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Robin Spiro, LCSW

Robin Spiro, LCSW, is a psychotherapist and international trainer based in Springfield, New Jersey. She has over 27 years of clinical experience specializing in Complex Trauma, Dissociative Disorders, and Schema Therapy. She is an Advanced Certified Schema Therapist and a Certified Individual Schema Trainer/Supervisor. Robin’s clinical work focuses on integrating schema therapy with other trauma treatment models, including EMDR, somatic therapies, and Internal Family Systems. She has presented at ISST international conferences and has lectured internationally on complex trauma and dissociative disorders within the schema therapy framework. Robin is chair of the Supervisory Skills Development Committee within the International Society of Schema Therapy. She leads online supervision groups for clinicians working with complex trauma and dissociation, providing advanced training and clinical guidance in these specialized areas. Robin’s training initiatives span multiple countries, where she shares her expertise in adapting schema therapy for clients presenting with trauma-related disorders and dissociative symptoms.
8.00 AM - 9.00 AM KEYNOTE

Thursday Dec 4th

KEYNOTE: 35 YEARS OF THE SCHEMA THERAPY MODEL OF JEFFREY YOUNG

Sustaining the Integrity of the Core Model

How do we protect what makes Schema Therapy work while continuing to evolve? Developed by Dr. Jeffrey Young, Schema Therapy blends cognitive, attachment, experiential, and psychodynamic traditions into one of the most effective models for clients long considered untreatable. As it spreads across cultures and settings, the challenge is to keep its core alive while adapting to new needs.

This session explores the essence of what gives Schema Therapy its power—transforming schemas, healing unmet needs, and using the therapeutic relationship as a force for deep emotional repair. Join us as we honor Dr. Young’s legacy and examine how true innovation begins by staying rooted in the principles that heal.

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Thursday Dec 4th

SCHEMA THERAPY FOR COMPLEX TRAUMA – SPECIAL TOPICS IN INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP TREATMENT

Lasting recovery from complex trauma depends on two essential elements: strengthening the Healthy Adult and building a genuine limited reparenting relationship. This session explores the core challenges that block both, offering clear, practical strategies for working through resistance, mistrust, and emotional disconnection.

In individual therapy, many clients struggle to engage with their Vulnerable Child mode, often responding with judgment or avoidance. Others carry deep schemas of Emotional Deprivation, Mistrust, or Subjugation that make it hard to trust the therapist’s care. Through vivid clinical examples, participants will learn how to repair these ruptures, foster safety, and nurture authentic healing.

The presentation also introduces a group-based Schema Therapy model for complex trauma. Attendees will see how to integrate mode work, experiential methods, and Healthy Adult modeling within a group to address shame, dissociation, and survival modes, transforming peer interactions into opportunities for reparenting and repair.