Live Webinar

At the heart of existential and person-centered therapy lies the profound quest for meaning and fulfillment. Addressing life’s existential questions, such as “What is the meaning of life?” or “How can we cultivate healthier, more meaningful relationships?”, these therapeutic approaches offer powerful frameworks for helping clients navigate both existential and neurotic anxieties. Rooted in philosophy, phenomenology, and the pioneering work of Carl Rogers, existential and person-centered therapies emphasize the importance of choice, authenticity, and personal agency in fostering psychological well-being.
 

This seminar will provide an in-depth exploration of humanistic theory, focusing on the existential foundations of meaning-making and the core principles of person-centered therapy. Through didactic presentation and experiential exercises, participants will learn how to integrate mindfulness, present-centered awareness, and body awareness into clinical practice. Attendees will gain valuable insights into how these therapeutic approaches can be effectively applied to address a variety of client concerns, including those related to social justice, ultimately enhancing therapeutic outcomes and client engagement.

“I was extremely impressed with the presentation from start to finish. I liked the inclusion of videos/visuals to enhance the presentation. Finally, I was extremely appreciative of the follow-up resources as well. I learned a great deal and all of the techniques would arguably enhance anyone's therapy practice in some way.”-Kristin K., Professional Counselor, Massachusetts

Although the field of clinical psychology has traditionally aimed to “fix what’s wrong,” the newer sub-field of positive psychology instead helps us to “build what’s strong.” In this seminar, attendees will learn about the nature of happiness, and discover research-backed methods from positive psychology to help lastingly increase happiness both in ourselves and in our clients. We’ll explore what it means to be happy, why happiness is so important, and why it can often feel so hard to come by. We’ll then discuss 7 research-based principles for lasting well-being, drawing from positive psychology, mindfulness-based approaches, and cutting-edge neuroscience. In addition, we will introduce and put into practice dozens of evidence-based tools and techniques that can easily be implemented into clinical practice. Through lecture, clinical vignettes, and hands-on practice, you’ll learn skills that can transform your clinical work.

“Dr. Satir was excellent. She kept my interest and is obviously very knowledgeable and experienced. I learned a lot about how to deal with eating disorders.”-Richard H., Psychologist, Colorado

This training will offer the opportunity to learn about the diagnosis, assessment, theory, and treatment of eating, weight and shape disorders. While working with clients with eating disorders (EDs) can present unique challenges, we will explore the perception/stigma that these clients are notoriously difficult to treat. We will focus on the importance of integrative treatments, and the role of behavioral, symptom focused techniques in addition to psychodynamic approaches that explore underlying characterological and developmental issues. This training will also consider potential challenges clinicians may face when working with clients with eating disorders and how to cope with feelings that may arise when working with this population.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can be challenging and debilitating, and many treatments fall short of achieving lasting and meaningful change for patients suffering from it. In this seminar, Dr. Jonah Paquette will help demystify PTSD and bring your knowledge and skills related to treating trauma to the next level. Attendees will gain understanding around the development and maintenance of trauma, as well as understanding the impact of social and cultural factors in the development of PTSD. In addition, participants will learn about well-established evidence-based treatments for trauma (such as CPT, PE, and EMDR), along with promising emerging treatments that are gaining traction in the field (including MDMA assisted therapy and IFS). Best of all, attendees will learn practical and tangible tools that they can begin using with their patients immediately.

According to the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, approxi­mately 10% of US adults fill one or more antidepressant prescriptions each year, with many of these prescriptions coming from non-psychiatrists. They are some of the most widely prescribed medications of our generation. As more and more patients are prescribed antidepressants and other psychotropic medications, an increased need and responsibility is raised for non-prescribing therapists to be knowledgeable enough to work more effectively with patients and their prescribers in this arena. The follow­ing webinar is intended to be an introductory course that offers general, yet comprehensive information about psy­chopharmacology, including understanding neurobiological underpinnings of how medications work, commonly pre­scribed drug categories, how to work more effectively with patients, and how to work more effectively with prescrib­ers. Unique to this webinar will be the inclusion of how to maximize treatment outcomes and effectively use collab­orative care strategies.

This course will satisfy your ethics requirement.

“I found it extremely insightful and helpful in my day to day professional life. I wasn't aware of the origins of informed consent and I learned a great deal about case law that formed it.”-Gina F., Social Worker, New York

Informed consent is an essential aspect of all professional services provided by mental health professionals and helps to set the tone for the relationship to follow. While it is a requirement, it also plays a very important role in the treatment relationship and process. Yet, many questions exist about how to appropriately provide informed consent, the details of what should or shouldn’t be included, who should provide informed consent, and how diversity factors may necessitate modifying how we provide informed consent. This webinar will address each of these issues and provide practical guidance on how to meet ethics and legal requirements, and client needs, and how to utilize informed consent to promote a good working relationship with clients, as well as how to utilize it to promote the goals of treatment for our clients. Common pitfalls and dilemmas, practical suggestions and recommendations, and relevant options to consider will each be addressed. Clinical examples will be provided to illustrate key issues to include informed consent with minors, with couples and families, third-party requests for services, and the use of informed consent for the wide range of professional relationships mental health professionals may have.

This dynamic 3-hour seminar provides mental health professionals with essential tools to support families in conflict—whether couples are married, divorcing, or never married. Drawing on decades of clinical, mediation, and non-adversarial divorce experience, Dr. Zimmerman blends real-world strategies with clinical insight to help attendees become more effective in high-conflict family situations. Participants will gain exposure to a range of alternative dispute resolution models, learn about the effects of conflict on children, and receive actionable guidance on managing professional stress in this demanding field.

Do you know the possible effect in Court of expert testimony based on poorly validated procedures? People may be sentenced to death. In similar ways, mental health professionals may be found negligent for failure to see that someone fits the psychological profile of intended victims, despite the fact that there is no science behind psychological profiling. The use and similar misuses of expert testimony will be highlighted in the webinar, along with practical suggestions for avoiding these pitfalls and making sure one’s testimony is based on well-validated theories.

This course qualifies as an ethics course.

“Very informative. Very engaging. I really enjoyed the presenter and his attention to questions throughout the presentation. Clarified existing knowledge about mandatory reporting laws.”-Jared B., Licensed Professional Counselor, Alabama

This course will help practitioners who are subject to reporting requirements associated with child abuse, elder abuse, spouse abuse, and duty to warn about violence. Increasingly these requirements ensnarl mental health professionals into difficult ethical dilemmas as they navigate the obligation to maintain confidentiality on the one hand, and meet the expectations of reporting laws on the other.  Several factors are considered, including the variable state laws governing the duty to report, the need to report in a timely fashion, the intricacies of the reporting process (e.g. to whom, containing what information, etc.), and the ongoing concern about adverse consequences to clients and others (including oneself). Given these complexities, this topic has become essential knowledge for practicing clinicians. This course uses legal case studies, and hypothetical situations to highlight the critical nuanced knowledge needed to manage mandatory reporting requirements.

“I was very impressed. The presentation was clear, informative and definitely added to my knowledge base.”-Mary H., Psychologist, New Jersey

Psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia are considered to be among the most debilitating and distressing mental health conditions. Despite impacting approximately 3% of the population, many clinicians lack the training and resources to recognize and best work with this vulnerable group of people, leaving many with psychosis isolated, stigmatized, and without help. Nonetheless, growing evidence suggests that, with tailored early intervention, many people with psychosis can recover from illness and lead a life of their choosing in the community. This seminar will familiarize you with psychosis, emphasizing the early phases of illness. It will then demonstrate strategies for reducing stigma, increasing empathy, and facilitating early identification. I will share screening tools and briefly touch on treatment strategies, as well as provide clinical resources for comprehensive specialty care.

Psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia are considered to be among the most debilitating and distressing mental health conditions. Despite impacting approximately 3% of the population, many clinicians lack the training and resources to recognize and best work with this vulnerable group of people, leaving many with psychosis isolated, stigmatized, and without help. Nonetheless, growing evidence suggests that, with tailored early intervention, many people with psychosis can recover from illness and lead a life of their choosing in the community. This seminar will familiarize you with psychosis, emphasizing the early phases of illness. It will then demonstrate strategies for reducing stigma, increasing empathy, and facilitating early identification. I will share screening tools and briefly touch on treatment strategies, as well as provide clinical resources for comprehensive specialty care.

“The instructor was clearly knowledgeable and well-organized. I liked that she disclosed some of her weaker content/expertise (e.g. not good with metaphors). This was good modeling of the concepts she was teaching. I loved the developmental cube. I will look more into this model and will likely implement it.”-Phillip L., Licensed Professional Counselor, Texas

In this seminar, Dr. Saffer examines the purpose of clinical supervision, including the components and processes that are important for effective supervision. Participants are encouraged to consider different models and methods as they develop an approach to clinical supervision.  In addition,strategies are discussed regarding effectively dealing with some of the challenges that are inherent in the supervisory process.  This seminar is designed to provide participants with a thoughtful approach to the supervision process and to encourage the development of competence in this area of training.

“This was my favorite webinar. I learned the most about myself as a therapist and a great deal about the borderline elicitation of counter transference. This webinar was a revival of things I learned in graduate school and that I needed a refresher course in.”-Jane K., Social Worker, New York

Recent research suggests that the therapeutic alliance and the ability to heal ruptures in the therapeutic relationship are key elements of successful treatment for individuals with personality disorders.  Yet, these patients tend to stimulate strong countertransference reactions that can derail the treatment.  This seminar elucidates common countertransference reactions to each of the personality disorders.  There is also discussion about how to manage these reactions and to use them to better understand the patient and thus, provide better care.

For many bereaved individuals, faith, religion, and spirituality can prove to be a supportive and comforting resource following the loss of anyone or anything that leaves a sense of deprivation and yearning. However, for some who are grieving, the relationship to their higher power or spiritual community is painfully wounded, leading to the secondary loss of his/her/their spiritual resources, connections, and spiritual crisis.
 

The painful religious and spiritual losses are referred to as complicated spiritual grief (CSG). CSG has been shown to exacerbate the bereavement experience for some religious and spiritually inclined grievers. Clinicians are confronted with religious and spiritual topics in psychotherapy, especially when working with bereft clients. Therefore, knowing how to identify the impact of CSG in the grieving process is imperative. Clinicians will be able to recognize the impact of CSG on the bereaved’s grieving process, increasing skills in conducting a comprehensive clinical assessment and development of effective treatment plans. As a result, grief therapy will more effectively identify and treat all domains of the client’s functioning following or anticipating a loss.

This webinar provides a research and practice update on Alzheimer’s disease, with a focus on (1) new treatments, (2) diagnostic guidelines that rely heavily upon biomarkers and enable asymptomatic detection and diagnosis, and (3) growing prevention science. This workshop will use the 2021 APA Guidelines for the Assessment of Dementia and Age-Related Cognitive Decline as a framework to guide clinicians in navigating these developments and will provide attendees with a broad overview of Alzheimer’s disease and the psychologist’s role in assessment and intervention. The workshop describes an emerging practice opportunity for helping older adult and middle-aged clients to navigate a rapidly changing landscape.

"I really enjoyed Dr. McDuff's presentation style and was impressed with the clarity of his explanations."-Larry D., Psychologist, New Mexico 

Substance abuse is one of the most common clinical problems of patients who present for treatment.  These patients struggle with a life threatening, clinically complex problem that is subject to a variety of physiological and psychological factors.  This webinar will focus on treating people plagued by complex additions issues.  You will learn about the risk and protective factors related to addiction.  There will also be useful suggestions for assessing and treating addicted patients.  Adolescent addiction will be discussed.  There will also be material on motivational interviewing and effective stress control.

“Outstanding. This was the best seminar I've taken (from any source, not just TZK) in the last several years. It was a great combination of teaching the content, including research on the topic, providing examples, and inviting and using participant feedback to enhance learning. Exact right amount of solid content and examples that reinforced learning - WONDERFUL!”-Nancy C., Psychologist, Kentucky

What do you feel when you gaze up at the Milky Way, see a beautiful rainbow, or stand before a mountain that seems impossibly high? This feeling – often complete with goosebumps and a shiver down our spine – is known as awe. And as it turns out, this underappreciated and often misunderstood emotion just might hold the key to a happy, meaningful, and healthy life.

