Psychotherapy

 If you decide you'd like to make an appointment for psychotherapy, you should feel comfortable with both the doctor you choose to help you as well as her treatment methods.

For more information on my approach to treatment, check out How I Work & What to Expect. If you are interested in pursuing psychotherapy to help you resolve your difficulties, you should ask the doctor many questions so that...

1) You have a secure understanding of what you can expect,

2) You can assess whether her particular way of working appeals to you.

As a psychotherapy or coaching client, you are a consumer.

It is your right to ask questions, to have expectations, and to become informed about what you are signing up for. 

Remember, all psychotherapy is NOT created equal; psychotherapists and methods can differ greatly in their effectiveness.

Neuroplasticity research shows that psychotherapy can change the brain and help people reduce anxiety and modify destructive behaviors to create positive mood and behavior changes that can last a lifetime.

 Coaching

If you have very specific behavior change or performance enhancement goals for your career or your relationships, coaching may be a good option to meet your current needs or to get you started on the road to positive change.

What Is Coaching?

Goals of coaching

Who Can Benefit?

Coaching vs Psychotherapy

Choosing the Right coach

Core Training in ISTDP

Dr. Robin L. Kay's IEDTA certified
Core Training Program will provide a strong education in Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) and Attachment-Based ISTDP in a learning environment that is collegial and encouraging. 

Dr. Kay’s Core Training Program offers clinicians an opportunity to learn the theoretical and technical application of this empirically validated treatment modality—Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy. ISTDP draws upon affect regulation and attachment research to inform interventions that allow safe access to unconscious feelings and memories associated with early life attachment trauma which, if left untreated, is thought to interfere with emotion regulation, mood stability, impulse control skills and the development of successful relationships with self and others.

Click here to read testimonials from my clients.

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Type of Core Training Offered: IEDTA-certified Core Training in ISTDP and Attachment-Based ISTDP (AB-ISTDP)

Other Types of Training Offered: In addition to Core Training, I offer individual and small group supervision in-person and online. I also offer theoretical and clinical seminars, workshops, immersion courses, and conferences on a wide variety of topics in mental health and human behavior. 

Learning Objectives

The Core Training Program is intended to achieve at least two goals:

• To train psychotherapists to achieve excellence in ISTDP

• To create a peer network that promotes constructive collaboration between ISTDP and EDT psychotherapists

Core Training Fundamentals will include the following teaching modalities: 

• Interactive lectures that invite trainee questions, reactions and participation

• Role-playing, skill building exercises and other active learning techniques

• Studying video-recorded cases representing increasing levels of complexity

• Individual supervision, at least some of which will occur in the group setting

• Analysis of video-recorded cases presented by trainers and trainees 

Program Structure: Lessons and Practical Activities

Theoretical Components

• Case Formulation and Treatment Planning

• Understanding and Managing Triangle of Conflict and the Triangle of Persons

• Building, Bolstering, and Maintaining a Therapeutic Alliance

• Evaluating Achievements (of Trainees and Patients and goal setting in response to same)

• Recognizing Feelings, Anxiety, and Defense and associated interventions

• Theory and Practice of Restructuring Ego Adaptive Capacity

• Assessing Patient's Regulation of Emotions

• Uncovering Patient's Impulses, Guilt, Grief, and Access to Past Trauma

• Working through and promoting Cognitive Affective Integration (post-breakthrough)

• Termination and Follow-up

Practical Components

• Review and Analysis of the Certified Supervisor’s video-recorded sessions

• Review and Supervision of video segments from each trainee’s Psychotherapy Sessions (at least 2 cases for each trainee)

• Gradual transition from Theoretical Training and Analysis of supervisor video segments to the supervision of trainees’ video material

• Individual or Group Training throughout the program determined by the needs of the individual and the group

• Role-playing, Skill Building Exercises, and the Encouragement of Disciplined Practice

• Audio Recording of non-confidential material will be available to trainees 

Format of Training (including Duration and Frequency)

Core training includes didactic presentations on theory and technique, readings, PowerPoint presentations, group supervision, and skill-building exercises. Each member of the group must be willing to show a videotape of their work during each training session. The core group runs for 3 years. Each training group will either meet once a month for 9-10 months, 7-8 hours/day (usually on a Saturday or Sunday), or the training group will meet for 4 training sessions per year (usually weekend modules) for a total of 12 training modules over the course of the three-year program.

Cost:  Contingent upon the type of training.

Contact Dr. Kay for further information at DrRobinKay@gmail.com

What They're Saying…

Evaluations of my clinical teaching from Psychiatry Residents at UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine

"You have single-handedly taught us the most important lessons of being a listener, a healer, a therapist. Learning from you has been transformative for me and my patients. I am not exaggerating by saying your course and supervision were the highlight of my entire residency." 

Dr. Kay's course “was by far my favorite clinical experience during all of residency.  Dr. Kay presented videotaped therapy sessions at each meeting, and discussed technique, her thought process, and the longitudinal impact of her work on each patient. I will never forget the first class when she showed her work and began to outline techniques.  It was as if a lightbulb went on in the room and we all realized this was entirely different from any training we ever had before.”

"Dr. Kay's AB-ISTDP clinic is the most clinically important thing that someone can do in residency, especially if that someone wants to really learn how to do therapy. Many other clinics/types of therapy discuss theory a lot, but this shows the actual work being done, which gives much better insight into technique and effect. Real patient learning.” 

“I think your course is one of the most valuable experiences I have had in my residency education." 

