Recently, Dr. Keller was honored to be a part of a panel on Peer Consultation at the esteemed 8th World Conference on Psychotherapy, held in Paris, France.
The focus of the conference is to support psychotherapists around the world as they work to establish ethical guidelines for care of patients and promote the exchange of training programs worldwide in order to help advance the quality and effectiveness of psychotherapeutic care for patients.
The conference was attended by some of the most prominent and well-respected psychotherapy experts in the world, such as Dr. Albert Fritz, president of the World Council for Psychotherapy (WCP), Pierre Canoui, president of the French Federation of Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, and Dr. Roland Coutanceau, president of the French League for Mental Health.
THE WEEK-LONG CONFERENCE COVERED A WIDE RANGE OF VALUABLE TOPICS SUCH AS:
- Bringing psychotherapy to underserved communities
- The importance of the mother/child bond
- Psychotherapy and global mental health
- A systemic approach to couples’ conflicting relationships
And many, many more. As you can see, the conference speakers teach on a wide variety of subjects in order to enhance each attendee’s ability to better care for and serve their clients.
Dr. Keller was honored not only to be able to attend the conference, but to be chosen as a panel member with the responsibility of sharing his knowledge with other MENTAL HEALTH professionals from around the globe.
Dr. Keller and his panel members were chosen to speak on the topics of Ensuring Therapeutic Effectiveness as well as on the importance of Peer Consultation
The panel Dr. Keller served on included notable experts in the field of MENTAL HEALTH care such as Frederick Leong (panel chair), Esther Hess, Hideko Sera, Shahar Globerman, Heidi J. Koehler, and William Boyd.
The topic of peer consultation is especially important to Dr. Keller as he has seen the benefits of it in his own life and career via the group of co-professionals in the psychotherapy field that he meets with each week in order to work together to enhance their individual expertise and effectiveness for the sake of their clients.
WHAT IS PEER CONSULTATION?
Peer consultation involves professional psychotherapists meeting with a group of other psychotherapists and psychiatrists where members are free to share with other professionals their successes and challenges in what can be an intense and emotionally charged line of work.
The work of a psychotherapist can at times be emotionally draining. A good psychotherapist has empathy for his or her clients, which means he or she must work to truly understand what a client is experiencing in order to best help the client heal while giving them the means to rise above the issues and circumstances at hand.
Professional psychologists often experience what is called “compassion fatigue”, an emotionally drained feeling that can come from being so closely involved with clients who relay often traumatic and emotionally overwhelming memories and situations.
By understanding the potential for compassion fatigue, anxiety and other symptoms of burnout that can come from assisting clients in getting healthy, psychologists can learn techniques to work through these experiences in a way that ensures they remain a source of strength for their clients.
In a peer consultation group setting, members are there both to get support and give support, sharing experiences and teaching techniques – as well as struggles and hurdles – in a confidential environment.
A CONFIDENTIAL SAFE HAVEN
The peer groups are committed to working together in order to increase their base of knowledge and training so that they can leave the meeting feeling refreshed, re-energized and with an expanded level of expertise with which to support their client base.
Dr. Keller’s weekly peer group meeting, which he has been attending for over twenty years, has been a constant source of education, a place where he can share his experiences in order to help other psychologists and a confidential safe haven for him to share the challenges of helping clients with such deeply charged issues.
The peer group has also helped him and the other members of the group explore ways to handle the many potential legal and ethical challenges that can often arise in the world of psychotherapy.
Peer consultation groups can be a powerful source of support for psychotherapists who are committed to providing their clients the best possible care.
Being invited to share his expertise on the subject of Peer Consultation with psychotherapists from around the world was an honor that Dr. Keller will not soon forget.