All Webinars

Psychological functioning is always embedded within the context of interpersonal relationships.  Maladaptive patterns that bring clients to psychotherapy are often learned in early attachment relationships.  The interpersonal context of psychotherapy can help clients explore and understand relational patterns.  Clients can practice new ways of relating in therapy and, hopefully, these more effective ways of being can be generalized to new contexts.

This seminar will teach both interpersonal conceptualization and intervention methods.  Interpersonal conceptualization will be described as way to understand interpersonal patterns in the present.  In order to promote a unified approach to treatment, the seminar will highlight how relational patterns shape cognition, emotion, and behavior.  Diversity is addressed in this seminar by describing the way cultural contexts shape relationships. 

Foundational interpersonal skills will be described and demonstrated with role-play videos.  These skills will address three general processes: (1) Exploration and functional analysis of current patterns, (2) Guided discovery to uncover more adaptive functioning, and (3) Enacting adaptation outside of psychotherapy. 

At a more advanced level, this seminar will explore the source of interpersonal patterns.  This section will use attachment theory to understand the roots of internalized relational models.  A video demonstration of exploring deeper patterns will be used to illustrate how this idea can be enacted with clients.  Both transference and countertransference will be explored as they are practiced within a contemporary interpersonal approach. 

This seminar is part of Level Two of Training in Unified Psychotherapy (TUP), focusing on working contextually with external contexts and internal influences.  An essential part of a unified approach to treatment is understanding the impact of interpersonal patterns on dysfunctional thoughts, feelings, and actions and fostering more adaptive responses.

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.

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.

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.

“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.