The Presenter
Anthony D. Bram, PhD, ABAP is a psychologist and psychoanalyst in private practice in Lexington, MA, where he conducts psychological testing, psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral therapy, and psychoanalysis with children and adults. Dr. Bram is a part-time Lecturer in Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School and is on the faculty of the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. He received his doctorate from the University of Kansas and is a graduate of the Post-Doctoral training program at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas where he was subsequently a Staff Psychologist. Dr. Bram completed adult psychoanalytic training at the Greater Kansas City Psychoanalytic Institute, and child analytic training from the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. Dr. Bram is a board-certified diplomate in Assessment Psychology, and he has been a recipient of a Fellowship from the American Psychoanalytic Association, the Martin Mayman Award (two times) from the Society for Personality Assessment, Scientific Writing Award from the Menninger Clinic, and the Johanna Tabin Book Proposal Prize from Division 39 of the American Psychological Association. His book Psychological Testing that Matters: Creating a Road Map for Effective Treatment was published by APA Books in 2014.
Training and Topic Overview
Dr. Bram will present an approach to psychological assessment that evolved at the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, KS. This approach emphasizes: psychodynamic conceptualization in a broad sense, disciplined inference- making, salience of the patient-examiner relationship, and making meaningful links between test data and treatment implications. Dr. Bram will begin with a conceptual overview that includes descriptions of “treatment-centered diagnosis,” the concept of “underlying developmental disruption,” and a set of principles to guide systematic inference-making. He will then focus on assessment of key treatment-relevant ego functions (psychological capacities), including where specifically to look in test data. Advanced inference-making techniques of configurational analyses will also be introduced. A case presentation will be offered to illustrate the didactic points.
Workshop Objectives
- Participants will be able to define “treatment-centered diagnosis” and contrast it with the DSM approach.
- Participants will be able to define four types of “underlying developmental disruption” anddescribe treatment implications of each.
- Participants will be able to list at least three principles of inference-making.
- Participants will be able to define “patient-examiner relationship” and describe at least two ways that it canbe used as assessment data.
- Participants will be able to conduct a configurational analysis and understand what is involved in mini-sequence analyses.
Continuing Education
This workshop qualifies for 6.5 hours of CE credits for psychologists. This program is co-sponsored by the Society for Personality Assessment (SPA). SPA is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. SPA maintains responsibility for the program and its content. CE credits will be available for an additional $15 (see registration and payment form below).