Recent research has shown that awe can improve our physical health, strengthen our social bonds, and become lastingly happier. Experiences of awe strengthen our immune system, improve our psychological well-being, and even change our brain in unique ways. In this seminar, participants will explore the nature and benefits of awe, and how learning to become more awestruck can improve our psychological, physical, and social well-being. Through lecture, vignettes, and hands-on practice, you’ll learn to harness these breakthrough findings and transform your clinical practice.

The science and practice of brain health is developing at a rapid pace; there are now many ways to promote cognitive health and functioning in your middle-aged and older clients. This 2-hour workshop features clinical strategies that are (a) responsive to normative age-related changes in cognitive functioning and that also (b) support daily living that is consistent with personal values and life goals. Whether in psychotherapy, integrated primary care, or case management, behavioral health providers can help middle aged and older adults understand cognitive aging, engage in brain-healthy habits, and support decision making related to completing a cognitive evaluation. The experience of cognitive aging is embedded within social contexts and environments. Thus, this workshop guides clinicians through recommended strategies that are responsive to the needs of culturally diverse aging clients, including within the context of telehealth.

Anxiety Disorders are the most common form of mental illness, with roughly one-third of all people living in the United States suffering from an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives. Moreover, untreated anxiety disorders come at a tremendous cost both individually and societally, and can adversely impact a person’s health, social relationships, job performance, and much more. Thankfully, effective treatments are available that can alleviate a person’s suffering in powerful ways.
 

But with a wide range of treatments available, clinicians can often feel overwhelmed knowing when and how to incorporate approaches like cognitive restructuring, exposure based
strategies, breathing retraining, and more. In this seminar, join Dr. Jonah Paquette for a practical overview of how we can effectively treat a range of anxiety disorders Attendees will gain tangible skills that they can begin using in their clinical work starting today.

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.

“Very much enjoyed the seminar and look forward to using ACT it in my practice. I am relatively new to ACT so the entire seminar was useful.”-Kristen W., Professional Counselor, Texas

Incorporating Acceptance and Commitment Therapy into your treatment approach will have a significant impact on your clinical effectiveness and the well-being of your clients.  ACT is a rich, integrative approach, and has been shown to be effective for many clinically-relevant concerns. Because ACT takes a different perspective on psychotherapy, some clinicians wonder how to blend the applications into their own therapy approach. Other clinicians who have embraced the ACT concepts still have questions about certain aspects of the therapy. This webinar will explain ACT in a very clear, concise, user-friendly manner.

This webinar will satisfy your ethics requirement.

“Wonderful and very well-organized presentation/webinar. Dr. Barnett was amazingly knowledgeable, professional, and nice.”-Maria F., Counselor, West Virginia

Mental health clinicians live and practice in challenging times, providing services in a wide range of settings with a wide range of clients. Numerous legal issues, ethics requirements, ethical dilemmas, stressors, and a litigious environment may make ethical practice seem to be a daunting proposition. This workshop focuses on positive ethics and risk management strategies for practicing mental health professionals, taking a positive approach to ethical practice that helps minimize risks to the clinician. Fundamental issues for ethical practice by mental health professionals will be addressed along a review of basic risk management strategies, and a process for ethical decision-making when faced with ethical dilemmas and challenges. Common dilemmas and challenges will be reviewed and specific recommendations for ethical and effective practice will be provided.

Our world is changing faster than at any moment in history, and technologies advancements are literally changing what it means to be human. “Future Technologies” explores the profound and inevitable impact emerging technologies will have on humanity. We will delve into how Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, Brain-Computer Interface, Robotics, Gene Therapy, and Genetic Engineering, are set to advance in the next several decades – even sooner. Each tech technology’s potential benefits, such as AI’s improved healthcare diagnostics and AR/VR’s enhanced educational tools, are highlighted alongside associated risks, including job displacement and privacy concerns. A key theme is the transformative impact these technologies can, and likely will, have on human identity and social norms. Therapists can and should play a critical role in this technological evolution. They can help individuals adapt to changes, advocate for ethical standards, and support mental health through technological integration. This talk underscores the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration to ensure that technological advancements benefit the future of humanity while mitigating potential harms. Currently, it is the sex tech industry developing a vision of the future of intimacy. The time is now for mental health professionals to join this critical conversation.

Accurate diagnosis is critical for treatment planning and documentation of medical necessity. Misdiagnosis is common. Therapists can think more deliberately by using critical thinking and being aware of ways to reduce the likelihood of cognitive biases. You will have a practical, systematic way of making diagnoses using the DSM-5-TR and being aware of questionnaires that can facilitate the gathering of necessary information. Cultural factors will also be considered within the context of the DSM-5-TR. There will be a focus on differential diagnoses in exploring major depressive disorder and PTSD.

We are a part of a massive social experiment. Sex, gender, and relationship dynamics are changing faster than at any time in recorded history, all within a backdrop of exploding artificial intelligence (AI). Younger generations are increasingly comfortable with technology interfacing all aspects of their lives. The potential risks inherent in human:human sex have been highlighted by COVID-19.  Enter virtual reality porn and yes, sex robots. Experts predict that within 20-50 years, robots that move and interact in humanoid ways will be affordable for many. It is highly conceivable that an infant born today can have their first sexual experience with a robot. Mental health professionals will better serve their clients if they understand the increasingly powerful impact new developments in sex tech and AI have on sex and intimacy. The time is now for us to being this critical discussion.

“This was a great webinar. The presenter shared content in an organized, yet interactive manner. The tools taught were very practical. Great presenter and would be awesome to teach future webinars.”-K.W., Social Worker, North Carolina

A high percentage of mental health clients have experienced some sort of trauma in their childhoods. That’s why it’s so important that we as clinicians use a treatment that is proven to work. This seminar will present an overview of child trauma and the evidence-based child treatment, Trauma Focused- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Attendees will gain an overview of child trauma, review the definition of child abuse and discuss the common affective, behavioral and cognitive reactions that children have to trauma. Then an overview of Trauma- Focused CBT will be given, including the specific components, real life examples of activities used and the evidence for why this approach works. At the end attendees will be provided with the next step to get certified in TF-CBT. Please note, this is an introduction overview course of a child focused treatment.

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.

The incidence of youth suicide requires that schools and communities collaborate and increase suicide prevention efforts and that they be prepared to respond if a suicide occurs in order to reduce suicide contagion.  This presentation will help school and community mental health personnel increase their understanding of the most common factors in youth suicide.  Participants will learn effective strategies to prevent youth suicide and lessons from the aftermath of numerous suicides.

This course will satisfy your ethics requirement.

Religion and spirituality are important dimensions of most individuals’ lives. Yet, many mental health clinicians do not receive education and training focused on how to address these issues, when appropriate, with their clients. This webinar provides information on the roles of spirituality and religion in many clients’ lives, how to address our own biases about them and how our own beliefs may impact how we view and address them, how to appropriately assess each client’s treatment needs to include religious and spiritual issues and concerns, and how to tap into clients’ beliefs, practices, and faith communities as sources of strength that may enhance the professional services we provide. Ethics issues, challenges, and dilemmas are addressed, and an ethical decision-making model is shared and clinical examples are provided and discussed to illustrate its application. Recommendations for ethical and clinically effective practice are provided. 

This course will satisfy your ethics requirement.

"I loved that self-care was partnered with ethics! Great topic and the presentation was interesting, well-paced, unhurried yet didn't belabor points. Clearly the instructor is very comfortable with the topic and presents well."-Barbara B., Professional Counselor, Washington

Working as a mental health professional can be challenging, demanding and stressful. With some clients, it can be traumatizing to the clinician. Self-care, the promotion of wellness, and the prevention of burnout are essential for every mental health professional in order to maintain our competence and clinical effectiveness. The ethical obligation to do so is addressed, ways to assess our own individual self-care needs and effectiveness, and specific strategies for the effective practice of self-care are presented. Important issues such as personal and professional challenges, vulnerabilities, and blind spots are addressed. The limitations of self-monitoring and self-assessment are reviewed and recommendations for proactively and effectively addressing these challenges are presented. A realistic approach to ongoing self-care and the promotion of wellness is presented that each mental health clinician can integrate into their daily lives, for their own benefit, and for the benefit of their clients.

This course will satisfy your ethics requirement.

This comprehensive webinar explores the ethical and risk management challenges inherent in operating a mental health private practice, whether solo or group-based. Dr. Jeff Zimmerman, drawing on decades of experience and leadership in the field, guides attendees through practical applications of relevant parts of the APA Ethics Code, focusing on principles such as beneficence, fidelity, and respect for client rights. Through realistic scenarios—like those involving informed consent complexities, digital record vulnerabilities, or dual relationships—participants gain insight into how ethical principles intersect with clinical realities.
 

The presentation emphasizes the importance of proactive planning, and developing routine procedures, detailed documentation, and self awareness in minimizing risk and protecting both clients and clinicians. Special attention is given to telehealth practices, financial agreements, staff training, and informed consent. Attendees are taught strategies for ethical decision-making, and are encouraged to maintain humility and consult regularly to get input. They are reminded that ethical success in private practice depends on intentional structure, cultural attunement, and ongoing education.

“Very good presenter.  Very well-organized.  Very personable in responding to questions from participants.  Adept at integrating Power Point slides with his verbal presentation. Clearly knowledgeable in this field - both theoretically and clinically.  Gracious with his time in being willing to stay online afterward to answer questions.”-Shirley R., Professional Counselor and Psychotherapist, Alabama

Non-prescribing therapists are crucial to the effective and safe use of psychiatric medications by their clients.  In contrast to clinicians who focus primarily on medications, therapists generally spend more time with their clients and are more familiar with their history and current situation. They also tend to develop a greater rapport. And  considering that most clients diagnosed with depression, anxiety, psychosis, posttraumatic stress disorder, and virtually every other psychiatric disorder receive pharmacological interventions, the non-prescribing therapist needs to understand how psychiatric medications work, their limitations and side effects, and how to help their clients maximize gains through increasing medication compliance.   This course is designed to present the non-prescribing mental health practitioner with a review of basic concepts in clinical psychopharmacology and the effective use of common psychiatric medications in the treatment of mental health conditions.  Effective medication strategies for treating depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, psychosis, sleep disorders, and other common psychiatric conditions are covered in detail. Basic general pharmacological concepts such as pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics are reviewed as are more specific concepts such as drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination.  You will also become aware of common medication treatment errors to avoid and learn tips for helping your clients become more educated about the medications they take as well as help them manage their side effects.

Group therapy is a treatment modality in which unrelated people meet together with a therapist, in contrast to individual therapy or conjoint family therapy. Groups are not a second-rate approach to helping people change. In fact, groups are often the treatment of choice - especially when a client’s problem has an interpersonal component (which is usually the case). Groups offer a natural laboratory in which people can experiment with new ways of being and receive feedback from numerous others. There is great power in groups: members actually experience their interpersonal dynamics playing out in the group. A group therapist can implement techniques from other modalities in a group format. However, there are dynamics, processes, and stages of groups that are not shared with individual approaches and which offer distinctive benefits. Because so many of the problems that people seek mental
health services for involve dysfunctional interactions between people, having group members actually interact with others in the group affords an opportunity for deep, experiential learning and development that is not possible in individual therapy. This seminar will emphasize how to facilitate such “here and now” interactions and processes in group work.

Individuals experiencing psychosis can present with debilitating symptoms that negatively impact their quality of life and daily functioning. Despite the mounting evidence for the effectiveness of non-pharmacological treatments for psychosis, many clinicians report feeling ill-equipped to provide such treatment. This webinar will provide you with a foundational understanding of psychological treatments for psychosis, with an emphasis on cognitive-behavioral approaches. You will be introduced to the most cutting-edge treatments for thispopulation and the key mechanisms that make these treatments effective. Finally, strategies for addressing common challenges in treating psychosis will also be discussed. Attendees should leave the webinar with an understanding of the current evidence base for the treatment of psychosis and best outlets for further study.

This webinar will satisfy your ethics requirement.

