Weekend A:

Thursday, June 13, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Friday, June 14, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Saturday, June 15, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Thursday, June 13, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

13-111a: Principles and Practices of Motivational Interviewing

Janet Levine, M.Ed., B.C.D., L.I.C.S.W

Motivational Interviewing, often called Motivational Enhancement Therapy, has proven useful in building motivation to change a variety of health related behaviors such as smoking cessation, problematic alcohol and drug use, and diabetic non-compliance, to name a few. This method offers an overview for understanding the challenge that change presents, and delivers some extremely useful strategies while avoiding therapeutic impasses between client and therapist.

Participants will be encouraged to bring case material to the class. The group will act as a consulting group to work with case material. Video-clips of Motivational Interviewing sessions will be presented.

Faculty: Janet Levine, M.Ed., B.C.D., L.I.C.S.W. Adjunct faculty, Smith College School for Social Work, has been teaching, training, and providing consultation to clinicians and schools on Substance Use Disorders for over two decades. Editorial Board member, Smith Studies in Social Work. Private practice, South Deerfield, MA.

13-112a: Using Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills to Increase Acceptance and Willingness to Change

Anna L. Remen, Ph.D.

The so-called “third wave” of cognitive-behavioral therapies are a group of relatively new treatments that are rapidly gaining attention from clinicians and researchers. Whereas traditional CBT relies primarily on change-based technologies, such as cognitive restructuring, these more recent, innovative approaches add a major emphasis on acceptance strategies, such as mindfulness, validation, and dialectics. One such therapy is Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), developed by Dr. Marsha Linehan. DBT is an evidence-based treatment that has been found to be effective in the treatment of borderline personality disorder (BPD) and related disorders.

In this workshop, we will explore the ways in which acceptance and change strategies are incorporated into the treatment philosophy, therapeutic style, and the DBT skills of Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Interpersonal Effectiveness, and Emotion Regulation. In addition to working with clients with BPD, applications to using the skills with Axis I disorders will be discussed. Teaching techniques include experiential exercises, case examples, group discussion, and didactics. The course is appropriate for all levels of clinicians who are interested in learning ways to incorporate empirically tested acceptance- and change-based interventions into their clinical work.

Faculty: Anna L. Remen, Ph.D. coordinates the Adult DBT Programs at the Servicenet outpatient clinics. She is intensively trained in DBT and has made it her specialty for over 10 years. She is an award-winning instructor who provides a warm and engaging learning atmosphere.

13-113a: The Troubled Triangle: The Developmental Neurobiology of Addiction, Attachment, and Trauma

Kurt White, M.S.W.

Addiction work is trauma work. Recent studies show that as much as 80% of co-occurring clients have histories of trauma (often multiple episodes of trauma). Rates of PTSD and other trauma-related disorders are endemic to addicted populations. Clinicians who see themselves as addiction specialists often feel uncomfortable with the trauma related presentations in substance use disorders; conversely, many skilled trauma therapists have had little training in addiction.

This seminar aims to help both groups build the gap in both knowledge and the skills for working with this complex population using new knowledge on the neurobiology of attachment. We will examine the disruptions to healthy attachment patterns and how this predisposes individuals to develop addiction in mid-late teen years. Early experiences alter gene expression and brain development: exposure to an environment of disrupted attachment, persistent fear, trauma-related experiences, and exposure to substances all have significant affects on the developing brain. This new science of attachment and neurobiology can be a guide to effective treatment interventions with addicted individuals. Both theory and implications for technique will be explored.

Faculty: Kurt White, M.S.W. is a clinical social worker and substance abuse counselor who works as the manager of the Birches and Starting Now Programs at the Brattleboro Retreat. He is an adjunct faculty member at Smith College School for Social Work and at Antioch University New England’s Dept. of Applied Psychology.

Friday, June 14, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

13-121a: Understanding ADHD/ADD and Executive Functioning in Children and Adolescents

Sharon Saline, Psy.D

Many clinicians today possess limited information and training in working with children and adolescents who have been diagnosed with ADHD/ADD. They often do not understand the complexity of biology, behaviors and family environments which exacerbate the symptoms and complicate treatment. Clinicians seem to struggle to create effective interventions to help these young people and their families manage life with ADHD/ADD.

