A central theme of this approach is the two-way, dialogical interaction between client and therapist, where the strong connection enables the clients to access their authentic selves – giving them the courage to drop the mask they present to the world. Because of its focus on genuine human interaction and affirmation – the client has an opportunity to explore whatever is experienced as most fundamental to their existence, thereby providing a profound opportunity for reflection, engagement, emotional healing and growth.

In this intellectually-stimulating and practically-oriented workshop, we will explore how you, as a therapist, may be able to create the conditions when relational depth is more likely to be reached, so as to create genuine connection which empowers and enables therapeutic growth and change in clients.

One of the barriers to achieving this profound connection can be the chronic strategies of disconnection (CSoDs) that both clients and therapists might unconsciously employ. CSoDs are unconscious behaviours, such as distancing, intellectualizing, or emotional withdrawal, that both clients and therapists may use to protect themselves from vulnerability. While these behaviours serve to shield individuals from perceived emotional risks, they can also create barriers to achieving relational depth. In this workshop, participants will explore the importance of identifying and addressing these patterns in therapy. By understanding how CSoDs manifest and learning strategies to work through them, therapists can help clients overcome these barriers, allowing for deeper, more authentic therapeutic engagement and fostering a more open, emotionally connected relationship.

At this workshop Prof. Cooper explains how the relational depth informed therapeutic approach:

• Places emphasis on meeting clients in a two-way, interpersonal dialogue
• Can help avoid unhelpful therapeutic relationships where clients can feel relationally abandoned
• Encapsulates authenticity in the therapeutic relationship, together with embodied, non-verbal empathy, deep affirmation and presence
• Helps us comprehend the anxiety on our client’s part to engage at a deeper than surface level
• Requires us to let go of some of the aims, anticipations and formulaic methods that our modality may have trained us for

The workshop provides practitioners with an opportunity to explore their experiences of relational depth, and how it feels to meet others at this level of intensity and intimacy: in both their therapeutic practice and every-day life. Through small group exercises, pairs-work, discussion and theory inputs, the workshop will help participants develop a deeper understanding of such encounters, and also how they can deepen their levels of relating in therapeutic work.

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss the nature of relational depth: Therapists will explore the essence of relational depth and how it shapes the therapeutic relationship, providing a framework for fostering deeper emotional engagement.
• Discuss our own experiences of in-depth relating: Participants will reflect on their personal and professional encounters with relational depth, identifying what contributed to these moments of connection and how they impacted both themselves and their clients.
• Discuss the latest research findings on the nature, impact, and prevalence of relational depth in therapy: This will involve reviewing key studies and data on the significance of relational depth in promoting effective therapeutic outcomes.
• Utilize means of deepening levels of relating with clients: Practical strategies will be introduced to help therapists foster more authentic and emotionally attuned relationships with their clients.
• Assess our own chronic strategies of disconnection and other barriers to relational depth: participants will be guided in recognizing the subtle ways in which disconnection strategies may emerge, allowing them to address these barriers without losing sight of the broader goal of fostering deeper therapeutic connections​.

By focusing on both the theoretical underpinnings and practical application of relational depth, this workshop offers a balanced and comprehensive approach for therapists aiming to deepen their therapeutic work.

© nscience 2024 / 2025