“Presenter was knowledgeable and engaging. Very informative and helpful webinar. I feel more confident in the decisions that I have been making in regard to self disclosure and I feel I can look at those areas that feel more challenging with less criticism.”-Gabrielle D., Psychologist, New York

“Therapist Self Disclosure” is an introductory ethics course for practitioners who seek to navigate how to utilize self-disclosure to achieve client engagement without boundary violations in treatment environments. With the mainstreaming of peer counseling, cognitive behavioral and humanistic treatments, therapist self-disclosure is encouraged as a means to improving patient rapport & communication. Therapists need to differentiate among the nuanced differences between self-disclosure, self-involving statements, deliberate & confrontative disclosures from disclosures amounting to harmful boundary violations to avoid becoming ensnarled in questionable ethical practices.

This webinar focuses on several factors like: (1) role played by self-disclosure in relationships, (2) the history of therapist self-disclosure, (3) what is therapist self-disclosure?, (4) how theoretical treatments and the type of client in treatment impact therapist self-disclosure, (5) when are therapists most often willing to self-disclose, (6) ethics of self-disclosure and boundary violations, (7) conclusions and practical clinical checklist to prevent inappropriate therapist self-disclosure. Given these complexities, knowledge about therapist self-disclosure is crucial.

This course will utilize “clinical” situations from film and television to highlight protective measures relating to therapist self-disclosure. Excerpts from TV shows and movies, such as, “Mindhunter,” “In Treatment,” “Ordinary People,” “Good Will Hunting,” “The Sopranos,” “The Breakfast Club,” and others will be utilized.

Self-harm, or non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is most common among adolescents and young adults. Although NSSI typically decreases in late adolescence, this behavior is one of the strongest antecedents of suicide in youth; and those who engage in repetitive NSSI seem to be at high risk for continuing to use dysfunctional emotion regulation strategies, even after discontinuing NSSI. People engage in NSSI for a wide array of reasons (including a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder, or BPD), but usually this involves an inability to manage emotions in some way, making Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) an ideal treatment for this population.

While most mental health clinicians will encounter NSSI at some point, there is still a paucity of research about this behaviour and why it happens; and education programs rarely teach about this behaviour and how to work with clients who are engaging in it. This workshop will help you understand NSSI, factors to consider when assessing and working with clients, and will take a DBT approach to helping clients eliminate this behaviour.

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.

“This may have been the best training overall I have seen in the 30 years of my professional life. If not the best, then clearly in the top five. Dr. Hannan maintained the pace and energy and held my attention for six hours, no mean feat whatsoever. Hats off to him!.”-James B. Counselor, Armed Forces

In this webinar, Keith Hannan, Ph.D will talk about the diagnosis and treatment of disruptive behavior disorder.  He will help you distinguish between benign mischievousness and malignant antisocial behavior.  He will explore the literature on delinquency in girls.  There will be a review of risk assessment.  Information will also be presented on the cognitive style and deficits of delinquent youth.  He will present a model for effective psychotherapeutic intervention.

Chronic disease affects far more than just the body—it takes a toll on one’s mental health, emotional well-being, and daily functioning. As a mental health professional, you play a crucial role in helping patients navigate these challenges, yet traditional medical care often overlooks psychological and behavioral factors. This training equips you with the skills to recognize and address the emotional, psychological, behavioral, and even some of the physical barriers that impact chronic disease management. Learn to utilize a comprehensive biopsychosocial assessment, integrating physical, emotional, social, and environmental factors to develop more effective, patient-centered care plans.
 

Through this interactive session, you’ll discover at least three evidence-based interventions that improve coping, adherence, and quality of life. Gain practical tools to motivate patients in following prescribed treatment regimens and make sustainable lifestyle changes. Plus, familiarize yourself with the SBAR method for effective interdisciplinary communication, ensuring seamless collaboration between mental health and medical providers. Don’t miss this opportunity to expand your expertise and improve patient outcomes!

Cognitive-behavioural therapy is widely considered the gold standard treatment of psychotherapy. However some clients don’t respond to standard protocols, and a number of approaches, still considered under the CBT “umbrella” have been adapted to meet the specific needs of different populations. Schema therapy is one such treatment that continues to show promise for what used to be considered “treatment-resistant” patients. Individuals struggling with personality disorders, addictions, and other impulsive and destructive
behaviours are amongst those considered to be the most challenging to reach, and many practitioners often feel ill equipped to deal with them.
 

Attend this full day workshop with internationally recognized personality disorders expert Dr. Jeff Riggenbach as he presents an integrated schema focused cognitive model for dealing with your most challenging cases. This unique, chock-full training will teach you practical strategies to implement with individuals struggling with BPD, addictions, Impulse control problems, and other emotionally dysregulated or Cluster B presentations. Leave this engaging workshop with a plethora of new tools in your toolbox that you can implement tomorrow to help you get unstuck and facilitate meaningful change that lasts. Moreover, leave with a renewed hope that you are now more equipped to deal with even the most clients that walk through your door.

“Outstanding. This was the best seminar I've taken (from any source, not just TZK) in the last several years. It was a great combination of teaching the content, including research on the topic, providing examples, and inviting and using participant feedback to enhance learning. Exact right amount of solid content and examples that reinforced learning - WONDERFUL!”-Nancy C., Psychologist, Kentucky

What do you feel when you gaze up at the Milky Way, see a beautiful rainbow, or stand before a mountain that seems impossibly high? This feeling – often complete with goosebumps and a shiver down our spine – is known as awe. And as it turns out, this underappreciated and often misunderstood emotion just might hold the key to a happy, meaningful, and healthy life.

Recent research has shown that awe can improve our physical health, strengthen our social bonds, and become lastingly happier. Experiences of awe strengthen our immune system, improve our psychological well-being, and even change our brain in unique ways. In this seminar, participants will explore the nature and benefits of awe, and how learning to become more awestruck can improve our psychological, physical, and social well-being. Through lecture, vignettes, and hands-on practice, you’ll learn to harness these breakthrough findings and transform your clinical practice.

“Fantastic webinar. Dr. Paquette was very knowledgeable, very personable, and open with comments and questions. He maintained my interest, and had great examples for explanation.”-Marilyn H., Counselor, Mississippi

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is one of the most effective forms of psychotherapy, a gold standard treatment that can be applied to a wide range of psychological disorders. With hundreds of randomize controls trials to demonstrate its impact, cognitive behavioral therapy has been shown to be one of the most efficacious and well-validated forms of treatment within the mental health community. However, many clinicians struggle to effectively implement it a powerful way with their clients. Join clinical psychologist, author, and international speaker Jonah Paquette for an exciting hands-on workshop aimed to help bring your knowledge and skills related to CBT to the next level. Complete with over 50 techniques aimed towards changing thoughts and behaviors, this workshop can transform your practice.

This seminar will provide you with a deeper understanding of how CBT can be applied to a wide range of problems, and will help you master the core competencies of CBT treatment. In addition, attendees will be provided with powerful, practical, and easy-to-use tools that you can use in your clinical practice starting right away. Through didactic presentation, hands-on practice, and opportunities for reflection, you’ll learn how to expertly apply these approaches into your life and your clinical work. You’ll leave equipped to improve your clinical skills and achieve better therapeutic outcomes with even your most challenging clients.

“This was an excellent course. I was captivated for the entire 3 hours. Material was very up to date and use of media and PowerPoint was very effective.” -Mary Kate H., :icensed Professional Counselor, Florida

Profiling Mentally Ill Mass Murderers is an introductory seminar to the problem of spree killers. The spree killer, whether or not impacted by mentally illness, is a considerable scourge upon society. Factors like easy access to guns by dangerous mentally ill, inadequate commitment laws,the inability to predict dangerous behavior, and media frenzy, contribute to an increasing death toll. This seminar uses case studies to highlight the role played by diagnostic assessment (suicide by cop, psychopathic behavior, PTSD, major mental disorders), inadequate prevention civil and gun policy strategies, and stigmatization of the mentally ill as dangerous.

Traditional abstinence-only models have long dominated Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) treatment, yet emerging research demonstrates that harm reduction strategies—including moderate drinking—offer effective alternatives for many individuals, particularly those with less severe or early-stage alcohol issues. For clients whose alcohol use is creating problems, learning to drink more moderately and safely can represent both a realistic goal and a sustainable outcome. For others, managed drinking serves as a crucial stepping-stone toward temporary or permanent abstinence.
 

This harm reduction framework transforms treatment by lowering barriers to care and creating more inclusive options for individuals intimidated by abstinence-only approaches. The result is more flexible, personalized care that meets clients where they are in their recovery journey. 

Since office-based therapists are typically the first professionals contacted by individuals seeking help with alcohol concerns, all mental health practitioners—regardless of specialty—must be equipped with the knowledge and skills to competently address these issues. This comprehensive webinar provides a diverse clinical toolkit featuring practical strategies, integrated behavioral and pharmacological interventions, real-world case studies, and essential clinical considerations. Participants will gain valuable insights into addressing alcohol-related challenges with greater flexibility, empathy, and effectiveness, significantly expanding treatment possibilities for clients seeking help with alcohol use concerns.

When we joined the ranks of helping professionals, one of the last things that probably crossed our minds was what, if any, risk we would face in our careers. Would our forensic patient who had killed their parents ever corner us in a room and try to assault us? Would our inpatient teenager ever cyber-stalk us online? Would our outpatient client ever try to kill us in our office? Daunting questions to think about; however, these are the very questions that we should be addressing while also helping our client population in need. This course looks back over the past decades to review where mental health treatment has come and what about those shifts may contribute to our vulnerability in our professions; it helps identify the vulnerabilities we should be addressing; and it offers suggestions of actions we can take to protect our work, our clients, our livelihood, and our lives. In addition to receiving the training and education we need to make us the best helping professionals we can be, we also need training such as this to help protect ourselves from any harm that could come in the course of our work.

The term trauma is used to describe the challenging emotional consequences experienced by someone who has lived through a distressing event. These consequences can involve Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which has been identified as a global health issue, with prevalence rates ranging from 1.3% to 37.4% (and even higher in clinical populations). But what happens when the trauma occurs early in life, and/or involves on-going or repetitive exposure to traumatic events? In these cases, individuals will often experience Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD), and/or dissociative disorders such as Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).
 

As our understanding of trauma continues to evolve, so does our understanding of how to treat it. In this webinar, Sheri Van Dijk will teach some essential perspectives and skills to help you and your clients get unstuck in treatment. In this webinar you will learn leading edge, evidence-based principles in the treatment of clients experiencing the sequelae of trauma, including the difference between PTSD and C-PTSD; theories to inform treatment of clients with complex trauma histories; and skills to help clients ground and regulate emotions.

Clinical supervision often comes with challenges. These challenges may include supporting supervisees as they build their clinical competencies, providing constructive feedback that helps your supervisee grow and progress in their development as a clinician, navigating potentially challenging relationship dynamics, as well as discussion of ethical issues in the supervision process. This webinar is designed to provide supervisors with the skills to effectively navigate the challenges as they occur. Scenarios will be integrated to encourage the application of the information discussed throughout the webinar.

“Excellent presentation. Presenter was very knowledgeable and thorough. No improvements needed.”-Bruce G., Counselor, Illinois

The biology of reward has been well-studied and is linked to numerous mental health diagnoses. Researchers identified an anomaly in this reward cascade called Reward Deficiency Syndrome or RDS. This anomaly and its impact on psychotherapy are less evident in psychological literature, yet it provides useful knowledge in one of the most prevalent and challenging of all mental health disorders…addiction. This seminar will help you understand the cascade theory of reward and provide you with working knowledge of RDS. You will be able to talk about how RDS affects the brain, what research has found regarding the impact of RDS, as well as discuss a model of therapy that considers highly this biological aspect of mental illness. The focus of this seminar is biopsychological and psychopharmaocological in nature.

“The instructor clearly has a high level of expertise, presented the material in a well organized, comprehensive, and detailed manner, and maintained my interest throughout.”-Jay F., Psychologist, New Jersey

One in seven people over the age of 70 experiences dementia and another 22% demonstrate symptoms of cognitive decline that falls short of dementia. Those who escape the symptoms of dementia may spend a substantial portion of retirement years caring for a friend or family member with cognitive impairment. The rise of the baby boomer generation is expected bring unprecedented rates of cognitive syndromes like Alzheimer’s disease, yet most mental health professionals have no formal training to work with this vulnerable population. This workshop provides a clinical approach to understanding and assessing these syndromes.

