All Webinars

Many clients who enter individual or couple therapy have difficulty managing emotions. This workshop will focus on the processes involved in emotional dysregulation, drawing on current findings in the fields of neurobiology and emotional memory research. Students will learn about universal triggers as well as ways to explore personal triggers that lead to poorly managed emotional reactions.
 

These findings will be translated to clinical interventions through the theoretical lenses of mindfulness, object relations and narrative therapies. Case presentations will demonstrate ways to apply these insights in individuals and couple therapy to demonstrate how clients can be guided to subdue strong emotions and generate more thoughtful and appropriate responses.

Our world is changing faster than at any moment in history, and technologies advancements are literally changing what it means to be human. “Future Technologies” explores the profound and inevitable impact emerging technologies will have on humanity. We will delve into how Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, Brain-Computer Interface, Robotics, Gene Therapy, and Genetic Engineering, are set to advance in the next several decades – even sooner. Each tech technology’s potential benefits, such as AI’s improved healthcare diagnostics and AR/VR’s enhanced educational tools, are highlighted alongside associated risks, including job displacement and privacy concerns. A key theme is the transformative impact these technologies can, and likely will, have on human identity and social norms. Therapists can and should play a critical role in this technological evolution. They can help individuals adapt to changes, advocate for ethical standards, and support mental health through technological integration. This talk underscores the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration to ensure that technological advancements benefit the future of humanity while mitigating potential harms. Currently, it is the sex tech industry developing a vision of the future of intimacy. The time is now for mental health professionals to join this critical conversation.

Grief becomes disenfranchised when individuals are denied the opportunity to grieve openly, lack the social support necessary to process their loss, or do not receive the validation needed to heal. In these circumstances, the grieving person may withdraw from others, question whether their grief is legitimate, struggle to accept the loss and its consequences, or have difficulty adapting in healthy ways. When grief is pushed into silence, the emotional burden becomes more intense and isolating. This increases the risk of developing prolonged grief disorder, depression, anxiety, or other mental health challenges.

Disenfranchised grief can arise from a variety of sources—cultural norms, societal expectations, the attitudes of others, and even from the griever’s own internal beliefs. At times, professionals in “expert” roles may also contribute to this sense of invalidation, often unintentionally.

Because all mental health professionals work with grieving individuals, it is critical to recognize the signs of disenfranchisement, understand its impact on the mourning process, and learn how to avoid reinforcing it. Clinicians must be equipped to offer validation, support, and effective interventions to help clients navigate the social dynamics that can complicate their grief—especially when those dynamics are shaped by misunderstanding or judgment.

This workshop will include both didactic instruction and case studies to give attendees practical tools for addressing disenfranchised grief in clinical practice.

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. 

Guilt, regret, and shame are common emotions experienced after a personal or collective loss or traumatic event. These unique and complicated components are often a challenge to work with as they are regularly integrated with the already complex grieving process. At times, guilt, regret, and shame are ways in which a client maintains a sense of connection to the lost loved one, hence making the relinquishment of those feelings even more difficult to navigate in treatment. This training will assist your work to aid clients managing the “should’s” and “if only’s” of regret, end self-blame and shame, and overcome the profound sense of survivor’s guilt they may feel because loved ones succumbed to collective losses.

Guilt, regret, and shame are common emotions experienced after a personal or collective loss or traumatic event. These unique and complicated components are often a challenge to work with as they are regularly integrated with the already complex grieving process. At times, guilt, regret, and shame are ways in which a client maintains a sense of connection to the lost loved one, hence making the relinquishment of those feelings even more difficult to navigate in treatment. This training will assist your work to aid clients managing the “should’s” and “if only’s” of regret, end self-blame and shame, and overcome the profound sense of survivor’s guilt they may feel because loved ones succumbed to collective losses.

For many bereaved individuals, faith, religion, and spirituality can prove to be a supportive and comforting resource following the loss of anyone or anything that leaves a sense of deprivation and yearning. However, for some who are grieving, the relationship to their higher power or spiritual community is painfully wounded, leading to the secondary loss of his/her/their spiritual resources, connections, and spiritual crisis.
 

The painful religious and spiritual losses are referred to as complicated spiritual grief (CSG). CSG has been shown to exacerbate the bereavement experience for some religious and spiritually inclined grievers. Clinicians are confronted with religious and spiritual topics in psychotherapy, especially when working with bereft clients. Therefore, knowing how to identify the impact of CSG in the grieving process is imperative. Clinicians will be able to recognize the impact of CSG on the bereaved’s grieving process, increasing skills in conducting a comprehensive clinical assessment and development of effective treatment plans. As a result, grief therapy will more effectively identify and treat all domains of the client’s functioning following or anticipating a loss.

For many bereaved individuals, faith, religion, and spirituality can prove to be a supportive and comforting resource following the loss of anyone or anything that leaves a sense of deprivation and yearning. However, for some who are grieving, the relationship to their higher power or spiritual community is painfully wounded, leading to the secondary loss of his/her/their spiritual resources, connections, and spiritual crisis.
 

The painful religious and spiritual losses are referred to as complicated spiritual grief (CSG). CSG has been shown to exacerbate the bereavement experience for some religious and spiritually inclined grievers. Clinicians are confronted with religious and spiritual topics in psychotherapy, especially when working with bereft clients. Therefore, knowing how to identify the impact of CSG in the grieving process is imperative. Clinicians will be able to recognize the impact of CSG on the bereaved’s grieving process, increasing skills in conducting a comprehensive clinical assessment and development of effective treatment plans. As a result, grief therapy will more effectively identify and treat all domains of the client’s functioning following or anticipating a loss.

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

This presentation aims to provide current, research based information on the grieving process, clarify misconceptions of outdated theories, and differentiate between normative and prolonged grief. It also examines the changes in conceptualization, differential diagnosing, and effective, clinically proven interventions that may be utilized with grieving individuals and families. Attendees will leave with an improved clinical skill set they can immediately apply to identify and treat their clients.

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

This presentation aims to provide current, research based information on the grieving process, clarify misconceptions of outdated theories, and differentiate between normative and prolonged grief. It also examines the changes in conceptualization, differential diagnosing, and effective, clinically proven interventions that may be utilized with grieving individuals and families. Attendees will leave with an improved clinical skill set they can immediately apply to identify and treat their clients.

The incidence of youth suicide requires that schools and communities collaborate and increase suicide prevention efforts and that they be prepared to respond if a suicide occurs in order to reduce suicide contagion.  This presentation will help school and community mental health personnel increase their understanding of the most common factors in youth suicide.  Participants will learn effective strategies to prevent youth suicide and lessons from the aftermath of numerous suicides.

The incidence of youth suicide requires that schools and communities collaborate and increase suicide prevention efforts and that they be prepared to respond if a suicide occurs in order to reduce suicide contagion.  This presentation will help school and community mental health personnel increase their understanding of the most common factors in youth suicide.  Participants will learn effective strategies to prevent youth suicide and lessons from the aftermath of numerous suicides.