All Webinars

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.

Psychological functioning is shaped by experiences throughout the life span. The way each individual responds to life and internalizes these experiences represents their developmental trajectory. Incorporating a developmental perspective into treatment includes considering normal stages of development—as described by Erik Erikson—as well as disruptions such as adverse childhood events or traumatic experiences. This seminar will teach both developmental conceptualization and intervention  methods. Development can become the focus in psychotherapy in three different ways: (a) Life experiences impact current functioning; (b) Normal developmental challenges and transitions are the current focus; and (c) Developmental disruptions impact functioning.
 

In order to promote a unified approach to treatment, the seminar will highlight the way behaviors, cognitions, or emotions interact in the treatment of trauma and other developmental issues. Trauma and adverse childhood experiences can be described as disruptions to normal development. Trauma will be described on a continuum and a distinction will be made between shock trauma and stress trauma. Another distinction will be made between PTSD and complex trauma. Post-traumatic growth will be highlighted as a way of embracing adaptive thoughts, feeling, and actions after an adverse life event.
 

Psychotherapists cannot change the life experiences or developmental challenges that our clients have faced. However, psychotherapy can help clients respond to these events with more adaptive cognitions, emotions, and behaviors. Video demonstrations will show how a psychotherapist can explore the impact of a developmental disruption and foster more functional ways of thinking, feeling, and acting. 

This seminar is part of Level One of Training in Unified Psychotherapy (TUP), focusing on working interactively with cognition, emotion, and behavior. An essential part of a unified approach to treatment is understanding the developmental origin of dysfunctional thoughts, feelings, and actions and fostering more adaptive responses.

Human functioning is rooted in action and other parts of the behavioral system. Ineffective actions are both the cause and effect of psychological problems. Psychotherapy is only effective if it can foster tangible changes in behavior. When we help our clients enact more effective behaviors, it is likely to improve their well-being as well as support more functional thoughts and adaptive emotions.
 

This seminar will teach both behavioral conceptualization and intervention methods. Reinforcement and exposure will be highlighted as common factors as well as more technical interventions. Distinct methods of behavioral formulation will be introduced that allow us to understand different parts of the behavioral system. Reinforcement and operant conditioning will be highlighted as the most accessible way to approach cognitive conceptualization. Diversity is addressed in this seminar by describing the way cultural contexts shape clients’ behavior.
 

Video demonstrations of foundational behavioral skills drawn from Behavioral Activation will be used to help participants prepare for practice. 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. More advanced behavioral interventions will be previewed as possibilities for future professional development.
 

Although behavior change is often an essential part of treatment, there are times when actions cannot be easily modified. In some situations, clients may prefer to approach risky behaviors using a harm reduction approach rather than eliminating certain behaviors completely. This seminar will prepare psychotherapists to discuss with clients when to emphasize harm reduction and when to promote behavior change.
 

This seminar is part of Level One of Training in Unified Psychotherapy (TUP), focusing on working interactively with cognition, emotion, and behavior. Instead of exclusively focusing on behavior as a lever of change, TUP encourages psychotherapists to develop a wide repertoire of skills that can be adapted to the individual needs of each client.

While you can certainly take this seminar alone, this webinar is part of a six series on Unified Psychotherapy.  Strategic Psychotherapeutics is offering a certificate in Unified Psychotherapy for those that attend each of the six webinars.  Optional discussion groups are offered after each webinar to encourage application.  Go to the Strategic Psychotherapeutics website to see the schedule for the discussion groups and more details about how to earn your certificate in Unified Psychotherapy. 

This webinar is conducted by Jeff Harris, Ph.D. and Rachel Hershenberg, Ph.D.

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.

Fundamental human emotions like fear, sadness, anger, and shame underlie psychological problems but are also the key to healing and growth. Experiential and emotion-focused interventions have a rich background in humanistic and existential approaches like gestalt and person-centered therapies. When we help our clients embrace more adaptive emotions, we reduce suffering and enhance human potential. This seminar will teach both experiential conceptualization and intervention methods. Formulating an emotion-based conceptualization involves distinguishing between primary, secondary, and instrumental emotions. Exploration can help distinguish between adaptive and maladaptive emotions. Diversity is addressed in this webinar by describing the way cultural contexts shape clients’ emotional experiences.
 

Video demonstrations of foundational experiential skills drawn from Emotion-Focused Therapy will be used to help participants prepare for practice. 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. More advanced experiential interventions—like chair work and focusing—will be previewed as possibilities for future professional development.
 

Although emotional transformation is often an essential part of treatment, there are time when emotions cannot be changed. Many people use experiential avoidance and defense mechanisms to evade uncomfortable emotions. When emotions cannot be changed, it is important to help clients accept difficult parts of the human experience and to increase distress tolerance and emotional regulation. This seminar will prepare psychotherapists to discuss with clients when to emphasize acceptance of emotions and when to promote change.
 

This webinar is part of Level One of Training in Unified Psychotherapy (TUP), focusing on working interactively with cognition, emotion, and behavior. Instead of exclusively focusing on emotion as a lever of change, TUP encourages psychotherapists to develop a wide repertoire of skills that can be adapted to the individual needs of each client.