Full Course Description

EMDR Therapy in Treating Co-Occurring Trauma and Addiction

Trauma and addictions go hand in hand. And without addressing both, stable and long-term recovery is unlikely. In this session, you’ll discover how the proven power of EMDR can reduce your clients’ urges, decrease their cravings and lower their risk of relapse…all while processing the traumas of their past.

Program Information

Objectives

Analyze the clinical implications of the link between trauma and the development of maladaptive addictive coping mechanisms.
Analyze research on the feasibility and efficacy of using EMDR in addiction-focused therapy.
Utilize treatment strategies to help clients with substance use disorders identify triggers that can lead to increased urges to use.

Outline

EMDR’s 8 phase model and 3 prong approach
EMDR & the brain- why EMDR is effective
How EMDR improves work with addiction related memories
Research, risks and treatment limitations

Target Audience

Counselors
Social Workers
Psychologists
Addiction Counselors
Marriage & Family Therapists
Nurses
Case Managers
Other Mental Health Professionals

Copyright : 12/13/2022

Culturally Affirming Practices for Whole Person Treatment

Effective treatment focuses on the whole person. The thoughts, behaviors and sufferings of your clients are intimately connected to the social and cultural context in which they live. In this session, you’ll explore the importance of intersectionality in each client and get specific guidance on replacing negative labels that can lead to ineffective treatment. Complete with clinical examples of culturally-affirming practices.

Program Information

Objectives

Assess how mental health professionals can better identify how oppressive systems can impact their clients’ presenting problems.
Use strategies to replace negative labels that can lead to ineffective treatment.
Utilize culturally responsive and racially conscious strategies to recognize the ways clients are impacted by their marginalized identities and systems of oppression.

Outline

The importance of intersectionality in each client
How clinicians can explore experiences of strengths and weaknesses of culture
What to say – replace negative labels that can lead to ineffective treatment
Clinical examples of culturally-affirming practices
Research, risks and treatment limitations

Target Audience

Counselors
Addiction Counselors
Marriage & Family Therapists
Social Workers
Psychologists
Psychiatrists
Physicians
Nurses
Other Professionals Who Work within the Mental Health Fields

Copyright : 12/13/2022

Motivational Interviewing: End the Tug of War and Create Lasting Change from Within

Too often sessions seem like tug of war. Back and forth between the reasons to change…and the reasons not to. It’s easy to start feeling stuck or like you need to “win.” But the harder you push or pull, the greater the discord/resistance. You need a better way to communicate with ambivalent clients. Motivational Interviewing is that way. In this session MI expert Melinda Marasch, LCSW, will show you how the evidence-based MI process works and ways you can apply it to make those tough conversations more productive, end the tug of war, and maximize opportunities for lasting change from within.

Program Information

Objectives

Utilize questions from MI to assess ambivalence about change with clients.
Evaluate how the four MI processes and OARS skills address client ambivalence.
Develop a plan for utilizing the MI process in clinical work with clients who are resistant to change.

Outline

Motivational Interviewing overview and MI Spirit
MI Micro-Skills (OARS)
The MI process step-by-step: managing ambivalence about change
Risks and limitations

Copyright : 12/13/2022

De-escalation Techniques: Protecting Yourself and Others

When you work in any mental health setting, you know you are going to be working with people in some very difficult circumstances. Sometimes that means working with clients who can become violent and dangerous. In this session, you will discover how you can work through your fears, use preventative safety planning, and de-escalate tense situations to protect yourself and others.

Program Information

Objectives

Assess for risk of client violence towards clinician or others.
Describe strategies to safety de-escalate and intervene during acute crisis and in situations where safety is a concern.
Analyze case studies to inform how clinicians can effectively carry out their duty to warn.

Outline

Dealing with our fears: Clinicians’ safety concerns
Assessing for risk of violence to clinician or others
De-escalation techniques and preventative planning
Case studies - handle a violent client and duty to warn

Target Audience

Counselors
Social Workers
Psychologists
Substance Use Disorder Treatment Providers
Marriage & Family Therapists
Nurses
Case Managers
Teachers
Clergy
Other Professionals

Copyright : 12/13/2022

Supporting Clients in Poverty: Strengths-Based Approaches to Build Resilience and Upstream Change

With middle-class backgrounds, many of us never considered that clients would have empty stomachs, no transportation, and lack so many of the resources we take for granted. And when we practice through that lens and those set of values – automatically conceptualizing situations, family relationships, or solutions from our own socioeconomic background – we can fail to provide the support these clients truly need. In this session we’ll challenge our own biases about poverty, discover ways we can provide our clients with skills and resources to meet their basic needs prior to addressing psychological processes, and look at how we can close the gap of inequity due to poverty, even when it means going beyond the therapeutic session.

