Courses & Workshops

CEU credits: Six hours of NASW accreditation
Location: JBFCS, 120 West 57 Street between 6th and 7th Avenues
Fee: $110 per workshop, $85 for students and retirees; lunch included
Discount: 10% for three or more people from same agency/institution
Registration deadline: One week prior to workshop

Individual Treatment of Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective Disorders and Bipolar Disorders
October 18, 2007, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm

Of special interest to:
Clinicians working with seriously mentally ill clients in agency or private practice.

Participants will learn:
• Techniques for engagement; and dealing with difficult symptomology, including hallucinations, delusions, pressured speech, withdrawal and other negative symptoms will be covered
• Special issues of transference and countertransference can arise with these clients, and these will be discussed

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Blossoming into a More Effective Supervisor: Developing a "Professional Package"
October 25, 2007, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm

Of special interest to:
New supervisors (or those about to be) and more experienced supervisors who want to refine their practice. It is designed to reach participants at a variety of levels.

Participants will learn:
• The role of a supervisor and various definitions of supervision
• The dynamics of power in the supervisory relationship, both up and down the organizational ladder, to deliver the most effective supervision and the highest quality client service
• Strategies to get the most from your own supervision and better "manage upward" in an agency
• "Games" people play in supervision
• Various strategies for constructive and productive problem-solving.
• How to build a "professional package" as a supervisor

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Self-Abusive Behavior: Understanding Self-Abusive Behavior In Terms of Traumatic Re-enactment
November 1, 2007, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm

Of special interest to:
Social workers, creative arts therapists, milieu counselors.

Participants will learn:
•How to better understand how self-abusive behavior serves as a maladaptive coping skill
•To better understand their own counter transference and how it impacts on treatment
•How to identify symptoms and clients who are at risk

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Organizational "Politics": Developing a Professional Package to Navigate them Successfully
November 29, 2007, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm

Of special interest to:
Anyone interested in learning constructive ways to navigate organizational politics.

• A better understanding of how "politics" in an organization impacts organizational cultures and how it impacts their own practice and professional growth
• A number of strategies to constructively and effectively better negotiate organizational politics

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Helping Groups and Systems Cope After a Crisis
December 6, 2007, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm

Of special interest to:
Mental health professionals with advanced clinical skills.

Participants will learn:
• How to work with crises at your work site, in your community and at other sites
• Develop flexibility in responding and intervening
• Strategies to get the most from your own supervision and better "manage upward" in an agency.
• Learn valuable skills of containment
• Psychological preparedness for tragic and catastrophic events

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Race, Culture and Other Aspects of Social Identity: Implications for Mental Health Practitioners in Relation to Self, Clients and Other Workers
December 21, 2007, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm

Of special interest to:
Social Workers, Psychologists, Psychiatrists, Counselors and Mental Health Nurses.

Participants will learn:
• The impact of systemic racism and its intersection with other forms of oppression on ourselves and our work with clients and staff
• Participants will explore their own social identities, especially race, culture and class, and the intersection with gender, sexual orientation, age and religion
• The meaning and context of those identities and the impact on work with clients

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Hard to Reach, Hard to Treat: Engaging Adolescents in Treatment
January 17, 2008, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm

Of special interest to:
Mental Health clinicians working with adolescents and their families

Participants will learn:
• Engagement of adolescents assessment and treatment, and management of substance abuse

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Psychological First Aid
January 24, 2008, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm

Of special interest to:
Social workers, psychologists, guidance counselors or other human service professionals.

Participants will learn:
• How Psychological First Aid can be an effective first response following a crisis or disaster
• Underlying concepts and core actions
• Under what conditions it should be used and by whom
• About self-care and the prevention of secondary traumatization

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Childhood Traumatic Loss, Ambiguous Loss, and their Effects on Professionals
February 5, 2008, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm

Children may be subject to numerous types of traumatic, ambiguous and stigmatized losses as they go through life. These losses can cause immediate disruptions in the child’s development and put them at risk for behavioral, academic and emotional problems.

Of special interest to:
Social workers, psychologists, guidance counselors or other human service professionals.

Participants will learn:
• How Psychological First Aid can be an effective first response following a crisis or disaster
• Underlying concepts and core actions
• Under what conditions it should be used and by whom
• About self-care and the prevention of secondary traumatization .

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Psychodynamic Notes on Immigration
February 8, 2007; 9:30am - 4:30pm

People leave their homeland for various, often political and economical reasons. However, immigration is frequently motivated by the variably conscious need to escape a poisonous family constellation, which tends to rigidify in an interpersonal impasse. Immigration then allows the subject to create for himself an environment that reflects more closely his childhood intrapsychic experience than the pre-immigration adult or adolescent experience appeared to be. Once manifest, these early interpersonal and intrapsychic experiences are more likely to be recognized and dealt with both in and out of treatment.

Of special interest to:
To social workers, psychologists and counselors working with immigrants in a clinical setting.

Participants will learn:
•About the psychodynamic motivation of immigration, the role unresolved separation issues and traumatization play in the choice to leave one’s homeland behind.
•They will also learn about the impact of immigration on the solidification and alteration of one’s personality.
•Attention will be focused on how to recognize the recreation of the pre-immigration intrapsychic and interpersonal constellation in the host country and in the transference.
•Participants will be expected to present their own case material for further discussion.

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Transference and Countertransference: Clinical Applications
March 13, 2008, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm

Of special interest to:
Social workers, psychologists and other clinicians.

