Full Course Description

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Activating Psychological Flexibility for Anxiety, Trauma, and Emotional Dysregulation

Getting stuck when working with clients who are psychologically inflexible is a normal experience for therapists. But it can often feel like fighting a losing battle where, despite your most powerful clinical tools, there is little to no real progress.

This often happens because, in addition to knowing WHAT to do to expand your client’s behavioral repertoire, you also need the skills and confidence to know HOW to create the context for real learning to happen.

While many clinicians learn and understand the basics about ACT, they often lack confidence when it comes to disrupting psychological inflexibility in session.

In this 1-day training Dr. Aprilia West, MT, PCC, takes you all the way through the ACT model using process-based cognitive-behavioral strategies to accelerate psychological flexibility across a wide range of diagnoses and improve client outcomes.

By learning to make expert-level therapeutic moves with ACT you can help clients decrease suffering and live a more meaningful life -- regardless of their diagnosis or level of functioning. This ACT workshop will help you enhance your ability to work with common clinical presentations including:

Chronic Stress, Anxiety and Depression
Emotional Reactivity and Emotional Dysregulation
Unprocessed Trauma/PTSD
Substance Abuse and Compulsive Behaviors

Program Information

Objectives

Identify core underlying processes related to mental health and wellbeing.
Distinguish between the 6 psychological flexibility processes in the ACT hexaflex model.
Apply “open” skills to address experiential avoidance and past and/or future focus.
Utilize “aware” skills to address over identification with self as content and cognitive fusion.
Demonstrate “engage” skills to address lack of meaning and purposeful action in context.
Conduct experiential exercises to enhance the learning, retention and recall of new ACT skills.

Outline

Acceptance and Commitment Theory: The myth of “normal”

What does wellbeing look like?
The Human Condition: Pain vs suffering
Why Acceptance and Commitment Therapy?

The ACT Model: Psychological Flexibility

The problem of avoidance: the Inflexahex model
How ACT is different from other approaches
Evidence of ACT
Limitations of the research and potential risks

Components of the ACT Model Present Moment Awareness (PMA)

The power of anchoring in the present
Common obstacles to Present Moment Awareness
Metaphor for PMA: Your experience of a musical band
PMA experientials to contact the “here and now”
- Watching experiential STUF
- Turning into 5 senses
Case example: A veteran presenting with unprocessed trauma

Acceptance

The opposite of control
What’s possible with non-reactivity
Acceptance of painful emotions and realities
What acceptance is not
Obstacles to acceptance
Metaphor for acceptance: The blow-up ball in a swimming pool
Acceptance experientials:
- Dropping the rope
- Audio exposure
Case example: A performing artist presenting with avoidance of social situations

Defusion

Benefits of holding thoughts lightly
The power of language
Obstacles to defusion
Metaphor for defusion: The mind as a 24/7 streaming station
Defusion experiential:
- “ My mind made up the thought that….”
- Don’t do what I say
Case example: A stay at home mother presenting with hopeless thinking

Self As Context (SAC)

3 levels of ‘selfing’
Benefits of flexible perspective taking
Obstacles to Self as Context
Metaphor for Self as Context: Sky and weather as observer and experience
SAF experientials:
- I am
- Prosecute yourself
Case example: A CEO presenting with rigid thinking patterns

Values

The power of values
Values vs. scripts or goals
Obstacles to clarifying values
Values clarification
Values-based action plan
Metaphors for clarifying values:
- Jar of fullness
- The Scoreboard
Case example: A grad student presenting with a lack of clear direction and meaning

Committed Action

Benefits of values-based moves
Pivoting from default to intention
Using functional inquiry to stay on track
Obstacles to committed action
Committed action metaphor:
- Monsters on the Bus
Committed action experiential:
- Creating a committed action plan
- Imaginal rehearsal of targeted behavior in context
Case example: A couple presenting with avoidance of conflict

Pulling it all together

Embodying ACT to be a psychologically flexible clinician
Workability as a guide
ACT case conceptualization
Pop culture examples
Integrating other therapies with ACT:
- Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
- Exposure therapy
- Schema therapy
Common obstacles to PF in therapy
Case example: A public figure presenting with compulsion to use drugs

Target Audience

Social Workers
Counsellors
Psychologists
Physicians
Marriage and Family Therapists
Addiction Counsellors
Psychotherapists
Case Managers
Nurses
Mental Health Professionals
Therapists
Other Mental Health Professionals

Copyright : 26/04/2024

Solution Focused Brief Therapy: An Evidence-Based Approach to Create Rapid, Sustainable Change with Any Client

Would you like to see more progress in session? Have you found yourself stuck with certain clients, addressing the same problems and symptoms week after week? Would you like to see your clients transform themselves into the most positive, creative, and motivated people they can be, regardless of presenting problem or diagnosis?

