Topic: Counseling Skills and Advances

This workshop will identify common indicators of compassion fatigue and provide guidance in stress management and reducing the effects of burnout.

Anxiety, depression, stress and addiction affect the body as well as mind and society.  There are stunning parallels between modern and ancient wison-based avenues to mental health that constitute an effective integrative approach to healing.  These include: the use of witnessing to manage emotions and reframe mental stories, faith, eliciting the relaxation response, mindfulness, forgiveness, gratitude, altruism and benefit finding.

Spirituality heals the rift between human beings and Life by restoring a sense of deep connection to a larger, meaningful whole.  That connection results in a constellation of positive emotions including awe, gratitude, compassion, foregiveness, love, peace, and joy.  Research demonstrates that these emotions lead to better physical and emotional health, inspired leadership, and the enhanced creativity so needed in this historic time of shift in global values, goals, and cooperation.

Drugs and activities modify mood by affecting changes in the reward centers of the brain.  The reward cascade is discussed as the unifying mechanism for a range of drugs and behaviors, through which dopamine arrives at the nucleus accumbens therby resulting in the subjective experience of pleasure.

Experiential Therapy provides a framework for catharsis of stored visceral memory, often trauma memory.  Experiential techniques can achieve a deeper level of resolution as the therapy moves beyond the cognitive and into both emotional and spiritual states allowing a client to create a healthier sense of self.  Some methods include psychodrama, breathwork, equine therapy, yoga, and art therapy.

Natural highs, beneficial for the individual and society , are unveiled as the rational choice for positive mood alteration.  The instructional format blends current findings from brain science, cognitive-behavioral psychology, case examples, modeling, role-plays, interactive exercises and discussion to provide a fresh look at the positive and negative sides of pleasure.

This workshop will focus on issues that arise when chronic pain is a part of a person's life.  Issues for these clients include significant effects on chronic pain and suffering.  Methods will be explored regarding letting go of old ideas and finding solutions for recovery in the face of chronic pain by diminishing suffering.

Cognitive restructuring is a systematic exploration of how a person thinks, manages their feelings and emotions, behaves, and relates to other people.  The goal of this workshop is to help clinicians demonstrate to clients a greater awareness of their thinking and behaviors so they can identify and challenge irrational thinking and learn to develop new skills for rational thinking and responsible behaviors.

This workshop will review the evidence for non-conventional approaches used to assess alcohol or drug abuse, treat physical and psychological symptoms associated with substance abuse, intoxication and withdrawal, and reduce relapse risk in abstinent alcoholics and addicts.

The goal of this skills training workshop is to increase the ability of participants to understand and be able to effectively use stress and trauma education and self-management techniques with people who are recovering from addiction.

Recently emerging in many fields is evidence of what works in life, but it isn't always obvious how to translate this research into clinical work.  This presentation will highlight the latest research and what insights and methods we can use in our work with clients and patients that derive from research.

New skills and tools to use in treating clients with anxiety and mood disorders will be presented.  The integrative medicine approach goes further by applying evidence-based techniques that have the ability, when added with conventional therapies, to improve outcomes and return clients to the deeper inter-connections between bodt, mind and sprirt,

This workshop will explore and integrate the  Elements of Oriental Medicine as they relate to balance and the patterns within each individuals physical, mental, emotional, and nutritional constitutional make-up.  Specific traits in the physical, mental, emotional body relating to the elements and individual personality traits will be discussed.

This approach is about blending the benefits of conventional therapy, medication and standard nutritional treatment with the integrative medicine belief in the power of self-healing, and with the science behind alternative medicine to truly integrate healing of the body, mind and spirit.

Talking can make many matters worse, not better.  Using research from gender sciences, neurophysiology and systems theory, we explore effective ways of communicating beyond words.

Spirituality is becoming a positive and creative human being-Leo Booth has defined spirituality for clinicians based on his SAY YES philosophy.  SAY YES to physical recovery, SAY YES to mental health, SAY YES to emotional security.

