All Webinars

The relationship between trauma and addiction is becoming increasingly well established in the literature. This is no surprise, as clinicians working “in the trenches” know all too well that people with unresolved trauma and emotional wounds often turn to substances as a way to “numb out,” forget, or otherwise self-medicate to regulate their emotions. Conversely, people with addictive behavior disorders may drive while impaired, gravitate towards toxic relationships, go to dangerous places to get their substance of choice, or engage in many other behaviours that increase their risk of being traumatized and their vulnerability factors for developing PTSD or other trauma and stress related disorders.  It is also known that when cooccurrence is involved, this presents clinicians with a more complicated course of treatment and less favorable treatment outcomes that when clients present with only one or the other.
 

The good news is, there is hope! While neuroscience has taught us much about this phenomenon in recent years, evidence-based Cognitively based treatments are still being shown to  be at least as effective as many “newer” approaches, and in some circles seem to have almost gotten lost in the shuffle. 

Recent protocols have attempted to incorporate PE (prolonged exposure) and other cognitive behavioral treatments with substance use disorder treatments. While further research is needed in this area, the mandate for integration of treatments when dealing with this population seems integral to obtain more favorable outcomes for individuals with these complex conceptualizations.
 

Leave this full-day online training let by international CBT expert Jeff Riggenbach, PhD, with an improved understanding of the neuroscience of trauma, a integrated approach to treating PTSD and addictions, and armed with a plethora of evidence-based, yet practical new tools to equip and empower this group to find levels of recovery that have previously been eluding them!

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.

Personality disordered individuals are often considered to be some of the most difficult consumers of mental health services for psychologists and others mental health clinicians to treat effectively. Clearing the fog surrounding the different conditions and getting to the core of each individual client makeup is vital to successful treatment outcome. Drawing from the most recent literature, outcome trials, case studies and 20 years of clinical experience, Jeff Riggenbach, PhD will describe the latest evidence based treatment options and show you how to avoid common pitfalls and therapeutic traps of these individuals who often leave clinicians feeling frustrated, stuck, and disheartened. In this full day virtual training, Jeff will describe each of the DSM-5 personality disorders and give you simple but effective engagement, management, and treatment techniques for each. Empirically supported strategies from DBT, CBT, and Schema Therapy will be incorporated into an integrated treatment approach that will transform the way your work with this challenging population. You will leave this conference feeling revitalized - equipped with a new, comprehensive, empowering approach to assess, conceptualize, and treat this difficult population in a way that offers hope for patients and reinvigoration for providers.

This workshop offers a comprehensive and evidence-based examination of racial microaggressions, situating them within broader systems of contemporary racism. Drawing on seminal new research and clinical insights, participants will explore how racism has evolved from overt acts to subtle, often unconscious expressions that permeate everyday in teractions. The session will define microaggressions and unpack their links to pathological stereotypes, environmental exclusion, and systemic inequities. Through real-world examples, attendees will learn to identify common forms of microaggressions across contexts, including interpersonal relationships, institutional settings, and global environments. Grounded in empirical findings, the workshop will also review the science behind microaggressions and their cumulative psychological toll, including their role in stress, depression, and racial trauma. 

Building on this foundation, the workshop will focus on practical applications for clinicians and helping professionals. Participants will examine how microaggressions manifest in clinical care, romantic relationships, and even therapeutic dynamics with clients, while critically addressing pervasive myths that invalidate and gaslight people of color. Emphasis will be placed on developing culturally responsive skills to support clients in navigating and coping with everyday racism, as well as strategies for recognizing and disarming microaggressions in real time. The session will conclude with tools, resources, and actionable approaches to foster more equitable, affirming, and culturally-informed spaces across professional and personal domains.

