All Webinars

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.