Sexual intimacy is considered by many to be a critical aspect of a healthy romantic relationship. Amid a social focus on sexuality that sometimes seems to border on the obsessive, sexual concerns and dysfunctions are common in both general and clinical populations. Indeed, love-making embodies the most intimate and vulnerable experiences of our client’s lives. However, discussing and treating these issues in the therapy room can be challenging for therapists. Most therapists have not had the benefit of training in the fascinating and complex nature of human sexuality to feel confident addressing these topics.

In this talk we will review the common sexual concerns and dysfunctions of heterosexual couples, and arm general
therapists with treatment options for men, women, and couples. This talk stands alone but is Part Two of a two-part series
on sex therapy for the general therapist. It is recommended that this lecture on treatment be completed as the second in that series, thus enabling the therapist to place treatment issues in a more general sexual context.

High rates of adolescent depression and suicide present as a major international public health problem.  Suicidal adolescents are often a daunting population for clinicians to work with given their high-risk. Of the few effective treatments for this population, many are often multi-modal involving individual and group therapy, medication, etc.  An empirically supported family therapy for adolescents struggling with depression and suicide that requires only weekly sessions and which can be conducted on an outpatient, home-based, or inpatient basis is Attachment-Based Family Therapy (ABFT).  ABFT emerges from interpersonal theories suggesting adolescent depression and suicide can be precipitated, exacerbated, or buffered against by the quality of interpersonal family relationships. It is a trust-based, emotion-focused psychotherapy model aiming to repair interpersonal ruptures and rebuild an emotionally protective, secure-based, parent-child relationship. The therapy is trauma-focused while also being brief and structured. Treatment is characterized by five treatment tasks: a) reframing the therapy to focus on interpersonal development, b) building alliance with the adolescent, c) building alliance with the parents, d) facilitation conversations to resolve attachment ruptures and e) promoting autonomy in the adolescent. 

In this workshop, Dr Levy will use lecture and case studies to provide an overview of the theoretical principles, research support, and clinical strategies forABFT. Dr. Levy will review how attachment theory,emotional regulation, and trauma resolution informthe delivery of this treatment approach.  She will review the goals and structureof the five treatment tasks that provide a roadmapfor delivering this interpersonally focused psychotherapy effectively and rapidly in community mental health.

“Very well explained and organized. Easy to follow and understand. I will use his plans to help me with creating effective behavior plans.”-Deborah S., Professional Counselor, New York

Child and adolescent behavioral issues can cause significant disruption to family life.  In addition to the effects on family, it may impact academic and social life.  Although many parents understand the concepts of reward and punishment, they may not understand the most effective ways to implement behavior management techniques.In addition, many parents may be overly reliant on punitive consequences for negative behavior rather than focusing on ways increase positive,pro-social behaviors.  Dr. Hannan’s seminar Understanding and Implementing Parent Training in Clinical Practice will teach clinicians how to instruct parents in behavior management.  Parent training is essential to positive outcomes in treatment for both externalizing and internalizing disorders.  This webinar will include instruction on performing a functional behavioral assessment, case conceptualization, and devising an appropriate behavior plan.  Beyond positive reinforcement and punishment,this webinar will present a variety of behavioral techniques including shaping,extinction, and differential reinforcement of alternative behavior.  Clinicians will learn how to tailor treatment according to developmental level and co-occurring psychiatric conditions, as well as how to address problems within typical development.  Research into the factors associated with successful implementation of behavioral principles will be discussed as well.

The field of domestic violence has been evolving over the past thirty plus years as the knowledge base has increased and new assessment and intervention techniques offer assistance to the families in which it occurs. This Webinar will begin by reviewing identification and assessment tools for victims, perpetrators, and children that can assist mental health professionals. We will then review the field of trauma and the psychological impact on victims. Finally, we will look at one specific treatment program that can be used with victims of domestic violence and other gender-based trauma.

“Brava, Dr. Ruth Ellington. The best Webinar I've experienced yet. Well done. I learned strategies to teach ASD clients and parents about handling bullying.”-William C., Psychologist, California

Deficits in social skills are considered one of the defining challenges among young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), yet few evidence-based social skills programs exist for higher functioning youth with ASD.  This seminar will provide an overview of the social skills needed for making and keeping friends and handling peer conflict and rejection.  You will be given tips on how to provide social coaching using concrete rules and steps of social behavior derived from the widely popular PEERS® program, the only known evidence-based social skills program for teens and young adults with ASD. Within the framework of solid research evidence about what works and what doesn’t work socially, attendees will be given easy-to-use strategies to assist young people with making and keeping friends. The seminar will include topics such as appropriate use of conversation skills; strategies for entering conversations; and advice for managing arguments and handling teasing, physical bullying, cyber bullying, rumors, and gossip. 

Working with families raising millennial and post-millennial children can be very challenging for clinicians who cannot endorse the all-or-nothing parenting style that tends to dominate this competitive group.  From 5.0 gpa goals to Division-I athletic scholarship dreams, many families are seeking help for their children who begin to show signs of expectation fatigue.  This class will review the historical rise of perfectionism, cultural influences, clinical risk factors and treatment considerations when working with families.  Participants will be provided with practical tools to incorporate into treatment goals and delivery.

Most therapists recognize the power of the past as it is revealed in the way partners respond to each other. The therapist can be baffled by emotionally intense reactions that seem way out of proportion to the moment.  Repeated conflict themes also suggest that the ways partners interpret each other’s behavior can only be understood by exploring their individual lived experience. This seminar presents an overview of an object relations approach to working with couples, and describes dynamics that are unique to this clinical approach. You will understand how unfinished business from the past and each partner’s relational past can unfold in patterns and postures that work against intimacy. You will also be able to understand how extreme emotional reactions and black & white thinking create instability and specific relationship problems. The seminar will explain a range of techniques that can help couples acquire new ways of responding to each other and strengthening intimacy. You will also understand how the therapist’s intuition and reaction to partners is an important source of information that allows insight into the core themes and facilitates the partners ability to heal past wounds while forging deeper intimacy.

Therapy with adults or couples with children frequently presents opportunities to help parents understand and improve parent-child dynamics. Parenting reveals implicit and unconscious expectations about raising children that are often culturally determined, and based on each parent’s own childhood experiences. This seminar draws on theories from systems, object relations and the parenting literature to show how unconscious factors get played out in the parent-child relationship. Therapists can help parents identify ways that their own childhood experiences, and aspects of the marital
relationship, are played out in the parenting process. Through presentation of theory, and case examples, participants will be able to understand how to raise and explore parenting dynamics in the therapy session, and help parents find new ways of relating to their children and each other. This is particularly import in work with highly conflicted couples, even those who have divorced but have difficulty co-parenting.