Why do people like people?
Why do people hate people?

     The Littleton, Colorado shooting is just one incident that shows why psychotherapists must study and treat the emotions that allow connection, cause social discord, and encourage violence.
     The media tells us that our world is falling apart.
     Tiny children kill classmates with guns that are too easily available to irresponsible homes.
     Teachers lose hope of maintaining order in their classes. Disgruntled employees murder supervisors and co-workers.
     Incivility, sexual hedonism, rowdiness, drug use, and contempt for authority are now considered normative behavior. In response to the national attention to visible and highly publicized episodes of school violence, programs have sprung up everywhere as good people attempt to make their world better. No longer can we just praise "the good old days."
     The Tomkins Institute's Colloquium 2000 offers a fresh look at these disturbing issues. We'll show you the basic mechanisms that govern our customs for dealing with each other and teach a whole new way of improving private and public life.

Squabbling and Estrangement

     No matter what their intentions, people squabble and end up estranged. There will be presentations on the scripts that govern dating and falling in (and out of) love, the history of our approaches to marriage counseling, and on helping couples achieve intimacy. You may know this as part of the Philadelphia System.

The Philadelphia System

     Just as interpersonal life extends far from home into the community, the Philadelphia System extends from the traditional office to all realms of human connection.
     Dissension in school, work, clubs, bowling leagues, political parties, and any other stable group of people is more rule than exception.
     Borders are lost as fights break out between fans and professional athletes. People must learn techniques to spot trouble before it gets dangerous, manage disputes, and make school and street safer for all of us. Responsible psychotherapy must include both awareness of these larger issues and training in the skills that can let us make a difference.
     If you're a professional psychotherapist, you'll learn how you can get involved and where you're needed in the drive to curb violence in our shared world. Our information will be useful in your own life and to those who seek your help.
     Colloquium 2000 is a 3-day meeting featuring plenary lectures from internationally acclaimed superstars, symposia and workshops with workers proficient in these fields, and master classes with well known therapists and teachers.
     Now, more than ever, this information about the role of human emotion in the world at large is essential. Join us in Philadelphia.

President Clinton appointed Executive Director Don Nathanson to the Academic Advisory Council of the National Campaign Against Youth Violence. Under his guidance, we're focusing attention on how people connect with others to make all sorts of relationships.

 

Vincent van Gogh    Portrait of Camille Roulin, 1888 or 1889    Oil on canvas    17 x 13 3/4 inches    Philadelphia Museum of Art:    Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Rodolphe Meyer de    Schauenesse

Vincent van Gogh    Postman Joseph Roulin, 1888    Oil on canvas    17 x 13 3/4 inches    Museum of Fine Arts, Boston:    Gift of Robert Treat Paine, 2nd

Colloquium 2000 will be held in the Van Pelt Auditorium at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The Museum has graciously invited Colloquium attendees to a private preview exhibition of Van Gogh: Face to Face.

In June, 1890, one month before his suicide, Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) wrote, "What fascinates me much, much more than anything else in my metier is the portrait...I should like to do portraits which will appear as revelations to people in 100 years time." Van Gogh: Face to Face will focus, for the first time, on his evolving approach to the portrait throughout his tragically brief life.

---

Who may attend:

This conference is intended for:

Mental health practitioners, including psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, pastoral counselors, chemical dependency counselors, and marriage and family counselors.

Researchers in psychology, sociology, and cultural anthropology, who are interested in the study of emotion, interpersonal communication, or individual development.

Other physicians interested in furthering their knowledge and skills in understanding interpersonal communication, distress, and psychopathology.

Physician participants must have a background knowledge in psychiatry or neurology, if not actually psychiatrists or neurologists. Although it is not required that a physician participant be a psychiatrist or neurologist, it is required that they have a strong interest in understanding and treating problems with the human emotions as they impact their practice.

Graduate students currently enrolled in a training program are welcome. Those without such training may write for special consideration.

Participants should hold a graduate level degree in one of the mental health professions, or a graduate level research degree as described above. Chemical dependency counselors may attend if they hold a Chemical Addictions Counselor (CAC) Certificate or equivalent. Those who do not have such training may write for special permission to attend.

Expected Outcome:

Through participation in this program, each conference participant should be able to:

1. understand the basic neurophysiological processes that underlie the formation, maintenance, and deterioration of human relationships;
2. recognize and differentiate the affective phenomena that regulate human connection from those related to neocortical cognition and conscious behavior;
3. learn clinical interventions that directly impact all forms of human connection;
4. teach techniques of affect modulation to individuals, couples, and groups so that the process of change may be extended beyond the therapeutic session;
5. learn the skills necessary to participate as counselors in new systems of primary and secondary education devised to teach affect modulation to our children.

Course participants will acquire a new way of understanding the importance of affect and affect modulation skills as they impact all forms of human connection, from the couple to groups, communities, and our society as a whole. The application of affect and script psychology to the realm of human relationships will provide the participant with a powerful paradigm that would not otherwise be as clearly and readily accessible. With intense attention to therapeutic technique, this conference offers material that can be put to immediate use by professionals at all levels of training and skill. A major outcome of this program will be the timely exposure to and acquisition of information and techniques neither published nor available elsewhere.

Accreditation:

Continuing Education Certificates will be available for all who attend.

The basic program (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) involves 16 hours of instruction, and the optional Thursday evening lecture/seminar an additional 3 hours, all of which is eligible for continuing education credit as follows:

The Silvan S. Tomkins Institute is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to sponsor continuing medical education for physicians. The Silvan S. Tomkins Institute designates this continuing medical education activity for up to 19 credit hours in Category 1 of the Physician's Recognition Award of the American Medical Association. Physician participants must have a background knowledge in psychiatry or neurology if not actually psychiatrists or neurologists. Although it is not required that a physician participant be a psychiatrist or a neurologist, it is required that they have a strong interest in understanding and treating problems with the humans emotions as they impact their practice.

The Silvan S. Tomkins Institute is approved by the American Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. The Silvan S. Tomkins Institute maintains responsibility for the program.

The Silvan S. Tomkins Institute has applied to the American Association of State Social Work Boards for permission to grant CEUs to Social Workers from 18 States.

Books and tapes will be available for purchase through the Joseph Fox Bookshop.

---

| Colloquium Menu |
| Introduction | Schedule | Speakers | Accommodations/Application |

| Silvan S. Tomkins Institute Home Page |

Copyright © 2000 Silvan S. Tomkins Institute. All rights reserved.