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Home -> Videos from the Clinical Lecture Series

Videos from the Clinical Lecture Series

The School of Social Work is pleased to offer the Clinical Lecture Series, where area practitioners, students, and faculty learn together from esteemed and innovative clinicians. The CLS offers monthly lectures to enhance the clinical curriculum for students and offer continuing education for graduates and practitioners. It also aims to foster and strengthen relationships among clinically-oriented students and the wider clinical community. Selection of topics and speakers come from participant feedback. 

Videos:

 

Adolescent peer victimization, depression and self-injury
Mitch Prinstein, Ph.D.
March 26, 2012

 

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Are kids who are victimized more likely to attempt suicide? The question may be more complicated. For example, specific factors may make some children more vulnerable to being victimized by their peers, and these factors also may be related to the development of depressive mood and self-injurious behavior. In this workshop, Mitch Prinstein will address four interrelated questions:

(1) Are individuals with psychopathology more likely to be bullied?
(2) Is peer victimization associated with negative cognitions or psychological skills deficits?
(3) How might peer victimization increase risk for psychopathology or suicidality?
(4) Is peer victimization related to other peer constructs that are more closely associated with suicidality?

Dr. Prinstein will tease apart these questions by drawing primarily on his own research, which focuses on adolescents’ experiences, peer processes, and the development of depression, self-harm and suicidality. This workshop will focus more explicitly on academic research than on clinical applications; nonetheless, the issues raised have obvious value to applied work.

Mitchell J. Prinstein, Ph.D., is a Bowman and Gordon Gray Distinguished Term Professor and the Director of Clinical Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research examines interpersonal models of internalizing symptoms and health risk behaviors among adolescents, with a specific focus on the unique role of peer relationships in the developmental psychopathology of depression and self-injury. He is the Incoming Editor of the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, and co-editor of a public service website designed to teach parents and professionals about evidence-based treatment options for children and adolescents. Dr. Prinstein has received numerous national and university-based awards for his contributions to research (American Psychological Association Society of Clinical Psychology Theodore Blau Early Career Award, Columbia University/Brickell Award for research on suicidality, APA Fellow of the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology), teaching (UNC Tanner Award for Undergraduate Teaching), and the professional development of graduate students (American Psychological Association of Graduate Students Raymond D. Fowler Award).

This event was cosponsored by North Carolina Academic Center for Excellence (NC-ACE) for the Prevention of Youth Violence, UNC Injury Prevention Research Center, and the School of Social Work's Clinical Lecture Series.

New frontiers in the addictions: Recent developments in the treatment of behavioral addictions
Matthew Howard, Ph.D.
April 16, 2012

 

 

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Despite the notable prevalence of substance abuse and associated conditions, practitioners sometimes have difficulty identifying with this group of clients, potentially affecting treatment.  Yet, recent discoveries on the biomedical bases of substance dependence may reframe practitioners’ approaches to these disorders.  Matthew Howard explores recent findings related to the neurobiology of addiction and examines how these processes may be involved in areas as diverse as binge eating, exercise dependence, pathological gambling, sexual compulsivity, and TV watching.  His talk will examine the prevalence, clinical presentation, assessment, and treatment of these behavioral addictions and their co-occurrence with substance use disorders.
 
Matthew Owen Howard, Ph.D., Frank Daniels Professor of Human Services Policy Information in the School of Social Work at UNC-Chapel Hill, has forged a path-breaking career advancing the understanding of substance abuse and addiction.  Prior to his academic career, he worked in mental health and substance abuse.  Dr. Howard has since published more than 200 articles, book reviews, and governmental reports and received three grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.  He currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of Social Work Research , was formerly editor of the Journal of Social Service Research, and serves on the editorial boards of many other journals.  At UNC, he mentors MSW and doctoral students and teaches a wide variety of courses.  Dr. Howard has won numerous awards for his excellence in teaching, scholarship, and his professional contributions.  

 

 


Ethical conflicts in advance care planning
Marvin Swartz, Ph.D.
March 19, 2012

 

 

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Psychiatric advance directives (PADs) are legal documents that allow individuals to express their wishes for future psychiatric care and authorize a legally appointed proxy to make decisions on their behalf during incapacitating crises. PADs promote self determination, autonomy, and offer an alternative to coercive interventions that sometimes accompany crises for people with mental illness. In this workshop, Marvin Swartz will provide information on PADs, including their use, importance, and ethical issues that arise with their use.  Among these is the “Ulysses contract,” which raises questions of identifying the “authentic client.” Should PADs honor decisions made by the person when considering eventualities or the person he or she has become on account of dementia or an episode of mental illness? Using case vignettes, Dr. Swartz will help us explore ethical conflicts that emerge in practice.

