A dash of madness: Introduction to human narcissism / shelterwood collective

friday december 12th / 1pm - 4pm / hybrid in person + zoom

My best friend and fellow therapist Joe Sawyer and I have been gripped by the phenomenon of narcissism over the past fifteen years, both personally in our individual lives, as well as what that enormous, vague, and misused word even begins to try to capture in our consulting rooms in therapeutic practice. We have read the literature. We have attended trainings. We have tracked and attended to these pushes and pulls within our own souls, year after year after year. We were confident in our learnings, and yet…

We were left wondering how to bring all of this experiential learning and information out of misconception and generalization and psychiatric textbooks of old into fresh, relatable, invitational, and non-pathologizing ways of partnering with narcissism. How does shame and jealousy and greed and envy and hatred of life all play into, and out of, this one word? How does the world get collapsed into a dyadic poll of GOD and WORM? What does narcissism have to do with responsibility? With truth? With integration and ordinary love?

A Dash of Madness will address the sincerity in every human being for narcissistic choices, defenses, and ways of being. Using a psychoanalytic point of view, we will explore how narcissism manifests itself as a deeply defaulted, and therefore unconscious process, that transcends a person’s race, sexuality, culture, and upbringing as a shorthand way to navigate a complicated universe—both internally and externally. We will work to provide and showcase alternative choice points for clinical practice, as well as a deep understanding of the narcissistic everyday mindset, in our patients and in ourselves.

Through this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Identify narcissistic pressures and pulls, outside in society, as well as internally in the self.

• Understand the interplay of neglect, trauma, and shame as intensifiers to narcissistic choices and perspective.

• Feel empowered to become aware of and partner-with one’s own unconscious narcissism and how to heal.

This experience will be hybrid, where you may join us in person in Pioneer Square, or join in via Zoom. The exchange is $120 for the general public, $160 with 3 CEUs included, and Shelterwood members receive $20 off of their CEU admission with code MEMBER20. There are also a few sliding scale scholarships available by request—feel free to contact me, at dmlouderbacktherapy@gmail.com to apply.

Registration + Info