All Webinars

In the field of counseling/psychotherapy, there are few topics that are more pervasively misunderstood than the nature of emotions and their significance to human health. Even the founders of many influential approaches (i.e., Aaron Beck, Albert Ellis) believed that emotions are best controlled - rather than deeply experienced, reflected upon (processed), and communicated; fields such as affective neuroscience have demonstrated that this is simply false. Just as thoughts can be accurate/adaptive or inaccurate/maladaptive, emotions can be “on target” or “off-base”; they can also be primary or secondary (the latter is often an emotional defense of the primary emotion). Moreover, all human beings—and especially therapy clients—use defenses to avoid experiencing and dealing with their emotions. Most therapists are not taught basic knowledge of emotions and defenses. Rather, they are often taught to simply “follow the client’s feelings.” However, many feelings are actually defenses against the underlying (primary, true) feeling (i.e., sadness covering anger). If a therapist does not recognize which emotions are primary and which are defensive/secondary emotions, then one may be encouraging a client to heighten their defenses, which is almost always anti-therapeutic. Clients who defend against their emotions lose the important information that emotions can provide. This webinar will teach you how to bypass your clients’ defenses and to work directly with their emotions, because emotions are fundamental sources of information and knowledge about one’s self and the world around them.

Finding Your Why & Finding Your Way uses a simple, user-friendly approach to applying Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). In this webinar, Dr. DJ Moran will demonstrate how this new approach formulates the ACT model into the Mindful Action Plan (MAP), and how you can use the MAP to guide yourself  and your clients towards a meaningful lifestyle with values-based behavior change. If your clients feel stuck, directionless, or unmotivated, or may be seeking a new path in life—one that feels rewarding, inspiring, and purposeful. The question is, where do they begin? As a clinician, you’ve likely heard all about mindfulness—a powerfully effective tool for helping people find focus, balance, and a greater sense of purpose. But how does the client actually apply mindfulness to their life?
 

Finding Your Why & Finding Your Way is a step-by-step webinar that can help clinicians learn to help clients put mindfulness into action—every day. Using the Mindful Action Plan (MAP) approach—a fully customizable set of skills grounded in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)—you’ll work with the client to identify what they deeply care about, increase motivation, and start moving forward toward meaningful goals. Most importantly, clients can learn to make a commitment to create the positive change they desire. And you can learn this so well, you can apply it to yourself, as well.
 

Incorporating Acceptance and Commitment Therapy into your treatment approach will have a significant impact on your clinical effectiveness and the well-being of your clients. ACT is a  rich, integrative approach, and has been shown to be effective for many clinically-relevant concerns. Because ACT takes a different perspective on psychotherapy, some clinicians wonder how to blend the applications into their own therapy approach. Other clinicians who have embraced the ACT concepts still have questions about certain aspects of the therapy.
 

This webinar will explain ACT in a very clear, concise, user-friendly manner.

Traditional abstinence-only models have long dominated Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) treatment, yet emerging research demonstrates that harm reduction strategies—including moderate drinking—offer effective alternatives for many individuals, particularly those with less severe or early-stage alcohol issues. For clients whose alcohol use is creating problems, learning to drink more moderately and safely can represent both a realistic goal and a sustainable outcome. For others, managed drinking serves as a crucial stepping-stone toward temporary or permanent abstinence.
 

This harm reduction framework transforms treatment by lowering barriers to care and creating more inclusive options for individuals intimidated by abstinence-only approaches. The result is more flexible, personalized care that meets clients where they are in their recovery journey. 

Since office-based therapists are typically the first professionals contacted by individuals seeking help with alcohol concerns, all mental health practitioners—regardless of specialty—must be equipped with the knowledge and skills to competently address these issues. This comprehensive webinar provides a diverse clinical toolkit featuring practical strategies, integrated behavioral and pharmacological interventions, real-world case studies, and essential clinical considerations. Participants will gain valuable insights into addressing alcohol-related challenges with greater flexibility, empathy, and effectiveness, significantly expanding treatment possibilities for clients seeking help with alcohol use concerns.

This dynamic 3-hour seminar provides mental health professionals with essential tools to support families in conflict—whether couples are married, divorcing, or never married. Drawing on decades of clinical, mediation, and non-adversarial divorce experience, Dr. Zimmerman blends real-world strategies with clinical insight to help attendees become more effective in high-conflict family situations. Participants will gain exposure to a range of alternative dispute resolution models, learn about the effects of conflict on children, and receive actionable guidance on managing professional stress in this demanding field.