Dr. James Tobin Ph.D. - Psychologist
Workshops / Presentations
Workshops and Presentations
Dr. Tobin is an active presenter at the local, regional and national levels. He is well-known for synthesizing complex scientific knowledge and real-world pragmatism into accessible and engaging presentations that appeal to a range of academic, clinical and lay audiences. He typically presents on the areas of his academic and clinical expertise which include child development and adolescence, parenting, romantic love, men and masculinity, the psychotherapy process, the training and supervision of psychologists, and sexual compulsivity and addiction.
Selected presentations are available for viewing below:
Workshops
Parenting, Adolescence, and Child Development
This workshop is designed for parents who would like to improve the quality of their relationship with their children. Dr. Tobin provides a road map for parents based on a core paradox of the human condition, i.e., the initial need to bond (to form and sustain early life) and the subsequent need to separate/individuate (in order for the child to secure a distinct personal identity unencumbered by unresolved issues with the family of origin). According to Dr. Tobin, both the parent and the developing child simultaneously press for separation/ individuation and resist it. This workshop attempts to alert parents to the underlying dynamics that prolong this ambivalence and provides pragmatic suggestions for how parents can be “of use” psychologically so that their child is more successfully primed for the achievement of autonomy.
Romantic Love, Couples and Relationships
In this presentation, Dr. Tobin describes a model of romantic love that synthesizes concepts from evolutionary psychology, Freudian thought, interpersonal neurobiology, and intersubjectivity. Notions of free will and conscious decision-making regarding the choice of romantic partners are refuted. Instead, Dr. Tobin presents an unconsciously motivated perspective on romantic love that emphasizes our uncanny tendency to select and induce others to hurt us emotionally in ways that are familiar and to which we are highly adapted.
Men and Masculinity
According to Dr. Tobin, it is an era of weakened masculinity. Anecdotal evidence and scientific research suggest the presence of a large demographic of men who lack self-esteem, have difficulty forming and maintaining positive relationships, are poor decision-makers, resort to a variety of high-risk and maladaptive behaviors including internet pornography, substance abuse, and sex and work addiction, and harbor a general dissatisfaction with their quality of life. Although Freud is viewed by many to be obsolete at this point in time, for Dr. Tobin Freud’s perspective on the Oedipus myth provides a compelling psychological explication of the predicament of modern men. In this talk, Dr. Tobin outlines his understanding of Freud’s interpretation of Oedipus, its ramifications for male psychological development, and its relevance to the contemporary problems of men.
General Psychiatry
In this presentation, Dr. Tobin outlines the primary efforts of the DSM-5 Task Force and the major diagnostic changes that were incorporated in the new manual, with an emphasis on the disorders of adulthood. The most promising changes are the organization of mental illness as a spectrum, the addition of dimensionality to specifier descriptions, lifespan/development and cultural refinements, and the articulation of a new hybrid model of mental illness. In the context of these gains, Dr. Tobin also provides a summary of the major controversies surrounding the DSM-5, including misgivings about lower thresholds to qualify for numerous diagnoses and the related concern that we may now run the risk of pathologizing “normal” human functioning.
The Psychotherapy Process
In this presentation, Dr. Tobin, psychoanalytic psychotherapy features patterns of relational engagement between therapist and patient in which each contacts, adjusts, and conforms to the other, often due to simultaneously prosocial and defensive motives. Yet, as the intersubjective process unfolds and rigidifie throughout the course of therapy, the dyadic system is inevitably altered as determined by new strivings on the part of one or both partners. At these junctures, it is erroneous to characterize the patient as “resistant,” especially in the context of the patient’s emerging realization that he or she cannot be fully and accurately conceptualized by the clinician’s mind. Rather, “positive resistance” more aptly captures an advancement in the patient’s psychological and interpersonal functioning marked by an acknowledgment of what the other distorts or fails to comprehend about the self.
The Training and Supervision of Psychologists
The development of critical thinking (CT) is a widely-assumed learning goal in undergraduate and graduate programs in psychology (Bensley, 1998; Halpern, 1998, 2003). Across a range of psychological disciplines, CT is typically approached from the perspective of analytic reasoning and the scientific method (Yanchar et al., 2008), with attention paid to the logical analysis of data, hypothesis support or refutation, and inferencemaking. Despite this emphasis on CT, there seems to be a gap between students’ descriptive understanding of research methodology (declarative knowledge) and their capacity to implement what they have learned in order to critically appraise a psychology literature (procedural knowledge). In this talk, the co-authors present a novel paper assignment formulated by the second author (J.T.) that is designed to support students’ ability to critically evaluate a research literature in psychology.
Sexual Compulsivity and Addiction
Most clinicians who treat adult sex offenders utilize group therapy. However, facilitation of groups for sex offenders is often highly idiosyncratic, with great variance in the content and process of groups, clinicians’ views of intervention goals, strategies, and technique, and how the cultural fabric of the group is established. Moreover, clinicians who treat sex offenders typically have expertise in the assessment of risk, relapse prevention, and individual factors that impact the nature and magnitude of aberrant sexual beliefs and tendencies, yet have never had or don’t readily recall advanced training in group psychotherapy. To address this issue, this presentation will describe and delineate transtheoretical factors of group psychotherapy, including here-and-now processing, vicarious learning, group-as-a-whole phenomena, and developmental dynamics across the evolution of the group. Attention will be devoted to the relevance of these factors for adult male sex offender groups, with clinical case material used to illustrate significant themes.
Learn More About All of Dr. Tobin's Services
Visit Dr. Tobin's Office
15615 Alton Parkway
Suite 450
Irvine, CA 92618
Hours
Monday: 8am - 8pm
Tuesday: 8am - 8pm
Wednesday: 8am - 8pm
Thursday: 8am - 8pm
Friday: 8am - 8pm
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: Closed
jt@jamestobinphd.com
(949) 338-4388
Schedule Today
Visit Dr. Tobin's Office
15615 Alton Parkway
Suite 450
Irvine, CA 92618
Hours
Monday: 8am - 8pm
Tuesday: 8am - 8pm
Wednesday: 8am - 8pm
Thursday: 8am - 8pm
Friday: 8am - 8pm
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: Closed
jt@jamestobinphd.com
(949) 338-4388
Schedule Today
