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June 2025: Engaging Caregivers in Family Treatment

A Live, Interactive Webconference

Cost: This training is free but open only to supervisors and behavioral health professionals working in agencies contracted with CFBT

Friday, June 5, 2025, North Carolina IIH Training Groups via Live Interactive Zoom
8:25am-12:35pm

In ESFT, efforts to help children with serious emotional problems mostly flow through the caregivers. Therefore, a critical task in the first stage of treatment is engaging caregivers and building a strong therapeutic alliance. Even in the best of times, this can be challenging for therapists working with disadvantaged, multi-stressed families, where caregivers often have a history of traumatic stress. Many caregivers of the children treated in intensive in-home services are distrusting of mental health professionals and are reluctant to participate or engage in family sessions. They tend to see problems and solutions behaviorally, existing separately from themselves and family relationships. Common barriers to caregiver participation and engagement are identified and explored within the social context of the family, community, and referring agencies. The Stages of Change model is introduced to guide therapists’ conceptualization and approach to addressing caregiver treatment-hesitancy. Videos are utilized to demonstrates how to apply Motivational Interviewing strategies and emotional support to strengthening trust and move caregivers toward greater engagement in family treatment and a relational focus.

Objectives 

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

  1. Explain the rationale for family therapy and our focus on caregivers in ESFT.
  2. Recognize the difference between caregiver involvement and caregiver engagement.
  3. Identify the most common reasons caregivers are reluctant to participate and fully engage in family treatment
  4. Describe six strategies for engaging caregivers in treatment.

This is an intermediate level course. The target audience is behavioral health professionals working within North Carolina’s Intensive In-Home program. This is a live synchronous distance learning activity conducted in real time, allowing for simultaneous participation of participants and instructors from different locations.

Agenda

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

Frequently Asked Questions
Visit our 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.

April 2025: Engaging Caregivers in Family Treatment

A Live, Interactive Webconference

Cost: This training is free but open only to supervisors and behavioral health professionals working in agencies contracted with CFBT

Friday, April 25, 2025, FBMHS Training Groups via Live Interactive Zoom
8:25am-1:10pm

In ESFT, efforts to help children with serious emotional problems mostly flow through the caregivers. Therefore, a critical task in the first stage of treatment is engaging caregivers and building a strong therapeutic alliance. Even in the best of times, this can be challenging for therapists working with disadvantaged, multi-stressed families, where caregivers often have a history of traumatic stress. Many caregivers of the children treated in intensive in-home services are distrusting of mental health professionals and are reluctant to participate or engage in family sessions. They tend to see problems and solutions behaviorally, existing separately from themselves and family relationships. Common barriers to caregiver participation and engagement are identified and explored within the social context of the family, community, and referring agencies. The Stages of Change model is introduced to guide therapists’ conceptualization and approach to addressing caregiver treatment-hesitancy. Videos are utilized to demonstrates how to apply Motivational Interviewing strategies and emotional support to strengthening trust and move caregivers toward greater engagement in family treatment and a relational focus.

Objectives 

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

  1. Explain the rationale for family therapy and our focus on caregivers in ESFT.
  2. Recognize the difference between caregiver involvement and caregiver engagement.
  3. Identify the most common reasons caregivers are reluctant to participate and fully engage in family treatment
  4. Describe six strategies for engaging caregivers in treatment.

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

Agenda

8:25am-10:30am: Focus on Objectives 1-2
10:30am-10:40am: Break
10:40am-1:05pm: Focus on Objectives 3-4

Frequently Asked Questions
Visit our 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.

Ethical Uses of Power in the Therapeutic Relationship

A Live, Interactive Webconference
Wednesday, September 24, 2025, via Zoom Interactive Webconference
8:25am-12:35pm

Power is a highly misunderstood and loaded word, but one highly relevant to the therapeutic relationship. A power differential is always present in the therapeutic relationship, and can be used effectively, ineffectively, or even abused. The ‘right’ use of power in the therapeutic relationship involves developing an awareness of the power differential, the implications for clients and families served, and a thoughtful application of our ethical codes.

