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.

Most therapists recognize the power of the past as it is revealed in the way partners respond to each other. The therapist can be baffled by emotionally intense reactions that seem way out of proportion to the moment.  Repeated conflict themes also suggest that the ways partners interpret each other’s behavior can only be understood by exploring their individual lived experience. This seminar presents an overview of an object relations approach to working with couples, and describes dynamics that are unique to this clinical approach. You will understand how unfinished business from the past and each partner’s relational past can unfold in patterns and postures that work against intimacy. You will also be able to understand how extreme emotional reactions and black & white thinking create instability and specific relationship problems. The seminar will explain a range of techniques that can help couples acquire new ways of responding to each other and strengthening intimacy. You will also understand how the therapist’s intuition and reaction to partners is an important source of information that allows insight into the core themes and facilitates the partners ability to heal past wounds while forging deeper intimacy.

Therapy with adults or couples with children frequently presents opportunities to help parents understand and improve parent-child dynamics. Parenting reveals implicit and unconscious expectations about raising children that are often culturally determined, and based on each parent’s own childhood experiences. This seminar draws on theories from systems, object relations and the parenting literature to show how unconscious factors get played out in the parent-child relationship. Therapists can help parents identify ways that their own childhood experiences, and aspects of the marital relationship, are played out in the parenting process. Through presentation of theory, and case examples, participants will be able to understand how to raise and explore parenting dynamics in the therapy session, and help parents find new ways of relating to their children and each other. This is particularly import in work with highly conflicted couples, even those who have divorced but have difficulty co-parenting.

Therapy with adults or couples with children frequently presents opportunities to help parents understand and improve parent-child dynamics. Parenting reveals implicit and unconscious expectations about raising children that are often culturally determined, and based on each parent’s own childhood experiences. This seminar draws on theories from systems, object relations and the parenting literature to show how unconscious factors get played out in the parent-child relationship. Therapists can help parents identify ways that their own childhood experiences, and aspects of the marital relationship, are played out in the parenting process. Through presentation of theory, and case examples, participants will be able to understand how to raise and explore parenting dynamics in the therapy session, and help parents find new ways of relating to their children and each other. This is particularly import in work with highly conflicted couples, even those who have divorced but have difficulty co-parenting.

“Excellent, the Professor is an expert in the field and answered my many questions. Could not be improved..”-Eric B., Licensed Professional Counselor, New York

It is estimated that roughly 80% of clients who enter treatment are ambivalent about changing their behavior. Motivational interviewing (MI) is an intentional, client centered approach for facilitating increases in motivation for behavior change by assisting clients in exploring and resolving ambivalence. MI, as a counseling style, has been shown to be effective with a wide variety of problem behaviors such as substance abuse, adopting healthy behaviors (eating, exercise), treatment adherence and compliance, and other psychological problems. Thus, mental health workers from various backgrounds practicing in a variety of settings are beginning to integrate MI into their clinical repertoire. 

This introduction to MI will acquaint the audience with basic concepts and methods of MI. As such participants will be exposed to the foundational concepts including the “spirit,” principles and processes of MI that can be integrated with one’s approach to counseling and psychotherapy. Building on this foundation the foundational philosophy and active principles will be discussed with emphasis on MI’s unique focus on increasing change talk and reducing talk maintaining the status quo. The webinar will conclude with a brief overview of the evidence base for MI. 

Motivational interviewing (MI), as a counseling style, has been shown to be effective with a wide variety of problem behaviors such as substance abuse, adopting healthy behaviors (eating, exercise),treatment adherence and compliance, and other psychological problems. Because of this MI in increasing in popularity. Many practitioners from diverse backgrounds are integrating MI into their clinical repertoire.

This webinar will build on the “Fundamentals of Motivational Interviewing” by introducing participants to the specific application of MI to clinical challenges encountered when clients are less ready to change. After a brief review of the foundational concepts, principles and processes of MI, participants will be introduced to MI consistent strategies to address these common clinical challenges. Each challenge will be briefly discussed followed by proposed MI consistent strategies. The webinar will conclude with a brief overview of the evidence base for MI. Participants are encouraged to have completed the Fundamentals of Motivational Interviewing webinar prior to this one.

