Open Dialogue Lunch and Learn: The Unlanguaged Known
Pricing
Information
Date & Time
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Location
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The Lovett Center
900 Lovett Boulevard
Houston, TX 77006
Learning Objectives
Participants will be able to:
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Participants will describe the core principles of Open Dialogue.
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Participants will be able to recognize the organizational model of Open Dialogue and its effect on teams.
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Participants will be able to evaluate the experiential aspects of Open Dialogue.
Description
We are thrilled to invite you to a Lunch and Learn, featuring renowned sociologist and thought leader, Ross Ellenhorn, in Houston, Texas. Lunch will be provided.
Dr. Ellenhorn is a trailblazer in the field of mental health, known for his innovative approaches to therapy and counseling. Ross will share his insights and expertise on Open Dialogue designed to enhance your understanding and practice.
In this talk, Ross Ellenhorn will describe the practice of Open Dialogue, a way of creating a space of connection with individuals experiencing psychosis, that has shown notable effects in both lowering the need for medications, decreasing psychotic symptoms and raising community functioning. Open Dialogue is as much a therapeutic approach as it is a way of organizing care. In regards to its approach, Open Dialogue emphasizes the relational environment, including family, the person’s experience, and the historical context of illness. This model reduces the “clinical gaze,” and dismantles therapeutic hierarchies, shifting the focus to shared understanding and mutual respect among all participants. The approach encourages a dynamic interaction where clinicians and family members engage in a “dialogic process,” promoting curiosity and empathy while reducing isolation. Organizationally, Open Dialogue teams are highly flexible, typically work on an outreach basis in people’s homes, are multidisciplinary and stay with a person for the duration of treatment.
Dr. Ellenhorn will be discussing both aspects of Open Dialogue, but will focus on the approach, and will do so in experiential modes, showing participants the ways in which a “dialogical” orientation, can rapidly form experiences of connection and “withness,” for individuals whose experiences are often marked by profound estrangement.
Target Audience
- Counselor
- Marriage & Family Therapist
- Psychologist
- Social Worker
- Substance Use Disorder Professionals
Presenters
Dr. Ellenhorn is the Founder and CEO of Ellenhorn. is a pioneer and leader in the development and promotion of community integration services, types of care that serve and empower individuals diagnosed with psychiatric and/or addiction issues while they remain in their own communities and outside institutional settings.
Trained as a sociologist, psychotherapist and social worker, he created the first fully operating intensive hospital diversion and wrap-around program in Massachusetts. Ellenhorn later created and led one of the first public Programs for Assertive Community Treatment teams in the state. In 2022, Ellenhorn co-founded CARDEA, a psychedelics based practice that assists those who seek recovery from deep and entrenched psychological anguish, from behaviors that are out of control, as well as those who want a more awakened life and expanded sense of existence.
Dr. Ellenhorn has authored three books on human behavior. Parasuicidality and Paradox: Breaking Through the Medical Model addresses psychiatric hospital recidivism and techniques for diverting hospital use. It was published by Springer Publishing in 2007. His most recent book, How We Change (and the Ten Reasons Why We Don’t), takes a deep dive into the dynamics that influence all human change. Published by Harper Collins, and in seven different languages, How We Change was released in May of 2020. Purple Crayons: The Art of Drawing a Life celebrates our inherent “sacred originality” and establishes a new framework for self-reliance. It was published in 2022. He has authored numerous articles, gives talks and seminars throughout the country, and provides consultation to mental health agencies, psychiatric hospitals and addiction programs.
Dr. Ellenhorn is the founder of the Shifting The Paradigm conferences, a bi‑annual series that addresses humanistic and empowering changes in behavioral healthcare. He is the executive producer of the film, Recovering Addiction: A Public Health Rescue Mission, a documentary on new, less‑oppressive means for understanding problematic substance use and other distressing habits.
Dr. Ellenhorn is the first person to receive a joint Ph.D. from Brandeis University’s prestigious Florence Heller School for Social Welfare Policy and Management and the Department of Sociology.
Financially Sponsored By
- Ellenhorn