What’s Gone Wrong with the American Mind and What We Clinicians Can Do About It
– Presented by Bryant Welch, JD, PHD, ABPP [Class]

NARRATIVE

Over the last decade the political climate in America has been especially perplexing for therapists and their patients alike. In this workshop, Dr. Welch, a highly trained psychotherapist and political advocate for mental health and social justice, will describe in clinical terms just how and why so many minds are running amok. He will illustrate how minds are overtaxed and what needs to be done to refortify them so they can fill the many demanding tasks of participating in a democracy.

Dr. Welch’s written works on the topic, based on his personal experience in Washington, D.C., have been extremely prophetic as he has predicted since the early 2000’s the increasing deterioration of Americans’ psychological functioning in the political arena and their increasing vulnerability to authoritarian minds. More specifically, he explains the psychological vulnerabilities the contemporary mind has to challenge its ability to form a solid reality sense; essential to uphold the demands a democracy place on its citizens.

He will show how and why the reality functioning has been undercut by social and political forces, some of them by design and some not. He will also show how other shifts in the structure of our society are further disrupting our embattled minds. Finally, drawing on many changes in the mental health community, he will show how we can begin to reverse these corrosive forces.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 Upon completion of this workshop, participants should be able to:

1. List three impacts current forms of political manipulation have on the American Mind.
2. Identify areas of the mind that are particularly vulnerable to political manipulation.
3. List three reasons why political gaslighting has been so much more powerful in contemporary America.
4. Explain the vulnerabilities of the mind in key areas in a way that will help attendees’ patients develop an ability to see through and resist the impact of political gaslighting.
5. Describe the relationship between trauma and political confusion.
6. Explain three reasons why conspiracy theories and irrational political attitudes are the inevitable result of contemporary political manipulation.
7. Identify how eastern contemplative traditions can be helpful at the present time for strengthening the mind of patients and therapists alike.

COURSE OUTLINE – 4 Hours

9:00 to 10:15 am  

Dr. Welch will provide the dynamic model of the mind that has been so traumatized that people are now unable to form their own view of reality.

10:15 to 11:00 am   

In this section, Dr. Welch will describe what he calls the true battleground states in America; paranoia, sexual perplexity, and envy, and illustrate how they are used to manipulate the mind and cause people to support candidates who do not have their best interest at heart and divide Americans from one another.

11:00 to 11:15 am

Break

11:15 am to 12:00 noon

Dr. Welch will show how critical professions and institutions that have historically supported the independent functioning of the mind have been themselves undermined and are now largely unable to fulfill their historical roles to help stabilize the American mind in its hour of crisis.

12:00 noon to 1:00 pm

Dr. Welch will explain why, despite these assaults on the mind, there is great hope for the American mind, especially given the increasing penetration of Eastern contemplative practices.

COURSE CURRICULUM

1. 1. The program shows attendees how to apply the psychological concepts of reality testing, regression, paranoia, envy, and sexual perplexity to the instability in the American political world.
   2. The knowledge participants gain will enhance their clinical work by helping them see that many of the psychological concepts they employ in assessing and treating the human mind in their practices are very powerful explanatory agents for the massive chaos currently confronting the American political realm.
   3. The target audience is everyone who is working clinically in the mental health field. The concepts will be explained simply enough so that they will be accessible to participants who are beginners in the field, as well as those with advanced knowledge.
   4. The content is based on many materials and articles that have been peer reviewed and others that have been reviewed by leading legal, political, and psychological scholars. None of the content involves risk.
   5. The clinical approach presented can be applied to all clients, independent of cultural and role differences. Most importantly, however, it explains at length how primitive racist attitudes, unconscious homophobic feeling states, and misogyny have been used to manipulate the mind in the political arena.

COST:

CIP Members:

$75 early registration 10 business days prior to seminar; $90 after

Non-Members:

$100 early registration up to 10 business days prior to seminar, $115 after

CEs: 4 CEs for LMFTs, LCSWs and Psychologists; Participants must attend the full live session and complete the evaluation at the end to receive a CE completion certificate.

Community Institute for Psychotherapy is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Community Institute for Psychotherapy maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Cancellation must be received in writing by email: Full refund if canceled 48 hours prior to the event; $25 cancellation fee if canceled with less than 48 hours’ notice. 

Accommodations will be made wherever possible to those with disabilities.  Please let us know of any disabilities upon registration, to ensure proper accommodations are put in place prior to workshop/training.

Grievance Procedure: CIP will respond to complaints in a reasonable, ethical and timely manner, when submitted by program attendees in writing to the Chair of CIP’s Professional Development Committee.

Anti-Discrimination Policy: CIP shall not discriminate against any individual or group with respect to any service, program or activity based on gender, race, creed, national origin, sexual orientation, religion, age or other prohibited basis. CIP does not require attendees to adhere to any particular religion or creed in order to participate in training. CIP will not promote or advocate for a single modality of treatment that is discriminatory or likely to harm clients based on current accepted standards or practice.

*There is no conflict of interest or commercial support related to this CE program.