This course will satisfy your ethics requirement.

They say that Artificial Intelligence (AI) won’t replace you in the workplace, but someone who knows how to use AI will. This is particularly true for social workers, counselors, and psychologists because we were not trained in AI, but AI is transforming our work. It is becoming harder to avoid AI, yet it remains critical that we understand how AI works so that we can make informed, ethical decisions that protect both our clients and the public. We are mandated by our professional codes to do this. The widespread use of AI is recent, and it is not easy to learn all about AI and how it is being used in our professions. At the end of this course, you will understand how AI works, the different types of AI, and how it is being used in our work. You will better understand all the ethical considerations and current research findings about AI in the social work/counseling/psychology space, and walk away with frameworks on how to mitigate risk.

This course will satisfy your ethics requirement.

They say that Artificial Intelligence (AI) won’t replace you in the workplace, but someone who knows how to use AI will. This is particularly true for social workers, counselors, and psychologists because we were not trained in AI, but AI is transforming our work. It is becoming harder to avoid AI, yet it remains critical that we understand how AI works so that we can make informed, ethical decisions that protect both our clients and the public. We are mandated by our professional codes to do this. The widespread use of AI is recent, and it is not easy to learn all about AI and how it is being used in our professions. At the end of this course, you will understand how AI works, the different types of AI, and how it is being used in our work. You will better understand all the ethical considerations and current research findings about AI in the social work/counseling/psychology space, and walk away with frameworks on how to mitigate risk.

Chronic disease affects far more than just the body—it takes a toll on one’s mental health, emotional well-being, and daily functioning. As a mental health professional, you play a crucial role in helping patients navigate these challenges, yet traditional medical care often overlooks psychological and behavioral factors. This training equips you with the skills to recognize and address the emotional, psychological, behavioral, and even some of the physical barriers that impact chronic disease management. Learn to utilize a comprehensive biopsychosocial assessment, integrating physical, emotional, social, and environmental factors to develop more effective, patient-centered care plans.
 

Through this interactive session, you’ll discover at least three evidence-based interventions that improve coping, adherence, and quality of life. Gain practical tools to motivate patients in following prescribed treatment regimens and make sustainable lifestyle changes. Plus, familiarize yourself with the SBAR method for effective interdisciplinary communication, ensuring seamless collaboration between mental health and medical providers. Don’t miss this opportunity to expand your expertise and improve patient outcomes!

Chronic disease affects far more than just the body—it takes a toll on one’s mental health, emotional well-being, and daily functioning. As a mental health professional, you play a crucial role in helping patients navigate these challenges, yet traditional medical care often overlooks psychological and behavioral factors. This training equips you with the skills to recognize and address the emotional, psychological, behavioral, and even some of the physical barriers that impact chronic disease management. Learn to utilize a comprehensive biopsychosocial assessment, integrating physical, emotional, social, and environmental factors to develop more effective, patient-centered care plans.
 

Through this interactive session, you’ll discover at least three evidence-based interventions that improve coping, adherence, and quality of life. Gain practical tools to motivate patients in following prescribed treatment regimens and make sustainable lifestyle changes. Plus, familiarize yourself with the SBAR method for effective interdisciplinary communication, ensuring seamless collaboration between mental health and medical providers. Don’t miss this opportunity to expand your expertise and improve patient outcomes!

Group therapy is a treatment modality in which unrelated people meet together with a therapist, in contrast to individual therapy or conjoint family therapy. Groups are not a second-rate approach to helping people change. In fact, groups are often the treatment of choice - especially when a client’s problem has an interpersonal component (which is usually the case). Groups offer a natural laboratory in which people can experiment with new ways of being and receive feedback from numerous others. There is great power in groups: members actually experience their interpersonal dynamics playing out in the group. A group therapist can implement techniques from other modalities in a group format. However, there are dynamics, processes, and stages of groups that are not shared with individual approaches and which offer distinctive benefits. Because so many of the problems that people seek mental
health services for involve dysfunctional interactions between people, having group members actually interact with others in the group affords an opportunity for deep, experiential learning and development that is not possible in individual therapy. This seminar will emphasize how to facilitate such “here and now” interactions and processes in group work.