Interpersonal Problems, Interpersonal Solutions:
Understanding & Treating Women's Depression
with Valerie E. Whiffen, Ph.D.
45th Annual Conference
author of
A Secret Sadness: The hidden relationship patterns that make women depressed
and
Attachment Processes in Couple and Family Therapy with Sue Johnson
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The conference will be held on:
Saturday, November 1st, 2008
Sunday, November 2nd, 2008
LOCATION: Westerbeke Ranch Conference Center in Sonoma, California
www.westranch.com
A woman's depression is linked to the quality of her close relationships with her family of origin, her romantic partner and her children. Problems in these interpersonal domains both contribute to the experience of depression and are affected by a woman's emotional distress, thus creating a negative feedback loop that can be extremely difficult for therapists to change. In this workshop I will describe what we know about the interpersonal world of depressed women from current empirical research. Based on this understanding, I will discuss the treatment of depressed women using two empirically validated treatments: Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) and Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) for depressed women and their romantic partners. Throughout the workshop, I will use my clients' experiences to illustrate the material and to show how change occurs.
Valerie E. Whiffen, Ph.D. has been a researcher, professor and clinical psychologist in private practice since 1986. For twenty years, she was a professor of psychology
at the University of Ottawa, where she taught students to do Interpersonal Therapy with depressed women and Emotionally Focused Therapy with couples who are struggling with a partner's depression. She now lives near Vancouver, BC, where she is in private practice and a member of the Board of Directors for the College of Psychologists. Her primary research and clinical interests are gender and depression. She serves as a peer reviewer for several professional psychology journals, and holds a research grant looking at the impact of breast cancer on marital relations. She has authored numerous chapters in professional books and more than forty research articles. She is the author of A Secret Sadness: The hidden relationship patterns that make women depressed and
Attachment Processes in Couple and Family Therapy with Sue Johnson.