Marvin Swartz, M.D, is professor and head of the Division of Social and Community Psychiatry at the Duke University School of Medicine, Vice Chair for Clinical Services, Director of the Duke AHEC Program and Director of the National Resource Center on Psychiatric Advance Directives. He has written extensively on the psychiatric advance directives, mental health services for persons with severe mental illness, mandated community treatment, outpatient commitment, and the effectiveness of involuntary outpatient commitment, psychiatric advance directives, and antipsychotic medications.  Dr. Swartz has served as a member of the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Mandated Community Treatment, in which he participated in discussions on the role of legal tools such as Psychiatric Advance Directives in improving outcomes for persons with severe mental illness.  Dr. Swartz was a CO-PI of the NIMH Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) for Schizophrenia. He was won numerous awards for his teaching, research and patient advocacy. He maintains an active NC list serve among mental health practitioners on salient news items.

 

 



Mindfulness approach to eating disorders and everyday eating
Katherine Prakken, Ph.D.
February 13, 2012

 

 

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Mindfulness has been shown to be a powerful tool in facilitating self-regulation. In this workshop, Katherine Prakken focuses on ways that mindful eating practices can transform people’s relationship with food, whether they suffer from eating disorders or more “everyday” struggles with eating and body image. Dr. Prakken describes strategies that can help individuals identify different kinds of hunger, create the ability to "feed" the self without food, cultivate "bodyfulness" as well as mindfulness, and understand how mood and cognitions can undermine mindful eating. These mindfulness practices have been shown to decrease emotional and unconscious eating; increase enjoyment and satisfaction with food, eating, and the body; and lead a more consistently aware approach to eating and living. Dr. Prakken will present case examples to illustrate their use with clients with bulimia, binge eating, and restricting disorders.
 
Katherine A. Prakken, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Chapel Hill, NC, who works with individuals, couples, and families. Her specialty areas are eating disorders, particularly bulimia and binge eating disorder, and sexual abuse and women's issues. She was trained psychoanalytically and has since incorporated a diverse array of approaches including cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness skills. She has a particular interest in countertransference and has presented locally and nationally on the role of countertransference in work with individuals with disordered eating. Dr. Prakken, long interested in mindfulness practices, has recently pursued additional training on the art of combining traditional psychodynamic psychotherapy with mindfulness principles.
 

 



What will it take to improve the effectiveness and relevance of violence prevention programs for adolescents?
Al Farrell, Ph.D.
February 20, 2012

 

 

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Esteemed scholar Dr. Al Farrell, professor of psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University and director of their Institute for Positive Youth Development, spoke on "What will it take to improve the effectiveness and relevance of violence prevention programs for adolescents?" The presentation focuses on the contextual factors that have limited the effectiveness of programs to reduce aggression among middle schoolers and address directions for improvement.


Co-sponsored by the North Carolina Academic Center for Excellence (NC-ACE) for the Prevention of Youth Violence.

 

 

The Social Tasks of Friendship
Steve Asher, PhD
October 31, 2011

 

 

 

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Children who are poorly accepted by peers and lack friends in school are more likely to experience negative treatment at the hand of peers and to report elevated levels of loneliness in school. This is true even for children in the early school years. Social skills interventions have had some success in improving children's level of acceptance with peers but little research exists on how to help children be more successful in their friendship. In this workshop, Steven Asher discussed research aimed at building a foundation for future friendship interventions. Social skills interventions addressing friendship may be an important strategy for reducing aggression and violence in children and youth. Dr. Asher focuses on how children respond to key "friendship tasks," such as conflicts of interest with a friend, giving and receiving help, and responding to the inevitable disappointments that can arise in a friendship. He discusses research findings that suggest that success in friendships are affected by the beliefs that people hold about friendship, the interpretations they make of their friend's actions, and the goals they decide to pursue in various friendship situations.

 

 Steven Asher, PhD is a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University. He has had a long-standing interest in the problems of children who lack friends and are poorly accepted by their peers. His most recent research is focused on children’s loneliness in different contexts, and on the linkages between children's goals, their behavior in response to specific interpersonal situations (e.g., conflict, helping, coping with friendship transgressions), and their success in creating higher quality friendships. This research includes a focus on the motivational and social-cognitive processes that give rise to prosocial versus aggressive behavior. In recent years, he has also initiated research on the social relationships of college students, including a longitudinal study of the factors influencing college students’ loneliness and belongingness at college, and research on college students’ responses to conflicts of interests in friendships and other relationships.