Explore clinical applications of the new brain science as they pertain to anxiety, depression, addictions and relationships.  This training promises to be both personally and professionally rewarding.

Eating disorders and sexual addiction-often hidden by covert behavior and addictions-are growing at an alarming rate.  Workshop will explore relationship between these addictive behaviors.

Our capacity for deep presence is crucially important in helping those who struggle with addiction.  This workshop focuses on the Brahmaviharas (love, compassion, joy and equanimity) as a vehicle for understanding how to relate mindfully to this population.  Some time will be spent in meditation.

Chronic pain is a challenging condition resulting in disability, emotional upheaval and family dysfunction.  This workshop will review principles of pain, addiction and explore specific circumstances relevant to those working with families with these concerns.

This presentation describes the development of the Comprehensive, Continuous Integrated System of Care, in which every program becomes a welcoming, recovery oriented co-occurring disorder program, and every clinician becomes a welcoming, recovery oriented co-occurring disorder competent clinician.

The most important aspect of mindfulness may be its potential to help therapists be deeply present.  This workshop focuses on three central insights of Buddhism, offering a brief discussion of the nature of each, a brief period of meditation related to them, and discussion of the clinical applications.

How therapist's and administrator's hesitancy and smoker's reluctance can be overcome.  Tips on how to make nicotine cessation a joyful experience.

This presentation will empower individuals to understand the effects of the codependent blocks of fantasy and fear that keep them from love and loving within their relationships and the tools and skills that can clear the path to love.

Anthropologist Helen Fisher uses three brain scanning studies (MRI) of men and women who are happily in love, rejected in love, and continuously in love in a long term relationship to discuss love addictions.  She then focuses on her current research on 40,000 men and women (on internet dating site, Chemistry.com) to illustrate the evolution of four broad temperament trait constellations.

Evolution, genetics, neuropsychology, anthropology, theology, and spirituality all converge when we take a closer look at addictions, depression, and chronic pain; especially if we look at these from an ecological-systemic framework.  Practical therapeutic pointers and examples will also be presented and discussed.

Recent research indicates that a philosophy and technology of mind developed 2,500 years ago has direct relevance to recovery from traumatic events.  This presentation introduces mindfulness principles that can be helpful in the treatment of traumatized clients, both in terms of increasing therapist attunement and client processing of traumatic material.

This presentation will outline issues especially relevant to survivors of child abuse and other victimization.  Among these are the impact on affect regulation, identity development, and relational capacity, as well as the potential development of PTSD and "acting out" behavior.  Participants wil learn about specific clinical interventions that can be helful in these areas.

Mindfulness meditation and meditative body awareness have been proven to have increased therapeutic value in treating patients with chronic pain and anxiety.

This workshop focuses on strategies for mitigating relapse risk and sustaining sobriety through the reduction of boredom dureation and intensity.  Remedial and prophylactic tools derived from the field of positive psychology are described and illustrated through the use of case examples.

This workshop looks at addiction as the failed pursuit of happiness.  Addicts confuse hedonistic pleasure / excitement / euphoria with authentic happiness.  This workshop explores happiness as a complex emotion that includes: feelings of contentment / gratitude, safety, need satisfaction and peace of mind.

This workshop explores non-pharmacological interventions in clients with chronic pain.  Presenters describe techniques and modalities available through chiropractic, physcial therapy and acupuncture.

This workshop will continue and allow participants to have hands on experience with techniques described in the first part of this workshop.

The principles of happiness are outlined and described to help everyone.

Trauma is interchangeable with intensity and traumatic pleasure responses, which are more difficult to identify and neutralize.  This workshop will demonstrate techniques for both identifying and treating traumatic pleasure responses.

Counselors are at high risk for depression and burnout.  Often termed "compassion fatigue" and burnout, is addressed from the acquisition of symptoms, the manifestation and consequences of fatigue, and the treatment.

This presentation will describe the biopsychosocial treatment of chronic pain disorder.  The similarities with addiction will be highlighted and the evidence for the various treatment will be described.