Program Information

Objectives

Analyze the research on the relationship between poverty and mental health.
Examine the clinical impacts of personal bias and beliefs on treatment with clients living in poverty.
Use a strengths-based approach to build resilience in individuals and families living in poverty.

Outline

Research on the impact of poverty on behavior and health
Examine personal biases about poverty that may impact treatment
Connect clients with resources and help them meet basic needs
A strengths-based approach for working with individuals and families living in poverty

Target Audience

Counselors
Social Workers
Psychologists
Addiction Counselors
Marriage & Family Therapists
Nurses
Case Managers
Other Mental Health Professionals

Copyright : 12/13/2022

Finding Hope: Working with Immigrant and Vulnerable Populations

When immigrants arrive in the U.S. the journey is often not a happy one. Many have experienced war, rape, and violence. And upon arrival many face deportation, family separation, and struggle to meet their basic needs. In this session you’ll get specific tools so you can better connect with these clients, help them process the traumas of their past, and help them discover hope and healing.

Program Information

Objectives

Assess specific risks and exposures immigrants face before and after entering the U.S. and how they can impact mental health.
Utilize culturally sensitive coping skills exercises and psychoeducation to reduce fear and anxiety in immigrant clients.
Apply trauma-informed practices to assist immigrant children and families in telling their story.

Outline

Processing experiences of rape, war, violence of the past
Living with the fear of deportation and violence
Psychoeducation & coping skills exercises to reduce fear and anxiety
Trauma-informed practices to help clients tell and re-write their narrative

Target Audience

Counselors
Social Workers
Psychologists
Addiction Counselors
Marriage & Family Therapists
Nurses
Case Managers
Other Mental Health Professionals

Copyright : 12/13/2022

Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence: Screening, Assessments and Safety Planning

All clinicians are likely to encounter domestic and intimate partner violence at some point in their practice. And if you fail to recognize the abuse and properly respond, the consequences can be dire. In this session, you’ll get an indispensable guide for improving outcomes for those impacted by domestic and intimate partner violence.

Program Information

Objectives

Use evidence-based screenings and assessments to determine level of risk, lethality and identify PTSD.  
Develop safety plans with clients to help them leave an abusive or violent home. 
Utilize trauma-informed treatment techniques in work with survivors of abuse and violence.

Outline

Evidence-based screenings and assessments for level of risk, lethality, PTSD and other mental health issues
Developing safety plans with clients
Trauma-informed treatment with survivors and children exposed to domestic violence
Research, limitations and treatment risks

Target Audience

Counselors
Social Workers
Psychologists
Addiction Counselors
Marriage & Family Therapists
Nurses
Case Managers
Other Mental Health Professionals

Copyright : 12/14/2022

Dialectical Behavior Therapy for PTSD: Skills to Ground Clients, Decrease Triggers and Improve Emotion Regulation

DBT transforms the way you do therapy – moving you from a change-based model to one of skill-based learning. And applying a DBT approach to trauma treatment can help you get to the very core of how your clients think about life and emotions, so they can make tremendous strides in therapy. Katelyn Baxter-Musser has taught thousands of clinicians to use DBT in their practices for improved treatment outcomes. Join her in this session and discover evidence-based DBT tools you can use to keep clients grounded, help them become more tolerant of their triggers, and increase their emotion regulation.

Program Information

Objectives

Integrate distress tolerance skills from DBT into treatment to help clients identify and gain control of their responses to emotional triggers.
Practice paced breathing and progressive muscle relaxation techniques with clients to provide them self-administered interventions they can use to reduce physiological and psychological stress.
Develop treatment plans that incorporate dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) skills for clients with elevated emotion dysregulation.

Outline

DBT an evidence-based approach
Using DBT distress tolerance skills to decrease triggers
Coming back to the here and now using paced breathing and progressive muscle relaxation
Self-sooth using the five senses
Regulating intense emotions by Riding the Wave
Increasing emotion regulation using opposite action
Research, risks and limitations

Target Audience

Counselors
Addiction Counselors
Marriage & Family Therapists
Social Workers
Psychologists
Psychiatrists
Physicians
Nurses
Other Professionals Who Work within the Mental Health Fields

Copyright : 12/14/2022

Family Trauma Treatment: Teach Caregivers to Respond to Trauma Driven Behaviors

In the community health setting you frequently work with parents who aren’t prepared to deal with the trauma responses of children and adolescents. And when they’re not, things can quickly go from bad to worse. In this session, you’ll learn to identify trauma reactions and get scripts you can use to make and maintain progress by teaching caregivers to respond to trauma driven behaviors.