In racialized societies, race divides people, prioritizes some groups over others, and directly impacts opportunities and outcomes in life. Racism is a pervasive problem in Western society, leading to mental and physical unwellness in people from racialized groups. Psychology began as a racist discipline, as many prominent early leaders in the field actively promoted eugenics and the use of intelligence testing to prove the inferiority of people of color, which creates a problematic foundation for a science that is now tasked with embracing diversity. As such, most clinical training and curricula do not provide an anti-racist framework, which is long overdue for a profession that began with many openly racist ideals. This workshop will discuss how therapists can embrace an anti-racism approach in their practice and their lives in general as an essential prerequisite for authenticity in the work of supporting clients of color. This webinar will address harmful fallacies about race and genetics, explain the development of aversive racism, detail the difference between being a White ally versus a White savior, and share new research of what it means to be a genuine racial justice ally. 

Racial problems are evident at every level of society, and are prominent in political messaging. The problem of racism cannot be corrected merely by good wishes of individuals – purposeful actions and interventions are required. To create equitable systems, civil courage is vital. Therapists can play an important role in tearing down barriers and facilitating change. People who are racial justice allies demonstrate civil courage despite awareness of the consequences and social costs but choose to persist based on a moral imperative. After defining allyship and providing contemporary and historical examples of civil courage, this presentation will explain the difficulties and impediments inherent in implementing racial justice. The presenters will describe exercises based on cognitive-behavioral approaches to help individuals increase their awareness and ability to demonstrate racial justice allyship in alignment with valued behaviors. She explains how these approaches can be utilized, how they can help individuals grow, why they can be difficult, and how clinicians can make use of them for their clients and society.

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.

For those who are grieving to loss of a loved one, the holidays can be an especially difficult and overwhelming time. Holidays are often associated with memories, traditions, and a sense of connection to others, all of which are impacted by the painful awareness that their loved one is absent. Surrounded by messages that we should give thanks, participate in joyful celebrations, spend time with others, and share memories, the bereaved are faced with painfully complicated, sometimes conflicting, emotions that have to be navigated during this time. During this presentation, we will explore how clients can manage the painful and mixed feelings that accompany grief, maintain physical health, and explore how new and old traditions and rituals can support clients during this tough time. Just as there is no right or wrong way to grieve, how one chooses to manage difficult emotions, social events, and relationships during the holiday season will be as unique as one’s own experience of loss. This presentations aims to help clients reduce their suffering, remember loved ones, and even reconnect with the real reason for the season.

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.

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.

Something unprecedented is happening fast in mental health care — and most therapists are not prepared for it. Chatbots are no longer a fringe phenomenon. They are already serving as therapists, companions, and crisis responders for millions of people. Clients are reporting meaningful therapeutic alliances with AI. Research shows that a significant portion of mental health consumers rate chatbots as beneficial – and some prefer them to traditional psychotherapy. Furthermore, the richest, most powerful companies in human his tory are investing heavily in making these tools more emotionally convincing by the day. 

This is not a technology seminar. This is a conversation about the future of our profession — and what we can do right now to stay relevant, competitive, and clinically excellent in a rapidly shifting landscape. 

In this two-hour webinar, clinicians are offered a clear-eyed, re search-grounded look at AI’s influence on therapy room. You will leave with a realistic picture of where AI outperforms human thera pists, where it falls dangerously short, and — most importantly — where your irreplaceable clinical value lies. This webinar offers the knowledge, perspective, and practical strategies to meet this mo ment with confidence rather than anxiety.

Something unprecedented is happening fast in mental health care — and most therapists are not prepared for it. Chatbots are no longer a fringe phenomenon. They are already serving as therapists, companions, and crisis responders for millions of people. Clients are reporting meaningful therapeutic alliances with AI. Research shows that a significant portion of mental health consumers rate chatbots as beneficial – and some prefer them to traditional psychotherapy. Furthermore, the richest, most powerful companies in human his tory are investing heavily in making these tools more emotionally convincing by the day. 

This is not a technology seminar. This is a conversation about the future of our profession — and what we can do right now to stay relevant, competitive, and clinically excellent in a rapidly shifting landscape. 

In this two-hour webinar, clinicians are offered a clear-eyed, re search-grounded look at AI’s influence on therapy room. You will leave with a realistic picture of where AI outperforms human thera pists, where it falls dangerously short, and — most importantly — where your irreplaceable clinical value lies. This webinar offers the knowledge, perspective, and practical strategies to meet this mo ment with confidence rather than anxiety.