Secrets in Psychotherapy: Clinical, Somatic, and Ethical Perspectives with Kathryn J. Zerbe MD Scientific Conference In-person or Zoom

Secrets in Psychotherapy: Clinical, Somatic, and Ethical Perspectives

Kathryn J. Zerbe MD

11am – 1pm Central Time

2 In-person Clinical and Ethics continuing education credits available

Psychologists, Social Workers, and Licensed Professional Counselors may also receive continuing education credit for this activity if their accredited associations or boards recognize CME credits.

Participation is open to all. Attendees will receive a 2-hour CME certificate. This is a hybrid event. In-person space is limited so please register early and use the early registration discount through September 17.

Hearing secrets is part of every clinician’s practice. The impact of keeping secrets has received little attention in psychodynamic training or the analytic literature. These disclosures can exert powerful and unanticipated reactions in the therapeutic relationship. Somatic countertransference reactions and the body/mind relationship is an entry point to more fully appreciate the importance of secrets that come to light in treatment. Ethical complications can also arise when bearing witness to others’ “ghosts” and trauma. It is essential to distinguish normative but conflictual ‘professional camouflage’ from unconscious or dissociated ‘secret identities.

This presentation (based on Kathryn Zerbe’s new book Secrets in Psychotherapy: Stories that Inform Clinical Work) brings together contemporary perspectives from psychodynamic treatment, advances in cognitive science, medicine, and neuroscience to assist practitioners in working with secrets that emerge during psychotherapy or psychoanalysis. Clinical examples will illustrate and integrate the multiple perspectives from which to understand the impactful role secret keeping has on our patients’ lives and our own.

Learning Objectives:

• Distinguish between the ethical complications that may arise from ‘therapist camouflage’ or less conscious, dissociated ‘secret identities’.
• Recognize multiple and unanticipated impacts on the therapist-patient relationship when a warded off secret is spoken aloud.
• Use somatic countertransference as an additional guide in treatment.

Kathryn J. Zerbe, MD is a Training and Supervising Analyst at Oregon Psychoanalytic Center and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Oregon Health and Science University who has written several papers and a book on the topic of secret keeping in psychodynamic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. Her experience in treating eating disorders for over 30 years led her to undertake a deeper dive into the topic of secrets that reside on the conscious/unconscious continuum, impact the mind/body of patient and clinician, and can create complicated ethical dilemmas in the treatment.

Registration Information (includes 2 CME credits)

Advance registration is required. Please click HERE to register online. If you prefer to pay by check, please email nobpcenter@gmail.com.

 VIRTUAL (ZOOM) REGISTRATION ENDS Friday, October 3 at Noon Central Time.

 In person at NOBPC, 3624 Coliseum St , New Orleans, LA 70115

Early Registration Discount by September 17, 2025:

NOBPC Members: $40

Non-members: $85

Students (enrolled in a formal academic or training program) $25 (No CME)

AFTER September 5 and BEFORE September 27:

NOBPC Members: $55

Non-members: $100

Students (enrolled in a formal academic or training program) $25 (No CME)

Week of Registration Fees:

NOBPC Members: $70

Non-members: $115

Students (enrolled in a formal academic or training program) $25 (No CME)

Optional Readings:

• Zerbe, K. (2019). The secret life of secrets: Deleterious psychosomatic effects on patient and analyst. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 67:1, 185 – 214.https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0003065119826624
• Zerbe, K. (2022).  Aches, pains, rumbles, and stumbles:  Applying somatic countertransference and body reactivity in clinical work and teaching. Psychoanalytic Review, 109:2, 167 – 193.
• Zerbe, K. (2022). The analyst’s self-care:  Further reflections on cultivating resilience and the essential role of the body-mind relationship in clinical practice, Psychodynamic Psychiatry, 50:4, 603 – 621.

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of American Psychoanalytic Association and NOBPC. The American Psychoanalytic Association is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The American Psychoanalytic Association designates this live activity for a maximum of 2 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

The APsA CE Committee has reviewed the materials for accredited continuing education and has determined that this activity is not related to the product line of ineligible companies and therefore, the activity meets the exception outlined in Standard 3: ACCME’s identification, mitigation and disclosure of relevant financial relationship. This activity does not have any known commercial support.