It’s time to incorporate Solution Focused Brief Therapy into your clinical toolbox!

Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) is an evidence-based, straightforward, result-driven approach to therapy that helps clients become “unstuck” by drawing on their already existing resources and personal strengths. Through easy to learn, simple interventions and principles, SFBT offers you a whole new perspective of what therapy can do.

Watch Elliott Connie, SFBT trainer, author and psychotherapist, as he walks you through the philosophical shift from problem to solution-oriented therapy that will completely change your practice. No tricks, no theoretical rhetoric that takes years to understand – just simple, practical, innovative strategies that will transform your clients’ relationship with their perceived problem.

In this dynamic, engaging training, you’ll have the unique opportunity to share your thoughts, practice the skills, and even watch an SFBT session from start to finish so you’ll know exactly how to use it in your own office!

Breathe new life into your practice – purchase today!

Program Information

Objectives

Utilize specific solution-focused strategies, including miracle and best-hopes questions to improve clinical outcomes.
Compare the benefits of utilizing a solution-focused approach versus other evidence-based treatment models.
Implement solution-focused interventions that shift the conversation from “problem talk” toward productive, solution-oriented talk.
Assess the practical benefits and limitations of utilizing a solution-focused treatment approach with clients.
Summarize the current research related to the efficacy of a solution-focused approach to treatment.
Implement the structure and questions of the Solution Focused Approach with their clients in an ethical way.

Outline

What Distinguishes SFBT From Traditional Approaches

Key tenets, theory and evidence behind SFBT
How important is the problem?
Why assessment, diagnosis and treatment planning doesn’t guide treatment
”The details drive the change”
The absence of symptomology v. the presence of what clients most desire
What are the two most important words in SFBT?

Intentional Questions: The Strength Behind SFBT

Reframe questions as invitations
How to build questions that:
- Lead to meaningful answers
- Create change that sticks
- Harness your client’s strengths and resources
- Immediately replace resistance with buy-in
- Keep the client engaged throughout session
Core SFBT questions:
- Desired Outcome: Discover what clients want to be different in their lives
- Resource Talk: Activate the client’s strengths
- Preferred Future: Elicit a detailed description of what the client wants
- Scaling: Measure progress toward the desired outcomes
- Coping Questions: Find positive resources even in difficult situations

Inside a SFBT Session: Innovative, Practical Strategies from Start to Finish

Opening the Session
- Why your first few interactions are crucial
- How to elicit hope right away
- Key questions to instantly shift the client’s perspective
The Core of the Session
- Working with one problem at a time
- Strategies to build momentum toward the client’s hoped for future
- Tolerating silence and using it as a valuable tool
- What to do when the client is focused on problems and symptoms
- Techniques to keep the client engaged and the session meaningful
Closing the Session
- Specific strategies for effective session closure
- Increase likelihood of between-session work
Video case examples: See each step in action!

SFBT Across Settings and Populations

School-based SFBT
Group therapy
Children, adolescents and families
Couples
Addictions, trauma and severe mental illness
Multicultural factors
Ethical considerations
Limitations of the research and potential risks

Target Audience

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

Copyright : 30/07/2024

Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) for Trauma, Anxiety and Depression: A Brief Relational Approach to Healing and Personal Growth

The nagging symptoms and feelings of isolation that accompany trauma, anxiety and depression can make your clients relationships even more overwhelming and complicated than usual.

Not knowing what to say or how to express their feelings to the people in their lives, their relationships start to overflow with high-conflict patterns, blaming, resentment, boundary violations, and trust issues. By the time you meet for their next session the tensions of these interactions have exacerbated their symptoms and eroded their support system.

That’s why you need Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), a brief, evidence-based treatment that gives your clients the tools they need to rapidly improve their relationships and reduce their symptoms.