This course will provide its participants with the tools to work with these clients more successfully. It will review the literature about ADHD/ADD and provide a historical context in which to consider this disorder. It will delineate the neurological factors that characterize ADHD/ADD, discuss the types of medication and the political and biological issues involved in using them as well as introduce and clarify the executive functions of the brain and how they are affected by this disorder. In addition, treatment implications and modalities for working with this population will be evaluated and taught. Participants will also learn about how to address the common comorbid conditions of anxiety, depression and learning disorders which further complicate treatment. Methods of teaching include didactic seminar, case examples, and small and large group discussions.

Faculty: Sharon Saline, Psy.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice in Northampton, MA. Dr. Saline has extensive experience consulting with the City of Northampton School District, the Montessori School of Northampton and the Williston-Northampton Middle School on mental health issues in the classroom as well as understanding psychological evaluations and improving teacher/parent communication. Her areas of expertise include diagnosis, treatment and intervention for children, adolescents and their families with ADHD/ADD, learning disabilities and various mental health issues. She has conducted numerous trainings around the Pioneer Valley for teachers, psychologists, adjustment counselors, ESP’s, parents and students on ADHD/ADD and Executive Functioning, Collaborative Problem Solving, Bullying Prevention, Promoting Success among Middle and High School Students, Effective Couples’ Therapy, Children’s Social Relationships and How Trauma Impacts Child Development.

13-122a: Embracing Vulnerability: Guidelines for a Contemplative Clinical Practice

Carolyn Jacobs, M.S.W., Ph.D.

Contemplative practices have been defined as inviting an openness that can move one from perceived and real vulnerabilities to acknowledging resilience, strength and opportunities for transformation. They have the potential to bring different aspects of oneself into focus, to lead one to resources for healing; to help develop compassion; and to awaken an awareness of the interconnectedness of all life. They may be rooted in western and eastern religious traditions or non religious traditions. From a study of spirituality and clinical practice, and the experiences of participants in a contemplative clinical practice post-master’s certificate program, guidelines will be suggested for enhancing one’s contemplative clinical practice.

This day will explore ways that contemplative practices may be engaged by the professional to transform one’s inner and outer responses in our professional relationships with clients. Issues of ethics and use of consultation will be examined. The day will include a contemplative experience in the Smith College Museum of Art and other experiences of contemplative practices.

Faculty: Carolyn Jacobs, M.S.W., Ph.D. is the dean and Elizabeth Marting Treuhaft Professor and the director of the Contemplative Clinical Practice Advanced Certificate Program at the Smith College School for Social Work. She has taught primarily within the research and practice sequences. Her areas of professional interest include religion and spirituality in social work clinical practice and organizational behavior. She has written and presented extensively on the topic of spirituality in social work. In 2001 she was elected to the National Academies of Practice as a distinguished social work practitioner. Jacobs received her B.A. from Sacramento State University, her M.S.W. from San Diego State University, her doctorate from the Heller School of Brandeis University, and her training as a spiritual director from the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation. She maintains a spiritual direction practice.

13-123a: Relentless Hope: The Refusal to Grieve

Martha Stark, M.D.

Dr. Martha Stark’s particular interest has long been in the patient’s “relentless pursuit of the (bad) object." The patient’s relentless hope (a masochistic defense) is the stance to which she desperately clings in order to avoid confronting-and grieving-certain intolerably painful realities about the love/hate object to which she is intensely attached; and her relentless outrage (a sadistic defense) is the stance to which she resorts in those moments of dawning recognition that the object might never be forthcoming after all. Finally, the patient’s relentless despair (a schizoid defense) is the stance to which she retreats when attachment itself has become intolerable. Martha will offer prototypical interventions designed to facilitate transformation of the patient’s need to possess and control the object (and, when thwarted, to retaliate by attempting to destroy it) into the mature capacity to relent, accept, grieve, forgive, internalize, separate, and move on.

Faculty: Martha Stark, M.D., is Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a Teaching/Supervising Analyst at the Massachusetts Institute for Psychoanalysis. In addition, she serves on the Faculty of the Continuing Education Program in the Department of Psychiatry at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Harvard Medical School), is Adjunct Faculty at the Center for Psychoanalytic Studies at the Massachusetts General Hospital (Harvard Medical School), and is Adjunct Faculty in the Continuing Education Program at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology. She is the author of three award-winning books on psychoanalytic theory and technique: Working with Resistance; A Primer on Working with Resistance; and Modes of Therapeutic Action.

