Self-Destructive Behaviors
Educational Workshops for Therapists
A series of eight online workshops for therapists who wish to deepen their understanding of addictions, behavioral addictions, and eating disorders. Through a Gestalt perspective, as well as relational and phenomenological approaches, we will explore the meaning of symptoms, relapse, trauma, shame, recovery, and spirituality in the context of self-destructive behaviors.
About the Training
The training is designed as a developmental process in which the topics gradually build upon and deepen one another—from core concepts and an understanding of symptoms, through the contact cycle, recovery, trauma, and shame, to broader questions of identity, relationships, spirituality, and personal growth.
A more detailed overview of the eight modules can be found below.
Each workshop includes a presentation-based lecture, experiential exercises, work in pairs or small groups, open discussion, questions, and the exchange of clinical experience. Sessions are not recorded. Shortly after each module, participants receive the presentation and all workshop materials in PDF format, including recommended reading.
Who Is This Training For?
This training is intended for psychotherapists, final-year psychotherapy trainees, and colleagues from other helping professions who wish to broaden and deepen their understanding of addictions, behavioral addictions, eating disorders, and other forms of self-destructive behavior.
The workshops may also be valuable for professionals who encounter these themes in their clinical work, even when self-destructive patterns are not severe enough to warrant a formal diagnosis or do not present in the more familiar forms of addiction and compulsive behavior.
The training is particularly intended for colleagues who experience uncertainty, overwhelm, strong countertransference reactions, or a sense that their usual theoretical frameworks and therapeutic approaches do not fully capture the complexity of these clients’ experiences.
The workshops also emerged from a recognition that therapists are often insufficiently supported in their work with this population—not only in terms of theory and clinical practice, but perhaps most importantly through the lack of space for open discussion, shared reflection, and the exchange of experiences, dilemmas, and challenges that this work can bring.
Workshop Format
The workshops take place online via the Zoom platform, once a month, in step with the school year. Each module lasts 4-5 hours, with breaks. Depending on the needs and availability of the majority of registered participants, the sessions will be organised either on weekdays in the late afternoon and evening, or on Saturdays during the morning and early afternoon.
The first module may be attended as a standalone workshop, after which participants can decide whether they wish to continue with the remainder of the program. Based on previous experience, I have found that the workshops gain their full value through continuity, the gradual development of a shared space for learning and exchange, and engagement with the process as a whole.
The group size will typically range from 8 to 20 participants.
Fee per Module
5,000 RSD for payments via a Dinar account, i.e. 4,000 RSD for trainees.
50 EUR for payments via PayPal, or 40 EUR for students.
Participants may pay for each module individually before the session or pay for the entire program after the first workshop. For participants who choose a one-time payment for the full training cycle, the total fee is:
37,000 RSD, i.e. 30,000 RSD for trainees
€370 via PayPal, i.e. €300 for trainees.
1: Introduction and Core Concepts
Self-destructive behaviors: concepts and definitions. Substance addictions, behavioral addictions, and eating disorders. DSM-5 and encounters with real clients. The symptom as a creative adaptation and an attempt to regulate unbearable experience. An introduction to Gestalt and phenomenological perspectives on understanding symptoms.
2: The Contact Cycle
Modifications of the contact cycle in addictions and eating disorders. Changes in the relationship to self, others, and reality during both the active phase of the disorder and recovery. Impoverished ground, impulsivity, pseudo-contact, and the inability to assimilate experience. From the contact cycle to the sensation–action loop.
3: Early Recovery
Planning and establishing abstinence and early recovery in addictions and eating disorders. Symptom control versus deeper recovery. Relapse, stabilization, and changes in the organization of the self during recovery. Interdisciplinary support and the inclusion of the client’s wider field of relationships and resources.
4: Symptoms
Symptoms and the meaning of self-destructive behaviors. The symptom as an attempt at survival, regulation, and maintaining contact. Individual, relational, and phenomenological approaches to understanding symptoms. Common dilemmas in therapeutic work with clients.
5: Trauma
Trauma, dissociation, and fragmentation as common developmental foundations of self-destructive behavioral patterns. Developmental trauma, the absence of resonance, and “what did not happen.” The impact of trauma on the body, the nervous system, contact, and the capacity for self-regulation.
6: Shame
Shame and self-destructive behaviors. Shame as a consequence of symptoms, a trigger for symptoms, and a persistent atmosphere within the experience of the self. Shame, the body, and interruptions in contact. Working with shame through relationship, presence, and support for contact.
7: Perspectives on Therapeutic Work
A review of the previous themes through three perspectives on psychotherapy: the individual, relational, and field-theoretical perspectives. An exploration of how these approaches sometimes complement one another and at other times offer markedly different understandings of symptoms and the therapeutic process.
8: Spirituality
Spirituality as both a potential resource and a potential obstacle in working with self-destructive behavioral patterns. Existential hunger, meaning, belonging, freedom, and community in the recovery process. Spirituality as a source of support, but also as a possible form of avoidance or control.
About me
I am Branka Irižanin, a psychologist, MA in Theology, and Gestalt psychotherapist.
Through my own experience of overcoming self-destructive behavioral patterns, I have gained a unique perspective, motivation, and understanding of the processes clients go through at different stages of recovery—from active symptoms, establishing abstinence, and early stabilization, to ongoing personal development and the cultivation of a more mature relationship with themselves, others, and life.
For many years, I have engaged with these topics personally, as a volunteer, and later professionally. These workshops emerged from a desire to expand my contribution—not only directly through my work with clients, but also indirectly through supporting fellow therapists in their own clinical work.
My hope is to offer colleagues not only knowledge and theoretical frameworks, but also a space for the exchange of experiences, questions, and mutual support. I believe such a space can contribute to a greater sense of confidence when working with this client population, as well as greater freedom and presence within the therapeutic relationship.
Registration
By clicking the “Apply” button, you will be redirected to the registration Google Form. After registering, you will be invited to a brief individual online or phone conversation. Following these conversations, the group will be finalized and the workshop schedule confirmed. Once the group has been formed, communication between sessions will take place through a closed mailing list.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me:
Email: branka.irizanin@yahoo.com
Phone: 063/87-82-773
Updates about the training program and future workshop groups will also be shared on my Facebook and Instagram pages. Feel free to follow me if you would like to stay connected.
English 
Serbian