“This was my favorite webinar. I learned the most about myself as a therapist and a great deal about the borderline elicitation of counter transference. This webinar was a revival of things I learned in graduate school and that I needed a refresher course in.”-Jane K., Social Worker, New York

Recent research suggests that the therapeutic alliance and the ability to heal ruptures in the therapeutic relationship are key elements of successful treatment for individuals with personality disorders.  Yet, these patients tend to stimulate strong countertransference reactions that can derail the treatment.  This seminar elucidates common countertransference reactions to each of the personality disorders.  There is also discussion about how to manage these reactions and to use them to better understand the patient and thus, provide better care.

Multicultural guidelines and ethical standards dictate that White therapists examine their own racial identity, privilege, and fragility to better serve BIPOC clients. Dr. Fat- ter will review current trends in multicultural competency and discuss the clinical cost of the therapist being ‘colorblind’. This webinar will specifically focus on aspects of White supremacy culture, White privilege, White fragility, and Helms’ White racial identity model to help therapists self-assess their own White racial identity. Dr. Fatter will discuss clinical examples of ways ‘whiteness’ can show up relationally in clinical settings as well as skills needed to build racial stamina. In addition, Dr. Fatter will also describe examples of specific types of microaggressions that can dam- age the therapeutic relationship. Dr. Fatter will also discuss practical ways to bring up racial identity with all clients, practical ways to honor cultural strengths using a Commu- nity Cultural Wealth approach in therapy, and how to do a therapeutic repair when a relational rupture has occurred.  

Across behavioral health professions, there is a workforce shortage of psychotherapists trained to provide evidence-based mental health services to aging individuals. Cognitive-behavioral conceptualizations and therapy strategies have been effectively used with culturally diverse middle-aged and older adults. This webinar is aimed at psychotherapists who already have some knowledge of and experience providing CBT. You will develop an understanding of typical adjustments to CBT sessions with aging individuals, with CBT strategies for later life depression used as examples. The presentation will also include resources for clinical practice with middle-aged and older adults and recommendations for further professional development.

The clinical interview is a critical component in any intake process for therapy, counseling or coaching. Additionally, the interview should be a standard component of any evaluation process. A comprehensive interview can provide a wealth of information necessary to best evaluate, understand and/or work with a client/patient. Surprisingly, this valuable component does not appear to be adequate taught in many graduate programs. The variability of the quality and depth of interviews that this presenter has reviewed is both unfortunate and easily correctable.
 

This seminar will provide you the framework necessary to conduct a comprehensive clinical interview. You will learn the important areas to cover during this seminar. You will be able to historically track the major areas of psychological functioning throughout the interviewee’s life. You will be able to understand the unique strengths and weaknesses of the interviewee. You will be able to make an appropriate diagnosis. You will be able to use all of the information gathered to help create a treatment/counseling/coaching plan with the interviewee.

“I found this seminar fascinating. I have taken some of Dr Shapiro's other seminars and will seek him out for others, I enjoy his approach. His real world examples are invaluable.”-Dawn Z., Social Worker, New York

This webinar is designed for those clinicians moving into forensic assessment from more traditional clinical settings. It will consider the important similarities and differences between clinical and forensic work, including critical legal and ethical issues regarding the concept of informed consent in different kinds of evaluations. The focus will then shift to what are called functional legal capacities, and cover in depth the way different assessment instruments may be reconceptualized in order to use them in forensic settings. Special consideration will be given to the development of instruments for assessment of trauma and malingering.

“I was extremely impressed with the presentation from start to finish. I liked the inclusion of videos/visuals to enhance the presentation. Finally, I was extremely appreciative of the follow-up resources as well. I learned a great deal and all of the techniques would arguably enhance anyone's therapy practice in some way.”-Kristin K., Professional Counselor, Massachusetts

Although the field of clinical psychology has traditionally aimed to “fix what’s wrong,” the newer sub-field of positive psychology instead helps us to “build what’s strong.” In this seminar, attendees will learn about the nature of happiness, and discover research-backed methods from positive psychology to help lastingly increase happiness both in ourselves and in our clients. We’ll explore what it means to be happy, why happiness is so important, and why it can often feel so hard to come by. We’ll then discuss 7 research-based principles for lasting well-being, drawing from positive psychology, mindfulness-based approaches, and cutting-edge neuroscience. In addition, we will introduce and put into practice dozens of evidence-based tools and techniques that can easily be implemented into clinical practice. Through lecture, clinical vignettes, and hands-on practice, you’ll learn skills that can transform your clinical work.

“Instructor was knowledgeable, easy to relate to and made the content interesting and easy to follow along with. Great reflective exercises!”-LisaA., Social Worker, New York

We all know that professional burnout is a problem, but what do we do about it? In this interactive seminar, Dr. Hartman-Hall provides information from the research literature and her clinical experience about the causes and consequences of clinician burnout. Recognizing that wellness is not a “one size fits all” concept, we will explore a variety of approaches for considering clinicians’ risk factors for occupational stress, improving our own self-care, and adjusting our approach to our work. Brief exercises to practice relaxation, mindfulness, and self-awareness will be utilized throughout the talk to provide participants the opportunity to practice concepts being discussed.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can be challenging and debilitating, and many treatments fall short of achieving lasting and meaningful change for patients suffering from it. In this seminar, Dr. Jonah Paquette will help demystify PTSD and bring your knowledge and skills related to treating trauma to the next level. Attendees will gain understanding around the development and maintenance of trauma, as well as understanding the impact of social and cultural factors in the development of PTSD. In addition, participants will learn about well-established evidence-based treatments for trauma (such as CPT, PE, and EMDR), along with promising emerging treatments that are gaining traction in the field (including MDMA assisted therapy and IFS). Best of all, attendees will learn practical and tangible tools that they can begin using with their patients immediately.

“Dr. Hannan was extremely informative, knowledgeable, and easy to listen to. His clinical examples enhanced the learning experience. Great presentation. I learned techniques on how to effectively engage in a therapeutic relationship with a BPD patient.-Shayna S., Professional Counselor, Illinois

This seminar will talk about the All-or-None Phenomenon in Borderline Personality (BPD), looking at it from both a psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral perspective.  The talk will define the All-or-None Phenomenon, as well as providing clinical examples.  It will also look at the reactions this elicits in treating professionals.  You will leave this webinar will techniques that are useful in helping patients who suffer from BPD.

“This is a solid and well presented program Good detail on how high achieving people acquire and maintain those skills and level of performance.” -Phillip B., Professional Counselor, Maryland

Although psychiatrists and other mental health clinicians interested in sports practice already have the necessary general skills to help competitive athletes deal with adversity and the multitude of emotions that sports can elicit, most typically they lack the sports-specific knowledge necessary to truly help these patients and clients. This seminar will provide mental health providers interested in sports practice with the necessary tools to improve life balance and achieve peak performance in athletes and other high achievers.  Using the expanding evidence-base from neuroscience and sports medicine and case studies from all competitive levels, eight core competencies as well as important dimensions of sports culture, team structure and function, and the shifting intensity and pressure of competition will be covered.

Premature termination is a significant problem in psychotherapy, with deleterious impacts on both clients and therapists. For example, research shows that clients who prematurely terminate show poorer treatment outcomes, are less likely to make lasting changes in their symptoms, and are more likely to over-utilize the health care system. Research also shows that when clients end treatment prematurely, their therapists often experience a sense of failure with the loss. Additionally, repeated dropout by clients can lead to experiences of demoralization and burnout in their providers. Current estimates indicate that approximately 1 in 5 clients will drop out of psychotherapy and/or counseling prematurely. Although these numbers may differ depending on the setting and client type, almost all therapists will experience premature termination at some point in their practice. 

The purpose of this workshop is provide strategies and approaches that therapists can use to reduce premature termination in their practice. This workshop will begin with a discussion of what premature termination is and why some clients choose to end treatment prematurely. It will then cover the latest research on the frequency of premature termination and client, therapist, treatment, and setting risk factors associated with its occurrence. In the second half of this workshop, eight evidence-based strategies for reducing premature termination will be presented. These strategies include: providing role induction, incorporating preferences into the treatment decision-making process, planning for appropriate termination, providing education about patterns of change in psychotherapy, strengthening hope, enhancing motivation for treatment, fostering the therapeutic alliance, and assessing and discussing treatment progress.

Anxiety Disorders are the most common form of mental illness, with roughly one-third of all people living in the United States suffering from an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives. Moreover, untreated anxiety disorders come at a tremendous cost both individually and societally, and can adversely impact a person’s health, social relationships, job performance, and much more. Thankfully, effective treatments are available that can alleviate a person’s suffering in powerful ways.
 

But with a wide range of treatments available, clinicians can often feel overwhelmed knowing when and how to incorporate approaches like cognitive restructuring, exposure based
strategies, breathing retraining, and more. In this seminar, join Dr. Jonah Paquette for a practical overview of how we can effectively treat a range of anxiety disorders Attendees will gain tangible skills that they can begin using in their clinical work starting today.

The manner in which mental illness has been dealt with in the criminal justice system especially regarding capital punishment has been described as “the shame of the states. “However the death penalty is not the only area in which we see misuse of psychological theories and research. We see this frequently in such areas as competency to stand trial, the insanity defense, involuntary medication, and failure to recognize the impacts of traumatic brain injury on cognitive functioning.Many of these areas are totally ignored in the law due to two forces: sanism and pretextuality.Sanism represents a bias against mentally ill individuals much like racial or gender bias.  Pretextualism refers to performing some forensic function in a careless or slipshod manner, but presenting it to the court in a manner suggesting that it is scientifically valid.

Grief becomes disenfranchised when individuals are denied the opportunity to grieve openly, lack the social support necessary to process their loss, or do not receive the validation needed to heal. In these circumstances, the grieving person may withdraw from others, question whether their grief is legitimate, struggle to accept the loss and its consequences, or have difficulty adapting in healthy ways. When grief is pushed into silence, the emotional burden becomes more intense and isolating. This increases the risk of developing prolonged grief disorder, depression, anxiety, or other mental health challenges.

Disenfranchised grief can arise from a variety of sources—cultural norms, societal expectations, the attitudes of others, and even from the griever’s own internal beliefs. At times, professionals in “expert” roles may also contribute to this sense of invalidation, often unintentionally.

Because all mental health professionals work with grieving individuals, it is critical to recognize the signs of disenfranchisement, understand its impact on the mourning process, and learn how to avoid reinforcing it. Clinicians must be equipped to offer validation, support, and effective interventions to help clients navigate the social dynamics that can complicate their grief—especially when those dynamics are shaped by misunderstanding or judgment.

This workshop will include both didactic instruction and case studies to give attendees practical tools for addressing disenfranchised grief in clinical practice.

“I was very impressed. The presentation was clear, informative and definitely added to my knowledge base.”-Mary H., Psychologist, New Jersey

Psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia are considered to be among the most debilitating and distressing mental health conditions. Despite impacting approximately 3% of the population, many clinicians lack the training and resources to recognize and best work with this vulnerable group of people, leaving many with psychosis isolated, stigmatized, and without help. Nonetheless, growing evidence suggests that, with tailored early intervention, many people with psychosis can recover from illness and lead a life of their choosing in the community. This seminar will familiarize you with psychosis, emphasizing the early phases of illness. It will then demonstrate strategies for reducing stigma, increasing empathy, and facilitating early identification. I will share screening tools and briefly touch on treatment strategies, as well as provide clinical resources for comprehensive specialty care.

Psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia are considered to be among the most debilitating and distressing mental health conditions. Despite impacting approximately 3% of the population, many clinicians lack the training and resources to recognize and best work with this vulnerable group of people, leaving many with psychosis isolated, stigmatized, and without help. Nonetheless, growing evidence suggests that, with tailored early intervention, many people with psychosis can recover from illness and lead a life of their choosing in the community. This seminar will familiarize you with psychosis, emphasizing the early phases of illness. It will then demonstrate strategies for reducing stigma, increasing empathy, and facilitating early identification. I will share screening tools and briefly touch on treatment strategies, as well as provide clinical resources for comprehensive specialty care.