Program Information

Objectives

Analyze the clinical implications of caregivers’ responses to trauma driven behaviors children and adolescents.
Use scripts to show caregivers how to respond to trauma driven behaviors.
Develop treatment plans that include role plays that allow caregivers to build their skill in responding to trauma driven behaviors.

Outline

How to teach caregivers to identify reactions
Scripts and case studies caregivers can use to respond to trauma driven behaviors
How to set up role plays to ensure proper implementation
Research, risks and limitations

Target Audience

Counselors
Addiction Counselors
Marriage & Family Therapists
Social Workers
Psychologists
Psychiatrists
Physicians
Nurses
Other Professionals Who Work within the Mental Health Fields

The Unified Protocol: Transdiagnostic CBT Treatment of Co-occurring Anxiety, Depressive, and Related Disorders

When you work in community mental health your caseloads are diverse. Clients have any number of conditions, and more often than not, more than one at the same time. But the explosion of specific treatment manuals for each DSM disorder can leave you wondering – how do I find the time to learn all of these approaches? And with distinct required trainings for each modality, agencies can struggle as the costs stack up. Now there’s a better way. Proven effective in over 70 rigorous clinical trials, the Unified Protocol allows you to target core deficits across the neurotic spectrum so you can simultaneously reduce symptomology of co-occurring disorders with just one protocol. In this session you’ll join, Dr. Shannon Sauer-Zavala, co-developer of the UP, as she introduces you to the transdiagnostic emotion-focused treatment principles and strategies already being used by thousands of clinicians for improved treatment outcomes.

Program Information

Objectives

Develop a unified, transdiagnostic case conceptualization for patients presenting with comorbid emotional disorders.
Apply emotion-focused treatment principles and strategies (e.g., objective monitoring, mindfulness training, cognitive flexibility, reduction of emotional avoidance and maladaptive emotion driven behaviors) to patients presenting with comorbid emotional disorders.
Analyze the research support for the Unified Protocol.

Outline

Conceptual Development of the Unified Protocol
Empirical Support for the UP
Review of Core UP Treatment Modules
Risks and limitations

Target Audience

Psychologists
Psychiatrists
Counselors
Social Workers
Psychotherapists
Case Managers
Marriage and Family Therapists
Addiction Counselors
Other Mental Health Professionals

Racial Trauma: Effective Interventions and Options for Treatment

Race-based stressors can leave BIPOC clients overwhelmed with fear, anxiety, hopelessness, and emotional exhaustion. The raw pain and trauma of each experience adding another excruciating burden they must carry. In this session, you’ll discover how you can better align with your clients’ race-based experiences and more capably treat clients with trauma rooted in racism with a multimodal approach including CBT, ACT, and PE.

Program Information

Objectives

Analyze factors that influence generational trauma and exacerbate racial trauma symptomology.
Use scripts to facilitate discussions of racial trauma and minority stress with clients.
Formulate a conceptualization of a case with race-based stressors that uses evidence based psychotherapies such as CBT, ACT and PE tools in treatment.

Outline

Factors that influence generational trauma and exacerbate racial trauma
Scripts to discuss racial trauma, minority stress and explore client/therapist dynamics
CBT, ACT and PE as applicable options for trauma-focused treatment
Risks and limitations associated with administering evidence-based psychotherapies for racial trauma

Target Audience

Counselors
Social Workers
Psychologists
Addiction Counselors
Marriage & Family Therapists
Nurses
Case Managers
Other Mental Health Professionals

ACEs and Trauma in Students: Identification and Reponses

Students who have experienced trauma often present as difficult to engage and display problematic behavior such as a low frustration tolerance, angry outbursts, or difficult social relationships. If you’re a school-based community health clinician, you know traditional behavioral approaches to classroom management and a punitive approach to discipline simply are not effective. In this session, you’ll take a deep dive into the ACEs study, how trauma manifests in schools, and what you can do about it.

Program Information

Objectives

Use information from the ACEs study to determine how trauma impacts a child’s development and to help in developing strategies for meeting his or her needs.
Apply a trauma-informed approach in work with children and adolescents that accounts for the ways in which poverty and mental health contribute to trauma responses.
Utilize social and emotional learning techniques to increase impulse control in children and adolescents who’ve experienced trauma.

Outline

Fight, flight, or freeze responses: How it manifests in school
ACES – Adverse Childhood Experiences study and survey
The role of poverty and mental health challenges
SEL techniques to increase Impulse control and conflict resolution skills
Risks and limitations