How Relational Are We, Really? Sensing the Therapist’s Relational Presence

What does it really mean to work relationally, beyond theory, intention, or professional identity?
This CPD workshop is for therapists and supervisors who want to deepen their understanding of relational presence and strengthen the quality of contact they bring to clinical work.
Join us for a rigorous and reflective exploration of how personal history, identity, and context shape the therapeutic relationship.

At The Metis Institute, we understand relational psychotherapy as more than a model: it is a way of being with another person in depth, complexity, and difference. Designed for therapists and supervisors who want to deepen their professional development, this workshop creates a rigorous and reflective space to explore what it truly means to be relational, and how this shapes therapeutic work at every level.

Together, we will examine how personal history, attachment patterns, training, identity, and professional context influence the way we meet clients, and how these factors affect the therapeutic alliance, the clinical process, and the possibility of change. We will also consider how intersectional identities, including race, gender, class, sexuality, ability, and culture, enter the therapeutic relationship and shape relational dynamics in ways that call for greater awareness, reflexivity, and ethical attention.

This workshop is for practitioners who want not only to reflect on relational theory, but to deepen their capacity for presence, responsiveness, and integrity in practice. It is an invitation to think more carefully about how you are with your clients, and what your way of being makes possible in the therapeutic encounter.

Workshop Objectives

• Explore the meaning of a relational approach within contemporary psychotherapy practice.
• Examine individual differences in therapists’ relational styles, strengths, and capacities.
• Reflect on the personal and professional factors that influence relational engagement, including training, personality, attachment patterns, and working context.
• Consider the impact of the therapist’s relational stance on the therapeutic alliance and clinical process.
• Explore how intersectional identities, including race, gender, class, sexuality, ability, and culture, shape relational dynamics between therapist and client.
• Develop ways of strengthening relational presence and responsiveness in clinical work.

Your ticket includes the full CPD workshop (2 days) and lunch. A limited residential option is also available for those travelling or wishing to extend the experience.

About the Trainer

Samantha Carbon is a UKCP-registered psychotherapist based in London. Her work is grounded in a relational approach, with particular attention to emotional wellbeing, intersectionality, relationships, and growth.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher The Metis Institute