This course will satisfy your ethics requirement.

"Jeff Barnett gave the best Supervision course I have ever taken. It was so comprehensive and concise that a supervision plan could be developed from start to finish from his course. He was calm and organized and linear in his approach. I listened to every word."-Martha H., Social Worker, Arkansas

Clinical supervision is central to the training of every mental health clinician. Ensuring it is conducted in an ethical and effective manner is of great importance for our professions and for the public we serve. This webinar is designed for all health professionals engaged in clinical supervision of trainees in clinical settings. The focus of this webinar is on ethics, legal, and practical aspects of clinical supervision. Important issues to be addressed include the supervision contract between supervisor and supervisee; and the supervisor’s responsibilities to the supervisee, to the supervisee’s clients, to the public at large, and to the profession. A developmental perspective on supervision will be presented that focuses on the supervisory process in the face of the supervisee’s evolving training needs. How to balance the at times competing obligations of the role of supervisor (supportive teacher vs evaluator and gatekeeper for the profession) will be addressed. Specific ethical dilemmas and challenges that frequently arise in clinical supervision and legal issues relevant to all supervisors and their supervisees will be discussed. Clinical examples will be presented to stimulate discussion and to help illustrate options for addressing these situations. Strategies for effective clinical supervision will be discussed that can be utilized by all supervisors.

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.

Given the amount of trauma individuals have experienced, it’s crucial for social service providers to understand common trauma responses and how they may manifest. Although
fight, flight, and freeze are more commonly known there is more acknowledgment of the fawn response. This training will provide an overview of these common trauma responses, how they manifest and how to clients. Not only is it important for us to understand these trauma responses it’s equally as important to help clients understand how they show up in their lives and may even be impeding their functioning at home, at school and other settings.

Mental health and healthcare professionals are faced with the often misunderstood and misdiagnosed symptoms of normative and prolonged grief. Formal education rarely, if ever, provides extensive enough training to accurately identify and treat those who are grieving. Unfortunately, grieving clients are diagnosed incorrectly because symptoms can mimic normative or prolonged grief. The grieving process is often pathologized, or misdiagnosed, resulting in potential exacerbation of the presenting issues because inappropriate interventions are utilized. As a result, those who are grieving are often inadvertently disenfranchised by providers, which can make the professional support they sought to reconstruct their previously shattered identities and worldviews ineffective, and even, at time, exacerbate other mental health difficulties. It is essential to be versed in identifying grief related constructs that may underlie, or even cause, mental health and behavior associated problems.
 

This presentation aims to provide current, research based information on the grieving process, clarify misconceptions of outdated theories, and differentiate between normative and prolonged grief. It also examines the changes in conceptualization, differential diagnosing, and effective, clinically proven interventions that may be utilized with grieving individuals and families. Attendees will leave with an improved clinical skill set they can immediately apply to identify and treat their clients.

This course will satisfy your ethics requirement.

“I thought the activity was very engaging, informative, and really organized. I learned a lot about what can and cannot be done and also how to go about doing online counseling ethically.”-Abbee T., Professional Counselor, Louisiana

A wide range of technologies to include the Internet, e-mail, text messaging, social media, Apps, and the like have altered how most individuals communicate with each other, stay connected, and form and maintain relationships, to include in mental health practice. This workshop will provide information about the ethical, legal, and clinical issues relevant to integrating various technologies into our practices. Additionally, common pitfalls and areas where the use of various technologies, to include social media, is contraindicated will be discussed. Research on how various technologies may be effectively integrated into clinical practice to treat a wide range of presenting problems and disorders is reviewed and their implications for our practices is discussed. Guidance on decision-making for when and how to do this is provided to include the provision of clinical services across distances and the use of various technologies to enhance or augment in-person services. Clinical examples are provided to illustrate some of the benefits and challenges of utilizing these technological innovations in clinical practice.

At the heart of existential and person-centered therapy lies the profound quest for meaning and fulfillment. Addressing life’s existential questions, such as “What is the meaning of life?” or “How can we cultivate healthier, more meaningful relationships?”, these therapeutic approaches offer powerful frameworks for helping clients navigate both existential and neurotic anxieties. Rooted in philosophy, phenomenology, and the pioneering work of Carl Rogers, existential and person-centered therapies emphasize the importance of choice, authenticity, and personal agency in fostering psychological well-being.
 

This seminar will provide an in-depth exploration of humanistic theory, focusing on the existential foundations of meaning-making and the core principles of person-centered therapy. Through didactic presentation and experiential exercises, participants will learn how to integrate mindfulness, present-centered awareness, and body awareness into clinical practice. Attendees will gain valuable insights into how these therapeutic approaches can be effectively applied to address a variety of client concerns, including those related to social justice, ultimately enhancing therapeutic outcomes and client engagement.

“I really enjoyed the expertise of the presenter. He had so much useful knowledge to share. The case studies really went deeper into my personal knowledge and helped me to process and analyze situations differently.”-Kristie C., Social Worker, New York

It is essential that that schools and communities know the incidence of school violence and be up to date on the best safety and prevention practices. This presentation will review numerous state and national initiatives that have focused on school safety and the recommendations from a variety of foundations started by parents who lost their in tragic school shootings. Many school shooters died by suicide and this presentation will outline the major theory of murder suicide. The presenter has a wealth of practical experience responding to school crises and participants, whether they are parents, school personnel or community members will learn many lessons from school tragedies and practical strategies to prevent future school violence.

This course qualifies as an ethics course.

“The information was well organized and presented in a clear, interesting manner. It gave me a good opportunity to think about how many different ways I inevitably disclose information about myself to clients; it's not possible to avoid this but I must ensure what I disclose is beneficial to the client.”-Cynthia L., Social Worker, Arkansas

Boundaries and multiple relationships are common occurrences for mental health clinicians. Yet, they may at times be challenging, confusing, and even overwhelming for those who may not know how to effectively manage boundaries and how to determine which multiple relationships are acceptable or appropriate. Taking a rigid and avoidant approach typically can be just as harmful as an overly loose approach. Participants in this webinar will learn a rational, practical, and reality-based approach for addressing and managing boundaries and multiple relationships in clinical practice. The role of a decision-making process and consideration of multiple relevant issues will be addressed and their use in clinical practice will be demonstrated. Clinical examples will be presented and discussed to illustrate the points being made. Participants will learn specific skills and strategies to integrate into their clinical practices on a daily basis.

This course will satisfy your ethics requirement.

This comprehensive webinar explores the ethical and risk management challenges inherent in operating a mental health private practice, whether solo or group-based. Dr. Jeff Zimmerman, drawing on decades of experience and leadership in the field, guides attendees through practical applications of relevant parts of the APA Ethics Code, focusing on principles such as beneficence, fidelity, and respect for client rights. Through realistic scenarios—like those involving informed consent complexities, digital record vulnerabilities, or dual relationships—participants gain insight into how ethical principles intersect with clinical realities.
 

The presentation emphasizes the importance of proactive planning, and developing routine procedures, detailed documentation, and self awareness in minimizing risk and protecting both clients and clinicians. Special attention is given to telehealth practices, financial agreements, staff training, and informed consent. Attendees are taught strategies for ethical decision-making, and are encouraged to maintain humility and consult regularly to get input. They are reminded that ethical success in private practice depends on intentional structure, cultural attunement, and ongoing education.

“The instructor clearly has a high level of expertise, presented the material in a well organized, comprehensive, and detailed manner, and maintained my interest throughout.”-Jay F., Psychologist, New Jersey

One in seven people over the age of 70 experiences dementia and another 22% demonstrate symptoms of cognitive decline that falls short of dementia. Those who escape the symptoms of dementia may spend a substantial portion of retirement years caring for a friend or family member with cognitive impairment. The rise of the baby boomer generation is expected bring unprecedented rates of cognitive syndromes like Alzheimer’s disease, yet most mental health professionals have no formal training to work with this vulnerable population. This workshop provides a clinical approach to understanding and assessing these syndromes.

The relationship between trauma and addiction is becoming increasingly well established in the literature. This is no surprise, as clinicians working “in the trenches” know all too well that people with unresolved trauma and emotional wounds often turn to substances as a way to “numb out,” forget, or otherwise self-medicate to regulate their emotions. Conversely, people with addictive behavior disorders may drive while impaired, gravitate towards toxic relationships, go to dangerous places to get their substance of choice, or engage in many other behaviours that increase their risk of being traumatized and their vulnerability factors for developing PTSD or other trauma and stress related disorders.  It is also known that when cooccurrence is involved, this presents clinicians with a more complicated course of treatment and less favorable treatment outcomes that when clients present with only one or the other.
 

The good news is, there is hope! While neuroscience has taught us much about this phenomenon in recent years, evidence-based Cognitively based treatments are still being shown to  be at least as effective as many “newer” approaches, and in some circles seem to have almost gotten lost in the shuffle. 

Recent protocols have attempted to incorporate PE (prolonged exposure) and other cognitive behavioral treatments with substance use disorder treatments. While further research is needed in this area, the mandate for integration of treatments when dealing with this population seems integral to obtain more favorable outcomes for individuals with these complex conceptualizations.
 

Leave this full-day online training let by international CBT expert Jeff Riggenbach, PhD, with an improved understanding of the neuroscience of trauma, a integrated approach to treating PTSD and addictions, and armed with a plethora of evidence-based, yet practical new tools to equip and empower this group to find levels of recovery that have previously been eluding them!

School refusal is a common problem and can be due to a number of factors. In this seminar, Dr. Hannan will identify some of the causes of school refusal and how to assess kids to get a better understanding of the behavior. He will talk about some of the instruments that can be helpful in the assessment process. He will go over how to do a functional assessment of the problem. He will provide you with treatment strategies for assisting kids that includes cognitive therapy, social skills training, exposure therapy, problem solving, and behavior management. He will use a number of case examples to illustate the assessment and treatment process. He will also highlight the treatment literature on this important topic.

“Strong and knowledgeable instructor. Highly responsive to questions. Explained each component clearly and was great at putting it all together especially tying in the theories with clinical implications. This webinar inspired me to learn more about DBT, and use it with my clients.”-Liat Z., Professional Counselor, New York

Over 75% of mental illnesses described in the DSM are related to emotion dysregulation – the inability to manage emotions effectively. Given that Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) was initially created to treat Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), of which emotion dysregulation is a primary problem, it only makes sense that DBT would be effective in treating other disorders, and research in recent years is supporting this.

This seminar will provide an introduction to DBT, including the origins of the therapy, and the Biosocial Theory of how emotion dysregulation develops. You will learn about some of the research demonstrating that DBT is effective in treating disorders other than BPD. Finally, you will learn about Dialectics, and the importance of balancing validation with change with the dysregulated client; and how to effectively use validation to help clients re-regulate in session, as well as how to teach them to practice this skill on their own.

“Outstanding instruction presented in an interesting way, especially wtih the use of short video clips. It increased my awareness of how trauma is transmitted to children and made me want to research more about this.”-Audrey H., Counselor, Alabama

Working with youth can be challenging given the generational patterns of trauma, poverty, incarceration, etc. So, it’s essential for providers to understand generational trauma and how to work with youth from a generational perspective. Without this perspective, we can have unrealistic expectations for youth and their families and encounter barriers to engagement. Providers will learn strategies to support youth with generational patterns of trauma within their families.

Many youth, especially foster care and juvenile justice youth, come from generational cycles of trauma and oppression. So, it’s necessary for providers to understand these generational patterns to effectively partner with these youth and their families.

For those who are grieving to loss of a loved one, the holidays can be an especially difficult and overwhelming time. Holidays are often associated with memories, traditions, and a sense of connection to others, all of which are impacted by the painful awareness that their loved one is absent. Surrounded by messages that we should give thanks, participate in joyful celebrations, spend time with others, and share memories, the bereaved are faced with painfully complicated, sometimes conflicting, emotions that have to be navigated during this time. During this presentation, we will explore how clients can manage the painful and mixed feelings that accompany grief, maintain physical health, and explore how new and old traditions and rituals can support clients during this tough time. Just as there is no right or wrong way to grieve, how one chooses to manage difficult emotions, social events, and relationships during the holiday season will be as unique as one’s own experience of loss. This presentations aims to help clients reduce their suffering, remember loved ones, and even reconnect with the real reason for the season.

