The Stark Method of Psychodynamic Synergy: From Defensive Rigidity to Adaptive Resilience Through the Introduction of Optimally Stressful Mismatch Experiences Across Six Modes of Therapeutic Action

Clinicians are invited into a living exploration of how entrenched patterns of defensive rigidity can loosen and reorganize through catalytic moments of clinical engagement, opening pathways toward greater adaptive resilience. The emphasis is on how carefully calibrated interventions can create the conditions for the emergence of new forms of psychological capacity from within the system itself.

At the heart of this framework is the recognition that therapeutic change is not imposed from without but emerges through optimally structured perturbations within a secure and attuned therapeutic relationship. Across six interdependent dimensions of therapeutic action – classical psychoanalytic, self-psychological, contemporary relational, existential-humanistic, quantum-neuroscientific, and spiritual-transcendent – clinicians learn to engage the system at multiple levels, allowing previously rigid patterns of regulating stress, managing anxiety, and making meaning of overwhelming experience to reorganize into more flexible and adaptive forms.

This is not a technique-driven workshop or a manualized treatment protocol. It is an advanced clinical immersion in the architecture of change itself – where therapeutic transformation is understood as an emergent property of strategically structured mismatch experiences within the right kind of relational field. The focus is on how clinicians can work with greater precision, depth, and attunement – tracking the emergence of change moment by moment within the living process of clinical engagement.

The Miami Intensive invites clinicians into a deeply experiential, intellectually rigorous, and clinically alive week of learning – where moments of uncertainty, challenge, and mismatch become opportunities for reorganization, growth, and the emergence of new possibilities.

Participants will leave with an expanded clinical sensibility for recognizing and working within optimally stressful mismatch experiences – and for supporting the movement from defensive rigidity to adaptive resilience within complex psychodynamic systems.

Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

• Create an optimally stressful intervention that juxtaposes the patient’s adaptive capacity to “know” with their defensive need to “resist knowing.”
  
• Create an optimally stressful intervention that juxtaposes the patient’s defensive need for “relentless hope” with their adaptive capacity to confront – and grieve – the reality of their object’s limitations, separateness, and immutability.
  
• Create an optimally stressful intervention that juxtaposes the patient’s defensive need compulsively and unwittingly to “re-enact” dysfunctional relational dynamics with their adaptive capacity to hold themselves relationally accountable for those dysfunctional dynamics.
  
• Create an optimally stressful intervention that juxtaposes the patient’s adaptive capacity to long for intimate connection with their defensive  need to retreat from being found.
  
• Create an optimally stressful intervention that juxtaposes the patient’s defensive need to remain entrenched in narrative certainty with their adaptive capacity to envision alternative possibilities and rescripted narratives.
  
• Create an optimally stressful intervention that juxtaposes the patient’s defensive need for effortful striving with their adaptive capacity to rest in effortless being.
  
• Explain the significance of cultivating the patient’s analytic self-reflective capacity
   (Model 1).
  
• Explain the relationship between successful grieving and adaptively internalizing missing self-object functions (Model 2).
  
• Explain the significance of mentalizing capacity for resolving projective identification (Model 3).
  
• Explain the significance of facilitating the patient’s benign regression in an existential-humanistic approach to deep, embodied healing (Model 4).
  
• Explain the significance of introducing narrative doubt with “what if?” thought experiments in a quantum-neuroscientific approach to deep, embodied healing (Model 5).
  
• Explain the significance of a pause-in-striving perspective to facilitate the easing into effortless being in a spiritual-transcendent approach to deep, embodied healing (Model 6).

Discover your perfect beachfront escape at The Sunny, an oceanfront boutique hotel in beautiful Sunny Isles Beach, Florida. Family-owned for three generations, The Sunny blends fresh, modern design with a cherished tradition of warm, personalized hospitality, creating a welcoming retreat where guests can relax, recharge, and experience the best of South Florida.