This training will challenge clinicians to rethink the definition of power and dispel myths and biases around the word that can hinder the ethical, right use of power in therapy. Clinicians will learn about relevant research about power imbalances between counselors and clients and common misuses and abuses of power. Clinicians will be provided with interactive case studies, discussions, and breakout groups to further explore the ‘right’ uses of power in a variety of clinical situations.

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

  1. Participants will learn about common myths and biases about power that can undermine the effectiveness of individual and family therapy and develop a more adaptive definition of power
  2. Participants will learn about the research on power differentials in the therapeutic relationship and common ways counselors underuse, overuse, misuse and abuse power with clients and families
  3. Participants will learn about the link between the ‘right’ use of power in relation to strong rapport and therapeutic alliances, engagement in treatment, and positive outcomes in individual and family therapy
  4. Participants will apply the APA and ACA code of ethics to demonstrate the right uses of power in realistic case studies, ethical dilemmas, and clinical situations relevant to family and individual counseling

Agenda

  • 8:25am-8:45am: Introductions & overview of agenda & course format
  • 8:45-10:30am:
    – Clarifying what power is, dispelling common biases, myths and misconceptions about power that can undermine treatment, and reviewing research on effective and ineffective uses of power in the therapeutic process
    – A review of common myths and biases about power that can undermine outcomes in therapy with individuals and families
    – A working definition of power as the ability to influence and direct change and literature on the power differentials present in the therapeutic relationship
    – A self-assessment of power aimed at helping attendees identify the power they have in their personal and professional lives
    – A review of 9 different types of power and those most relevant and useful to the therapeutic process, with examples and emphasis of effective/ineffective uses of power
  • 10:30-10:40am: Break
  • 10:40-12:00pm:
    – Examining power differentials in therapy, common uses, misuses, and abuses of power in the therapeutic relationship, and effective uses of power that are guided by ethical codes and guidelines
    – A discussion about the actions and approaches of effective therapists including when, why and how they use their power according to research
    – A review of the impact of right uses of power on therapeutic rapport and alliance, engagement in treatment, and outcomes in individual and family therapy
    – A review of common misuses and abuses of power in the therapeutic relationship including ethical and boundary violations
    – An examination of key components of the APA and ACA code of ethics with interactive discussions on how these apply to the ‘right use of power’ in realistic case studies, ethical dilemmas, and clinical situations
  • 12:20-12:35pm: Wrap up, summary, and Q & A

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
Hailey Shafir is a licensed clinical mental health counselor, a licensed addiction specialist, and a board-approved clinical supervisor for newly licensed mental health and addiction counselors. She has more than a decade of experience providing counseling, developing programs for at-risk youth, people struggling with addictions, and providing training and supervision for clinicians. She is the owner of several businesses including Keep Counsel, Plan-it Therapy, IndyWind, and Therapy Cred. Hailey is also a content writer and medical peer reviewer for Addictions.com, the National Drug Helpline, Choosing Therapy, Rehab Adviser, Searchlight, Social Pro Now, and other sites, and has worked to develop online recovery apps and programs for people struggling with addictions and impulse control disorders.

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.

Deconstructing Addiction

March 5, 2025, Catholic Charities, Harrisburg via Zoom Webconference
8:25am-10:30am, 10:40am-12:35pm

This training is intended for clinicians providing services to people with mental health and substance use disorders. Participants will be introduced to the two prevailing theories of addiction, the supporting evidence for each, and will be introduced to a third perspective that is gaining recognition in the field of addition. This new perspective integrates aspects of both the choice and disease model and presents a more holistic, person-centered framework to understand addiction, helping them understand the root causes of addiction and common themes and patterns in addiction.

