Ravi Welch – Psychological Development: Normal Development and the Development of Psychosis Viewed Through Reparenting and Attachment Theory

Ravi Welch, psychologist and integrative psychotherapist who worked at the Cathexis Institute with patients suffering from severe mental disorders, held the seminar on June 3, 4 and 5, 2022. in the organization of the National Association for Transactional Analysis – NATAS, by Association „Beosavet" and Specialist Practice „Bubera”, a three-session seminar on the topic: Psychological Development – Normal Development and the Development of Psychosis Viewed Through Reparenting and Attachment Theory.

Psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, clinical social workers and other mental health professionals, psychotherapists and trainees from various psychotherapy modalities were invited to register for this seminar.

Last year, this renowned psychologist and transactional analysis and integrative psychotherapist held a free online workshop organized by NATAS and the Association of Psychotherapists of Serbia on the topic: Introduction to the Treatment of Psychosis Using Transactional Analysis.

Mr. Welch generously donated and delivered the workshop as a pre-congress activity of the 11th Congress of Psychotherapists of Serbia, organized by the Association of Psychotherapists of Serbia. Around 400 participants attended this two-hour workshop and rated it very highly. You can view the evaluation results and the full workshop here. here).

Through lecture and discussion with participants, Ravi Welch addressed the topic of the “frame of reference,” shaped by genetic foundations and life experiences, normal psychological development, the development of psychosis viewed through reparenting and attachment theory, and the psychopathology of psychosis based on psychopathological development in childhood.

The relational experiences we have as children form the basis for the patterns of our relationships later in life.

One common definition of consciousness is: everything we experience, filtered through our personal history.

In transactional analysis, the term “frame of reference” describes this phenomenon of viewing the world through our life experiences, most of which occur in childhood and shape the given genetic basis, which later becomes the foundation for the formation of personality, character and temperament.

For these reasons, we believe it is important to approach the understanding of psychopathology through the lens of psychological development during childhood.

The fact that severely dysfunctional psychological structures show significant regression is also one of the reasons why we need to understand the development of psychopathology in order to be able to treat it effectively in psychotherapy.

The lecture began with a description of normal development and a discussion of normal development, thus establishing a common basis for discussing deviations from this basic line.

The usual developmental phases were used: oral, anal, oedipal, latency and adolescence, and they were described in relation to patterns of affective attachment/separation according to developmental phase.

Using this development as the norm, deviations from this basis were discussed in the development of different forms of schizophrenia, as well as in the development of different personality disorders.

Since the psychopathology of psychosis is described as a developmental issue, beginning in the oral phase of development, the lecture started with the development of the child directly from birth and continued through the developmental phases into adulthood.

This workshop was planned as the first of three currently planned workshops.

The other two workshops focus on psychotherapeutic psychodynamic treatment based on the reparenting approach for people with psychotic disorders, followed by work with people with personality disorders. Each subsequent workshop builds on the previous one, so it is recommended to attend all three, although they can also be followed separately.

If you did not attend the workshop and would like to watch the recording of all three days of the workshop , or recordings of any previous workshops organized or co-organized by NATAS, you can order the recording. Our recommendation is that, whenever possible, you attend the workshop live, as this gives you the opportunity for direct contact with the lecturer.

We would like to remind participants that in the planning and implementation of schizophrenia treatment — a clearly defined medical condition — the Republic of Serbia uses the Good Clinical Practice Guidelines published in 2013. For details, click here. here.

The seminar is accredited kao as a professional meeting of Category I under registration number A-1-167/22 by the Serbian Health Council, and only participants who attended the workshop received a certificate for two CME points and nine hours of education.

This seminar, held via Zoom, took place in English and Serbian, with consecutive professional interpretation provided by our colleagues, mental health professionals. You can find a description of consecutive interpretation here: What is consecutive interpreting?).

Who could participate in this seminar?

Psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and clinical social workers were eligible to participate in the seminar, as well as all other professionals, including special education teachers, andragogues and physicians, provided that they had completed or were in the process of psychotherapy training and had submitted the registration form.

If you would like to view the evaluation results of this seminar, click here.

The author’s handouts and PowerPoint presentation are not included in the seminar price, nor is the video recording of the seminar.

For more information, contact:

Zvonko (Zvonimir Ninić); E-mail: natasrbije@gmail.com

Telefon/SMS/Viber/WhatsApp +38163249239

Ravi Welch was born in the USA, half Indian and half American. His parents were Christian missionaries in India and came to the USA every few years for additional education. Both were transactional analysts and organized centers in India to help people and train professionals for clinical work and counselling with people who were suffering. His father was a psychologist and theologian, and his mother was a social worker. Ravi says that he grew up with the language and concepts of transactional analysis and thought that everyone else spoke exclusively in that language. At the age of 15, he met Jackie Schiff, and at the age of 16 he received an official invitation from the board of the Cathexis Institute in California to join their team. He accepted the invitation and, during his stay in California, completed undergraduate studies in psychology at the University of Berkeley and a master’s degree in research psychology, while spending the rest of his time working with Jackie Schiff at the Cathexis Institute with patients with severe mental disorders. There he met his future wife, and together they moved to Germany, where they have lived and worked ever since.

He trained future mental health professionals in the reparenting approach at the university, at the invitation of the German government.

In addition to transactional analysis in the school of Jackie Schiff, he also trained in hypnotherapy with Milton Erickson, body psychotherapy with Alexander Lowen, Meta Redington and David Fenstermaker. He is an integrative psychotherapist who applies the theoretical and practical foundations of integrative psychotherapy and all other therapeutic approaches based on a relational approach.

Radi kao učitelj Zen budizma i bavi se povezanošću psihologije i razvoja uma i istraživanjima koja se bave onim što se dešava sa umom kada praktikujemo meditativne tehnike. Predaje o terapijskim zajednicama na fakultetu za socijalni rad i specijalnu edukaciju na Gutenbergovom univerzitetu u Majncu, Nemačka i radi sa pacijentima u privatnoj psihoterapijskoj praksi.