Must I Un-Friend Facebook?
September 20, 2019, 9:30am-12:30pm
Lisa Kays, LICSW
Note: This seminar counts toward the CE Licensure requirements for Ethics.
This workshop looks at the intersection of social media, the online world, technology and our ethical practice as social workers and psychologists. Participants will discuss specific cases and questions and explore their own feelings, reactions, attitudes and beliefs.
Reflecting on how social media can and does impact our practice allows us to develop our values and identity in relation to that aspect of our lives and work. Our professional code of ethics and the experience of other clinicians will help us decide how to interact with social media and whether or not to integrate it into our work. We will share strategies for managing clinical scenarios related to social media and have the opportunity to reflect and review our past practices and their appropriateness in light of our ethical codes.
Objectives:
At the conclusion of this workshop participants will be able to:
- Identify three principles within the NASW or APA Code of Ethics relevant to the use of social media in social work practice.
- Identify three personal or cultural assumptions, feelings or beliefs guiding their attitudes and practices related to the online world, social media or the use of technology in practice.
- Apply principles within the NASW or APA Code of Ethics to clinical scenarios related to the online world, technology or social media.
- Identify three ways to protect the safety and confidentiality of clients in the digital world.
Presenter:
The workshop will be led by Lisa Kays, LICSW, LCSW-C. Lisa began writing and thinking about the ethics and influence of technology and social practice as an MSW student and has continued to teach, write, and learn about these issues throughout her career as a social worker since 2011. With an MA in international print journalism and a prior career in public relations and communications, Lisa has experience with and knowledge of the practical elements of technology and social media that she blends with her practice as a social worker and brings to these workshops.
The Internal Landscapes of Suicidal Clients and the Clinicians Who Treat Them
October 25, 2019, 11:30am-2:30pm
Michal Gorman, MA, LPC
Working with clients struggling with suicidal ideation is often the most difficult therapeutic challenge clinicians will encounter. Statistically, a majority of clinicians report that their primary fear in doing this work is that a client under their care will die, thus resulting in a limited, if not negative, response to the very clients needing the most expansive clinical response.
This interactive workshop will provide an understanding of the internal dynamics of both the client and the clinician, how they interact, and ways in which clinicians can expand their internal resources and their responses to clients struggling with suicide. Topics will include, among others, safety planning, assessment, contagion between individuals struggling with suicidality, and countertransference.
Objectives:
At the conclusion of this workshop participants will be able to:
- Utilize the concepts of countertransference, culture, intersectionality, context, and contagion in their work with clients struggling with suicidality.
- Apply the essential role of curiosity – about one’s self as well as about the clients – in doing this work.
- Develop an individualized safety plan based on each client’s internal and external dynamics and realities.
Presenter:
Michal Gorman, MA, LPC, is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Arizona, specializing in clinical supervision and consultation, and training of clinicians. Her Master’s is in Counseling Psychology from Prescott College in Prescott, Arizona.
A native of DC, Michal trained and worked with the Washington Community Therapy Guild from the mid 70’s to the early 80’s, and continued her private practice in DC until 1989, working with adults and adolescents. During this period, she began to study the phenomenon of suicide, and provided workshops and trained clinicians on this topic on a local and national level throughout the 80’s.
After moving to Tucson, AZ in 1990, she worked at Sierra Tucson, a facility licensed as a behavioral health and residential treatment center for addiction, behavioral health and mental health issues. As part of the administration, she worked as the Clinical Supervisor and the Clinical Director until she left in 2005. Since then, she has maintained a private practice in clinical consultation and training, and has continued her work on the topic of suicide, with presentations on a local and national level. Between 2009-2015, Michal co-owned and co-directed The Tucson Center for Counseling and Psychotherapy which provided therapy facilitated by Master Level clinicians being supervised for their independent licenses in Arizona.
DID: It’s Not What You Think!!
February 7, 2020, 11:30am-2:30pm
Bethany Brand, PhD
Most clinicians have little training in assessing and treating severe dissociative reactions. Patients with these severe clinical difficulties can make even senior clinicians feel de-skilled. Their self-destructive behaviors and frequent suicide attempts can strain clinicians’ tolerance and compassion. Dr. Brand will share her shift from doubting the validity of the diagnosis of dissociative identity disorder (DID), to acceptance and, gradually developing expertise in assessing, treating, and researching DID. She will present an overview of her international prospective Treatment of Patients with Dissociative Disorders (TOP DD) studies. Using patients’ journaling, artwork, and research surveys, Dr. Brand will share patients’ perspectives on surviving trauma by having developed disowned, unintegrated self-states. Dr. Brand will describe pragmatic techniques for managing DID patients’ reliance on dissociation so as to enable them to overcome their profound avoidance of emotion.
Objectives:
At the conclusion of this workshop participants will be able to:
- Identify 3 symptoms that can alert clinicians to the possibility that a client has a DD.
- Describe the three stages of treatment for DD clients.
- Describe and implement appropriate interventions for the stabilization stage of DD treatment.