This workshop was co-sponsored by NC-ACE for the Prevention of Youth Violence; UNC Injury Prevention Research Center; and UNC School of Social Work Clinical Lecture Series.



The many faces of postpartum depression (PPD): Assessment, diagnosis and treatment
William S. Meyer, MSW, BCD
October 17, 2011



 

 

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As most new parents will tell you, caring for an infant is much harder than they had ever imagined; and pregnancy and post-partum periods are especially vulnerable times in a woman’s life. Consequently, the prevalence of new mothers who develop substantial postpartum anxiety and depression may be as high as twenty percent. Yet, many of these women never disclose their experience, in part due to shame and associated stigma, and in part because many health care providers are unsuccessful in eliciting a mother’s genuine feelings about her pregnancy and baby. As clinicians, it is essential that we are well informed about the subtle signs of PPD and that we continue to refine our interviewing skills so that new mothers feel safe to speak freely. In this workshop, William Meyer draws from his years of clinical experience to deepen our understanding of the complex interplay of hormonal, developmental, familial, and cultural factors that affect a new mother’s wellbeing. In addition to identifying risk factors for distress, he will discuss strategies that foster safety and why this makes all the difference for successful interviewing, diagnosing, and intervening.

William S. Meyer, MSW, BCD is an associate clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry and the Ob/Gyn at Duke University Medical Center, where he has worked for 30 years, 15 of which in the high-risk obstetrics clinic. He has facilitated support groups for 20 years with distressed pregnant and postpartum women (where he has by now worked with hundreds of women in group and individual consultation). He has lectured extensively on postpartum emotional disorders and is a featured speaker for expectant parents on preventing postpartum depression in Duke’s mid-pregnancy series. He has also published clinical papers on a variety of mental health topics and received awards for his teaching and clinical work, including the Day-Garrett Award by the Smith College School for Social Work (2010) and the Lifetime Achievement award from the American Association for Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work (2011).

 



Where do we draw the line? The ethics of diagnosing dementia
Dan G. Blazer MD, MPH, Ph.D.
September 19, 2011

 

 

 

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The development of DSM-V has engendered much controversy over the ethics of diagnosis, including the potential for pathologizing otherwise normative experience or life transitions. In this workshop, Dr. Blazer draws from his extensive experience, including committee work on the DSM-V, to discuss the ethical issues involved in introducing new diagnostic categories and widening existing ones. He focuses on dementia as an illustrative battleground with far-reaching consequences. On one hand, neurocognitive disorders have clear biological markers of brain pathology—even in early or mild cases—yet, treatment is largely ineffective. This workshop challenges us to consider potential implications of diagnosing “mild neurocognitive disorders,” which may be predictive but not disabling or treatable. Advocates see these new diagnoses as opportunities for early detection of progressive disease; while critics see a bonanza for the pharmaceutical companies with little benefit for the diagnosed. In this provocative workshop, Dr. Blazer invites us to consider evidence on both sides of this argument and their implications.

Dan G. Blazer, MD, MPH, Ph.D., is former Dean of Medical Education and currently J.P. Gibbons Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Vice Chair for Academic Development at Duke University Medical Center. He also serves as adjunct professor in the Epidemiology and the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina. According to ISI listings, Dr. Blazer is among the most highly cited authors in psychiatry and the social sciences, with his contribution of more than 30 books, 180 book chapters,  and 400 peer-reviewed articles, on topics of depression, epidemiology, and spirituality, especially with the elderly. Dr. Blazer has won numerous distinguished awards for his contributions to psychiatry and excellence in teaching and mentorship. In 1995, he was elected to the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, where he has chaired the membership committee. He currently serves on the editorial board of the Archives of General Psychiatry, is acting chair of the Neurocognitive Workgroup, and a member of the Scientific Review Committee for DSM-V.

 

 

 

 

Evaluating and treating bipolar depression through the life course
Eric Youngstrom, PhD
January 24, 2011



 

 

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Bipolar disorder is a chronic, recurring, serious, and potentially life-threatening mental illness, which, if left untreated, can grow more severe and resistant to treatment. In this workshop, Eric Youngstrom will discuss key issues in the assessment and treatment of this disorder, including how it manifests in children versus adults, effective ways to use specialized measurement tools in differential diagnosis, and cognitive behavioral techniques that are particularly helpful for individuals with this diagnosis. Dr. Youngstrom’s talk will incorporate recent innovations by leading researchers in the field, and use illustrative case examples to demonstrate these assessment and treatment strategies.

