In this newsletter issue we chose to focus on innovative aspects of supervision in TFP. To achieve that goal, we will focus on a paper by Drs. Valenciano and Hersh: ‘A Novel Approach to Supervision of Transference-Focused Psychotherapy (TFP): Examining the First Three Minutes of the TFP Session,’ that presented us with a particularly intriguing take. Of note, this reading highlighted for us the increasing need for quantitative research on TFP supervision. We would like to invite all of you to share any innovative research or share ongoing projects. Please consider submitting your work to allow us to diffuse it to the community through our ISTFP-PRESS service.
As we all know, TFP consists of highly structured elements surrounding an exploratory core. Throughout a TFP-based treatment, the therapist is encouraged to keep an eye on reality and common sense and logic, while being open to unconscious elements of mental functioning. As such, the TFP therapist is required to learn to walk a fine line between different levels of neutrality. Learning to appropriately choose when, to what extent, and with what new attitude to temporarily abandon neutrality is, perhaps, to the most difficult task to learn.
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Silvia Bernardi
Silvia Bernardi, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University. After graduating from medical school in Florence Italy in 2006, Silvia emigrated to the USA to work intensively in neuroscience research, studying the bases of the interaction between emotions and cognition. Silvia completed her residency in Psychiatry at Columbia and has since practiced privately in New York. She trained in Transference Focused Psychotherapy and continues to see patients for medication management and psychotherapy while conducting her research to unlock further knowledge to support the biological underpinnings of TFP and borderline personality disorder.
Glauco Valdivieso
Glauco Valdivieso is a Peruvian psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and researcher based in Lima, Peru. He completed his medical degree at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos and specialized in psychiatry at the Hospital Nacional Víctor Larco Herrera, becoming a board-certified psychiatrist in 2018.
He is a certified psychotherapist in Transference-Focused Psychotherapy (TFP), trained by the International Society of Transference-Focused Psychotherapy (ISTFP). In addition, he has completed formal training in Cognitive Psychotherapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Mentalization-Based Treatment (MBT).
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Dr. Valdivieso is the co-founder and medical director of the Instituto Peruano para el Estudio y Abordaje Integral de la Personalidad (IPEP), where he also coordinates the TFP Peru division. He founded and currently leads the Chapter on Personality Disorders within the Peruvian Psychiatric Association (APP), and works at the Mental Health Unit of Hospital de Villa El Salvador in Lima.
He is also a co-founder and editorial board member of the Latin American Journal of Personality, a collaborative initiative with the Instituto Argentino para el Estudio de la Personalidad y sus Trastornos (IAEPD). Additionally, he serves on the editorial board of the Peruvian Journal of Psychiatry. Internationally, he is a Board Member of the International Society for the Study of Personality Disorders (ISSPD), where he chairs the Communications Committee and leads the Latin American Regional Group.
His main clinical and research interests include the treatment of personality and mood disorders, with a particular focus on advancing research in Transference-Focused Psychotherapy (TFP).