- Discuss an awareness of the risk of vicarious traumatic and empathic countertransference when working with complex trauma clients.
- Articulate appropriate ways to monitor and address countertransference and vicarious traumatic reactions when working with individuals with complex trauma histories.
Presenter:
Bethany Brand, PhD specializes in the assessment and treatment of trauma related disorders including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and dissociative disorders. She has over 25 years of clinical experience, including training at Johns Hopkins Hospital, George Washington University Hospital, and at Sheppard Pratt Health System’s Trauma Disorders program. Currently she is a Professor of Psychology at Towson University and she maintains a private practice in Towson, Maryland. Dr. Brand has been awarded numerous research, clinical, writing, and teaching awards including Maryland Psychology Teacher of the Year, awarded by the Maryland Psychological Association. She is sought after for media interviews including by National Public Radio’s show, Science Friday. Dr. Brand has served on three national task forces that developed guidelines for the assessment and treatment of trauma-related disorders. Dr. Brand conducts research on the assessment and treatment of trauma related disorders, including the assessment of feigned dissociative disorders. Dr. Brand is the primary investigator on the largest longitudinal treatment outcome study to date of dissociative disorders (the TOP DD study) and she has delivered over 150 clinical and research presentations
50 Years After Stonewall: Exploring Modern Gay Male Identities and Sexualities
March 20, 2020, 11:30am-2:30pm
Michael A. Giordano, LICSW, AASECTC
PrEP. TasP. Top. Bottom. Truple. Bears. Same Gender Loving. Scruff. Grindr. Daddy. Boy. Queer.
Are you familiar with these terms? Don’t feel bad. Most therapists have experience working with gay men, but some find themselves wanting for a bit more information. This workshop will take a deeper dive into the identities formed around sexual orientation as well as how some gay men explore and experience their sexuality and relationships. We will discuss terminology and concepts, while also exploring some, perhaps, unconscious biases you may have as a therapist. Using a sexual health assessment tool, you will learn how to assess your biases and, perhaps, open up your therapeutic perspective.
This workshop is highly interactive, so come prepared to talk, ask questions, and discuss.
Objectives:
At the conclusion of this workshop participants will be able to:
- Articulate what PrEP & TasP are and the benefits of each.
- Describe how internal biases around gay/queer men’s sexual expression can be identified and challenged.
- Utilize the principles of sexual health to evaluate biases regarding gay men’s sexual expressions.
Presenter:
Based in Washington, DC, Michael Giordano is a Clinical Social Worker and AASECT certified sex therapist. While serving a wide range of clients and their concerns, his main interests are gender identity, trauma, and sex therapy. He is a member of several professional organizations, including the Greater Washington Society of Clinical Social Work and the Community-Academic Consortium for Research on Alternative Sexualities (CARAS). Mike particularly enjoys presenting to colleagues on ethics and bias-examination, as it appeals to the social justice aspect of his social work training. Mike is also an avid yogi, comic book geek, and harried dad. www.WhatIHearYouSaying.com Mike.Giordano.MSW@gmail.com
Redefining Medicine: Moving away from the Pill for every Ill, to Individualized Treatment
May 1, 2020, 9:30am-12:30pm
Anjali Dsouza, MD
How is it that we live in a modern society with incredible advances in medicine that occur daily, and yet are still dealing with staggering levels of chronic illness?
This workshop will explore how our medical model is quite remarkable for resolving acute illness but has failed at notably reversing any type of chronic illness. First, we will need to define the scope of the problem, and then explore an alternative way to identify, conceptualize, and support healing as opposed to what we have attempted to do which is to “manage” disease. As such, we will explore the differences between conventional and integrative/functional medicine and review cases that apply these differences. If we are equipped with this knowledge—we can heal ourselves, our patients, and slowly, the world.
Objectives:
At the conclusion of this workshop participants will be able to:
- Define Integrative and Functional Medicine.
- Recognize the difference in methodology between Conventional and Integrative Medicine.
- Identify when and how an Integrative Medicine referral could be helpful to their patients.
Presenter:
Dr. Dsouza is the founder and director of District Center for Integrative Medicine (DCIM) where she has dedicated herself to providing Integrative and Functional medicine care for a wide variety of clinical issues. DCIM focuses on improving and reversing chronic illness and does so primarily through the use of lifestyle, nutrition, evidence based natural interventions, and conventional pharmaceuticals, when indicated.
Dr Dsouza’s interest in Integrative Medicine started during her undergraduate work. She received a BS in Nutrition, with high honors, and then completed her Doctorate of Medicine from Baylor College of Medicine. While enrolled in medical school, she concurrently studied naturopathic practices and additionally became certified as a mindfulness and meditation instructor. She completed a residency at the George Washington University Hospital and was the Chief Resident in 2008. In 2013 she completed a fellowship in Palliative Medicine. She is board certified in Integrative Medicine by the American Board of Physician Specialties, as well as the American Board of Integrative and Holistic Medicine, and The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.