I’m very excited to be one of the presenters in Advances and Challenges in Couples Therapy Today, one of the Flash Forums at this year’s Psychotherapy Networker Symposium. Inspired by the TED Talks, the Flash Forums were designed as an energizing, streamlined format for allowing attendees to be exposed to the work of leading innovators in each of four different practice specialties: couples therapy, trauma work, grief treatment and applications of brain science. As with the TED Talks, each presenter will have no more than 20 minutes to give their talk using whatever multimedia materials they wish to give the most dynamic and impactful presentation that they can.
In contrast to the usual panel format, the emphasis in the Flash Forums is not on interaction among panelists but on highlighting different cutting-edge clinical perspectives presented in juxtaposition to each other. The strict 20-minute time constraint really pushes presenters to showcase complex, cutting-edge ideas in a way that’s compelling, energizing, and memorable. There’s no time for meandering!
To see how the format works, just click the link below to view the Flash Forum from last year that included Bessel van der Kolk, Barbara Frederickson, and Dan Siegel.
Symposium 2014 Flash Forum: Charting Psychotherapy’s New Horizons
To sum it up, each Flash Forum consists of three parts:
1. The Set Up
Each Flash Forum has a moderator, who will start things off, introduce the presenters, and keep an eye on the clock.
2. The Talks
In the energized spirit of condensed learning, the talks themselves will be presented rapid fire. After one talk ends, the moderator will introduce the next presenter and another talk will start.
3. Audience Involvement
After all four talks have been presented in rapid succession, the moderator will pose a question to the audience that they’ll discuss in small groups amongst themselves. The emphasis will be on giving audience members the chance to interact with each other to process what the ideas presented could mean for their practices.
I really hope you’ll consider attending the Psychotherapy Networker Symposium and participating in the Couples Therapy Flash Forum Saturday morning.
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