13-124a: Vicarious Traumatization:
What Is It? How Do I Address It? How Do I Prevent It?

Rachel Michaelsen, M.S.W., L.C.S.W.
COURSE CLOSED

Vicarious Traumatization (VT) is the transformation of one’s inner experience from one of optimism, a sense of safety, and hopefulness to feelings of hopelessness, fear and pessimism. If VT is not recognized and addressed, therapists can be pulled into traumatic reenactments; they can become hopeless about positive outcomes and resentful of their clients. All of these negative possibilities can interfere significantly with the healing process. To prevent VT, helping professionals benefit from being able to identify the symptoms of VT and use effective strategies for prevention and transformation of the condition. In this course, participants will develop a thorough understanding of VT and its negative effects on therapists and the therapeutic process, as well as learning to recognize, address, and prevent VT. Participants will have the opportunity to develop self-care plans and will experience several techniques for addressing the negative impact of VT.

Faculty: Rachel Michaelsen, M.S.W., L.C.S.W., is a clinical social worker who has worked in HMOs, public agencies, and private practice as both a mental-health provider and a supervisor for more than twenty years. She has taught courses in clinical supervision, law and ethics, childhood psychopathology, and vicarious traumatization at universities, conferences, and mental-health agencies. She provides consultation to agencies, and was a Collaborating Clinical Investigator on the DSM-5 field trials. In her private practice in Oakland, California she provides clinical supervision and works with adults and couples.

Saturday, June 15, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

13-131a: How understanding the teenage brain can improve your clinical work with adolescents and their families

Sharon Saline, Psy.D.
COURSE CLOSED

This course will examine the biology of the adolescent brain as it relates to teen behavior, emotion, and socialization. There has been a recent explosion in neurological research about the changing teenage brain that directly affects clinical work with adolescents and their families. Starting with an examination of this information, we will then look at how biology interfaces with developmental psychology and social and emotional intelligence. We will then review the growth of executive functioning skills and look at how these skills can be taught to teens within the context of psychotherapy. We will examine how to work with individual adolescents more effectively in clinics, private practice or school settings using these findings. We will also review significant, relevant treatment modalities based on this information as well as how to apply these ideas to direct clinical work within a family context. In addition, we will explore how to assist parents of varying socioeconomic backgrounds to understand and guide their children with less stress and more success. Methods of teaching include didactic seminar, case examples and small and large group discussions. Participants are strongly encouraged to come to the seminar with a clinical dilemma related to their work.

13-132a: Object Relations Theory and its Current Applications

David Levit, Ph.D., A.B.P.P.

As Faulkner stated, “The past is not dead; the past is not even past." This is true not only regarding the inner life of each of us, but also regarding the psychodynamic/psychoanalytic theories to which we look in order to understand internal life. The ideas of the founding figures of object relations theories live on within contemporary relational and intersubjective perspectives and within Self Psychology. This course will provide an overview of the fundamental contributions of the originators of object relations theories: Klein, Fairbairn and Winnicott. Discussion of each theorist will include his/her view of human nature, narrative of early development, model of the mind, perspective on psychopathology, and view of therapeutic process and therapeutic action.

The course will also address the evolution of these original concepts in the course of more recent developments in psychodynamic/psychoanalytic approaches to therapy. Extensive clinical illustrations will be presented including process material from psychotherapy and psychoanalysis, with particular emphasis on the therapeutic relationship itself as a central medium for emotional and psychological growth and healing.

Faculty: David Levit, Ph.D., A.B.P.P.: Private Practice, Amherst, MA; Diplomate in Psychoanalysis and Clinical Psychology; Adjunct Associate Professor, Doctoral Program, Smith College School for Social Work; Faculty, Massachusetts Institute for Psychoanalysis(MIP); Faculty and Co-chair, MIP Postgraduate Fellowship- West; Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Tufts Medical School; Associate Professional Staff, Baystate Medical Center.

13-133a: DSM-5: What’s New and Different

Rachel Michaelsen, M.S.W., L.C.S.W.

The DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition) has many significant differences from previous editions, including new diagnoses, changes to previous diagnoses, and a new classification system. In this course, participants will learn about how the DSM-5 was developed, the research behind the changes, criticism and praise of the DSM-5, and the changes in diagnoses and multiaxial system. Participants will become familiar with the changes, and have the opportunity to apply this new knowledge to vignettes as well as to rethink current clients’ diagnoses.

13-134a: Attachment Across the Life Span: Clinical Implications

Sally D. Popper, Ph.D.

Attachment has become perhaps the dominant paradigm for understanding development clinically, but few understand it in enough depth to be able to make use of the clinical richness it offers. This presentation will provide a brief historical background on the origins of attachment theory in John Bowlby’s work, Mary Ainsworth’s seminal contributions in operationalizing a measurement of attachment in the parent-infant relationship, and Mary Main’s extension of our understanding to comprehend the operation of the attachment system in adults, as well as the importance of disorganization in attachment for later development. We will discuss work on intergenerational transmission of attachment, the relationship of disorganized attachment to dissociation, and the impact of interpersonal trauma on the attachment system. We will see examples of Ainsworth’s “Strange Situation” to assess early childhood attachment styles, and will read from examples of Mary Main’s Adult Attachment Interview to understand the methods it uses to assess attachment styles.

The second half of the day will focus on clinical implications of attachment, with a focus on several approaches that have thoughtfully incorporated an understanding of attachment to enrich clinical focus. These will include work by David Wallin, Kristine Kinniburgh and Margaret Blaustein, Dan Hughes, Alicia Lieberman and Patricia Van Horn, and Mary Dozier. While the majority of the clinical approaches discussed will be child-focused, there will also be a focus on ways in which early attachment experiences affect adult clinical presentations.

Faculty: Sally D. Popper, Ph.D. has worked as a researcher and clinician exploring the impact of attachment disruption and early trauma on the development of young children and working with their families to help them heal. As a board member of the national parent/professional organization, ATTACh, she worked to bring information from new research to the clinical practice and parenting of members. This work culminated in co-authorship of a book now in press entitled Attachment-Focused Therapy: A Professional Practice Guide. She is also author and co-author of a number of journal articles, and has presented locally and nationally on topics ranging from postpartum depression to the impact of early trauma and loss on the developing brain. She currently serves on the board of the Treehouse Foundation and is an active volunteer both at the Treehouse community and in the Treehouse inspired Reenvisioning Foster Care in America task force.

13-135a: The Big Three: Anxiety, Trauma & Stress, The Effects On Children and Adolescents

Garry L. Earles, M.S.W., L.I.C.S.W.
COURSE CLOSED

The interplay of these aspects, “The Big Three,” accounts for numerous mental health conditions that have an enormous impact, for example, on a student's ability to interact with peers, pay attention in educational settings, and learn. These three aspects have distinct neuro-physiological underpinnings that manifest in emotional (e.g. depression), behavioral (e.g. acting out) and somatic (e.g. hypertension/headaches) ways. Being anxious or being traumatized is stressful. Conversely, stress, especially chronic stress, is traumatic to the organism and generates anxiety. No matter where you start and no matter how you add it up, one doesn't exist without the others. So goes their circular nature. This workshop will discuss each of these three aspects with regard to brain-based features, “co-mingling” and how they manifest in various mental health conditions. Participants will gain useful insight and realistic notions about what works in reducing The Big Three. As is usual for Garry's seminars, the presentation will make use of metaphors, cartoons, personal reflections and his unique brand of humor.

Faculty: Garry L. Earles, M.S.W., L.I.C.S.W. Garry L. Earles is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker, Black Belt MartialArtist and 19th Century American Historian. He earned his M.S.W. in Group & FamilyMethods from the University of Connecticut School of Social Work and his M.A. in
History from Fitchburg (Massachusetts) State University. Garry is challenged daily by his own co-morbid neuro-biological conditions (Tourette Syndrome, ADHD, OCD and Bipolar Disorder) and the emotional and behavioral challenges they engender. Specializing in child and adolescent mental health, Garry is a seasoned and highly-rated national trainer, speaker, and consultant for both mental health professionals and educational personnel. The unique "inside-out" perspective and message he brings to his seminars is filled with resiliency and hope. That insight, perseverance in dealing with
his own conditions, and delightful sense of humor ensure a highly informative and entertaining workshop or public speaking event.