“The instructor was very likable, which increased my enjoyment. Obviously very experienced and used those experiences to bring the content alive.”-Susan B., Psychologist, Delaware

In recent decades, researchers have been learning that Mindfulness not only helps us live healthier lives, but reduces emotional problems such as depression, anxiety, and anger; helps with sleep difficulties; improves concentration, memory, and immune system function; and generates changes in our brain that helps to counteract the problems in thinking we start to experience as we age. 

This experiential seminar will provide an introduction to mindfulness. Participants will learn about the different ways mindfulness is helpful for both physical and mental health. They will be introduced to some different ways of practicing mindfulness, and will learn some tips to help them teach these skills to clients, as well as problems clients often encounter when first learning about mindfulness. 

Individuals experiencing psychosis can present with debilitating symptoms that negatively impact their quality of life and daily functioning. Despite the mounting evidence for the effectiveness of non-pharmacological treatments for psychosis, many clinicians report feeling ill-equipped to provide such treatment. This webinar will provide you with a foundational understanding of psychological treatments for psychosis, with an emphasis on cognitive-behavioral approaches. You will be introduced to the most cutting-edge treatments for thispopulation and the key mechanisms that make these treatments effective. Finally, strategies for addressing common challenges in treating psychosis will also be discussed. Attendees should leave the webinar with an understanding of the current evidence base for the treatment of psychosis and best outlets for further study.

Group therapy is a treatment modality in which unrelated people meet together with a therapist, in contrast to individual therapy or conjoint family therapy. Groups are not a second-rate approach to helping people change. In fact, groups are often the treatment of choice - especially when a client’s problem has an interpersonal component (which is usually the case). Groups offer a natural laboratory in which people can experiment with new ways of being and receive feedback from numerous others. There is great power in groups: members actually experience their interpersonal dynamics playing out in the group. A group therapist can implement techniques from other modalities in a group format. However, there are dynamics, processes, and stages of groups that are not shared with individual approaches and which offer distinctive benefits. Because so many of the problems that people seek mental
health services for involve dysfunctional interactions between people, having group members actually interact with others in the group affords an opportunity for deep, experiential learning and development that is not possible in individual therapy. This seminar will emphasize how to facilitate such “here and now” interactions and processes in group work.

“Sheri did a great job of keeping my attention. Time flew all the while I felt I was learning something of use.  I've been teaching clients mindfulness for years but there are those clients that are still difficult and haven't been responsive. This seminar gave me brand new tools/approaches and hope for helping some of my existing clients.”-Laura D., Social Worker, Arkansas

Over 75% of mental illnesses described in the DSM are related to emotion dysregulation – the inability to manage emotions effectively. Given that Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) was initially created to treat Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), of which emotion dysregulation is a primary problem, it only makes sense that DBT would be effective in treating other disorders, and research in recent years is supporting this.

This seminar will provide an overview of the DBT Core Mindfulness skills. Participants will learn about these skills, including an introduction to mindfulness, the States of Mind, and the “What” and “How” skills. Discussion will be around how to use these skills ourselves in both professional and personal lives, and how to teach these skills to clients struggling with mental illness.

For many bereaved individuals, faith, religion, and spirituality can prove to be a supportive and comforting resource following the loss of anyone or anything that leaves a sense of deprivation and yearning. However, for some who are grieving, the relationship to their higher power or spiritual community is painfully wounded, leading to the secondary loss of his/her/their spiritual resources, connections, and spiritual crisis.
 

The painful religious and spiritual losses are referred to as complicated spiritual grief (CSG). CSG has been shown to exacerbate the bereavement experience for some religious and spiritually inclined grievers. Clinicians are confronted with religious and spiritual topics in psychotherapy, especially when working with bereft clients. Therefore, knowing how to identify the impact of CSG in the grieving process is imperative. Clinicians will be able to recognize the impact of CSG on the bereaved’s grieving process, increasing skills in conducting a comprehensive clinical assessment and development of effective treatment plans. As a result, grief therapy will more effectively identify and treat all domains of the client’s functioning following or anticipating a loss.

The incidence of youth suicide requires that schools and communities collaborate and increase suicide prevention efforts and that they be prepared to respond if a suicide occurs in order to reduce suicide contagion.  This presentation will help school and community mental health personnel increase their understanding of the most common factors in youth suicide.  Participants will learn effective strategies to prevent youth suicide and lessons from the aftermath of numerous suicides.

Chronic disease affects far more than just the body—it takes a toll on one’s mental health, emotional well-being, and daily functioning. As a mental health professional, you play a crucial role in helping patients navigate these challenges, yet traditional medical care often overlooks psychological and behavioral factors. This training equips you with the skills to recognize and address the emotional, psychological, behavioral, and even some of the physical barriers that impact chronic disease management. Learn to utilize a comprehensive biopsychosocial assessment, integrating physical, emotional, social, and environmental factors to develop more effective, patient-centered care plans.
 

Through this interactive session, you’ll discover at least three evidence-based interventions that improve coping, adherence, and quality of life. Gain practical tools to motivate patients in following prescribed treatment regimens and make sustainable lifestyle changes. Plus, familiarize yourself with the SBAR method for effective interdisciplinary communication, ensuring seamless collaboration between mental health and medical providers. Don’t miss this opportunity to expand your expertise and improve patient outcomes!

This course qualifies as an ethics course.

“The information presented in this course will be very helpful with my documentation of psychotherapy and enlightened me about potential risk and legal issues. The presentation was clear and he gave real life examples to illustrate what he was saying. I learned the difference between a supoena and a court order, and specifically what goes into effective documentation of psychotherapy notes."-Claire H., Social Worker, Vermont

This webinar explains the goals and potential benefits of effective clinical documentation as well as the ethical and legal requirements for doing so. Documentation is addressed from a clinical and risk management perspective. Specific recommendations are made for how to document the clinical services provided in a competent and effective manner. Additionally, common pitfalls to avoid are addressed. How to store and maintain records is addressed for both paper and electronic records. Precautions to take to protect and preserve records are described in detail along with how and when to dispose of them. Guidance is provided for following HIPAA and other laws and regulations relevant to documentation and record keeping. Participants in this webinar will receive practical guidance that can be integrated into daily practice to document more effectively, to better achieve the goals of thoughtfully created treatment records, and to meet and exceed professional standards and practice guidelines relevant to documentation and record keeping.

Adolescence is a time of social, cognitive, and emotional growth.  The rapid rise of technology presents a unique challenge to teenagers and those responsible for their care.  Electronics use (Online videos, texting, social media, video games, streaming TV shows/movies, etc.) creates an environment that can both enrich and hinder healthy development.  Participants in this webinar will be provided with a review of the current state of knowledge, as it relates to the impact of electronics use on adolescent wellness.  Topics addressed will include the relationship of electronics to academic performance, sleep, mental health, the developing brain, and safety.  Throughout the webinar, feedback will be provided on ways to keep adolescents connected in a way that promotes a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

This course will satisfy your ethics requirement.

“I found it extremely insightful and helpful in my day to day professional life. I wasn't aware of the origins of informed consent and I learned a great deal about case law that formed it.”-Gina F., Social Worker, New York

Informed consent is an essential aspect of all professional services provided by mental health professionals and helps to set the tone for the relationship to follow. While it is a requirement, it also plays a very important role in the treatment relationship and process. Yet, many questions exist about how to appropriately provide informed consent, the details of what should or shouldn’t be included, who should provide informed consent, and how diversity factors may necessitate modifying how we provide informed consent. This webinar will address each of these issues and provide practical guidance on how to meet ethics and legal requirements, and client needs, and how to utilize informed consent to promote a good working relationship with clients, as well as how to utilize it to promote the goals of treatment for our clients. Common pitfalls and dilemmas, practical suggestions and recommendations, and relevant options to consider will each be addressed. Clinical examples will be provided to illustrate key issues to include informed consent with minors, with couples and families, third-party requests for services, and the use of informed consent for the wide range of professional relationships mental health professionals may have.

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.

This webinar provides a research and practice update on Alzheimer’s disease, with a focus on (1) new treatments, (2) diagnostic guidelines that rely heavily upon biomarkers and enable asymptomatic detection and diagnosis, and (3) growing prevention science. This workshop will use the 2021 APA Guidelines for the Assessment of Dementia and Age-Related Cognitive Decline as a framework to guide clinicians in navigating these developments and will provide attendees with a broad overview of Alzheimer’s disease and the psychologist’s role in assessment and intervention. The workshop describes an emerging practice opportunity for helping older adult and middle-aged clients to navigate a rapidly changing landscape.

Personality disordered individuals are often considered to be some of the most difficult consumers of mental health services for psychologists and others mental health clinicians to treat effectively. Clearing the fog surrounding the different conditions and getting to the core of each individual client makeup is vital to successful treatment outcome. Drawing from the most recent literature, outcome trials, case studies and 20 years of clinical experience, Jeff Riggenbach, PhD will describe the latest evidence based treatment options and show you how to avoid common pitfalls and therapeutic traps of these individuals who often leave clinicians feeling frustrated, stuck, and disheartened. In this full day virtual training, Jeff will describe each of the DSM-5 personality disorders and give you simple but effective engagement, management, and treatment techniques for each. Empirically supported strategies from DBT, CBT, and Schema Therapy will be incorporated into an integrated treatment approach that will transform the way your work with this challenging population. You will leave this conference feeling revitalized - equipped with a new, comprehensive, empowering approach to assess, conceptualize, and treat this difficult population in a way that offers hope for patients and reinvigoration for providers.

This webinar will satisfy your ethics requirement.

“Wonderful and very well-organized presentation/webinar. Dr. Barnett was amazingly knowledgeable, professional, and nice.”-Maria F., Counselor, West Virginia

Mental health clinicians live and practice in challenging times, providing services in a wide range of settings with a wide range of clients. Numerous legal issues, ethics requirements, ethical dilemmas, stressors, and a litigious environment may make ethical practice seem to be a daunting proposition. This workshop focuses on positive ethics and risk management strategies for practicing mental health professionals, taking a positive approach to ethical practice that helps minimize risks to the clinician. Fundamental issues for ethical practice by mental health professionals will be addressed along a review of basic risk management strategies, and a process for ethical decision-making when faced with ethical dilemmas and challenges. Common dilemmas and challenges will be reviewed and specific recommendations for ethical and effective practice will be provided.

This dynamic 3-hour seminar provides mental health professionals with essential tools to support families in conflict—whether couples are married, divorcing, or never married. Drawing on decades of clinical, mediation, and non-adversarial divorce experience, Dr. Zimmerman blends real-world strategies with clinical insight to help attendees become more effective in high-conflict family situations. Participants will gain exposure to a range of alternative dispute resolution models, learn about the effects of conflict on children, and receive actionable guidance on managing professional stress in this demanding field.

Over 75% of mental illnesses described in the DSM are related to emotion dysregulation – the inability to manage emotions effectively. Given that Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) was initially created to treat Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), of which emotion dysregulation is a primary problem, it only makes sense that DBT would be effective in treating other disorders, and research in recent years is supporting this. 

This seminar will provide an overview of the DBT Emotion Regulation skills. Participants will learn about these skills, including briefly reviewing the biosocial theory and how this contributes to problems managing emotions. Many of the emotion regulation skills will be introduced and participants, and there will be discussion regarding how to use these skills with clients with a variety of diagnoses.

This workshop will provide an overview of gun violence in the inner city. The presenter will discuss current statistics and look at how the topic disproportionately impacts certain groups of people. The training will then look at contributing factors to gun violence and how it impacts youth. The training will close with looking at strategies to support youth impacted by gun violence.

Over 75% of mental illnesses described in the DSM are related to emotion dysregulation – the inability to manage emotions effectively. Given that Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) was initially created to treat Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), of which emotion dysregulation is a primary problem, it only makes sense that DBT would be effective in treating other disorders, and research in recent years is supporting this. 

This seminar will provide an overview of the DBT Distress Tolerance skills. Participants will learn about these skills, including the Reality Acceptance Skills and the Crisis Survival Skills, and how to help clients with a variety of diagnoses and problems use these skills appropriately and in healthy ways.

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.

This course will satisfy your ethics requirement.

