Ageism Unveiled: Understanding & Overcoming Prejudice
Date: Sunday, May 4, 2025
Time: 9:30am – 5:30pm
Location: Online via Zoom
Co-Chairs: Jane Brewster, MSW & Tybe Diamond, MSW
6.5 CEs/CMEs
Program Description:
Ageism, a pervasive form of discrimination, continues to affect individuals across various sectors, including the workplace, healthcare, and social environments. For psychotherapists, understanding the multifaceted impact of ageism is crucial, as it often manifests in subtle yet profound ways. Older adults frequently encounter stereotypes that undermine their abilities and worth, leading to diminished self-esteem, increased isolation, and mental health challenges. By addressing ageism head-on, psychotherapists can better support their aging clients, fostering resilience and empowering them to challenge societal narratives that devalue their contributions and experiences.
In this conference, we will explore the psychological and social dimensions of ageism, offering strategies to combat its detrimental effects. Through interactive sessions, panels, small groups and experiential exercises, participants will gain deeper insights into the lived experiences of aging adults. We will examine effective therapeutic approaches to dismantle internalized ageism and promote positive aging. Additionally, we will highlight advocacy efforts aimed at creating inclusive policies and practices. Join us in this essential dialogue to pave the way for a more equitable society where all ages are valued and respected.
Schedule:
9:30 - 9:45 Introduction
9:45 – 10:30 “Ageism & Its Impact” [Jane Brewster, MSW]
10:30 – 11:15 "The Silent Saboteur: Recognizing and Resisting Internalized Ageism in Ourselves and Our Clients" [Tybe Diamond, MSW]
11:15 - 11:30 Break
11:30 – 12:30 Small Group
12:30 – 1:00 Report on the small groups with representatives from each group
1:00 - 1:45 Lunch
1:45 - 2:30 Panel: How Ageism Shows Up In The Clinical Relationship
2:30 - 3:15 Cultural Factors Related to Ageism from "A Psychiatrist" [Yara Moustafa, MD, PhD]
3:15 - 4:15 Small Group
4:15 – 4:30 Break
4:30 – 5:00 Report on the small groups with representatives from each group
5:00- 5:30 Panel with all faculty: Q&A, Comments
Learning Objectives:
Click here for Accreditation Statement and AMEDCO Continuing Education Certification
Lunch and Learn Schedule 2025
Speechless, but not thoughtless:
The Inner Life of Autistic Persons
Friday, May 16th, 2025
Presenter: Alison Fellowes Comly, MA, LICSW
Time: 12:00 p.m.— 2:00 p.m. (ET)
Location: Silver Spring Library, Location: Silver Spring Library, 900 Wayne Avenue (3rd Floor). Public parking across Wayne Avenue
Cost: No cost for NWSP members; $25 for non-members.
No CEs Offered
The focus of this presentation is to share clinical interventions with adolescents and adults with nonspeaking autism. Topics include the characteristics of nonspeaking autism, regulation of affect in psychotherapy, and communicating with clients who use a keyboard to communicate. Case material and video recordings will be shared to illustrate the clinical issues involved in working with non-speaking clients.
Presenter Bio:
Allison Fellowes Comly MA, LICSW is in private practice in Washington DC and sees children, adolescents, families, and adults. After completing her social work education at the Unversity of Chicago, she continued her training as a Fellow at Yale University’s Child Study Center where she focused on evaluation and treatment of children and adolescents from both psychodynamic and developmental perspectives. At Yale, she also was awarded a fellowship at the Bush Center for Child Development and Social Policy where she researched universal Pre-K programs. Coming to the DC area, she worked with children and families at the Reginald Lourie Center and became an Emerging Leader’s Fellow at the Children’s Defense Fund. Her interest in working with autism began at Yale and has continued as part of her practice for over the past 20 years.
Registration closes on May 15th, 2025.
Inside the Lacanian Clinic
Welcome to Inside the Lacanian Clinic, an ongoing Seminar Series established by the Lacanian Forum of Washington D.C. in cooperation with the New Washington School of Psychiatry.