Eric A. Youngstrom, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist, and Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he is also the Acting Director of the Center for Excellence in Research and Treatment of Bipolar Disorder. He is an extremely engaged researcher – he has published over 130 peer-reviewed articles, reviewed articles for more than 50 scientific journals, and serves on the editorial boards of numerous journals. Much of his research has focused on ways to improve assessment tools for diagnosing bipolar disorder and to predict and monitor the treatment progress of individuals with this disorder across the lifespan. Currently, he is the principal investigator on two multi-site studies designed to improve the assessment of bipolar disorder in diverse communities. He has presented his work at scientific meetings around the globe, and has received numerous awards for his research and teaching.
 


Partner violence and parenting
Rebecca Macy, PhD, MSW, LCSW
February 21, 2011 


 

 

 

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Partner violence is a devastating experience that impacts most aspects of survivors’ lives including their health, careers, and relationships. In working to secure and sustain a safe and violence-free life, survivors of partner violence must manage multiple challenges and concerns. For survivors who are parents, the wellbeing of their children is central. Given the effects of chronic partner violence on a survivor’s stress management skills, sense of self-worth, and feelings of self-confidence, the challenges of parenting extend beyond issues of physical safety. Thus, fundamental to clinical practice with survivors who have children is helping them cultivate effective parenting strategies. In this workshop, Rebecca Macy draws from her cutting-edge research to illuminate the experience of adult survivors and their children, and share findings about positive parenting strategies. Much of the workshop will be presented in the words of survivors and the approaches that they have found most helpful.
 
Rebecca J. Macy, PhD, ACSW, LCSW is an associate professor at the UNC School of Social Work, with practice experience in community mental health where she worked with violence survivors. Dr. Macy teaches courses in social work practice, family violence, mental health, and statistics, and has won teaching awards, including the Dean’s Recognition of Teaching Excellence, Outstanding Professor, and Most Supportive Professor. She is a Carolina Center for Public Service Faculty Engaged Scholar, and publishes and presents widely on issues around intimate partner and sexual violence, including on the health consequences, cognitive-behavioral therapy interventions, repeated victimizations across the life span, and community-based preventions and interventions to promote resilience and wellbeing. She recently completed an evaluation of the Hope for Children program for children who have been exposed to intimate partner violence, and is currently evaluating the Mothers Overcoming Violence through Education and Empowerment (MOVE) program, a project initiated by Interact and SAFEchild in Raleigh.
 


Couple-based interventions when one partner suffers from chronic distress
Don Baucom, PhD
April 18, 2011

 

 

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Health concerns and psychopathology are typically viewed as individual issues, yet they exist in a larger interpersonal context. Individual distress affects intimate relationships and partners, and reciprocally, relational factors affect individual health outcomes. In this workshop, Don Baucom emphasizes the relevance of couple-based interventions when one partner is struggling with significant psychological distress such as anxiety or depression, or health concerns such as cancer or cardiovascular difficulties. The approach highlights how to help couples adapt to the stressors that affect them both as individuals and as a couple. Drawing from his substantial research on therapeutic interventions with couples, Dr. Baucom provides a framework for helping couples engage in effective change in response to individual distress. This workshop demonstrates how we can apply couples therapy to problems that have been largely defined in terms of individual distress in order to assist both partners and the relationship.

Don Baucom, Richard Simpson Distinguished Professor of Psychology at UNC, has devoted his career to understanding intimate relationships, and the development and evaluation of interventions to assist couples over the lifespan of their relationships. He has been a pioneer in developing cognitive-behavioral couple therapy and has conducted more couple-based intervention studies than any other investigator in the field. His work has included working with maritally distressed couples, couples experiencing infidelity, and relationship education and enhancement for happy couples. In more recent years, he has developed a wide range of couple-based interventions to address how couples can respond adaptively when one partner struggles individually, either because of psychological distress or health concerns.


When is it okay to want to die? Ethical considerations in treating depression among older adults
Lea C. Watson, MD, MPH
October 18, 2010


 

 

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As clinicians, what are we to do when an older client expresses the desire to die, but does not fit the criteria for depression? As professionals, we are committed to helping all clients find their will to live and build a life worth living; yet, we are affected by societal biases about what constitutes life quality among the elderly. In this thought-provoking workshop, Lea Watson encourages us to examine our views on a client’s rights to self determination in older adulthood. Through self-reflective exercises and case examples, Dr. Watson will help us weigh our ethical imperatives to provide treatment and to meet clients where they are. Participants will gain insight on the difficulties and importance of diagnosing and treating later-life depression, and the value of cultivating a creative, compassionate, and mindful approach when depression is not the central issue.
    