Spend your days lounging beside our newly renovated oceanfront pool while enjoying full-service food and cocktails, maintain your routine in our state-of-the-art fitness center and dedicated studios, or savor breakfast, lunch, dinner, and handcrafted cocktails at Julene, our signature restaurant.

Just steps from the hotel, the historic Newport Fishing Pier offers Miami Beach’s only over-the-ocean dining experience. With the beach at your doorstep, thoughtful amenities, and exceptional service throughout your stay, The Sunny makes every getaway feel effortlessly relaxing and truly special.

The Sunny Hotel

16701 Collins Avenue, Sunny Isles Beach, Florida 33160
Toll Free: 1-800-327-5476
Email: info@thesunnyhotel.com
Hotel website: https://www.thesunnyhotel.com

UM Department of Psychiatry February 2027

Rates start at just $329 and go up to $509. Please note the discounted room rate expires on January 14, 2027.

You can also call 800-327-5476 or email Alexandra Kretzschmar at akretzschmar@thesunnyhotel.com and mention the "University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Psychiatry Course" for the discounted hotel rate. 

Inquiries

Please email Tonia Attard at psychcme@med.miami.edu or call 941-539-0500, 10 a.m.– 4 p.m. (EST) Monday–Friday.

Things to Do in Miami

• Everglades
• Miami Double Decker City Tour
• Miami Zoo
• Miami Aquarium
• Miami Heat Game
• Miami Dolphins Game
• Miami Boat Show
• South Beach Food and Wine Festival

Golf Courses

• PGA National Resort
• Trump National Doral Miami
• Normandy Shores Golf Club
• Miami Shores Country Club
• JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort – Soffer Course
• Miami Beach Golf Course

Tennis Courts

• Flamingo Park
• Margaret Pace Park
• Crandon Park Tennis Center
• Fisher Island Club
• Morningside Tennis Center

Restaurants

• Nobu Miami
• Cecconi’s Miami
• Ocean Social by Chef Tristan Epps
• Prime 54
• Donna Mare Trattoria
• Santorini – Best Happy Hour in Town

Misc Fun Things to Do

• Little Havana Food Tour
• Perez Art Museum
• Sailing Adventure
• Vizcaya Museum and Gardens
• Frost Science Museum and Aquarium
• Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden
• Bayside Marketplace

Seminar Format

Meets Monday–Friday: 9:00 am–12:15 pm. Offered in-person only.

Special Requests

If special arrangements are required for an individual with a disability to attend this conference, contact Kim Miele at psychcme@med.miami.edu at least 15 days prior to the conference.

Tuition

Winter Seminars – Registration Information

Early Bird Rates (AVAILABLE THROUGH DECEMBER 18, 2027)

• Physicians, Nurse Practitioners, and Other Health Professionals: $995
• Residents, Fellows-in-Training, and Full-time Students: $795

Standard Rates (Effective December 19, 2027)

• All Registrants: $1,095
• Residents, Fellows-in-Training, and Full-time Students: $795

Additional Fees

• Second Week Registration: $750
• Non-refundable Administrative Processing Fee: $20 (applies to all registrations)

Payment Method

• Registration must be completed by credit card (Visa, MasterCard, or American Express).

Refund Policy

Refunds, less an administrative fee of $100, will be issued for all cancellations received two weeks prior to the start of the course. Refund requests must be received by email. Please email psychcme@miami.edu. No refund will be issued should cancellation occur less than two weeks prior. “No shows” are subject to the full course fee, and no refunds will be issued once the conference has started.

Registration Information Link

To register, click the link below

Register Today

Printed Syllabus

Price: $95.00

(Please note, all syllabus purchases are non-refundable and non-shippable and must be picked up on-site at the conference)

The conference syllabus is a printed book with all slide presentations and space to take notes adjacent to each slide. As an alternative to purchasing a conference syllabus, we provide all attendees with completely free access to all slide presentations in digital PDF format prior to the conference. This is an environmentally friendly alternative and helps keep costs lower for all attendees.

