Understanding and Treating Stepfamilies: A Subsystem–Based Approach

A Live, Interactive Webconference
Wednesday, June 5, 2024, via Zoom Interactive Webconference
8:25am-12:35pm

This workshop will present a practical approach for understanding and treating stepfamilies. Both living in and working with step-families can be complicated and challenging at times. Stepfamily Therapy (Sft), an evidence-based model, was co-developed by Dr. Browning. It is an approach that has been outlined in his co-authored book from APA Books. This workshop will highlight common mistakes of family therapists who work with stepfamilies and present ways for helping professionals to avoid them.

As a result of participating in this training, attendees will be able to:

Recognize the unique needs of stepfamilies;
Observe demonstrations of treatment with stepfamilies;
Recognize family therapy techniques not suited for stepfamilies;
Practice specific techniques that work with stepfamilies;

Agenda

8:25am-10:30 am: Objectives 1 & 2
10:30am-10:40am: Break
10:40am-12:35pm: Objective 3 & 4

This is an intermediate level course. The target audience is behavioral health professionals working within an Ecosystemic Family Therapy Model. This is a live synchronous distance learning activity conducted in real time, allowing for simultaneous participation of participants and instructors from different locations.

About The Trainer
Scott W. Browning, Ph.D. is a professor emeritus in the Department of Professional Psychology at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia. He is a noted authority on psychological treatment with stepfamilies. As a scholar, teacher and clinician, Scott has explored the intricacies of treating stepfamilies, and has provided advanced training in the treatment of stepfamilies to clinicians and graduate students both nationally and abroad.

Frequently Asked Questions
Visit our FBMHS Policies & FAQs on Live, Interactive Webconferences for additional information regarding CFBT live interactive workshops, accommodations for disabilities, reporting problems with the training, instructions for registering for a training, etc.

Suicide Assessment and Treatment through an Interpersonal Lens

A Live, Interactive Webconference
Wednesday, March 6th, 2024, via Zoom Interactive Webconference
8:25am-12:35pm

This presentation is designed to support clinicians in assessing and treating suicidality, utilizing the framework of Joiner’s Interpersonal Theory of Suicide. Participants will be introduced to the core components of the model, which together influence an individual’s risk of dying by suicide. The research suggests that when clinicians feel more confident in their assessment abilities, they are more likely to engage in effective suicide risk assessments and treatment. Throughout the presentation, participants will have the opportunity to work in small groups to explore personal beliefs about suicide, practice strengths-based suicide assessment, and develop comprehensive safety plans.

As a result of participating in this training, attendees will be able to:

Summarize the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide
Demonstrate strengths-based suicide assessment techniques.
Create a comprehensive safety plan.

Agenda

8:25am-10:30 am: Objectives 1 & 2
10:30am-10:40am: Break
10:40am-12:35pm: Objective 3 & Wrap-up

Shifting Troubled Attachment Patterns in Family Treatment

A Live, Interactive Webconference
Thursday, January 25, 2024, Venango County Human Services via Live Interactive Zoom
8:25am-12:35pm

Families treated in community based programs are often marked by fragile, insecure attachment, particularly in the parent-child relationship. Fragile, insecure, or “troubled” attachments are often at the core of negative interactional patterns, and dramatic symptomatology. To effectively help these families, it is important for therapists to be grounded in an understanding of applied attachment theory, and to be able to listen to families with an “attachment ear.” This workshop provides a brief overview of attachment theory and how it informs family assessment and treatment.

Major focus is given to how therapists can use attachment theory to improve their skills in relational reframing which is considered essential to improving family functioning. Emphasis will be given to pacing and using the language of attachment to shift caregivers from a behavioral view of their children to a relational one. This language taps into yearnings for a sense of felt safety, a sense of being seen and known (attunement), the experience of felt comfort (soothing), and a sense of being valued (expressed delight). Concepts and intervention strategies are demonstrated through videotaped case examples.

Objectives

As a result of attending this training, participants will be able to:

Describe the nature and functions of attachment.
Recognize the attachment subtext in family interactions.
Describe how the language of attachment can be used to cultivate a relational treatment frame.
Describe how to use enactments to strengthen the parent child relationship.

Agenda
8:25am-10:30am: Objectives 1-2
10:40am-12:35pm: Objectives 3-4

Facilitating Enactments

A Live, Interactive Webconference
Friday December 15, 2023, via Zoom Interactive Webconference
San Deigo Youth Services
12:30pm-3:30pm

Enactment, an experiential method grounded in systems theory that brings interactional problems into the session for direct observation and change, is a component of all current evidence-based child and adolescent focused family therapies. Enactment is the cornerstone of ESFT, where it is used to disrupt and shift negative interactional patterns to more functional ones. This workshop introduces the method, describes what it is, and explains how and why it works.

As a result of participating in this training, attendees will be able to:

Describe what enactments are and how they work.
Identify when to use enactments in treatment.
Explain the five stages of an enactment.

Agenda

12:30pm-2:00pm: Focus on Objectives 1-2
2:00pm-2:10pm: Break
2:10pm-3:30pm: Objective 3

This is an introductory level course. The target audience is behavioral health professionals working within an Ecosystemic Family Therapy Model. This is a live synchronous distance learning activity conducted in real time, allowing for simultaneous participation of participants and instructors from different locations.

Engaging Caregivers in Family Treatment

A Live, Interactive Webconference
Friday December 1, 2023, via Zoom Interactive Webconference
San Deigo Youth Services
12:30pm-3:30pm

In this three-hour training, attendees will build on the information learned in the Introduction to ESFT workshop, focusing on Engaging Caregivers in Family Treatment.

As a result of participating in this training, attendees will be able to:

Describe the tasks and goals of the first stage of ESFT treatment, creating the therapeutic system.
Identify the most common reasons caregivers are reluctant to participate and fully engage in family treatment
Apply a Stages of Change and a Motivational Interviewing approach to engaging caregivers more fully in family treatment

Agenda

12:30pm-2:00pm: Focus on Objectives 1-2
2:00pm-2:10pm: Break
2:10pm-3:30pm: Objective 3