given a link to access evaluations for all CE eligible presentations. Once you complete the evaluations, you will receive 1 CE for each presentation hour.
Eligible license types include:
- New York: Social Workers, Psychologists
- Counselors: All U.S. states except NY
- Marriage & Family Therapists: All U.S. states except MA and NY
For attendees from other states and license types, we are offering up to 11.5 CE credits through any non-conference On Demand videos in our library—free of charge only through June 30, 2025 (please complete both the on demand training and CE post test by then).
Summing Up and What’s to Come
Ben Medley, LCSW
Friday April 5, 5:20 – 5:30 PM EST
Welcome Reception: 5:30- 7:00 PM
Appetizers, Cocktails & Mocktails, Mingling in “The Ritz” on the lobby level of Webster Hall
Saturday April 5 (day 2)
8:00 – 8:45 am EST: Enjoy a nice breakfast, connect with colleagues, find your seat!
Transforming Racialized Trauma: Black Belonging in AEDP
Vision Collective Panel Presentation
Saturday, April 5, 9:10 – 10:00 AM EST
In a time when the mental health needs of Black communities are more pressing than ever, the Vision Collective has emerged as a transformative space for Black Identified therapists. Our collective represents a unique convergence of healing, empowerment, and professional growth, shaped by the innovative practices of AEDP. This presentation features a pre-recorded video that captures our narratives of transformation, growth, and the challenges of navigating racialized trauma.
Members: Kosu Boudreau, Gerald Brooks, Karla Amanda Brown, Nicky Cameron, Marsha Elliot, Jennifer Jackson, Peter Muhwati, Sonya Parker, Heloise Ridley. Consultants: Diana Fosha, Lynne Hartwell, Karen Pando-Mars,
Led by: Connie Rhodes:
Meet the Vision Collective and Read Bios Here
Break: 10:00- 10:30 AM
Snacks and soft drinks available on main level and balcony.
Navigating Differences in Social Experiences in the Therapeutic Dyad Using the Triangle of Social Experience
Ben Medley, LCSW
Saturday, April 5, 10:30 – 11:30 AM EST
Medley’s workshop focuses on social dynamics operating within the therapeutic dyad and how to explicitly recognize and work with these dynamics. Mr. Medley will share video of a therapeutic rupture and repair when a straight client’s heterosexist microaggression leads to transformative healing for both client and therapist.
Read Bio Here
Download handouts here
CE eligible for many participants. Learn about conference CE here.
The AEDP Institute is offering 1 CE credit for each eligible conference presentation hour, for a total of 11.5 CE credits.
To qualify, attendees must:
- Attend all eligible presentations, either live online or in-person
- Complete an online evaluation; after the conference you will be given a link to access evaluations for all CE eligible presentations. Once you complete the evaluations, you will receive 1 CE for each presentation hour.
Eligible license types include:
- New York: Social Workers, Psychologists
- Counselors: All U.S. states except NY
- Marriage & Family Therapists: All U.S. states except MA and NY
For attendees from other states and license types, we are offering up to 11.5 CE credits through any non-conference On Demand videos in our library—free of charge only through June 30, 2025 (please complete both the on demand training and CE post test by then).
When Empathy and Authenticity Collide in AEDP
Eileen Russell, PhD
Saturday, April 5, 11:30 -12:30 PM EST
Learn practical AEDP strategies for maintaining authentic connection when empathy feels elusive or patient dynamics trigger countertransference. Dr. Russell will share the art of balancing therapist authenticity with therapeutic presence, even when facing complex relational dynamics and defensive patterns.
Read Bio Here
Download handouts here
CE eligible for many participants. Learn about conference CE here.
The AEDP Institute is offering 1 CE credit for each eligible conference presentation hour, for a total of 11.5 CE credits.
To qualify, attendees must:
- Attend all eligible presentations, either live online or in-person
- Complete an online evaluation; after the conference you will be given a link to access evaluations for all CE eligible presentations. Once you complete the evaluations, you will receive 1 CE for each presentation hour.
Eligible license types include:
- New York: Social Workers, Psychologists
- Counselors: All U.S. states except NY
- Marriage & Family Therapists: All U.S. states except MA and NY
For attendees from other states and license types, we are offering up to 11.5 CE credits through any non-conference On Demand videos in our library—free of charge only through June 30, 2025 (please complete both the on demand training and CE post test by then).
Lunch 12:30-1:45 PM
Connect with a friend, find a companion at the Lunch Buddy table or have some quiet time. Suggestions for Lunch Spots Click here
Undoing Aloneness in Intra-Relational, Interpersonal, and Transpersonal Realms with AEDP and Psychedelics
Emily Bilbao, LCSW, Kari Gleiser, PhD, Mark Green, MD, Elizabeth Perkins, LMFT
Saturday, April 5, 1:45- 2:45 PM EST
This presentation including clinical video and panel discussion will introduce the burgeoning field of psychedelic research and practice, integration and the AEDP psychedelic committee’s protocol for psychedelic-assisted AEDP. We will focus on legal medicines – ketamine, cannabis and psilocybin – while acknowledging others medicines that your clients might be exploring.