Participants will learn:
• How to recognize, understand and respond to transferential and countertransferential motives in a variety of clinical situations
• Attention will be focused on clinical impasses. Clinicians will be offered guidance regarding the management of therapeutic challenges
• Participants will be expected to present their own case material

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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Adults with Dysfunctional Anxiety, Anger or Depression: An Effective Approach for Reducing Symptoms, Improving Behavior and Changing Core Irrational Beliefs
March 20, 2008, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm

Of special interest to:
Clinicians interested in evidence-based practice and those wanting to learn effective strategies for working with clients.

Participants will learn:
•Basic theory of CBT — how a person's cognitions shapes their affect and behaviors
• Therapeutic collaboration in CBT including how to use the Socratic questioning method
• Cognitive strategies for reducing symptoms and changing core beliefs including helping clients identify patterns of thinking that contribute to anxiety, anger and depression and tools to help them change those patterns
• Behavioral skills to improve functioning including how to motivate clients and when to use behavioral strategies and when to use cognitive strategies

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Safety in the Agency and When Visiting the Community
March 28, 2008, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm

Of special interest to:
All interested in learning techniques and attitudes to increase their safety in the agency and when visiting in the community.

Participants will learn:
Strategies with affective and predatory aggression
• Precipitators to violence
• Tips to avoid becoming a target or precipitator yourself
• Preparing for the visit
• Staying safe while traveling to a visit, driving and public transportation • Making connections in the neighborhood
• Safety entering and being in the building
• Safety in the house or apartment, respecting a client's space and culture
• Face to face de-escalation techniques

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Transforming Mainstream Residential Treatment Programs into Safe Environments for LGBT Youths
April 3, 2008, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm

Of special interest to:
Administrators, residential, social service and education providers are encouraged to attend.

Participants will learn:
• Concrete steps that residential programs can take to create a LGBTQ friendly culture
• The process of transforming organizational culture

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Understanding Whiteness: Applications of White Racial Identity Theory in Clinical Social Work
April 17, 2008, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm

Of special interest to:
People of all races and cultures who are interested in the racial identity development of white people as it pertains to clinical social work, social workers and other helping professionals, supervisors and field instructors.

Participants will learn:
Appreciate the meaning and importance of the socially constructed idea of race for people who are seen as white
• Learn to identify phases of racial identity development for whites and people of color
• Explore how people in different phases of racial identity development relate to one another in discussions about race
• Understand the roles of history, ethnicity, and culture on white racial identity
• Apply racial identity development theories to social work practice
• Enhance their ability to identify and respond to enactments of white privilege
• Increase their skills in effectively addressing dynamics of difference

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Divorce: A Psychological and Social Crisis, Clinical Considerations and their Implications for Treatment
April 25, 2008; 9:30am - 4:30pm

Of special interest to:
Mental health professionals working with individuals and families impacted by divorce.

Participants will learn:
•Characteristic Psychological Reactions
•Effective Treatment Interventions, Impact on Children and other Family Members
•Legal and financial challenges and options

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Introduction to Mediation: Conflict Resolution Skills in the Therapeutic Milieu
May 22, 2008, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm

Of special interest to:
Mental health professionals, teachers, guidance counselors, and other professionals working with children and families.

Participants will learn:
• How to manage disputes when working with couples and families
• How to apply mediation skills in various settings
• To identify and model effective negotiation skills

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Race, Culture and Other Aspects of Social Identity: Implications for Mental Health Practitioners in Relation to Self, Clients and Other Workers
May 23, 2008, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm

Of special interest to:
Social Workers, Psychologists, Psychiatrists, Counselors and Mental Health Nurses.

Participants will learn:
• The impact of systemic racism and its intersection with other forms of oppression on ourselves and our work with clients and staff
• Participants will explore their own social identities, especially race, culture and class, and the intersection with gender, sexual orientation, age and religion
• The meaning and context of those identities and the impact on work with clients

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Working with Multi-Problem Families: A Parenting Skills Program
May 30, 2008, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm

Of special interest to:
Clinicians working individually or with groups of parents coping with multiple stressors, difficulty managing their emotions, or children with learning or emotional disabilities.

Participants will learn:
•To teach basic parenting skills
• To help parents regulate affect while parenting
• To help parents establish a safe and consistent home environment
• To help parents understand how their child’s learning or emotional disabilities impact parenting
• To teach parents to attend to and reinforce appropriate behavior

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Treating Traumatized Children and Adolescents: Evidence-based Treatment Approaches
June 13, 2008, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm

Of special interest to:
Therapists and supervisors who treat children who have been exposed to interpersonal violence (domestic violence, physical abuse, sexual abuse, community violence).

Participants will learn:
• The impact of trauma on children and adolescents
• Importance of and practice the use of structured assessment to identify trauma exposure and impact
• Phased models of treatment for children and adolescents exposed to trauma
• How to help parents assist their children in recovering from exposure to trauma
• Understand how working with traumatized clients can impact them and learn strategies for mitigating that impact

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Psychotherapy with Gay and Lesbian Clients
June 19, 2008, 9:30 am to 4:30 pm

Of special interest to:
Mental health professionals who are interested in increasing their clinical and theoretical knowledge of gay and lesbian issues.

Participants will learn:
• About a developmental model that will identify the normative tasks of gay men and lesbians including the establishment of a gay identity and the coming-out process
• Interventive skills essential to working with this population
• About gay and lesbian family and couples issues, internal and external homophobia, the impact of HIV/AIDS on gay male development and the impact of the therapist’s values, biases and countertransference on treatment
• To apply case material to the new concepts discussed
• Case material from both the facilitator and participants will be included.

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