Lea Watson MD, MPH, a geriatric psychiatrist, is an assistant professor of psychiatry at UNC and directs the UNC psychiatry adult outpatient clinic. She is a supervisory and consulting psychiatrist for numerous programs, including the UNC program on depression care management, Carolina Pointe geriatric evaluation clinic, the Cedars of Chapel Hill Retirement Community, and the Orange County Department on Aging. She has published and presented widely on late-life mental health issues, including depression, appropriate use of medications, screening for depression among long-term care residents, the relationship between depression and dementia, and depression among caregivers. She is a fervent advocate for vulnerable populations, committed to preserving people’s quality of life and providing compassionate, client-centered care. Dr. Watson has won numerous awards for her outstanding teaching and research.

 



Improving psychological flexibility through mindfulness-based behavioral therapies
Tyler Beach, MSW, LCSW
September 20, 2010


 

 

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This workshop will usher clinicians into the “third wave” of behavioral therapy, a phrase coined by Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) founder Stephen Hayes, for the broader and more flexible approaches to behavioral change introduced over the last few decades. Drawing from meditative traditions, these newer therapies – including ACT, DBT, and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy – not only focus on change but also on strategies to accept what is. This workshop explores the seeming paradox that through acceptance comes change, an idea grounded in theory and illustrated by client experience. Third wave behavioral therapies also share central tenets with older humanistic/existentialist approaches, including a humanistic emphasis on the “paradox of change” and the existentialist aim of leading a value-based life. In the newer mindfulness based therapies, these concepts have been translated into teachable skills, making them easily accessible to clients and clinicians. Workshop participants will learn specific techniques to foster mindfulness, acceptance, and psychological flexibility, and ways to incorporate them into clinical practice regardless of one’s theoretical orientation.

Tyler Beach, MSW, LCSW is a psychotherapist in private practice in Chapel Hill and Durham. Mr. Beach has studied and embraced newer behavior therapies and has a particular interest in how to integrate them effectively within a relationally-based psychotherapy model. Prior to becoming full-time in private practice, he worked in a variety of settings including as staff therapist at UNC’s Counseling and Wellness, DBT Program Coordinator at Carolina House, and therapist at a local Community Mental Health Center (OPC). A generalist at heart, he has also gained significant experience in working with people with eating disorders and with gay men.  He is an active member of the American Academy of Psychotherapists, a group which emphasizes relationally-based and experiential psychotherapies.

 

 

Ethics of Becoming Competent in Psychopharmacology
Gary Gala, MD
April 19, 2010

 

 

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Our therapeutic interventions come through our relationship and interactions with clients. Yet, many of our clients are also being treated with prescription medications, and others may benefit from them. What is our responsibility as professionals to understand our clients’ experience with medications—especially since they are more likely to confide in us than in their physicians or psychiatrists? Treating clients, who are taking or may be in need of medications, raises ethical issues about the importance of our own competence in this arena. In this workshop, Dr. Gala provides a foundation in psychopharmacology and discusses how to talk with clients about their experiences, including any “non-compliance,” adverse effects, misunderstanding about their medication, and collaboration with their doctor.

Gary Gala, MD, Assistant Professor and Chief of the Psychiatry Consult Liaison Service at UNC School of Medicine, wears many hats. In college, he majored in English and wrote a novel as his senior thesis; in medical school, he took coursework in philosophy and conducted research on word choice in mental illness. Before training in psychiatry, Dr. Gala practiced general surgery for seven years, with experience in trauma/critical care and lab research on the hormonal physiology of shock. He currently directs the consult-liaison service at UNC, where he is responsible for consultations with all the other non-psychiatric services in the hospital. He also teaches, mentors, and supervises medical students and psychiatry residents. His research interests are in philosophy and psychiatry.

 


Cultural trauma: Developing an ear for the unspoken in the room
Michelle Johnson, MSW, LCSW
March 22, 2010
 

 

 

   

 

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What does it mean for a therapist to be aware of the history of the person in the room - particularly when the individual is a member of a cultural group that has endured oppression, subjugation, and violence? This workshop presents the concept of “cultural trauma” to enhance therapeutic work with clients who may enter treatment with stories of intergenerational trauma that remain unspoken yet significantly impact their identity, experience, and presenting problem. Using case examples, Michelle Johnson will describe manifestations of cultural trauma and provide tools for therapists to consider their clients’ cultural legacies. This workshop will focus on how to broach the unspoken, collaborate with clients on the telling of their stories, assess for the relevance of cultural trauma, and adjust treatment accordingly. The presentation will also touch briefly on the impact of the cultural heritage of the therapist in this process.