Read Bilbao’s Bio, Read Gleiser’s Bio, Read Green’s Bio, Read Perkins’ Bio
Download handouts here
16-Session AEDP & the AEDP Research Project: Bridging the Clinician-Researcher Divide
Shigeru Iwakabe, PhD
Saturday April 5, 2:45 – 3:45 PM EST
The AEDP Research-Practice Network Study, launched in 2016, explores AEDP’s long-term effectiveness on psychological functioning, including symptoms, depression, interpersonal problems, and self-compassion. With data from over 120 dyads, this presentation highlights the study’s guiding principles, major findings, and clinical applications, showcasing AEDP’s transformative impact in therapy.
Read Bio Here
Download handouts here
CE eligible for many participants. Learn about conference CE here.
The AEDP Institute is offering 1 CE credit for each eligible conference presentation hour, for a total of 11.5 CE credits.
To qualify, attendees must:
- Attend all eligible presentations, either live online or in-person
- Complete an online evaluation; after the conference you will be given a link to access evaluations for all CE eligible presentations. Once you complete the evaluations, you will receive 1 CE for each presentation hour.
Eligible license types include:
- New York: Social Workers, Psychologists
- Counselors: All U.S. states except NY
- Marriage & Family Therapists: All U.S. states except MA and NY
For attendees from other states and license types, we are offering up to 11.5 CE credits through any non-conference On Demand videos in our library—free of charge only through June 30, 2025 (please complete both the on demand training and CE post test by then).
Break 3:45- 4:00PM
Snacks and soft drinks available on main level and balcony.
Keynote 2: Tell the Deep I’m New: Freedom and Transformation in Connection
Diana Fosha, PhD with Trisha Bell,
Facilitated by Andrew Joseph
Saturday April 5, 4:00 – 5:30 PM EST
Diana Fosha reveals the groundbreaking 7th transformational affect through powerful trauma therapy sessions with her patient Trisha—who joins LIVE on stage.
Experience three transformational sessions spanning years of therapeutic work, with real-time commentary from both Diana and Trisha.
In this live conversation with a client, including vignettes from their treatment, Diana unveils to conference participants the 7th AEDP transformational affect. Be there to learn all about it.
Read Fosha’s Bio Here
Read Bell’s Bio Here
Read Joseph’s Bio Here
Download handouts here
CE eligible for many participants. Learn about conference CE here.
The AEDP Institute is offering 1 CE credit for each eligible conference presentation hour, for a total of 11.5 CE credits.
To qualify, attendees must:
- Attend all eligible presentations, either live online or in-person
- Complete an online evaluation; after the conference you will be given a link to access evaluations for all CE eligible presentations. Once you complete the evaluations, you will receive 1 CE for each presentation hour.
Eligible license types include:
- New York: Social Workers, Psychologists
- Counselors: All U.S. states except NY
- Marriage & Family Therapists: All U.S. states except MA and NY
For attendees from other states and license types, we are offering up to 11.5 CE credits through any non-conference On Demand videos in our library—free of charge only through June 30, 2025 (please complete both the on demand training and CE post test by then).
Saturday Night 3 Hour Dinner Cruise Around Manhattan
Click here for information
Join us for an unforgettable elegant evening on the water with your colleagues!
Reserve a spot now for you and any family member who may have traveled with you.
Includes a delicious seated Buffet Style Dinner. One bottle of wine per table plus cash bar. Dancing with a DJ and most special of all spectacular views of New York City from the water! Arrive with your party 30 minutes prior to grab your table!
- 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM | Meet at Pier 40 (353 West Street, New York, NY 10014)
- Departure Location: Pier 40 (353 West Street, New York, NY 10014) a 30 minute walk or 15 minute bus ride from the conference venue
- Boarding Time: 6:30 PM (30 minutes before departure and one hour after the close of the conference day)
- Price: $165 per person until March 2nd; $165 March 3rd – March 24th; If there are tickets left after that, they will cost $175 each.
- Seats are limited so don’t wait!
Sunday April 6 (day 3)
8:00 – 8:45 am EST: Enjoy a nice breakfast, connect with colleagues, find your seat!
Feeling in Synch: Core State Accelerates Integration in Patients with Dissociative Parts
Kari Gleiser, PhD & Jason Trowbridge, MFT
Sunday April 6, 9:00 – 10:00 AM EST
Gleiser and Trowbridge’s presentation features patient videos and transcripts to illustrate the integrative potential of AEDP States 3 & 4 while working with severe dissociation. Many trauma models spotlight trauma/memory processing, and building communication and positive relationships between fragmented parts of the self. But AEDP is unique in tracking and staying with the phenomenology of transformative processes and Core State. These states are essential in healing severe dissociation, as transformative experiences can ripple across a complex system of parts in positive and/or negative ways.
