Anxiety Disorder

You can contribute to reducing suffering and improving quality of living during this Coronavirus world emergency.  COVID-19 has created a healthcare crisis, and mental health practitioners can assist with this worldwide public health concern by addressing people’s clinically-relevant responses.  General fear of contracting the coronavirus is being exacerbated by media reports (and hype) and the reactions (and over-reactions) of other people, and turning natural fear into debilitating anxiety.  Two additional issues are compounding these problems: 1) Mandates to self-quarantine are leading to people having problematic reactions that might have a deleterious influence on their mental health, and 2) social distancing obligations are creating significant obstacles for clients to see their counselors, social workers, and psychologists. 

Telehealth options are available for performing clinical interventions, but this is a fairly new field in the behavioral health profession.  This webinar, led by the experienced founder of a telementalhealth organization, will walk you through the options for choosing a telehealth platform, and describe the important considerations when actually doing therapy online. 

In addition, the webinar leader has been an Acceptance & Commitment Therapy practitioner for over 20 years, and will describe the ACT model, explain how it can be tailor-made for anxiety, and provide specific details for applying the approach to fear of the coronavirus.  ACT utilizes mindfulness interventions, while blending evidence-based psychotherapy concepts into the approach, and aims to increase the client’s psychological flexibility. The vision for this webinar is to prepare mental health practitioners with the technical tools for reducing the negative impact of this world crisis, and the clinical perspectives to help people with their psychological pain at this difficult time. 

Telehealth guidelines and informed consent paperwork will also be provided.

“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 webinar will provide hands-on tangible instruction of specific trauma-informed interventions you can use with your clients to help them cope with the COVID 19 pandemic. Relevant research findings from previous pandemics will be reviewed to help inform mental health interventions during the pandemic. Dr. Fatter will demonstrate specific interventions for hyper-arousal symptoms to help manage anxiety and emotional overwhelm and specific interventions for hypo-arousal symptoms to help manage shock, dissociation and emotional shut down. This webinar will be largely experiential so that participants can get a felt sense of how it feels to practice these interventions. Dr. Fatter will teach bilateral tapping (an interventions from EMDR), somatic interventions, and specific breathing techniques to help increase a sense of safety and connect to sense of resilience and relational support to mitigate the impact of social isolation. Dr. Fatter will offer ways to use sensory input from items in one’s home to help clients self-soothe. In addition, Dr. Fatter will describe two cognitive interventions to help client’s cope with rumination and nervous system activation. Mindfulness resources and use of ritual will also be discussed as a means to connect to one’s external environment and help with the regulation of collective grief.

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.

“Knowledgeable presenter - current info, good examples. I liked the video that showed a real life example of treatment.”-Shannon T., Professional Counselor, Massachusetts

The fight or flight response is a normal biological process in which the body prepares itself to take on dangerous circumstances.  At times, however, the response is activated under situations that are not life threatening.  Individuals may experience these panic attacks in a variety of situations.  In the context of Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia, one’s fear of panic sensations and their consequences is a driving force for ongoing distress and life disruption.  Attendees will learn to distinguish panic attacks that occur in context of Panic Disorder with those that occur outside of Panic Disorder.  In addition, the webinar will address vulnerabilities and maintaining factors of Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia.  Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia will be conceptualized from the cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) perspective.  Attendees will be educated about the appropriate treatment interventions, such as cognitive restructuring and exposure therapy.  Exposure therapy will be explained, incorporating visual examples and demonstrations by the presenter.

During times of crisis we all need support! Through TZK Seminars, Sheri Van Dijk is offering a free, one-hour webinar to help clinicians manage their own stress and other difficult emotions, as well as an overview of some of the skills clinicians can use to help clients during this difficult time.

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.

In recent weeks, people throughout the world have been impacted and shaken by the COVID-19 crisis. Seemingly overnight, our entire world has been turned upside down in both direct and indirect ways. Businesses have closed, mandates to self-quarantine have risen, and social distancing has become a way of life. Above all, the uncertainty, fear, and unknown course and duration of the virus have paralyzed much of society. 

For many of our clients, struggles like depression and anxiety have worsened, and have even been exacerbated by some of the very strategies we must now follow to ensure health and safety in our communities. As clinicians, we find ourselves in a unique position to provide assistance during this challenging time. By both understanding the psychological reactions our clients may be experiencing in this crisis, and exploring meaningful approaches to foster peace and well-being, participants in this webinar will be well-equipped to aid their clients in this unique and uncharted moment. 

This webinar, led by the author of three books focused on the science of well-being, will provide attendees with practical skills and approaches to help their clients navigate the turbulent waters of COVID-19. With a strengths-based approach aimed towards fostering well-being amidst the current crisis, participants will explore how concepts such as gratitude, self-compassion, acceptance, and resilience can be applied to clients struggling in the wake of COVID-19. 