Michelle C. Johnson, MSW, LCSW is the Program Manager for the Pro Bono Counseling Network at the Mental Health Association in Orange County, and an adjunct faculty at UNC-Chapel Hill in the School of Social Work. Her previous positions include Associate Director at the Orange County Rape Crisis Center, where she supervised client service and education programs and coordinated the short-term therapy program; psychotherapist at the UNC-CH Counseling Center; and family specialist at East Chapel Hill High School. Ms. Johnson has a private practice in Chapel Hill and specializes in clients who have survived sexual violence and other traumas. Michelle works with a small training group, Dismantling Racism Works, dRWorks, focused on working with organizations and the community on understanding institutional and cultural racism.

 

ADHD: Differential diagnosis and treatment strategies across the life course
Jack Naftel, MD
Feb. 22, 2010

 

 

 

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Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder is a commonly diagnosed childhood disorder with symptoms commonly persisting through adolescence and adulthood. While there may be both under and over diagnosis in children, many adults who suffer from this disorder have never been diagnosed or treated. Dr. Naftel describes the presentation and evaluation of ADHD at different ages, and the treatment approaches that may be most effective for children, adolescents, and adults.


Jack Naftel, MD is the Vice Chair for Child and Adolescent Programs in the Department of Psychiatry at UNC Chapel Hill School of Medicine, where he coordinates outpatient and inpatient programs and oversees the residency training program. He is also the Co-Director of the Dorothea Dix Child Outpatient Clinic and the Wake Pediatric Behavior Clinic. His areas of interest include attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and he has been involved in a large epidemiological study of ADHD in Johnston County, NC. Dr. Naftel has won awards both for his medical research (Eugene A. Hargrove Mental Health Research Award) and practice (“Best Doctors in America,” 2003-2008).

 


Beyond the gender binary: Broadening our lens and strengthening our work
Avery Cook, MSW, LCSW and Melisa Bailey, MA
Jan. 25, 2010

 

 

 

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People often think about gender in terms of two categories, but this may not adequately fit our clients’ experiences. Clinicians can benefit from cultivating a lens that encompasses the continuum of gender identity and expression. Our sense of ourselves as gendered individuals affects our self evaluation, our preferences, and our relationships. As clinicians, it is important to understand our own gender assumptions and the ways that we may collude with or challenge our clients’ experiences. This workshop will help us to explore our own beliefs about gender and gender roles and presents an approach to broaden our options for working with clients.

Avery Cook, MSW, LCSW is a Clinical Coordinator at the Counseling and Wellness Services at UNC-Chapel Hill, where she supervises MSW students and engages in clinical work with individuals on issues involving gender identities and expression, LGB culture and identity development, as well as anxiety, depression, and crisis intervention. She currently serves on the board of the Mental Health Association Orange County, collaborates with the LGBTQ at UNC to serve transgendered students, and conducts Safe Zone trainings for the UNC community. She also has a private practice in Chapel Hill.

Melisa Bailey, MA is completing her pre-doctoral internship at UNC’s Counseling and Wellness Services in clinical psychology. Her professional interests include feminist theory, LGBTQ issues, the process of meaning making with clients, and work with trauma survivors. She is currently a liaison to the LGBTQ Center at UNC.  She is an adjunct faculty member in the M.A. Forensic Psychology department at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology and has taught courses on Diversity and Clinical Interviewing Skills. She attends The Chicago School of Professional Psychology.

 


Treating clients and ourselves with positivity
Barbara Fredrickson, PhD
Nov. 16, 2009

 

 

 

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As psychotherapists, we spend considerable time on “negative emotions” – we help our clients to name them, tolerate them, understand them within a context, reduce their intensity, and change them. In this workshop, Barbara Fredrickson provides compelling reasons to focus on the “positive” in our clients’ lives and in our own. Drawing from her groundbreaking research on the hidden value of positive emotions, Dr. Fredrickson describes how unlike negative emotions, which narrow people’s behavioral urges toward fight or flight, positive emotions increase our resources in some surprising ways, contributing both to a momentary and a cumulative effect on our experience.


