How Independent Prescribers Can Ensure Troubled Children Get the Right Treatment

CE Hours: 6.5
Instructor: C. Wayne Jones, PhD

Wednesday, October 17th, 2018, 8:30am-4:00pm, Tara-A Country Inn, Clark, PA

Despite the well-meaning efforts of helping professionals, there are too many children with severe emotional and behavioral problems who do not improve in the treatments they are prescribed.  In fact, some seem to get worse the longer they have been in treatment.  This is because there is too much focus on general services and not enough on specific treatment tailored to a specific child in a specific social context.  To make the latter happen, the root psychological and contextual causes of challenging behavior need to be fully understood.

With a few small changes in the way the role is conceptualized, Independent Prescribers have the capacity to make a real difference in children’s lives. This workshop offers one way to re-conceptualize the role and unlock this potential. One key is to ensure that the evaluation process leads to a clear data-based clinical conceptualization that considers root causes of problems.  

8:30 AM- 12:00 PM
The morning portion of the workshop is open to Independent Prescribers and their staff. Through case studies, reviews of videotaped sessions, and interactive discussions, the morning workshop highlights principles and practices for creating developmentally informed, contextual case conceptualizations that can be better linked to more focused treatment.

1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
The afternoon portion of the workshop is designed to be a collaborative, small work-group format where the ideas from the morning are discussed with respect to how they could be translated into practice.  Strategies for maximizing current assessment procedures and report writing are discussed. Current barriers are discussed, along with potential solutions.

Objectives
By attending this training, participants will be able to:

  1. Identify what children with Severe Emotional Disturbance (SED) have in common
  2. Describe common myths about the causes of challenging behavior in children with SED
  3. Define the elements of an effective developmental, contextually-informed case conceptualization
  4. Re-vision the role of the Independent Prescriber
  5. Identify small changes in assessment procedures that could yield more clinically useful information
  6. Identify how reports can be used to focus treatment.    

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