This comprehensive webinar explores the ethical and risk management challenges inherent in operating a mental health private practice, whether solo or group-based. Dr. Jeff Zimmerman, drawing on decades of experience and leadership in the field, guides attendees through practical applications of relevant parts of the APA Ethics Code, focusing on principles such as beneficence, fidelity, and respect for client rights. Through realistic scenarios—like those involving informed consent complexities, digital record vulnerabilities, or dual relationships—participants gain insight into how ethical principles intersect with clinical realities.
 

The presentation emphasizes the importance of proactive planning, and developing routine procedures, detailed documentation, and self awareness in minimizing risk and protecting both clients and clinicians. Special attention is given to telehealth practices, financial agreements, staff training, and informed consent. Attendees are taught strategies for ethical decision-making, and are encouraged to maintain humility and consult regularly to get input. They are reminded that ethical success in private practice depends on intentional structure, cultural attunement, and ongoing education.

At the heart of existential and person-centered therapy lies the profound quest for meaning and fulfillment. Addressing life’s existential questions, such as “What is the meaning of life?” or “How can we cultivate healthier, more meaningful relationships?”, these therapeutic approaches offer powerful frameworks for helping clients navigate both existential and neurotic anxieties. Rooted in philosophy, phenomenology, and the pioneering work of Carl Rogers, existential and person-centered therapies emphasize the importance of choice, authenticity, and personal agency in fostering psychological well-being.
 

This seminar will provide an in-depth exploration of humanistic theory, focusing on the existential foundations of meaning-making and the core principles of person-centered therapy. Through didactic presentation and experiential exercises, participants will learn how to integrate mindfulness, present-centered awareness, and body awareness into clinical practice. Attendees will gain valuable insights into how these therapeutic approaches can be effectively applied to address a variety of client concerns, including those related to social justice, ultimately enhancing therapeutic outcomes and client engagement.

Over 75% of mental illnesses described in the DSM are related to emotion dysregulation – the inability to manage emotions effectively. Given that Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) was initially created to treat Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), of which emotion dysregulation is a primary problem, it only makes sense that DBT would be effective in treating other disorders, and research in recent years is supporting this.

This seminar will provide an overview of the DBT Interpersonal Effectiveness skills. Participants will learn about these skills, looking at the three possible goals in interpersonal situations and how to pair these with assertiveness skills to increase the likelihood of reaching one’s goals; how to think dialectically to improve communication and balance in relationships; the role of mindfulness and behavior theory in improving healthy relationships; and ways to increase relationship satisfaction in clients’ lives.

Mental health and healthcare professionals are faced with the often misunderstood and misdiagnosed symptoms of normative and prolonged grief. Formal education rarely, if ever, provides extensive enough training to accurately identify and treat those who are grieving. Unfortunately, grieving clients are diagnosed incorrectly because symptoms can mimic normative or prolonged grief. The grieving process is often pathologized, or misdiagnosed, resulting in potential exacerbation of the presenting issues because inappropriate interventions are utilized. As a result, those who are grieving are often inadvertently disenfranchised by providers, which can make the professional support they sought to reconstruct their previously shattered identities and worldviews ineffective, and even, at time, exacerbate other mental health difficulties. It is essential to be versed in identifying grief related constructs that may underlie, or even cause, mental health and behavior associated problems.
 

This presentation aims to provide current, research based information on the grieving process, clarify misconceptions of outdated theories, and differentiate between normative and prolonged grief. It also examines the changes in conceptualization, differential diagnosing, and effective, clinically proven interventions that may be utilized with grieving individuals and families. Attendees will leave with an improved clinical skill set they can immediately apply to identify and treat their clients.

“The instructor clearly has a high level of expertise, presented the material in a well organized, comprehensive, and detailed manner, and maintained my interest throughout.”-Jay F., Psychologist, New Jersey

One in seven people over the age of 70 experiences dementia and another 22% demonstrate symptoms of cognitive decline that falls short of dementia. Those who escape the symptoms of dementia may spend a substantial portion of retirement years caring for a friend or family member with cognitive impairment. The rise of the baby boomer generation is expected bring unprecedented rates of cognitive syndromes like Alzheimer’s disease, yet most mental health professionals have no formal training to work with this vulnerable population. This workshop provides a clinical approach to understanding and assessing these syndromes.

Cognitive-behavioural therapy is widely considered the gold standard treatment of psychotherapy. However some clients don’t respond to standard protocols, and a number of approaches, still considered under the CBT “umbrella” have been adapted to meet the specific needs of different populations. Schema therapy is one such treatment that continues to show promise for what used to be considered “treatment-resistant” patients. Individuals struggling with personality disorders, addictions, and other impulsive and destructive
behaviours are amongst those considered to be the most challenging to reach, and many practitioners often feel ill equipped to deal with them.
 

Attend this full day workshop with internationally recognized personality disorders expert Dr. Jeff Riggenbach as he presents an integrated schema focused cognitive model for dealing with your most challenging cases. This unique, chock-full training will teach you practical strategies to implement with individuals struggling with BPD, addictions, Impulse control problems, and other emotionally dysregulated or Cluster B presentations. Leave this engaging workshop with a plethora of new tools in your toolbox that you can implement tomorrow to help you get unstuck and facilitate meaningful change that lasts. Moreover, leave with a renewed hope that you are now more equipped to deal with even the most clients that walk through your door.

This course will satisfy your ethics requirement.

Religion and spirituality are important dimensions of most individuals’ lives. Yet, many mental health clinicians do not receive education and training focused on how to address these issues, when appropriate, with their clients. This webinar provides information on the roles of spirituality and religion in many clients’ lives, how to address our own biases about them and how our own beliefs may impact how we view and address them, how to appropriately assess each client’s treatment needs to include religious and spiritual issues and concerns, and how to tap into clients’ beliefs, practices, and faith communities as sources of strength that may enhance the professional services we provide. Ethics issues, challenges, and dilemmas are addressed, and an ethical decision-making model is shared and clinical examples are provided and discussed to illustrate its application. Recommendations for ethical and clinically effective practice are provided. 

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.

“I really enjoyed the expertise of the presenter. He had so much useful knowledge to share. The case studies really went deeper into my personal knowledge and helped me to process and analyze situations differently.”-Kristie C., Social Worker, New York

It is essential that that schools and communities know the incidence of school violence and be up to date on the best safety and prevention practices. This presentation will review numerous state and national initiatives that have focused on school safety and the recommendations from a variety of foundations started by parents who lost their in tragic school shootings. Many school shooters died by suicide and this presentation will outline the major theory of murder suicide. The presenter has a wealth of practical experience responding to school crises and participants, whether they are parents, school personnel or community members will learn many lessons from school tragedies and practical strategies to prevent future school violence.

Grief becomes disenfranchised when individuals are denied the opportunity to grieve openly, lack the social support necessary to process their loss, or do not receive the validation needed to heal. In these circumstances, the grieving person may withdraw from others, question whether their grief is legitimate, struggle to accept the loss and its consequences, or have difficulty adapting in healthy ways. When grief is pushed into silence, the emotional burden becomes more intense and isolating. This increases the risk of developing prolonged grief disorder, depression, anxiety, or other mental health challenges.

Disenfranchised grief can arise from a variety of sources—cultural norms, societal expectations, the attitudes of others, and even from the griever’s own internal beliefs. At times, professionals in “expert” roles may also contribute to this sense of invalidation, often unintentionally.

Because all mental health professionals work with grieving individuals, it is critical to recognize the signs of disenfranchisement, understand its impact on the mourning process, and learn how to avoid reinforcing it. Clinicians must be equipped to offer validation, support, and effective interventions to help clients navigate the social dynamics that can complicate their grief—especially when those dynamics are shaped by misunderstanding or judgment.

This workshop will include both didactic instruction and case studies to give attendees practical tools for addressing disenfranchised grief in clinical practice.

This course will satisfy your ethics requirement.

"I loved that self-care was partnered with ethics! Great topic and the presentation was interesting, well-paced, unhurried yet didn't belabor points. Clearly the instructor is very comfortable with the topic and presents well."-Barbara B., Professional Counselor, Washington

Working as a mental health professional can be challenging, demanding and stressful. With some clients, it can be traumatizing to the clinician. Self-care, the promotion of wellness, and the prevention of burnout are essential for every mental health professional in order to maintain our competence and clinical effectiveness. The ethical obligation to do so is addressed, ways to assess our own individual self-care needs and effectiveness, and specific strategies for the effective practice of self-care are presented. Important issues such as personal and professional challenges, vulnerabilities, and blind spots are addressed. The limitations of self-monitoring and self-assessment are reviewed and recommendations for proactively and effectively addressing these challenges are presented. A realistic approach to ongoing self-care and the promotion of wellness is presented that each mental health clinician can integrate into their daily lives, for their own benefit, and for the benefit of their clients.

This course will satisfy your ethics requirement.

"Jeff Barnett gave the best Supervision course I have ever taken. It was so comprehensive and concise that a supervision plan could be developed from start to finish from his course. He was calm and organized and linear in his approach. I listened to every word."-Martha H., Social Worker, Arkansas

Clinical supervision is central to the training of every mental health clinician. Ensuring it is conducted in an ethical and effective manner is of great importance for our professions and for the public we serve. This webinar is designed for all health professionals engaged in clinical supervision of trainees in clinical settings. The focus of this webinar is on ethics, legal, and practical aspects of clinical supervision. Important issues to be addressed include the supervision contract between supervisor and supervisee; and the supervisor’s responsibilities to the supervisee, to the supervisee’s clients, to the public at large, and to the profession. A developmental perspective on supervision will be presented that focuses on the supervisory process in the face of the supervisee’s evolving training needs. How to balance the at times competing obligations of the role of supervisor (supportive teacher vs evaluator and gatekeeper for the profession) will be addressed. Specific ethical dilemmas and challenges that frequently arise in clinical supervision and legal issues relevant to all supervisors and their supervisees will be discussed. Clinical examples will be presented to stimulate discussion and to help illustrate options for addressing these situations. Strategies for effective clinical supervision will be discussed that can be utilized by all supervisors.

For those who are grieving to loss of a loved one, the holidays can be an especially difficult and overwhelming time. Holidays are often associated with memories, traditions, and a sense of connection to others, all of which are impacted by the painful awareness that their loved one is absent. Surrounded by messages that we should give thanks, participate in joyful celebrations, spend time with others, and share memories, the bereaved are faced with painfully complicated, sometimes conflicting, emotions that have to be navigated during this time. During this presentation, we will explore how clients can manage the painful and mixed feelings that accompany grief, maintain physical health, and explore how new and old traditions and rituals can support clients during this tough time. Just as there is no right or wrong way to grieve, how one chooses to manage difficult emotions, social events, and relationships during the holiday season will be as unique as one’s own experience of loss. This presentations aims to help clients reduce their suffering, remember loved ones, and even reconnect with the real reason for the season.

“I was very impressed. The presentation was clear, informative and definitely added to my knowledge base.”-Mary H., Psychologist, New Jersey

Psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia are considered to be among the most debilitating and distressing mental health conditions. Despite impacting approximately 3% of the population, many clinicians lack the training and resources to recognize and best work with this vulnerable group of people, leaving many with psychosis isolated, stigmatized, and without help. Nonetheless, growing evidence suggests that, with tailored early intervention, many people with psychosis can recover from illness and lead a life of their choosing in the community. This seminar will familiarize you with psychosis, emphasizing the early phases of illness. It will then demonstrate strategies for reducing stigma, increasing empathy, and facilitating early identification. I will share screening tools and briefly touch on treatment strategies, as well as provide clinical resources for comprehensive specialty care.

Psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia are considered to be among the most debilitating and distressing mental health conditions. Despite impacting approximately 3% of the population, many clinicians lack the training and resources to recognize and best work with this vulnerable group of people, leaving many with psychosis isolated, stigmatized, and without help. Nonetheless, growing evidence suggests that, with tailored early intervention, many people with psychosis can recover from illness and lead a life of their choosing in the community. This seminar will familiarize you with psychosis, emphasizing the early phases of illness. It will then demonstrate strategies for reducing stigma, increasing empathy, and facilitating early identification. I will share screening tools and briefly touch on treatment strategies, as well as provide clinical resources for comprehensive specialty care.