Barbara L. Fredrickson is Kenan Distinguished Professor of Psychology and principal investigator of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Laboratory at UNC Chapel Hill. She has published widely on emotions and positive psychology, including her broaden-and-build theory that explains how positive emotions can lead to novel, expansive, and exploratory behaviors that, over time, generate meaningful, long-term resources, such as knowledge and social relationships. Dr. Fredrickson has won numerous awards for her teaching and research, including the American Psychological Association's Templeton Prize in Positive Psychology and the Society of Experimental Social Psychology's Career Trajectory Award, and is regularly invited to give keynote addresses nationally and internationally. Her book, Positivity (2009), shares the science of positive emotions with a general readership with an emphasis on how to apply it to overcome negativity and thrive.

 


The journey of grief: For the clinician and client
Steve Bradley-Bull, MA, MEd, LPC
Oct. 19, 2009

 

 

 

 

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For us as clinicians, and as human beings, grief work can be powerful. This workshop focuses on ways to prepare ourselves to work effectively with clients who have experienced significant loss by exploring and integrating our own losses and perspectives on life, death, and grief. Steve Bradley-Bull will engage participants with a variety of experiential exercises to aid in their own journeys, with the goal of increasing their ability to be present with clients through their grief. The workshop also features resources for grief work, such as a Grief Wheel, which can provide a roadmap for clients and clinicians, and how to recognize and heed “yield signs” in the grieving process that are fundamental to healing.


Steve Bradley-Bull, MA, MEd, LPC is the founder of the Center for All Seasons, a counseling practice in Durham and Chapel Hill. Steve's practice focuses on living, dying, grief, and life transition experiences and often incorporates mindfulness practices and acceptance work into his counseling. Steve has facilitated workshops and support groups and counseled individual clients for UNC Hospice, Duke HomeCare and Hospice, Hospice of Wake County, Ronald McDonald House of Chapel Hill, and Caring House of Durham, among others.

 


Responding to client therapy-interfering behaviors using behavioral principles and techniques
Jennifer Kirby, PhD
Sept. 14, 2009

 

 

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Developing an understanding of clients’ problematic behaviors, particularly those that potentially interfere or limit the effectiveness of psychotherapy, is important in creating sound treatment approaches that both assist clients in making gains and therapists in maintaining treatment morale. Drawing from dialectical behavior therapy and behavioral analysis, this workshop will present an approach to assessing and intervening on those client behaviors (therapy-interfering behaviors) that can limit therapeutic progress and greatly frustrate therapists, potentially leading to therapist burn-out over time. This workshop will provide a brief introduction to behavioral principles, a discussion of the treatment strategies of behavioral analysis and solution analysis, and a consideration of how these interventions can be employed with the ultimate goal of enhancing the therapeutic alliance and overall treatment process.


Jennifer S. Kirby, PhD is a Licensed Psychologist and Research Assistant Professor in the Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She specializes in cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy, and trains and supervises graduate students in individual and couple therapy using these treatment approaches. Dr. Kirby has participated in the development and evaluation of a number of relationship intervention programs from a cognitive-behavioral perspective. These have included working with couples who are experiencing emotion dysregulation, health concerns such as breast cancer, extramarital affairs, anorexia nervosa, and couples who are preparing for marriage. Her interest and expertise in training others in individual and couple therapy is enriched by her teaching of doctoral courses in dialectical behavior therapy, empirically supported treatments for adults, and clinical supervision. She also maintains an active private practice with individuals and couples.

 


Engagement Interviewing: Increasing engagement and retention of clients in mental health services
Betsy Bledsoe, PhD, MSW, LCSW
May 4, 2009

 

 

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Too often clients who could benefit from mental health services either fail to follow through with referrals for treatment or drop out of services prematurely. In this presentation, Dr. Bledsoe provides an overview of “engagement interviewing” that offers clients an opportunity to express the problems they are experiencing in their own words, explore and resolve barriers to entering mental health treatment – including their own ambivalence – and receive psychoeducation about their mental health diagnosis and treatment options. This approach incorporates ethnographic, motivational interviewing and psychoeducational techniques. Examples will focus on the use of this strategy with mothers of young children who are diagnosed with major depressive disorder, a population that has been historically difficult to engage in treatment.

Betsy (Sarah E.) Bledsoe, PhD, MSW, LCSW is Assistant Professor at UNC-CH School of Social Work. Dr. Bledsoe had worked in outpatient, primary health care, residential, and emergency shelter settings providing mental health and case management services for individuals and their families. Her current research is focused on the engagement and treatment of low-income adolescents with perinatal depression, engaging low-English proficiency Latina mothers in treatment for depression, and evidence-based practice.
 