Heavily research supported, endorsed by major mental health organizations, and used by thousands of therapists around the globe, IPT is proven to achieve significant results and symptom reduction in just 12 to 16 weeks.

In short, it’s a must-have tool for any therapist looking to give clients fast, effective relief.

And when you register for this training, you’ll learn how to bring IPT into your practice with distinguished expert Dr. Lillian Gibson. She’s a highly sought-after trainer who’s showed countless therapists how to get the most out of IPT.

Dr. Gibson will show you how IPT’s easy to use structure gives you a roadmap to treatment success. PLUS she’ll show you how IPT’s flexibility allows you to apply it in one-to-one sessions or in group settings with almost any client, no matter their age or background.

Full of techniques and skills clients can start using right away IPT gives you the relational approach you need to:

Build client’s ability to express their emotions
Reduce misunderstandings that can lead to stressful relationship challenges
Resolve distressing interpersonal conflicts in constructive ways
Teach problem-solving skills that reduce feelings of anger, frustration, and anxiety
Provide clients the tools they need to cope with life adjustments and deal with perceived loss
And much more!

Don’t miss this chance to add this fast-acting, evidence-based treatment to your therapeutical toolbox.

Purchase now!

Program Information

Objectives

Analyze the role of early attachment experiences and family dynamics in shaping interpersonal functioning and how these factors can be addressed in IPT.
Identify the four main problem areas targeted in IPT treatment.
Identify the challenges and limitations of IPT treatment, including potential treatment risks.
Demonstrate the ability to conduct an effective clinical interview and use the interpersonal inventory to assess for interpersonal difficulties and relevant problem areas.
Demonstrate skills in implementing IPT techniques, such as communication analysis, decision analysis, role-playing exercises, and interpersonal skills building, to address specific problem areas targeted in IPT.
Utilize IPT interventions to address trauma-related interpersonal issues, such as coping with triggers and managing interpersonal problems.
Use decision analysis to help clients clarify values, priorities, and options in interpersonal situations that contribute to their anxiety and depression.
Analyze cultural and diversity considerations when implementing IPT, including adapting to different populations and cultural norms, and identifying potential biases or barriers to effective therapy.

Outline

IPT: Reducing Symptomology by Improving Clients’ Relationship Skills

The interpersonal context of clients’ mental health
The impact of early attachment experiences and family dynamics on interpersonal functioning
Overview of IPT’s history, development, and theoretical underpinnings
Key features of IPT and evidence base
Problem areas targeted: role disputes, role transitions, interpersonal deficits and grief
Treatment limitations and risks
Inclusion/Exclusion criteria for discerning when to use IPT techniques in groups or individual work

Assessment and Treatment Planning

Clinical IPT interview outline
Assessing interpersonal functioning and identifying relevant problem areas
Steps for conducting the interpersonal inventory with clients
Communication styles, attachment patterns, and role expectations
Review of helpful self-report measures
Treatment considerations when comorbid issues are present
Cultural and diversity considerations and adapting to specific populations

Getting Started with IPT: How to Conduct the Initial Phase

Psychoeducation on social support, interpersonal relationships, and mental health
Completing the interpersonal inventory
Formulating a treatment strategy with clients

Intermediate Phase of Treatment: IPT Techniques and Strategies to Jumpstart Interpersonal Change

Communication analysis to identify problematic communication patterns
Using decisions analysis to clarify values, priorities, and options
Role play exercises for practicing confident effective communication
Interpersonal skills building
How to use IPT to address grief, role disputes, role transitions, and interpersonal deficits
Develop and reinforce new interpersonal skills and patterns

Phase Three: Termination and Maintenance

Identifying past treatment trends
Summarizing progress and reviewing treatment goals
Consolidating gains and preparing for termination
Strategies for maintaining new interpersonal patterns

IPT as an Adjunctive Treatment for Trauma

Addressing trauma in the context of interpersonal relationships
Conducting an interpersonal assessment in clients with trauma histories
Coping strategies to manage triggers in the context of interpersonal relationships
Targeting interpersonal problems that have arisen as a result of the trauma or loss
Research limitations of IPT for trauma

