Psychopathology and Diagnosis

“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 lives. 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 treatment, Trauma Focused- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Attendees will gain an overview of child trauma, review the definition of abuse and discuss the common affective, behavioral and cognitive reactions 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.

“Presenter was extremely thorough and covered all angles of this subject matter. I liked the use of anecdotal situations to illustrate the principles.”-Michelle M., Professional Counselor, Massachusetts

Although the commercial sexual exploitation of youth has occurred in the United States, it has only recently begun to get attention. Given the newness of the topic, many providers struggle to engage youth involved in the commercial sex industry. The Stages of Change model has been identified as a best practice for working with the population. This training will equip you with a better understanding of the Stages of Change model and engagement skills you can utilize when working with youth who are commercially sexually exploited. Without a model to engage youth, providers may place undue pressure on them, unintentionally cause harm, and develop unrealistic expectations for themselves. The training will discuss the stages in a practical manner. Participants will see vignettes of what a youth and caregiver look like in each stage as well as strategies to engage them and help them move to the next stage.

“The presentation was exceptionally useful in the provision of practical suggestions grounded in dynamic conceptualization. The instructor seemed seasoned in real world experience and this enhanced the context in which she provided research and conceptual information. This presentation will allow me to enhance the specificity and utility of recommendations I make for managing self-harm in high risk and incarcerated children and adolescents.”-Lara H., Psychologist, Texas

Nonsuicidal self-injury is more common than we think. Almost every mental health clinician has come across some form of nonsuicidal self-injury in their careers, and the behavior is on the rise among adolescents and young adults. Yet, rarely do education programs cover anything about nonsuicidal self-injury within their programs, even though it is important for mental health clinicians to be aware of what this behavior is, how to assess it, how it is related yet different from suicidal behavior, and how to intervene and work with clients who engage in nonsuicidal self-injury. This seminar will help you understand what nonsuicidal self-injury is, factors to consider when assessing and working with clients, ethical considerations in treatment and breaching confidentiality, and methods of treatment that have been shown to be effective.

Individuals with borderline personality disorder have long been considered the most challenging clients presenting in the clinical setting. Many professionals continue to view them as untreatable. Emerging research suggests this is simply not the case. DBT has paved the way in pioneering new attitudes and outcomes when working with this population. Most practitioners are trained in dialectical behavior therapy. However, DBT is only one of several empirically supported treatments for BPD. Thus psychologists are now able to bring a
more complex, integrative approach to bear on this once heavily stigmatized diagnosis. This 6 hour training will give you an in-depth understanding of BPD, help you make and have a conversation about the diagnosis in a way that minimizes client resistance and enhances motivation, and offer practical, evidence-based treatment strategies that actually work. Leave this advanced training with a comprehensive knowledge of a condition that was once considered untreatable and a broad repertoire of tools to add to your toolbox to assess, diagnosis, and compassionately treat this population and help them discover their own life worth living.

“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.

Bipolar Disorder (BD) is a serious mental health problem that typi¬cally creates chaos in an individual’s life, often leading to risky and impulsive behaviors, damaged relation­ship and careers, substance use problems, hospitalization, and even suicide. Based on Sheri Van Dijk’s ground-breaking work on using DBT with Bipolar Disorder, this webinar will briefly review the different types of bipolar disorder and what to look for to help someone get a proper diagnosis and treatment. You’ll also learn about the existing psy­cho-therapies being used to treat bipolar disorder, before looking at the efficacy of Dialectical Behavior Therapy in treating this illness, and a delving more into how to teach some of the DBT skills most pertinent to clients with BD.

“This was a very clear and coherent presentation. I really like how the presenter kept the audience engaged and how quickly but coherently he went through the information, while answering questions routinely.”-Michelle P., Psychologist, New York

Increasing numbers of adults are seeking out assessment and treatment for ADHD.  However, ADHD is considered to be one of the most misdiagnosed conditions, being prone to both over- and under-diagnosis.  This presentation provides a model for a comprehensive diagnostic assessment of ADHD in adults that can be tailored and used by clinicians in practice to increase diagnostic accuracy.  Issues related to DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for ADHD, presenting symptoms and problems characteristic of ADHD that are not included in the official criteria, the prevalence and persistence of ADHD into adulthood, testing for ADHD, the issue of malingering, as well as telling clients when their difficulties are not consistent with a diagnosis of ADHD will be discussed.