“This was the best seminar I've seen on TZK so far. The presenter was engaging, spoke at a nice cadence (not to fast or slow). Extremely knowledgeable with clear strategies to use with clients.”-Justine M., Psychologist, Idaho

Over 28% of adults will have a panic attack in their lifetime. Many will experience repeated attacks, which can lead to struggles to hold down a job, maintain friendships, or even carry out basic chores, like shopping for groceries. When we think of panic, we often think of panic disorder. However, individuals with PTSD, depression, social anxiety, substance use disorder, generalized anxiety, and specific phobias frequently grapple with both episodic and chronic panic attacks.

This training will delve into the problems of panic. What is it and why is it so important to treat? Then we’ll explore anxiety sensitivity theory, a compelling explanation for why some people develop panic attacks. Next, using the ironic process theory (Wegner, 1997), we’ll learn how attempts to suppress panic symptoms actually cause the very thing panic sufferers are desperately trying to avoid. We will then turn to understanding how mindfulness can break panic’s vicious cycle. After we study the fundamental elements of mindfulness and their connection to panic, we will delve into helping patients use mindfulness to ameliorate panic and start living life again.

“Presenter was extremely well-informed and was up to date with current apps. She was warm and engaging.”-D.C., Psychologist, California

The smartphone has changed the social world and, while social challenges have always created anxiety for some, today’s online social world has raised the bar, creating more anxiety for people of all ages, adolescents and young adults in particular. From FoMO (fear of missing out) to NoMophobia (no mobile phone phobia) and from perfectionism to procrastination, the impacts of social media have exacerbated anxiety. This seminar will offer pragmatic tips for therapists to broaden their ability to mitigate anxiety in clients who have become overly attached and overly affected by their social media world.

You will get a brief overview of the neuroscience that undergirds the compulsion for continuous connection and a look at the impact of stress responses that create the circular pattern of using social media raising anxiety – turning it off raising anxiety – turning it on. We will explore the comparison fallacy and social media’s impact on anxiety, shame and low self-esteem that interferes with healthy social and personal development. And the primary focus of this session will explore pragmatic ways to decrease our clients maladaptive use of social media (including texting) and increase their productive use of smartphones to manage anxiety.

"Enjoyed the presentation.  Learned a lot.  Very organized, easy to apply to practice.  Understanding the difference between OCD and hoarding was very helpful"-Scott M. Psychologist, Washington 

Hoarding behavior has received significant attention in recent years. Due to the potential harmful effects of hoarding behavior (risk of fire, personal injury, financial hardships, etc.), it has become an important topic of research. It has also drawn the attention of the media and local governments, which have to address the impact hoarding has on citizens. In this seminar, Dr. Hannan will review the current status of hoarding as its own diagnostic entity in DSM-V. Dr. Hannan will discuss the latest research findings on the psychopathology of hoarding disorder. Participants will learn how to assess clients for hoarding disorder and will learn how to devise and implement an appropriate treatment plan. Given the complicated nature of hoarding, he will discuss potential obstacles to treatment and ways to address these issues.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with anxiety disorders will be felt for a long time to come. Rates of new-onset anxiety rose dramatically, and factors such as long-covid introduced aspects to anxiety such as ‘brain fog’ and new-onset panic and anxiety. Additionally, 24/7 negative news and the lurking threat of new variants have created ‘ambient anxiety’ that fuels the vigilance and persistent worry that are hallmarks of anxiety disorders. The spread of confusing information on social media particularly affects adolescents’ experience of anxiety and therapists can be watchful for ‘contagious panic and anxiety’. For a time, isolation felt like safety, but now, as people, emerge from restrictions, ‘cave syndrome’ affects all ages, causing especially those with social anxiety to struggle with the new ‘re-entry anxiety’. In this session, Dr. Wehrenberg will focus on practical strategies that will help any client with anxiety to suffer less panic, to increase stress resilience, and to block worry (especially health anxiety). Join us and get new ideas to manage anxiety in a world where pandemics are real.

“Excellent; exceeded my expectations. The instructor (Scott Hannan) was very impressive. He clearly had a very deep knowledge of the topic and also knew how to answer broad questions very succinctly but thoroughly. I'm amazed he was able to talk for 6 hrs straight in an engaging way, while being very responsive to different questions throughout the seminar, while also sticking exactly to the expected time. Bravo!.”-Teresa A. Psychologist, Maryland

Obsessive compulsive disorder can be associated with extreme levels of distress and severe impairment in one’s life. Proper diagnosis and treatment formulation is essential in assisting those with this disabling condition. Although most people are familiar with typical symptoms including washing and checking, many may not have an understanding of other presentations of OCD, such as scrupulosity, harm obsessions, and sexual obsessions. Fortunately, the gold standard treatment exposure and response prevention can be utilized to treat the various presentations of OCD. In this seminar, Dr. Hannan will review the various presentations of OCD and train attendees in making an accurate diagnosis of OCD. In addition to learning about the various presentations of OCD, attendees will learn to assess the severity of OCD. Dr. Hannan will explain the rationale of using exposure and ritual prevention and discuss how to conceptualize cases of OCD, along with creating an exposure hierarchy. Exposure therapy will be introduced through both didactics and video demonstration. Special cases of OCD, including comorbid conditions and adaptations needed to treat children, will be addressed.