Read Gleiser’s Bio Here
Read Trowbidge’s Bio Here
Download handouts here
CE eligible for many participants. Learn about conference CE here.
The AEDP Institute is offering 1 CE credit for each eligible conference presentation hour, for a total of 11.5 CE credits.
To qualify, attendees must:
- Attend all eligible presentations, either live online or in-person
- Complete an online evaluation; after the conference you will be given a link to access evaluations for all CE eligible presentations. Once you complete the evaluations, you will receive 1 CE for each presentation hour.
Eligible license types include:
- New York: Social Workers, Psychologists
- Counselors: All U.S. states except NY
- Marriage & Family Therapists: All U.S. states except MA and NY
For attendees from other states and license types, we are offering up to 11.5 CE credits through any non-conference On Demand videos in our library—free of charge only through June 30, 2025 (please complete both the on demand training and CE post test by then).
AEDP Reaches out in Zimbabwe
Jacquie Ye-Perman, PhD
Sunday April 6, 10:00 – 10:20 AM EST
Ye-Perman shares her experience leading two women’s groups in rural Zimbabwe. In a brief time, participants made breakthroughs undoing aloneness in trauma and suffering, and discovered well-being and strength through connection. This work highlights AEDP’s broad applicability beyond therapy, fostering rapid, transformative healing across diverse contexts.
Read Bio Here
Download handouts here
Maximizing the Transformational Power of AEDP
Heather Sanford, LCSW
Maximizing the Transformational Power of AEDP: Using Groups in the Community Mental Health Setting
Sunday April 6, 10:20 – 10:40 AM EST
Sanford shares the curriculum she created to provide basic AEDP treatment to individuals in a community mental health group setting. Conference participants will have the opportunity to experience brief exercises from the curriculum and hear about some of the benefits and barriers to the use of AEDP in this environment with a population of adults with serious mental illness.
Read Bio Here
Responses To Constraint: Relational Prisms in Prisons
Kev Kokoska
Sunday April 6, 10:40 – 11:05 AM EST
This talk weaves together Kokoska’s family history of incarceration with his current interdisciplinary PhD work on developing population-specific interventions with — and for — men in prison.
Read Bio Here
Break: 11:05- 11:35 AM
Snacks and soft drinks available on main level and balcony.
When Therapy Gets Stuck: Addressing Therapeutic Impasses in AEDP Treatment
Jerry Lamagna, LCSW
Sunday April 6, 11:35 AM – 12:35 PM EST
In AEDP, we fundamentally lean into transformance, feelings and connection. This workshop, including video demonstration, explores therapeutic impasses that can commonly occur in psychotherapy with clients who experience feeling, connecting, empowerment and acceptance as problems rather than solutions.
Read Bio Here
Download handouts here
CE eligible for many participants. Learn about conference CE here.
The AEDP Institute is offering 1 CE credit for each eligible conference presentation hour, for a total of 11.5 CE credits.
To qualify, attendees must:
- Attend all eligible presentations, either live online or in-person
- Complete an online evaluation; after the conference you will be given a link to access evaluations for all CE eligible presentations. Once you complete the evaluations, you will receive 1 CE for each presentation hour.
Eligible license types include:
- New York: Social Workers, Psychologists
- Counselors: All U.S. states except NY
- Marriage & Family Therapists: All U.S. states except MA and NY
For attendees from other states and license types, we are offering up to 11.5 CE credits through any non-conference On Demand videos in our library—free of charge only through June 30, 2025 (please complete both the on demand training and CE post test by then).
Tastes of Tailoring Treatment: Relational Work with Avoidant, Ambivalent/Resistant, and Disorganized Patterns of Attachment
Karen Pando-Mars, MFT
Sunday April 6, 12:35 – 1:35 PM EST
Learn how to create powerful corrective emotional experiences by recognizing and working skillfully with different attachment styles and how
to intervene differentially with our patients. Ms. Pando-Mars will discuss the configuration of each pattern and show video clips to illustrate distinctions.
Read Bio Here
Download handouts here
CE eligible for many participants. Learn about conference CE here.
The AEDP Institute is offering 1 CE credit for each eligible conference presentation hour, for a total of 11.5 CE credits.
To qualify, attendees must:
- Attend all eligible presentations, either live online or in-person
- Complete an online evaluation; after the conference you will be given a link to access evaluations for all CE eligible presentations. Once you complete the evaluations, you will receive 1 CE for each presentation hour.
Eligible license types include:
- New York: Social Workers, Psychologists
- Counselors: All U.S. states except NY
- Marriage & Family Therapists: All U.S. states except MA and NY
For attendees from other states and license types, we are offering up to 11.5 CE credits through any non-conference On Demand videos in our library—free of charge only through June 30, 2025 (please complete both the on demand training and CE post test by then).
Closing Remarks