From the clinic to the real world: Empowering clients beyond the therapeutic session
Zach Rosenthal, PhD
Feb. 23, 2009

 

 

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Across psychotherapies, our primary aim is to help clients improve their lives, usually through the process of talking within the context of a safe and supportive therapeutic relationship. We wish to help clients change their lives outside the clinic setting, yet our involvement with them tends to be constrained by conventions and contingencies inside the clinic setting. How do the skills and insights that emerge in therapeutic discussions translate into changes in the messiness of the real world? What alternatives do we as clinicians have to waiting and hoping for change in between therapy sessions? This workshop will expose the frequent disconnect between discourse and action, and will explore traditional and cutting edge strategies for expanding the power of therapeutic tools.

Zach (M. Zachary) Rosenthal, PhD, assistant professor in the Duke University Medical Center Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, is director of both the E.M.B. Brout Sensory Processing and Emotion Regulation Program and the Duke Cognitive Behavioral Research and Treatment Program. He is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in CBT and DBT, who trains and supervises students in the Duke medical psychology internship program and provides professional trainings through a partnership with the North Carolina Evidence-Based Practices Center. He has published widely on emotional functioning and emotion regulation in borderline personality disorder, and is currently working on novel computer-based interventions for “treatment-resistant” populations.

 


Integrating cognitive and behavioral techniques in the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder
Jon Abramowitz, PhD
Oct. 13, 2008

 

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This workshop highlights the use of cognitive therapy and imaginal exposure therapy techniques in the treatment of clients with so-called “pure obsessions” (obsessions without compulsive rituals), who are considered to be poor candidates for traditional behavior therapy for OCD. Dr. Abramowitz describes strategies that focus on clients’ interpretations of, and responses to, otherwise normal intrusive thoughts, as a way to manage their obsessional problems. Throughout, Dr. Abramowitz draws on empirical research and his rich clinical experience, and will use video and interactive demonstrations to illustrate the therapeutic techniques.

Jonathan S. Abramowitz, PhD, ABPP is a licensed psychologist, associate professor and associate chair of the Department of Psychology, and research associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is also founder and director of the UNC Anxiety and Stress Disorders Clinic. Dr. Abramowitz conducts research on obsessive-compulsive and other anxiety disorders and has authored/edited five books and published over 100 peer-reviewed research articles and book chapters on these topics. He is associate editor of two scientific journals in the field of cognitive-behavior therapy, and has received awards for his scientific and professional contributions by the American Psychological Association, Mayo Clinic, Obsessive Compulsive Foundation, and the National Institute of Mental Health.
 

 
Mindfulness in clinical practice and daily life: Training attention, reducing emotional suffering, and developing intimacy
John Mader, MA, LMFT
Sept. 15, 2008

 

 

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This workshop focuses on practical applications of mindfulness-based skills that can be useful to our clients (and ourselves). John Mader will guide participants on how to focus and direct their attention as a way to become aware and effective as clinicians. He will also explore how core mindfulness skills (taught in Dialectical Behavior Therapy) serve as a basis for regulating negative emotions and for reducing conflict and increasing intimacy in relationships. The workshop draws on the innovative work of Alan Wallace, Marsha Linehan, and Alan Fruzzetti, and will include experiential exercises and an introduction to the mindfulness practice of shamatha.

John Mader, MA, LMFT has more than twenty years experience as a therapist in community mental health centers and in private practice. His work includes more than ten years of teaching meditation, core mindfulness skills in DBT groups, and workshops on the parallels between Buddhist Psychology and DBT. He is an AAMFT Approved Supervisor and provides family therapy supervision and training groups and teaches a graduate course on family therapy at North Carolina Central University. In 2005, the North Carolina Association of Marriage and Family Therapy, Triangle Area DBT, and OPC Area Program recognized him for his contributions to the profession.

 

 
How do we treat perpetrators? The ethics of working with sex offenders
Melissa Grady, PhD, MSW, LCSW
Feb. 18, 2008
 

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Much of our work as clinicians focuses on the survivors of abuse in their healing journey. Perpetrators remain more of the “other,” the ones who have traumatically altered the lives of our clients. Indeed, considering the life and experiences of perpetrators is unsettling. In this candid workshop, Melissa Grady discusses the ethical issues involving the role of clinicians in the treatment of perpetrators.

Melissa Grady is clinical faculty in the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Social Work and has a private practice in Durham. Dr. Grady has worked with sex offenders at a community mental health center, where she facilitated therapy groups, including groups for female sex offenders and for parents of adolescent offenders. She continues to research and write about the effects of interventions in this population.
 

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