Mental health and healthcare professionals face many challenges in their everyday work, some of which are clinically more significant than others. These professionals undergo extensive training and education to learn to act in the moment, make sound decisions, and create the best plan of care for their patients and clients. Sometimes, crisis situations arise, however, and even the best-prepared professionals can feel confused or in over their head. The likelihood of a mental health or healthcare professional interacting with a potentially suicidal client in the course of their career is significant, even if that professional does not typical work with a specific suicidal population. The prevalence and significance of suicidality in all age groups additionally increases this potential. For this reason, it is imperative that all professionals understand the warning signs, myths and facts, and urgent first steps when faced with someone who is feeling suicidal.

This presentation reviews overall suicide statistics, various demographic differences, and lifelong risk factors associated with suicidal thoughts. We will examine, in-depth, key terms, do’s and don’ts on talking about suicide, and how to approach and complete a suicide risk assessment. Attendees will gain important factual information as well as new ways to approach clinical work with clients at risk for suicide.

Executive function (EF) processes are essential for successfully navigating nearly all of our daily activities, allowing us to regulate and direct our behavior toward goals, break out of habits, make decisions and evaluate risks, plan for the future, prioritize and sequence our actions, and cope with novel situations. EF deficits are present in a wide range of mental health disorders, contributing to deficits in everyday activities, academic/occupational and social functioning. In this presentation, you will learn about EF processes and how they are important for daily life, how and why EF deficits are associated with mental health disorders, and best practices for assessing EF. We will then discuss the latest evidence on interventions for EF deficits, considering limitation of EF training approaches and promising approaches based on using compensatory strategies to improve functioning in individuals with impaired EF.

A review of the DSM across the decades reveals a complicated history of the inclusion and exclusion of grief-related emotional difficulties for bereft clients. Starting with the DSM-III, uncomplicated bereavement was introduced as a condition that may be the focus of clinical attention. As research on complicated grief progressed, changes in subsequent DSMs has led to controversy, extended research, and, eventually, the inclusion of prolonged grief disorder in the upcoming release of the DSM-5-TR in mid-2021. This 3 hour presentation explores the history of how bereavement has been addressed in previous and current DSMs and the ICD, an examination of the bereavement exclusion in major depressive disorder and adjustment disorder, the development and inclusion of persistent complex bereavement disorder in the DSM-5, and the diagnostic criteria for prolonged grief disorder in the DSM-5-TR and the ICD-11. Additionally, the presentation will explore differential diagnosing so the practitioner will be skilled in making sound clinical judgment in treatment planning. 

“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 presentation was great.  The speaker gave great insights. I would have not changed anything about it. I learned different ways to view personality disorders to help better treat them. This will help me better serve individuals who make up this population.”-Nicolas F. Social Worker, Maryland

Personality disorders are a common co-occurring condition in about half of the patients seeking outpatient mental health treatment. While most clinicians regularly see patients with a personality dysfunction, it is not always identified and may complicate treatment. Left untreated, personality disorders place a great burden on health care systems, families and communities. When you are equipped with a basic knowledge of personality disorders and their treatment, you can incorporate strategies to increase effectiveness in reducing therapeutic ruptures and achieve better outcomes. Personality dysfunction complicates and reduces efficacy of first line treatment approaches to clinical syndromes such as anxiety, depression, and addiction, as well as increasing the challenge of working with couples and families. When patients with personality dysfunction are unidentified and untreated, therapist frustration may ensue and lead to unintended therapeutic ruptures and treatment dropouts. Early identification and appropriate treatment reduce susceptibility to addictions and other comorbid disorders. Clinicians who understand and identify personality disorders and possess a cohesive conceptual framework can effectively treat personality dysfunction, optimize treatment and Improve outcomes. This seminar provides you with the foundation necessary for identification, conceptualization, effective management, and treatment of personality dysfunction. 

