Encounter Consult Groups

PODCAST INTERVIEW

For a description of both Encounter D&D and a teaser for our upcoming Encounter Consult Groups, check out the engaging, humorous, and insightful interview psychotherapists/therapeutic gaming facilitators Kevin and Katherine Klevjer were privileged to participate in on the podcast “The Way In: Psychotherapy Demystified,” hosted by their colleague and friend, Tyson Conner. You can find this interview episode entitled, “Therapeutic Dungeons and Dragons” by clicking the stunning podcast image below (art by Dan Lane), or by searching @thewayinpod on all the usual podcast apps.

NOW ACCEPTING INQUIRIES FOR 2025 ENCOUNTER CONSULT GROUPS! Email kevin@encounterpsychotherapy.com for inquiries about joining an Encounter Psychotherapy cohort or joining the current waitlist.

Tune into your affect, listen deeply to the muse, and strengthen your skills in the art of Relational Psychodynamic Therapy!

WHAT IS AN ENCOUNTER CONSULT GROUP?

Traditional consultation groups often focus on case discussions and advice-giving, keeping the therapist’s emotional experience at arm’s length. But therapy is relational at its core—and so is this consultation model.

Encounter Consult Groups are built on the principles of Relational Psychodynamic Therapy (RPT), offering a deeply experiential space where therapists learn to trust their gut, tune into their own countertransference and reveries, and engage in the here-and-now of the therapeutic relationship. This is not just about formulating client dynamics from a distance—it’s about stepping into the immediacy of the relational field and using your own presence as a clinical tool.

WHY JOIN AN ENCOUNTER CONSULT GROUP?

When we feel disconnected from ourselves and our clients, burnout and fatigue can creep in quickly. RPT, as modeled in our consult groups, guides us in cultivating a deep curiosity about what arises within us as we sit with our clients—and how these responses might illuminate something about the therapeutic relationship itself, as well as the ways in which our clients’ inner worlds struggle to process difficult and traumatic experiences from their past. As we grow together in articulating these insights—not as a rigid formulation, but as an open-handed yet strong suspicion—clients are given the opportunity to more thoroughly metabolize that which has become stuck.

Thus, these groups are designed to help you:

  • Recognize enactments within the therapeutic dyad

  • Bravely articulate relational insights as they emerge in session

  • Move beyond intellectualized interpretations to a more embodied, affective way of working

  • Practice verbalizing these insights in a way that resonates with the client’s experience

  • Reconnect with the vitality of your work by leaning into, rather than avoiding, difficult emotions

  • Provide community, combating the all to common experience of isolation, which dulls our effectiveness

This isn’t just consultation—it’s an ongoing, relational process of sharpening our skills, deepening our self-awareness, and strengthening our therapeutic presence. Whether or not you present a case, your participation will be equally dynamic, as we engage with one another’s emotional responses and uncover fresh intuitions that can profoundly impact our work.

THE DETAILS:

DATES: An 8-month commitment - exact dates TBD (groups forming soon, so join the waitlist!)
FREQUENCY: 100-minute sessions, every other week
FORMAT: In-person & virtual options available
COST: $170 per month (possibility for CEUs - still to be determined)

I WANT TO LEARN MORE…

If you're interested in joining our waitlist, or have questions, reach out to Kevin or Katherine via our contact page. We’d love to connect and explore how this group can support your growth as a therapist.