This workshop will provide an overview of what life is like when one live in poverty or close to it. It will start with an opportunity to reflect on one’s socioeconomic upbringing and how this impacts one’s ability to work with lower socioeconomic individuals. The presenter will share information about the prevalence of poverty and populations most impacted by it. The presenter will also discuss the lasting impact of poverty on one’s educational, occupational, and physical health. Lastly, the presenter will discuss strategies to engage lower socioeconomic individuals in therapy.

It’s essential for clinicians to understand the impact of poverty, especially for those working with marginalized populations and those working in underserved areas. Many families are living below the poverty line or near it and it’s important to understand the accompanying stressors to better serve lower socioeconomic individuals. Without this knowledge, it can be challenging to effectively support individuals these individuals.

"Excellent speaker. Very engaging and very conversational. I only signed up due to scheduling, but she got me very interested in this subject matter. My favorite CE program for this license renewal! Opened my eyes to the long term consequences of trauma and ways to work it though.”-Martin W.-Psychologist, California

Trauma can impact one’s understanding and experience of intimacy and given the high rates of sexual abuse amongst youth and young adults, it’s important that clinicians are equipped with the skills and knowledge to talk about intimacy after sexual abuse. In this workshop participants will have an opportunity to reflect of their understanding of intimacy and how it impacts their work with sexual abuse survivors. You will learn about common sexual symptoms of sexual abuse and ways to support clients in developing healthier sexual beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors.  Despite how common this can be amongst sexual abuse survivors, it is often not addressed in therapy. In this training, the trainer will discuss how trauma impacts one’s relationship with sex and how to support foster youth and transitional age youth in developing a healthier understanding and experience of sex.

Guilt, regret, and shame are common emotions experienced after a personal or collective loss or traumatic event. These unique and complicated components are often a challenge to work with as they are regularly integrated with the already complex grieving process. At times, guilt, regret, and shame are ways in which a client maintains a sense of connection to the lost loved one, hence making the relinquishment of those feelings even more difficult to navigate in treatment. This training will assist your work to aid clients managing the “should’s” and “if only’s” of regret, end self-blame and shame, and overcome the profound sense of survivor’s guilt they may feel because loved ones succumbed to collective losses.

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.

The incidence of youth suicide requires that schools and communities collaborate and increase suicide prevention efforts and that they be prepared to respond if a suicide occurs in order to reduce suicide contagion.  This presentation will help school and community mental health personnel increase their understanding of the most common factors in youth suicide.  Participants will learn effective strategies to prevent youth suicide and lessons from the aftermath of numerous suicides.

The relationship between trauma and addiction is becoming increasingly well established in the literature. This is no surprise, as clinicians working “in the trenches” know all too well that people with unresolved trauma and emotional wounds often turn to substances as a way to “numb out,” forget, or otherwise self-medicate to regulate their emotions. Conversely, people with addictive behavior disorders may drive while impaired, gravitate towards toxic relationships, go to dangerous places to get their substance of choice, or engage in many other behaviours that increase their risk of being traumatized and their vulnerability factors for developing PTSD or other trauma and stress related disorders.  It is also known that when cooccurrence is involved, this presents clinicians with a more complicated course of treatment and less favorable treatment outcomes that when clients present with only one or the other.
 

The good news is, there is hope! While neuroscience has taught us much about this phenomenon in recent years, evidence-based Cognitively based treatments are still being shown to  be at least as effective as many “newer” approaches, and in some circles seem to have almost gotten lost in the shuffle. 

Recent protocols have attempted to incorporate PE (prolonged exposure) and other cognitive behavioral treatments with substance use disorder treatments. While further research is needed in this area, the mandate for integration of treatments when dealing with this population seems integral to obtain more favorable outcomes for individuals with these complex conceptualizations.
 

Leave this full-day online training let by international CBT expert Jeff Riggenbach, PhD, with an improved understanding of the neuroscience of trauma, a integrated approach to treating PTSD and addictions, and armed with a plethora of evidence-based, yet practical new tools to equip and empower this group to find levels of recovery that have previously been eluding them!

This course will satisfy your ethics requirement.

“I thought the activity was very engaging, informative, and really organized. I learned a lot about what can and cannot be done and also how to go about doing online counseling ethically.”-Abbee T., Professional Counselor, Louisiana

A wide range of technologies to include the Internet, e-mail, text messaging, social media, Apps, and the like have altered how most individuals communicate with each other, stay connected, and form and maintain relationships, to include in mental health practice. This workshop will provide information about the ethical, legal, and clinical issues relevant to integrating various technologies into our practices. Additionally, common pitfalls and areas where the use of various technologies, to include social media, is contraindicated will be discussed. Research on how various technologies may be effectively integrated into clinical practice to treat a wide range of presenting problems and disorders is reviewed and their implications for our practices is discussed. Guidance on decision-making for when and how to do this is provided to include the provision of clinical services across distances and the use of various technologies to enhance or augment in-person services. Clinical examples are provided to illustrate some of the benefits and challenges of utilizing these technological innovations in clinical practice.

Individuals experiencing psychosis can present with debilitating symptoms that negatively impact their quality of life and daily functioning. Despite the mounting evidence for the effectiveness of non-pharmacological treatments for psychosis, many clinicians report feeling ill-equipped to provide such treatment. This webinar will provide you with a foundational understanding of psychological treatments for psychosis, with an emphasis on cognitive-behavioral approaches. You will be introduced to the most cutting-edge treatments for thispopulation and the key mechanisms that make these treatments effective. Finally, strategies for addressing common challenges in treating psychosis will also be discussed. Attendees should leave the webinar with an understanding of the current evidence base for the treatment of psychosis and best outlets for further study.

Group therapy is a treatment modality in which unrelated people meet together with a therapist, in contrast to individual therapy or conjoint family therapy. Groups are not a second-rate approach to helping people change. In fact, groups are often the treatment of choice - especially when a client’s problem has an interpersonal component (which is usually the case). Groups offer a natural laboratory in which people can experiment with new ways of being and receive feedback from numerous others. There is great power in groups: members actually experience their interpersonal dynamics playing out in the group. A group therapist can implement techniques from other modalities in a group format. However, there are dynamics, processes, and stages of groups that are not shared with individual approaches and which offer distinctive benefits. Because so many of the problems that people seek mental
health services for involve dysfunctional interactions between people, having group members actually interact with others in the group affords an opportunity for deep, experiential learning and development that is not possible in individual therapy. This seminar will emphasize how to facilitate such “here and now” interactions and processes in group work.

The term trauma is used to describe the challenging emotional consequences experienced by someone who has lived through a distressing event. These consequences can involve Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which has been identified as a global health issue, with prevalence rates ranging from 1.3% to 37.4% (and even higher in clinical populations). But what happens when the trauma occurs early in life, and/or involves on-going or repetitive exposure to traumatic events? In these cases, individuals will often experience Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD), and/or dissociative disorders such as Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).
 

As our understanding of trauma continues to evolve, so does our understanding of how to treat it. In this webinar, Sheri Van Dijk will teach some essential perspectives and skills to help you and your clients get unstuck in treatment. In this webinar you will learn leading edge, evidence-based principles in the treatment of clients experiencing the sequelae of trauma, including the difference between PTSD and C-PTSD; theories to inform treatment of clients with complex trauma histories; and skills to help clients ground and regulate emotions.

This webinar provides a research and practice update on Alzheimer’s disease, with a focus on (1) new treatments, (2) diagnostic guidelines that rely heavily upon biomarkers and enable asymptomatic detection and diagnosis, and (3) growing prevention science. This workshop will use the 2021 APA Guidelines for the Assessment of Dementia and Age-Related Cognitive Decline as a framework to guide clinicians in navigating these developments and will provide attendees with a broad overview of Alzheimer’s disease and the psychologist’s role in assessment and intervention. The workshop describes an emerging practice opportunity for helping older adult and middle-aged clients to navigate a rapidly changing landscape.

Chronic disease affects far more than just the body—it takes a toll on one’s mental health, emotional well-being, and daily functioning. As a mental health professional, you play a crucial role in helping patients navigate these challenges, yet traditional medical care often overlooks psychological and behavioral factors. This training equips you with the skills to recognize and address the emotional, psychological, behavioral, and even some of the physical barriers that impact chronic disease management. Learn to utilize a comprehensive biopsychosocial assessment, integrating physical, emotional, social, and environmental factors to develop more effective, patient-centered care plans.
 

Through this interactive session, you’ll discover at least three evidence-based interventions that improve coping, adherence, and quality of life. Gain practical tools to motivate patients in following prescribed treatment regimens and make sustainable lifestyle changes. Plus, familiarize yourself with the SBAR method for effective interdisciplinary communication, ensuring seamless collaboration between mental health and medical providers. Don’t miss this opportunity to expand your expertise and improve patient outcomes!

This course qualifies as an ethics course.

“The information was well organized and presented in a clear, interesting manner. It gave me a good opportunity to think about how many different ways I inevitably disclose information about myself to clients; it's not possible to avoid this but I must ensure what I disclose is beneficial to the client.”-Cynthia L., Social Worker, Arkansas

Boundaries and multiple relationships are common occurrences for mental health clinicians. Yet, they may at times be challenging, confusing, and even overwhelming for those who may not know how to effectively manage boundaries and how to determine which multiple relationships are acceptable or appropriate. Taking a rigid and avoidant approach typically can be just as harmful as an overly loose approach. Participants in this webinar will learn a rational, practical, and reality-based approach for addressing and managing boundaries and multiple relationships in clinical practice. The role of a decision-making process and consideration of multiple relevant issues will be addressed and their use in clinical practice will be demonstrated. Clinical examples will be presented and discussed to illustrate the points being made. Participants will learn specific skills and strategies to integrate into their clinical practices on a daily basis.

This dynamic 3-hour seminar provides mental health professionals with essential tools to support families in conflict—whether couples are married, divorcing, or never married. Drawing on decades of clinical, mediation, and non-adversarial divorce experience, Dr. Zimmerman blends real-world strategies with clinical insight to help attendees become more effective in high-conflict family situations. Participants will gain exposure to a range of alternative dispute resolution models, learn about the effects of conflict on children, and receive actionable guidance on managing professional stress in this demanding field.

This course qualifies as an ethics course.

“The information presented in this course will be very helpful with my documentation of psychotherapy and enlightened me about potential risk and legal issues. The presentation was clear and he gave real life examples to illustrate what he was saying. I learned the difference between a supoena and a court order, and specifically what goes into effective documentation of psychotherapy notes."-Claire H., Social Worker, Vermont

This webinar explains the goals and potential benefits of effective clinical documentation as well as the ethical and legal requirements for doing so. Documentation is addressed from a clinical and risk management perspective. Specific recommendations are made for how to document the clinical services provided in a competent and effective manner. Additionally, common pitfalls to avoid are addressed. How to store and maintain records is addressed for both paper and electronic records. Precautions to take to protect and preserve records are described in detail along with how and when to dispose of them. Guidance is provided for following HIPAA and other laws and regulations relevant to documentation and record keeping. Participants in this webinar will receive practical guidance that can be integrated into daily practice to document more effectively, to better achieve the goals of thoughtfully created treatment records, and to meet and exceed professional standards and practice guidelines relevant to documentation and record keeping.

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.

As more providers are learning about trauma and becoming trauma-informed, it’s crucial to not only focus on trauma but equally important to focus on resilience. Resilience impacts how one responds and recovers from trauma. This training will provide an overview of understanding trauma and formal assessment measures to assess trauma as well as therapeutic activities to assess trauma. Next, the training will provide an overview of resiliency and strategies to assess it with clients. Lastly, the training will provide strategies to foster resilience with clients.

This workshop will provide an overview of shame and in­volvement in the commercial sex industry and how it can present in treatment. The workshop will also focus on strategies to heal shame with youth and young adults who have been commercially sexually exploited. The presenter will share information on shame resilience and self-compas­sion. 

Why topic is important: Involvement in the commercial sex industry can carry a lot of stigma and shame. When individuals don’t heal their shame, it can linger and nega­tively impact their lives. So, it’s crucial for providers to understand the heaviness of shame with commercially sex­ually exploited youth and young adults and learn strategies to support their healing.