What Is ISTDP Pre-Core Training? A Guide for Mental Health Professionals
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Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) can be compelling to clinicians because it offers a precise way to understand what is happening moment by moment in therapy: the patient’s goals, the feelings being activated, the anxiety that follows, and the defenses that interrupt contact and change. It can also feel like a lot to take in at once. ISTDP Pre-Core Training is designed to make the model more understandable, usable, and human from the beginning.
What is ISTDP Pre-Core Training?
Pre-Core Training is an immersive introduction to foundational ISTDP principles and clinical skills. It is not a compressed substitute for full Core Training. It is a focused opportunity to learn the basic framework, practice it with support, and decide whether deeper ISTDP study fits your clinical development.
Rather than asking clinicians to memorize lines or imitate a particular therapeutic style, the training emphasizes principles: how to establish a conscious therapeutic focus, observe anxiety and defenses, invite emotional experience, and keep the patient’s own goals and agency at the center of the work.
Who is this training for?
The training is designed for licensed and license-eligible mental health professionals. Previous ISTDP experience is welcome but not required.
It may be especially useful for clinicians who:
Want a clearer map for sessions that become vague, intellectualized, passive, or emotionally distant
Want to identify anxiety and defenses without shaming or overwhelming patients
Want their interventions to become shorter, clearer, and more collaborative
Are considering Core Training and want an experiential introduction first
What will you learn?
Participants learn to:
Establish an effective therapeutic focus and alliance around the patient’s conscious goals
Recognize and work with the Triangles of Conflict and Persons
Identify defenses as they occur in the therapeutic relationship
Assess anxiety and respond in ways that support psychological safety
Mobilize the patient’s motivation and will to engage in meaningful change
Invite emotional experience while respecting the patient’s capacity and agency
Formulate shorter, clearer, and more clinically purposeful interventions
Understand how the therapist’s own anxiety, feelings, and defenses can influence the work
How is Pre-Core Training taught?
The training combines focused teaching, clinical video, structured exercises, role-play, and supportive feedback. The aim is not simply to understand ISTDP intellectually, but to begin translating its principles into observable clinical practice.
Learning any psychotherapy model can be exciting and exposing. Clinicians are asked to examine not only what their patients do, but also how their own uncertainty and habitual responses enter the therapeutic process. The learning environment therefore emphasizes genuine practice rather than performance: participants can take risks, receive direct and compassionate feedback, and refine their work step by step.
How is Pre-Core different from Core Training?
Pre-Core is a concentrated introduction to the model’s foundational ideas and skills. Core Training is a longer-term course of study involving sustained practice, case-based learning, and deeper development over time. Pre-Core does not replace Core Training; it gives clinicians a practical foundation and a clearer sense of whether they want to pursue that next level of study.
What should clinicians expect from the online format?
The live online format allows clinicians to participate from different locations while retaining interaction, practice, and feedback. Enrollment is intentionally limited to eight participants so that the group remains small enough for meaningful participation.
The upcoming cohort runs October 30–November 1, 2026, from 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. Mountain Time each day, live via Zoom. The fee is $600, with a $100 deposit required to reserve a place. The training proceeds once the minimum of four participants has been reached. It is led by David Rudesill, LCSW, an IEDTA Certified Teacher.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need prior ISTDP experience?
No. Previous ISTDP experience is welcome but not required.
Who may attend?
The training is intended for licensed and license-eligible mental health professionals.
How large is the cohort?
Enrollment is limited to eight participants to support active participation and individualized feedback.
What does the training cost?
The fee is $600. A $100 deposit reserves a place.
When is the next cohort?
The next scheduled online cohort is October 30–November 1, 2026, from 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. Mountain Time each day.
How can I learn more or register?
Review the October 2026 cohort details or contact David directly.
A practical starting point
Clinicians often want more than a theoretical overview—they want a way to organize what they observe and make their next intervention more purposeful. Pre-Core Training offers that starting point in a small, supportive setting. You can read trainee testimonials, explore the full Pre-Core Training overview, or view the upcoming cohort below.
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