The Seminar Series (four Seminars per academic year via Zoom) is founded on the firm conviction that Lacan has crucial things to say about both psychoanalysis and our contemporary world and that what he says can be understood.
Thus the Series chooses as presenters practicing Lacanian analysts, all of whom have been trained from within the Lacanian field and are known for the depth of their knowledge, clinical experience, and demonstrated teaching skills.
Each seminar will start with a theoretical presentation, for example, how to intervene in psychosis, followed by two hours during which theory will be specifically linked to clinical practice, including one hour of discussion in a small groups format.
3 CE Credits per Seminar pending.
Fee:
Questions or more information contact: devrasimiu@aol.com.
Seminar Schedule 2025
(Via Zoom)
Saturday, Jan. 18th, 2025: 11:00 a.m.— 2:00 p.m. (ET)
Luis Izcovich, M.D. (Paris)
Non-standard Psychoanalysis
Registration closes Friday, Jan.17th at noon ET.
Saturday, Mar. 15th, 2025: 11:00 a.m.— 2:00 p.m. (ET)
Macario Giraldo, Ph.D. (Washington)
Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Or Between the Real and Reality
Registration closes Friday, Mar.14th at noon ET.
Saturday, May 17th, 2025: 11:00 a.m.— 2:00 p.m. (ET)
Sonia Alberti, Ph.D.(Rio de Janeiro)
The Clinic of Psychosis, with Estamira
Registration closes Friday, May 16th at noon ET.
Saturday, May 31st, 2025: 11:00 a.m.— 2:00 p.m. (ET)
Norma Schwartz, M.S.W. (Washington)
The Echo of Modernity
Registration closes Friday, May 30th at noon ET.
Please click here for more details about each seminar.
A Professional and Personal Journey With Disabled and Neurodiverse Children
Friday, June 6th, 2025
Presenter: Tom Holman, PhD
First person description of the program:
After my first intriguing encounter with autism in 1978, I have followed the amazing developments in research and clinical practice with neurodiverse children. Using a biopsychosocial perspective, I also began to learn about children with wide range of disabilities in a variety of settings. I also learned about how they form their personalities while dealing with serious difficulties and developmental transitions, including into adulthood. In doing therapy and evaluations, with children, parents, and families, a vital theme has taken shape for me: how to transcend our own perspectives and preconceptions, and enter the world of people who can be so different from us. I strive to be vulnerable and open, and to see what the world looks like from each person’s point of view, no matter how they may communicate it. This has led me to examine of my own identifications, my ableism, and my neurotypical privilege. The results of these journeys have been enriching beyond what I would have imagined.
Third person description:
After his first intriguing encounter with autism in 1978, Tom Holman devoted much of his practice to the treatment of disabled and neurodiverse children using a a biopsychosocial framework. Familiarizing himself with the research developments with these children over the decades, he closely observed how these disabled children adapted to a wide range of family and residential environments. Besides focusing solely on disabilities, Tom explored the process of personality development and the challenges of developmental transitions, extending with some clients into adulthood. Reflecting on his experiences doing therapy and evaluations with children, parents, and families, the presenter will explore how we can transcend our own limited perspectives and preconceptions, and enter the world of people who are often so different from us. This requires the clinician to accept their vulnerability and to consider what the world looks like from each person’s point of view, regardless of their communication skills. Similarly, clinicians must examine their own identifications, ableism and neurotypical privilege and remain open to the possibilities of enrichment along the route of this professional and personal journeys.
After working as a paraprofessional in mental health beginning in 1971, Tom Holman received a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Catholic University in 1980. He has worked in a variety of settings, including a psychiatric halfway house; outpatient clinics; infant, toddler, and preschool programs; inpatient, day hospital, and residential treatment programs; and private practice. In his current practice in Gaithersburg, he does evaluations for children and adolescents and treatment for children, adolescents, and adults. He taught and supervised in the Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy program of the Washington School of Psychiatry for over 20 years and currently teaches Developmental Thinking as part at the Institute of Contemporary Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis (ICP&P).
Registration closes on June 5th, 2025.
