Nancy McWilliams and Michael Garrett: Working with reenactments, ruptures, and relationship restoration across the clinical spectrum

Nancy McWilliams and Michael Garrett’s seminar on therapeutic alliance, relationship breakdowns, and attempts at restoration in working with nonpsychotic and psychotic clients.

Four academic hours of in-depth analysis, clinical examples, and conversation about the most fragile moment—the moment when the connection between therapist and patient is lost.

What is this seminar about?

This seminar brings together the experience of two outstanding clinicians, Nancy McWilliams and Michael Garrett, in reflecting on how therapeutic relationships are formed, destroyed, and restored in a variety of clients, from neurotic to psychotic.

In the first part, Nancy McWilliams will analyze empirical evidence of the importance of the therapeutic alliance for the effectiveness of psychotherapy. She will focus on the dynamics of relationship breakdown and restoration in working with nonpsychotic patients and use examples to show how such crises can become points of growth.

In the second part, Michael Garrett will address the treatment of psychosis, focusing on the complex combination of traumatic past, fragmented self-images, and persecutory fantasies. He will explain why therapeutic contact with psychotic patients is both fragile and deeply transformative, and how to work with transference in such cases.

Participants will be able to ask questions, share cases, and receive feedback from leading experts.

Key topics of the seminar

This seminar is for therapists who want to gain a deeper understanding of how to maintain connection even in the most challenging relationships, and for anyone who works with trauma and disruption and wants to learn how to build resilient, whole relationships where pain and chaos once reigned.

What you will get from this seminar?

• An understanding of the central role of the therapeutic alliance as a predictor of effectiveness, using examples of non-psychotic and psychotic clients.
  
• Clear guidelines on how to recognize a breakdown in connection in therapy and restore it without losing authority and empathy.
  
• The concept of enactments in dynamic therapy and strategies for recognizing and transforming them.
  
• The connection between early trauma, insecure attachment, and the emergence of split images that affect contact in therapy.
  
• Explanation of why therapeutic relationships with people with psychosis require not only clinical endurance but also an empathetic understanding of deeply fragmented experiences.
  
• Clinical examples from both lecturers’ practice as a tool for learning and reflection in complex cases.
  

Who is this seminar for

• Psychotherapists and psychoanalysts who work with disruptions, transference, and reenactments—both with clients with neurotic levels of organization and those with psychotic features or deep attachment trauma.
  
• Clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, and supervisors who want to better understand how relational dynamics work in psychosis, how past trauma affects the therapist’s distorted perception, and how to restore therapeutic coherence after a projective rupture.
  
• Professionals who work with trauma, dissociation, or experiences of violence, particularly with patients who exhibit high levels of disorganization, paranoid fantasies, or ideas of persecution. The seminar will help participants see how these patterns are related to childhood experiences and how to support the integration process.
  
• Beginners and experienced therapists who want to restore their faith in the power of contact, see new landmarks for difficult cases, and hear from lecturers with decades of clinical experience how not to lose themselves even when the connection becomes painful or seems impossible.
  

About the lecturers

Frequently asked questions

📌 Will I receive a certificate after the seminar?
Yes, the certificate is automatically generated after viewing and will be available in your personal account.

📌 Can I watch the seminar on my phone?
Yes, the broadcast and recording are available on any device: smartphone, tablet, laptop, or computer.

📌 What should I do if I lose my internet connection or have a poor connection during the online seminar?
The technical organizer of the broadcast is MediaStream, which has been working with PSYCON since 2013 and provides a stable connection through wide channels and professional equipment. However, we are not responsible for individual technical problems of users. In case of possible connection interruptions in your region, you can purchase a recording of the seminar in your account at any time.

📌 When will the video recording of the seminar be available?
The video recording will appear in your account within 1–3 hours after the broadcast ends. Immediately after that, you will be able to purchase or view it (depending on your package).

📌 Will I be able to continue watching the recording later?
Yes, if you purchased a package with online access only, you can purchase additional access for 3 or 10 days in your personal account.

📌 Can I watch the seminar on multiple devices at the same time?
No. The security system automatically blocks simultaneous viewing. If you try to connect from another device, the current session will end and you will see a warning on the screen.

📌 Is group viewing of the seminar allowed?
No, the broadcast is for personal use only, with an individual certificate. This is our responsibility to the lecturers.

📌 Can I record the seminar?
No. According to the contract with the lecturers, recording is prohibited. All materials are the intellectual property of the authors. Any copying or distribution is a violation of the law.

📌 Can I pay from any country?
Yes, you can pay from anywhere except countries under international sanctions. We accept international bank cards: Visa and Mastercard. We use the secure WayForPay acquiring service.