Syllabus

Price: $95.00

You must order your printed syllabus in advance online when you register. The syllabus must be picked up onsite at the conference.  Please note, we cannot ship the syllabus or refund your purchase. 

E-Syllabus

We provide all attendees with free access to all slide presentations in digital PDF format before the conference. This environmentally friendly alternative helps keep costs lower for all attendees. The e-syllabus will be available for 30 days after the conference. 

Please include an email address you check frequently. We use your email address for critical information, including registration confirmation, evaluation, and your certificate.

The Stark Method of Psychodynamic Synergy: From Defensive Rigidity to Adaptive Resilience Through the Introduction of Optimally Stressful Mismatch Experiences Across Six Modes of Therapeutic Action

March 15, 2027 - March 19, 2027 Meets Monday–Friday: 9:00 a.m.–12:15 p.m.

Offered in-person only.

Joint Accreditation Statement

In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by Amedco LLC and University of Miami, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Amedco LLC is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

Amedco Joint Accreditation Provider Number: 4008163 Professions in scope for this activity are listed below.

Physicians

Amedco LLC designates this live activity for a maximum of 15.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits^TM for physicians. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Psychologists

This course is co-sponsored by Amedco and University of Miami, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Amedco is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Amedco maintains responsibility for this program and content. Maximum of 15.0 hours.

The following state boards accept courses from APA providers for Psychologists/Counselors: AK, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, MA, ME, MN, MO, NC, ND, NH, NE, NJ, NM, NV, OH, OK*, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI, WY

MA: Accepts APA for all classes of psychology license; does not accept APA for licensed counselors (LMHC, LMFT, etc.) except LEP.

MD: Does not accept Jointly Accredited content.

MI: Accepts courses from APA for Psychologists. No general CE requirement for Counselors.

OK: Accepts APA credit for live, in-person activities but not for ethics and/or online courses.

The following state boards accept courses from APA providers for MFTs: AK, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, IA, ID, IN, KS, MD, ME, MO, NE, NC, NH, NJ, NM, NV, OH, OK*, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, WDC, WI, WY

AL MFTs: Credits authorized by NBCC or any other state licensing agency will be accepted. MA MFTs: Participants can self-submit courses not approved by the MAMFT board for review. MI MFTs: There are no CE requirements for MFTs in MI.

The following state boards accept courses from APA providers for Addictions Professionals: AK, AR, CO, CT, DC, DE, GA, IA, IN, KS, LA, MD, MO, MT, NC, ND, NE, NJ, NM, NY (held outside NY ONLY), OK*, OR, SC, UT, WA, WI, WY

The following state boards accept courses from APA providers for Social Workers: AK, AR, AZ, CA, CO, DE, FL, GA, ID, IN, KY, ME, MN, MO, NE, NH, NM, OR, PA, VT, WI, WY

Social Workers

Application for social work continuing education credit has been submitted. Please contact Kim Miele at psychcme@med.miami.edu with any questions.

National Board of Certified Counselors

University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7482. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

Inquiries

By phone at 941-539-0500, Monday–Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (ET), or by email at psychcme@med.miami.edu.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest Mitigation

 Amedco LLC and the University of Miami, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, have assessed conflicts of interest with its faculty, authors, editors, and any individuals who were in a position to control the content of this CME activity. Any identified relevant conflicts of interest have been mitigated.

 Amedco LLCand University of Miami, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences planners, content reviewers, and editorial staff disclose no relationships with ineligible entities. All the relevant financial relationships for these individuals have been mitigated.

ABMS/ACGME Competencies

All seminars are designed to meet the following American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS)/ Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Educational (ACGME) competencies:

• Patient Care and Procedural Skills
• Medical Knowledge
• Practice-based Learning and Improvement
• Interpersonal and Communication Skills

Target Audience

The winter seminars are a series of seminars for health professionals in psychiatry, psychology, neurology, medicine, surgery, geriatrics, pediatrics, nursing, social work, and counseling.