Training for Therapists
Training & Supervision for Therapists
I offer a range of training opportunities for therapists looking to deepen their clinical skills—regardless of prior experience with ISTDP. While my theoretical orientation is psychodynamic and grounded in the metapsychology of ISTDP, you don’t need to be trained in—or even aligned with—this model to work with me. If you’re committed to another approach, we can explore how ISTDP principles might complement and enrich your existing framework.
Training formats include individual supervision sessions, group supervision, and Core Training cohorts that meet regularly in six-month blocks. I also facilitate didactic groups that focus on reviewing and analyzing recorded segments from my own clinical work. These ethically approved recordings offer a unique opportunity to engage with real clinical process in a transparent, reflective, and collegial environment.
Whether you’re just beginning your journey with dynamic therapy or looking to refine your work at a more advanced level, there’s a training format to meet you where you are.
I also run a YouTube channel where I regularly share free educational content for fellow therapists, including clinical insights, case discussions, and conceptual explorations. To be notified of upcoming seminars or training opportunities, click on the final option in the drop-down menu: “Sign Up for Newsletter” to join my mailing list.
About Me and My Teaching Lineage
My teaching is deeply informed by over a decade of intensive training with Marvin Skorman, one of Habib Davanloo’s closest students throughout the 1980s. Although Marvin mentored me for 15 years in total, it was during our years of weekly audio-visual supervision that I received an immersive education in the technical and relational nuances of ISTDP.
The lineage I represent is non-institutional and follows the long-term apprenticeship model: from Davanloo to Marvin, and from Marvin to me. In his later years of practice, Marvin strongly encouraged me to begin training others. We co-facilitated several trainings together, and he continued to review recordings of my supervision work as part of our ongoing learning process. The style of mentorship and teaching that I aspire to carry forward is one that places the relationship first, where technique is always in service of deepening and enhancing that relationship.
Core Training
Cohorts for therapists seeking an intensive, immersive, long-term learning experience
Ongoing group
supervision and learning opportunities, often centered on video recordings of my clinical work
Individual supervision
for therapists practicing individual or couples therapy
Episodic introductory
& advanced training seminars, which combine didactic teaching, video-based clinical demonstrations, and interactive discussion
Qualifications
I am honored to have been sanctioned and fully supported by Marvin Skorman, LMHC, to offer ISTDP and ISTDP-informed psychotherapy training and consultation, including the facilitation of Core Trainings.
I trained weekly under Mr. Skorman for over a decade. A close student of Dr. Habib Davanloo throughout the 1980s, Mr. Skorman brings over 40 years of experience in psychotherapy and clinical consultation. Dr. Davanloo, of course, is the founder and developer of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP).
On Legitimacy in ISTDP
Davanloo never formalized a certification process for ISTDP practitioners, nor did he authorize any organization to govern or represent the model.
Because of this, anyone can call themselves an ISTDP therapist or teacher. Those who claim institutional authority over the model have done so on their own accord and without Davanloo’s stamp of approval.
My work is grounded in a long-term apprenticeship model—consistent with how Dr. Davanloo himself trained his students—rather than institutional certification.
If someone asserts that only those certified by a particular group are legitimate practitioners of ISTDP, the following questions may help clarify the matter:
- Has Dr. Davanloo personally sanctioned you to teach?
- Has he granted you the authority to decide who is or isn’t qualified to teach the model?
- How many years did you study directly under him?
The following text goes into some detail around what has gone into being sanctioned to teach by Marvin Skorman: Key Take-Aways from over a Decade of Training in ISTDP with Marvin Skorman
Mr. Skorman brings over 40 years of experience in psychotherapy and clinical consultation, and spent several years training directly with Dr. Habib Davanloo, the founder and developer of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP). Mr. Skorman has fully endorsed my work and supports me in teaching and supervising others in ISTDP.
FAQs
I encourage you to, with your client’s consent, video record your sessions and then show me your recorded sessions. This gives us an opportunity to see what you are doing well and what you could be doing better with far greater detail and clarity than if you just describe your work to me. I also show you my own clinical work to demonstrate what I am teaching.
After over a decade of training in ISTDP with Marvin Skorman, LMHC—a senior former student of Dr. Habib Davanloo—he has personally supported and encouraged me to teach and supervise others in this approach. Dr. Davanloo, the developer of ISTDP, never established formal training or certification programs, nor did he endorse any organization to offer official certifications in ISTDP.
The fee for training and supervision varies — reach out with your interest for more details.
No. If by the term supervision you mean supervision towards an independent license, I do not offer this kind of supervision.