Travels to the Unconscious with dr John Rathauser

Overview

Didactic presentations, combined with detailed audiovisual demonstrations of actual therapy sessions, will illustrate the following clinical and metapsychological principles using cases from the spectrums of psychoneurosis, low anxiety tolerance, functional disorders, and fragile character structure:

· Establishing a secure therapeutic alliance.

· Assessing the genuineness of the patient’s motivation to enter treatment.

· Reaching agreement on the therapeutic task and goal.

· Transitioning from Pressure and Challenge to the mobilization and crystallization of complex feelings toward the therapist (the transference component of resistance), leading to intrapsychic crisis, breakthroughs, and unlocking of the unconscious.

· Recognizing the essential role of the four “pillars” of resistance.

· Identifying the three pathways of unconscious anxiety.

· Defining and recognizing syntonic defense and anxiety.

· Differentiating between observational and metapsychological forms of clarification.

· Using deactivation when working with defiance and compliance.

· Understanding the distinction between formal head-on collisions and “passing moments” of head-on collision, the latter reducing therapeutic misalliances.

· Prioritizing defense analysis over direct Pressure to feelings (I/F) in early treatment stages.

· Ensuring that patients can clearly delineate the three corners of the Triangle of Conflict before attempting to access the unconscious.

Over the course of the two days, these principles will be brought to life through extended audiovisual presentations showcasing key clinical sequences from actual therapy sessions, allowing participants to witness the unfolding of the unconscious process in real time. The videos are in English and will include English and Polish subtitles.

Target Audience: This conference is intended for mental health professionals, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, and trainees in IS-TDP seeking to deepen their clinical understanding and technical skill in Davanloo’s IS-TDP.

About The Presenter

John Hans Rathauser, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist with over 40 years of clinical experience. Following the completion of his doctorate in clinical psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology – Los Angeles, his postdoctoral experiences began with a five-year training period at the Postgraduate Center for Mental Health in New York. In 1994, John Rathauser entered into training with Habib Davanloo, M.D., in Montreal, Canada, spending eight years in Dr. Davanloo’s Core Training Group. From 2002-2016, he continued to attend annual weeklong metapsychology conferences held by Dr. Davanloo in Montreal, Canada. John Rathauser’s private practice in Kendall Park, New Jersey, is largely devoted to Davanloo’s Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (IS-TDP) and to providing training to mental health practitioners. He has given numerous presentations on ISTDP, both nationally and internationally, and is a supervisor for the International Experiential Dynamic Therapy Association (IEDTA).

Contact John at johnrathauser@comcast.net or johnrathauser@gmail.com.

Practical information:

Time, seminar: May 16-17, 2026 CEST

16.05.2026 10:00 - 18:00 CEST with 1 hour break at 13:00

17.05.2026 09:00 - 17:00 CEST with 1 hour break at 12:00

Place: Online and Warsaw, Chmielna 73

Registration: biuro@istdp.pl

Price: 555 EURO

Cancellation policy: Please send any cancellations by email to biuro@istdp.pl
(with the subject line “Cancellation of John Rathauser Conference”).
In case of cancellation: till 10.02.2026 we will refund 100% of the fee
till 10.04.2026 we will refund 50% of the fee.
the fee paid is non-refundable since 10.04.2026 due to organisational reasons, but you can transfer your participation to another person that fulfil all requirements of attendance.

Confidentiality: As the presentations will contain personally sensitive material, the course is for health professionals only, under oath of confidentiality.

Learning Format and Core TopicsThis two-day audiovisual seminar is designed to deepen participants’ understanding of Davanloo’s Central Dynamic Sequence and its initial phases of Pressure (P) and Challenge (C)—including the use of Davanloo’s most powerful form of Challenge, the head-on collision.

Attendees are encouraged to have a foundational knowledge of IS-TDP’s core concepts, including the Triangles of Conflict and of Person, and the therapeutic phases of Inquiry, Pressure, Challenge, and the unlocking of the unconscious.

Success or failure in this method is strongly linked to the clinician’s degree of mastery in applying these phases accurately. The progression of the therapeutic interview according to the Central Dynamic Sequence is metapsychologically informed, and a major aim of this seminar is to help participants conceptualize and implement Davanloo’s metapsychological principles, which are essential for precise and effective intervention. For Davanloo, technical intervention is always guided by metapsychology, ensuring that each step in the therapeutic process is purposeful and precise.

Fundamentals of Davanloo’s IS-TDP

While Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (IS-TDP) is a particularly powerful and often transformative treatment modality, many who have attempted to learn this system encounter a troubling realization: they cannot perform the work with a high degree of faithfulness. Consequently, they either abandon their efforts or create modified—and often diluted—variations on the original model.

Returning to the roots of the method allows practitioners to remain aligned both with themselves and with the technical demands of this difficult yet deeply rewarding work.

A cross-section of clinical trial therapy sessions featured in Fundamentals of Davanloo’s Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy, Vol. I (Rathauser, J., Reher-Langberg, M., & Entis, J.; currently under final review for publication) will be presented during this conference. Book will be published by Centrum ISTDP in Polish language in 2026.

Course Outline: Travels to the Unconscious