“There is no equal to seeing therapy in action, and having a skilled clinician narrate the moment-to-moment process for you.  
Dr. Kay is also among the kindest, warmest, and most genuine mentors I found during residency.   I am so grateful to have been guided by her both professionally and personally over the last several years."

"If you want to practice psychotherapy, learning AB-ISTDP from Dr. Kay will forever impact your work by strengthening your observational skills, deepening your understanding of human emotions, and teaching you to block defenses that get in the way of the therapeutic process.”        

“Dr. Kay brings energy to the learning experience that is unusually motivating; my classmates and I leave the weekly seminar feeling rejuvenated and motivated to try to implement the therapy with our own patients.
I would count this experience as the most valuable psychotherapeutic learning of my four years of residency.”

"Dr. Kay's course was a valuable introduction to AB-ISTDP which has been the most challenging and rewarding learning experience for me as a psychiatrist. It has expanded my ability to care for both therapy and medication patients and provides a framework for understanding and approaching patients that is clear, practical, and more informative than the DSM."

Click here to see what my patients have to say

Feedback from My Core Training Students 

"My work week following the weekend was the most productive I’ve had in all my years of training in terms of my use of ISTDP with my patients."     

"A trainee who works hard to learn and practice ISTDP will find in Dr. Kay someone who will work equally hard for the benefit of the trainee."

"Since my training with you, my work has improved significantly. Your emphasis on how to see the patient and use the interventions precisely and compassionately made the difference."

"She gives specific and concrete feedback that is instantly useful and easy to integrate into my work." 

"What a wonderful gift to feel more effective with the people who come to me for help." 

"I was impressed by how much energy you had and how you were able to constantly attend to each of us. Your feedback was accurate and very specific." 

"I found the most helpful aspect of your approach to be your direct yet gentle feedback. You made it clear what was helpful and what was not and provided clear rationale. Small but significant things were useful such as when you briefly paused during the role play to give me a chance to consider my reply to the client. I felt both respected by the pause and supported by your helpful hints if I was stumped in that moment."

"Honestly, I cannot thank you enough. It was my most valuable weekend yet...”

• You had a focus for the weekend and you educated us with only that focus in mind. This prevented me from going into information overload and trying to grasp too many concepts

• You educated us on information pertinent to ISTDP which again made things clearer

• Your desire to help was evident and you worked to make me (and each of us) feel safe. 

• The focus wasn’t on how great of work you do but rather how we can improve our own practice. Even with your videos it didn’t feel like you were showing them simply to show us your work and how great it can be if you become that skilled but rather to show us how to implement the concept that we were focusing on that weekend

•  I noticed that your ego wasn’t present. You felt keenly interested in our work and incredibly approachable. I can’t tell you how much of a relief that is for me and how pertinent that is to my ability to learn"

"Dr. Kay's feedback is specific and of high quality. The pace is relaxed and responsive to the trainee’s ability to absorb feedback. It was a uniquely helpful experience."

"I really appreciated your teaching style and precision. I found the role plays helpful, and your skill building exercises helped us with the content and articulation." 

"Dr. Kay meets each student at their own level.
She is very attentive to the supervisee's state and creates a safe space for learning." 

Click here to see what my patients have to say!

Knowledge is Power

Some excellent references for the general public and professionals.

Solomon and Tatkin apply the latest neuroscience research on emotional arousal to help couples regulate each other's emotions, maintain secure attachments, and foster positive relationships. 

Written for therapists, this award-winning book written by Jon Frederickson, a master class therapist and teacher, describes in meticulous detail how effective psychotherapy can aid therapists to help their therapy-resistant patients.  
 

In this vital book written for psychotherapists, Master-class psychiatrist, Dr. Allan Abbass, explores the many ways patients unknowingly rely on defense mechanisms to their own detriment, and how to intervene to help patients get out of their own way. 

Dr. Phil Stutz has developed a therapeutic style that was the outgrowth of drawing images on index cards fo rhis patients to take home. Through his life experiences, he developed five simple tools that purportedly help individuals move forward in life. In this book, he describes these tools and explains how they can be practiced in daily life to achieve a sense of wellness.

This book examines the process of neuroplasticity in a series of compelling anecdotes that exemplify the countless ways in which our brains can be rewired and changed for the better. 

Supported by neuroscientific findings, Dr. Cozolino discusses how the brain is built and rebuilt by our experiences, which in turn influence our emotional problems, passions, and aspirations. 

Robert Karen explains how the infant-parent bond influences who we are and gives readers a new understanding of how negative attachment patterns get created.

Dr. Jud explains how cognitive, emotional, and behavioral habits get wired inside of our brains leading to anxiety and habit cycles. The first step in breaking these unhealthy anxiety habit loops is learning to identify how they form and how you keep them in motion.

Featuring notoriously talented psychotherapists such as Drs. Marion Solomon and Robert Neborsky, the techniques and effectiveness of various short-term psychotherapy approaches are examined throughout this book. 

Siegel’s best-selling book explores the extent to which our childhood experiences shape the way we parent. It guides parents through the process of creating secure parenting relationships to promote their children’s healthy psychological development.

Terrence Real’s book provides an eye-opening introduction to the patterns couples frequently find themselves stuck in. It describes a program of change which couples can implement to improve the quality of their relationships.

In this book, Daniel Siegel explores what it means to live in the here-and-now, to be fully present in the moment, and to be “mindfully aware.” He then reviews different strategies that can be used to achieve a mindful stance and a mindfulness practice.