ABOUT IEDTA

IEDTA (International Experiential Dynamic Therapy Association) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the support, improvement, dissemination and research of experiential dynamic therapies (EDTs), whose inception and development was particularly inspired by Dr. Habib Davanloo’s work on ISTDP – Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy.

 

In the 1980s and 1990s, Michael Alpert of the NJ / NY STDP Institute organized two conferences on short- term dynamic psychotherapy (STDP) in New York and New Jersey. They provided an opportunity for clinicians who have studied Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) with Habib Davanloo to present their work and engage in discussion in an atmosphere of openness and collaboration to develop this therapeutic movement together.

 

These conferences initially resulted in intense e-mail discussion on topics related to various formats of empirical dynamic therapies (EDTs). An informal e-mail discussion list was initiated in the spring of 1998; January 1, 1999. Michael Alpert and Allen Kalpin began working to structure the discussion.

 

IEDTA was born in 2000, when Ferruccio Osimo proposed the creation of an international organization to gather experienced psychotherapists to support EDT research and teaching and to promote productive dialogue between different types of EDT. Originally named IESA (International Experiential STDP Association), the organization had its founding conference in Milan, Italy in May 2001, with about 300 people attending. Since then, conferences have been held about every two years.

 

In 2004. IESA Council decided to call experiential oriented therapies – Empirical Dynamic Therapies (EDT), the name of the organization was changed to the International Experiential Dynamic Therapy Association (IEDTA).

 

Since 2007, IEDTA has established certification standards for EDT basic training, EDT teachers, and EDT supervisors. The team working on the standards included Josette ten Have-de Labije, PsyD, and Kristin A. R. Osborn MA, LMHC.

 

The IEDTA’s members are psychiatrists, psychotherapists and researchers from around the world, particularly Europe, North America, Asia and Australia.

 

IEDTA sponsors an international EDT conference and oversees and offers accreditation for EDT training programs. It is also responsible for maintaining an ongoing exchange of opinions among its members in a discussion group of over 1000 psychotherapists and psychiatrists working in the EDT approach (ISTDP).

 

Dr. Josette ten Have-de Labije along with Dr. Robert Neborsky and Dr. Kristin Osborn in 2007 began work on the IEDTA standards for certification of courses, teachers, and supervisors, then others continued their work. Eventually, a unified education system was established for the training of experiential therapists, including ISTDP. The basis of the system is 3 years of intensive basic training in a small group. Each trainee psychotherapist prepares and then presents a video presentation of their work with their patient at each meeting. This type of work gives full insight into the knowledge, attitude and skills of the supervising and learning therapist. Participants of the 3-year basic training known as CORE ISTDP, experienced psychotherapists, find it to be one of the most challenging, yet most effective ways to learn.

The ISTDP Center, in close collaboration with Dr. Josette ten Have-de Labije, has developed a training program whose first step is Introduction to ISTDP, a course open to anyone interested in finding out if this approach is appropriate for their developmental needs. The next step is a 3-year Basic Course, followed by advanced, assistant, teacher and supervisor training.