Patients with personality disorders are rarely referred for the treatment of the personality disorder per se.  They more frequently come for treatment of co-morbidity and depression.  These individuals can be the moe problematic and difficult patients on the clinician's caseload.  This workshop will address the basics of CBT and patients with personality disorders.

Many addicts suffer from false pride, entitlement and grandiosity that exacerbate sobriety.  This lecture examines the relational consequencesj of narcissism and offers tools to clinicians who recognize this destructive dynamic in treatment and recovery.

This workshop explores how mindfulness meditation can helpj our clients and us to develop the affect tolerance and the capacity to be with and understand others- critical element for successful intimate relationships.  You'll learn the three core elements of mindfulness practice, and how to use them to enhance romantic, parent-child, and other intimate interactions.

This workshop provides an overview of the inter-relationshiops between boredom, psychopathology and addictive behavior.  Methodsj and strategiesj for the assessment, monitoring and screeningj of state and trait boredom as makers for relapse are described and explained.

This workshop will focus on the phenomena of and interrelationships between transference, counter-transference, and empowerment, as well as their relation to evocative knowledge in therapeutic relationships.

This presentation reviews the growing base of support using mindfulness and acceptance methods in clinical practice.  Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) is described as an example of these methods.

Chronic pain is a syndrome including a complicated web of emotions and physical symptoms.  The most common way to treat pain is to use opioid medications which actually complicate the course of chronic pain.  for some, addiction makes matters worse.  This session will review the interaction of pain, suffering and addiciton as they interface in our clients with suggestions for intervention and treatment.

How to create more powerful therapeutic relationships usince Acceptance & Commitment Therapy.  Specific methods are described.

the video application of an ACT model is shown.  The relevance of an ACT conception of the therpeutic relationship is shown in the moment to moment interactions.

In this workshop we will look at some of the common difficulties people have with Step One, Two, and Three and how Buddhist practices and teachings can bring a different perspective to our understanding.  The workshopj will include mindfulness meditation, lecture, discussion, and interactive exercise.

This presentation will be an overview of the major issues in treating pain and monitoring for addiction.  A clinical perspective of the risks and benefits of opioid use, ranging from concerns about dependence, addiction, and tolerance in managing patients with pain will also be addressed.

This skills training experience is designed to give the clinician the science that creates a bridge into the nonlinear realm of healing and how this science can contribute to the "art" of clinical treatment.

From a spiritual perspective, the ego is the source of all human suffering and misery.  LIfetimes become a movement toward surrendering the ego and allowed the SELF (soul) to shine through.  This training will allow participants a glimpse at the unconscious programs of the ego and will describe ways to reduce personal suffering.

In this workshop, Jane will focus on unwitting reenactments of childhood trauma in couples relationships as well as helpful tools in the treatment of couples living with neurological ghosts from the past.

Is addiction a "disease" or a "choice"?  This lecture outlines the arguments for and against the conceptualization of addiction as a disease.  The most recent neurophysiologic research about addiction is presented, including five theories currently in use to explain addiction.

According to the most recent version of the DSM-IV-TR, there are three patterns of behavior that indicate ADHD.  This workshop helps to explain the neuroscience of the various types of the ADHD/ADD disorders and the medications and other treatment modalities used to manage it.

 This workshop will highlight the body of knowledge of psychotropic medication including the latest anti-depressants, anti-psychotics, anti-anxiety, mood stabilizers, psycho-stimulants, and herbal psychotropic used to treat the addicted patient that suffers from depression.  A recent review of the latest in the neurobiology of anxiety, dependence, depression and pain management issues will also be included.

After exploring the dynamics of resistance, participants will leave this session with evidence-based and practical strategies for working with resistant clients.

While substance abuse, trauma and mental health are often treated as separate issues, both researchers and clinicians often find these problems intertwined in complex ways in women’s lives and require an integrated response. Strategies to use with women and girls in a variety of settings will be addressed to include sense of self, relationships, sexuality and spirituality; all within a trauma-informed environment.