Through this new framework, participants will be challenged to view addictions in a more adaptive way, improving their ability to relate to, support, and help clients struggling with substance use disorders. Participants will also learn how to identify substance use disorders using the DSM-5 as well as being able to determine the severity, risk factors, and protective factors to make informed clinical recommendations for treatment.

Participants will also learn effective methods to build strong rapport and a workable therapeutic alliance with clients in recovery from SUD, including pitfalls to avoid and trade secrets that can keep clients active and engaged through early, middle, and late treatment. Participants will leave the training with a set of specific skills, strategies and interventions they can use to help clients trying to overcome addiction.

Objectives

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

  1. Explain the choice and disease model of addiction, the central tenets of each theory, and the deficiencies of each in providing an accurate and adaptive understanding of addiction.
  2. Develop a more holistic understanding of addiction, being able to explain root causes, common co-occurring disorders, and functional uses of drugs and alcohol
  3. Learn the 11 symptoms of substance use disorders, and will be able explain how to determine severity of the disorder
  4. List risk and protective factors for people with substance use disorders, and explain the effect these have on treatment
  5. Accurately identify the drugs with the highest risk for overdose and withdrawal symptoms
  6. Develop an “elevator speech” for early treatment which includes a.) accurate empathy, b.) an adaptive explanation of addiction, c.) an individualized treatment recommendation, and d.) a hopeful outlook for recovery

About The Trainer

Hailey Shafir is a licensed clinical mental health counselor, a licensed addiction specialist, and a board-approved clinical supervisor for newly licensed mental health and addiction counselors. She has more than a decade of experience providing counseling and has also helped to develop programs for at-risk youth, people struggling with addictions, and to train new clinicians. She is the owner of several businesses including Keep Counsel, Plan-it Therapy, and Selfhelpers, and is a content writer and medical peer reviewer for several national and international websites including Addictions.com, the National Drug Helpline, Choosing Therapy, Rehab Adviser, and Social Pro Now.

 

Frequently Asked Questions
Visit our FBMHS Policies & FAQs for additional information regarding the CFBT online learning center, accommodations for disabilities, reporting problems with the course, instructions for viewing webinars, etc.

February 2025: Using the Family Therapy Enactment Scales in Supervision

Thursday, February 27, 2025, Core C Group via Live Zoom Workshop
Friday, February 28, 2025, Core group A & B via Live Zoom Workshop
Training Hours: 4.0

The ability to use enactments effectively is a critical therapist skill in implementing ESFT with fidelity. This workshop describes and demonstrates a tool developed by the Consortium by the Advancement of ESFT (CAESFT) that supervisors can use with family therapy videotapes to increase therapists’ competency. Assessment enactment is an experiential method grounded in systems theory, that brings interactional problems into the session for direct observation and discussion. In ESFT, assessment enactments are critical for identifying the core negative interactional pattern (NIP) and shifting families from a behavioral view of problems to a relational one. In change enactments therapists create opportunities for families to shift their negative patterns to more functional ones. This workshop describes both the Assessment and the Change versions of the Family Therapy Enactment Scale (FTES-rev). Workshop participants are asked to bring video clips of their teams attempting either assessment or change enactments. The FTES-rev is used to review the enactments and create an opportunity for supervisors to practice using the scales.

Objectives:
As a result of attending this educational activity, participants will be able to:

  1. Describe the central role of enactments in ESFT family assessment
  2. Explain how to use the FTES-rev Assessment Enactment Scale to recognize the essential components of an effective assessment enactment and promote therapist skill development in using this method.
  3. Explain how to use the FTES-rev Assessment Enactment Scale to recognize the essential components of an effective assessment enactment and promote therapist skill development in using this method.
  4. Apply the FTES scales in rating enactments in videotaped family sessions.

This is an intermediate level course. The target audience is behavioral health supervisors working within Pennsylvania’s Family Based program. This is a live synchronous distance learning activity conducted in real time, allowing for simultaneous participation of participants and instructors from different locations.

Agenda

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

Frequently Asked Questions
Visit our 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.