“Brava, Dr. Ruth Ellington. The best Webinar I've experienced yet. Well done. I learned strategies to teach ASD clients and parents about handling bullying.”-William C., Psychologist, California

Deficits in social skills are considered one of the defining challenges among young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), yet few evidence-based social skills programs exist for higher functioning youth with ASD.  This seminar will provide an overview of the social skills needed for making and keeping friends and handling peer conflict and rejection.  You will be given tips on how to provide social coaching using concrete rules and steps of social behavior derived from the widely popular PEERS® program, the only known evidence-based social skills program for teens and young adults with ASD. Within the framework of solid research evidence about what works and what doesn’t work socially, attendees will be given easy-to-use strategies to assist young people with making and keeping friends. The seminar will include topics such as appropriate use of conversation skills; strategies for entering conversations; and advice for managing arguments and handling teasing, physical bullying, cyber bullying, rumors, and gossip. 

“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 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.

“Dr. Z was personable, knowledgeable and very funny. She kept my attention, which can be a challenge over an entire day. I loved her use of humor and real-life examples, and her sharing of personal stories and anecdotes. As a fellow trainer, I give Dr. Z the highest rating possible for a wonderful training day!”-Jeffrey T. Social Worker, New York

Mental health and healthcare professionals are faced with the often misunderstood and misdiagnosed symptoms of uncomplicated and complicated grief. Formal education rarely, if ever, provides extensive enough training to accurately identify and treat those who are grieving. Often grieving clients present with other diagnoses because symptoms can mimic uncomplicated or complicated 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 are inadvertently disenfranchised by providers, which can make the professional support they sought to reconstruct their previously shattered identities and worldviews ineffective. It is essential to be versed in identifying grief related constructs that may underlie, or even cause, mental health difficulties. 

This presentation aims to provide current information on the grieving process, clarify misconceptions of outdated theories, and differentiate between uncomplicated and complicated grief, and also examines the changes in conceptualization, differential diagnosing, treatment planning, and interventions used with grieving individuals. Attendees will leave with an improved clinical skill set they can immediately use to identify and treat their clients.

Bipolar Disorder (BD) is a serious mental health problem that typi­cally creates chaos in an individual’s life, often leading to risky and impulsive behaviors, damaged relationship and careers, substance use problems, hospitalization, and even suicide. Because of the complexi­ty of this disorder – the different episodes, variability of symptoms from person to person as well as from episode to episode within the same individual - Bipolar Disorder can be difficult for clinicians to recognize; improper diagnosis leads to improper treatment, which can cause worsening of symptoms for individuals. Once an accurate diagnosis has been made, however, it’s often equally as difficult to help our clients to accept and understand this diagnosis, which con­tributes to difficulties following prescribed treatment recommenda­tions.

In this webinar you will learn about bipolar disorder, including the different diagnostic categories of BD and its causes. Participants will learn about the disorders that often co-occur with bipolar disor­der and the difficulties people experience in living with this and the co-morbid disorders. In gaining a greater understanding yourself as a clinician of bipolar disorder, you will be in a more effective position to help your clients to understand and accept their mental health problems, which will typically lead to improved outcomes for clients.

“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.

“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.

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.

“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.

Traumatized adolescents and young adults struggle with self-regulation. They are dysregulated across systems--neurologically, cognitively, physically, emotionally, behaviorally, socially, and spiritually. Anxious and vigilant, and unable to trust themselves or caregivers, they may experience even loving relationships as confusing and frightening. But to learn self-soothing, they must first be able to rely upon others and discover the comfort of co-regulation. They benefit from relationships with adults that provide them with the psychological (and physical) sense of stability and containment they cannot supply themselves.

To work effectively with these youth it’s crucial for adults to first foster their own capacity for self-awareness and self-regulation. It’s not easy, especially when our young clients’ extreme reactions—ranging from angry arousal to frozen shutting down—can trigger our own sense of helplessness, failure, dissociation, and rejection. In this webinar, you will learn about Developmental-Relational Therapy (DRT), an attachment-based model of trauma treatment. You will learn and practice mindful, empathic strategies that help teens feel more secure, connected, present, and regulated. You’ll discover how to get unhooked from old enactments by exploring:

Specific adolescent attachment styles that interact with or trigger our own

The React, Reflect, and Respond approach to corrective relational experience

Four M’s—mirroring, mentalizing, mindfulness, and modulation—to increase connection and mood regulatio

How to use moment-to-moment attunement—including strategies of validation, unflinching empathy, strategic self-disclosure, and the compassionate sharing of adult feelings and opinions-—to bring traumatized youth back into relationships with themselves and with you.