IPT for Anxiety and Depression

Interpersonal factors in the development of anxiety and depression
The role of social support, attachment, and communication patterns
Specific interventions for fears related to change and loss, resolving conflicts and misunderstandings, and enhancing social support networks
IPT as an adjunctive treatment for anxiety

Target Audience

Social Workers
Counselors
Psychologists
Marriage & Family Therapists
Addiction Counselors
Psychiatrists
Physicians
Nurses
Other Mental Health Professionals

Copyright : 28/01/2025

Written Exposure Therapy (WET) for PTSD: A Brief Evidence-Based Treatment for Reduced Dropouts and Improved Outcomes in Fewer Sessions

5 sessions or less. That might be all you have to make a difference in the lives of many clients.

Between the anguish of verbalizing the details of their traumas, and lengthy treatments that can take months or years to conclude, nearly a third drop out of therapy prematurely. You need a more rapid and tolerable treatment option!

Written Exposure Therapy (WET) is an evidence-based brief PTSD treatment approach that produces clinically significant reductions in PTSD symptoms in as few as five treatment sessions by having clients write about the trauma. It’s efficient, effective, associated with low treatment dropout rates, and has been found to be equally effective as more time intensive therapies – all without requiring clients to verbalize the details of their traumas again and again.

Led by Dr. Denise Sloan and Dr. Brian Marx, developers of the Written Exposure Therapy protocol and authors of Written Exposure Therapy for PTSD: A Brief Treatment Approach for Mental Health Professionals published by the American Psychological Association.

Watch as they provide the training and tools you need to start using WET in your practice immediately!

Register now and get:

Detailed clinical guidance for conducting each session
User friendly scripts you can follow to ensure proper implementation
How to deliver the treatment via telehealth
Strategies for dealing with psychiatric co-morbidity
Examples of trauma narratives and how to provide feedback
Solutions for clients who don’t follow directions and other treatment challenges

Don’t miss this chance to put your PTSD treatment on the fast track!

Sign up today!

Program Information

Objectives

Investigate the clinical implications of barriers to employing first-line PTSD treatment approaches.
Assess clients to identify traumatic events and current PTSD symptom severity.
Assess clients for the appropriateness of using written exposure therapy for PTSD treatment.
Evaluate the research, efficacy data and research limitations for written exposure therapy.
Analyze how WET compares to other evidence-based practices for PTSD treatment.
Determine when modifications to the scripted approach of WET are needed.

Outline

Written Exposure Therapy:
Development and Empirical Support

Necessary and sufficient components for PTSD treatment
How WET was developed
Examination of the treatment dose needed for successful PTSD treatment outcome
Research - efficacy and effectiveness data supporting WET
Research limitations
Who are good candidates for WET and who are not

PTSD Assessment

Review of PTSD diagnostic criteria, including definition of trauma event
Description of prevalence of PTSD
Deciding on measures to assess for PTSD
Monitor symptom severity during course of treatment

The Delivery of WET:
Session-by-Session Instructions and Scripts
Session 1

Psychoeducation
Treatment rationale
Instructions on how to conduct the first writing exercise
Check-in and concluding the session

Sessions 2-5

Feedback on previous sessions writings
Instructions for current session
Check-in
Conclusion
When modifications are needed

The Trauma Narrative:
Examples and How to Provide Client Feedback on Narratives

How to provide feedback when clients do not include emotions in their narrative
What to do when clients avoid writing about the most distressing part of the event
How to provide positive and constructive feedback to move the client forward

How to Deliver WET via Telehealth

The use of videoconferencing
Getting materials to and from clients when using telehealth
Solutions to common issues that arise

How to Handle Common Challenges:
Clinical Insights, Tips and Role Play Exercises to Help You Implement WET

How to manage when clients do not follow writing instructions
What to do when clients have an increase in PTSD symptoms
Managing situations in which clients stop writing or refuse to start writing
Managing comorbid issues, such as substance abuse and suicidal ideation
Assessing whether additional treatment is needed

Target Audience

Counselors
Social Workers
Psychologists
Marriage and Family Therapists
Physicians
Addiction Counselors
Psychiatrists
Nurses
Other Mental Health Professionals

Motivational Interviewing

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

Target Audience

Counselors
Marriage & Family Therapists
Physicians
Psychologists
Social Workers
Other Mental Health Professionals