All Site Supervisor Forums 2025-2026

Each of these two 4.0-hour forums create an opportunity for all the supervisors currently in training at the Center for Family Based Training to 1) share current collective challenges they are facing as supervisors in FBMHS and 2) discuss creative strategies for addressing these challenges. It is also an opportunity for the training center to introduce updates to forms, certification procedures, or additions to the curriculum. Dr. Jones, the founder and director of CFBT facilitates the forums and is joined by other teaching faculty. One of the goals of the forums is to ensure everyone (supervisors and faculty) share a common understanding of the current context in which supervisors operate and deliver services. The forums are held at the beginning of the training year (September) and at the end (May).

This is a live synchronous distance learning activity conducted in real time, allowing for simultaneous participation of participants and instructors from different locations.

The supervision forums count toward required annual supervision training hours in Family Based Mental Health Services. However, CE credit is not available.

Objectives:

As a result of participating in the forums, supervisors will:

Recognize common challenges in delivering FBMHS and supervising therapists
Identify strategies for effectively supporting therapists in training-related tasks
Learn about and provide input into changes in training center forms, procedures, and curriculum.

Forum 1: September 19, 2025
8:30am to 12:30pm
Location: All FBMHS Training Sites via Live Interactive Zoom

Forum 2: May 15, 2026
8:30am to 12:30pm
Location: All FBMHS Training Sites via Live Interactive Zoom

This is an intermediate level forum. The target audience is behavioral health supervisors 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.

Shifting Troubled Attachment Patterns 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, October 27, 2023, All Training Groups via Live Interactive Zoom
8:25am-1:05pm

Families treated in intensive, in-home family-based-services are 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 listen to families interacting with an “attachment ear.” This workshop provides a brief overview of attachment theory and how it informs assessment and treatment in ESFT.

Three common insecure attachment patterns are described and how they show up in enmeshed and disengaged families. Major focus is given to how therapists can use attachment theory to improve their skills in relational reframing, a key component of ESFT, 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.

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.

De-escalation & Management of Workplace Conflict

A Live, Interactive Webconference
Wednesday, September 20th, 2023, via Zoom Interactive Webconference
8:25am-12:35pm

A multitude of unique stressors contribute to the high prevalence of burnout in the field of mental health. Interpersonal conflict is one of the most common contributing factors to burnout, but seldom receives attention in burnout prevention initiatives and training. Unaddressed, workplace conflict and burnout can contribute to a multitude of problems related to performance, service delivery, quality of care, workplace culture, and turnover.

In this four hour training, clinicians will learn about the most common types of workplace conflict and the factors that contribute to them. Participants will learn about different communication and conflict styles, including counterproductive behaviors and defense mechanisms that can escalate workplace conflicts. Information will also be presented about specific conflict resolution, de-escalation, and mediation skills employees and managers can use to address conflict more effectively in the workplace.

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

Identify one or more common causes of workplace conflict
Identify and explain the 5 different conflict-management styles
Identify three or more potential consequences of workplace conflict
Describe the steps involved in effective workplace conflict resolution

Agenda

8:30am-8:45am: Introductions & overview of agenda & course format
8:45-10:30 am: Overview of the research on workplace conflict, types, and effects/consequences
10:30 – 10:45 : Break
10:45-12:00 pm: Effective conflict management & resolution skills for the workplace
12:20-12:30pm: 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 Trainers

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.

Maximilian Shafir is a licensed clinical social worker with over a decade of clinical experience working in mental health. He provides individual and family therapy to people struggling with issues like anxiety, PTSD, mood disorders, and co-occurring IDD. Max is also a board approved clinical supervisor for provisionally licensed social workers, and regularly provides mentorship and training to new clinicians. In the past, he has helped to develop and manage a variety of community-based mental health programs aimed at supporting at-risk youth, families, and individuals within North Carolina. Max is also the co-owner of Therapeutics Inc and Therapy Cred, where he provides consultation and training to agencies, universities, and other institutions involved in the provision of mental health services in NC. He is the Executive Chair of the NC Legislative Breakfast on Mental Health and sits on a number of other boards including the Juvenile Crime Prevention Committee.

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.

Using Videotape Supervision in the Clinical Supervision of ESFT

Friday, June 9, 2023, North Carolina Training Groups via Live Interactive Zoom Webconference
1:00pm-4:00pm

This training explains the reasons clinical supervision is more effective when based on actual observation of treatment, such as reviewing videotapes of therapists’ sessions. Strategies are provided for motivating therapists to take the risk of showing their clinical work, highlighting the importance of being collaborative and strengths based. Supervisors are encouraged to be facilitative, and to use reflective questions, a method that helps supervisees develop their critical thinking skills.

Objectives:

As a result of participating in the forums, supervisors will:

Identify the types of reflective questions that best facilitate therapists skills in attuning to key interactional patterns
Identify strategies for motivating therapists to videotape and show their work in supervision.
Describe the importance of maintaining a collaborative, strength-based stance with supervisees when viewing their videotapes.

This is an intermediate level course. The target audience is behavioral health supervisors 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.

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

Skills for Working with Clients Who Have Intellectual Disabilities

A Live, Interactive Webconference
Wednesday, June 7, 2023, via Zoom Interactive Webconference
8:25am-12:35pm

Working with clients who have intellectual disabilities (IDD) can complicate treatment in several ways, requiring clinicians to develop different skills, approaches, and resources. This training provides an overview of the more common types of childhood IDD and the wrap-around supports, resources, and skills needed to coordinate care and foster the development of life skills. This training will provide tips on how to adapt ESFT and other forms of individual and family therapy to meet the needs of clients and families with IDD. Videos and case examples are used to demonstrate ideas and principles. Also, information is provided about how to find and access IDD resources.

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

Explain the common features, symptoms, and behaviors seen in youth with conditions impacting intellectual functioning.
Identify methods, such as FBAs, for assessing needs by examining levels of functioning and impairment.
Describe applications of family therapy, like ESFT, to meet the needs of clients with IDD and their families.
Identify resources or services available for children and families with diagnosed IDD.

Agenda

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

About the Trainers

Maximilian Shafir is a licensed clinical social worker with over ten years of experience in the field of mental health and intellectual disabilities. In addition to his clinical practice, Mr. Shafir serves in a variety of roles. He is a board-approved clinical supervisor for newly licensed social workers, has managed an intensive, in-home program, and provides clinical training. Mr. Shafir specializes in family therapy, trauma-informed treatment, and wrap-around care for at-risk youth, families, and those with co-occurring MH/IDD needs. He is the executive chair of the annual Legislative Breakfast on Mental Health and serves on the board of the NC Juvenile Crime Prevention Council, as well the oversight committee for the NASW’s continuing education program. He is the co-owner of Therapeutic Inc, Plan-it Therapy, and Therapy Cred.

Larry Wright Jr, LCSW, has ten years’ experience working in a variety of community-based settings treating neurotypical and neurodivergent children, adolescents, and adults. He currently serves as an Outpatient Therapist and Community Trainer with Horizon Integrated Wellness Group in North Carolina. His clinical work is trauma-informed and strength-based. Mr. Wright has experience and training with a variety of therapeutic approaches, including Expressive/Play Therapy, DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy), and Motivational Interviewing.