Pre-Conference

Pre-Conference Add On To Any Full Conference Ticket: $100  

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If you have already registered for the conference please contact Rebecca Woodson to add on the pre-conference at rwoodson@amhca.org.

A Multi-Faceted Approach to Cravings Management
with Doug Paul, LPC, CPCS, LMHC, QS

Substance Use Disorder Track 

The goals for this session will be to review the literature on cravings management techniques, describe in detail four craving types and elicit a discussion of approaches to use in a variety of treatment settings. This dynamic presentation is both experiential and educational with use of mixed-media and pop-culture references.

The DSM 5 added “cravings” to the criteria for substance use disorders in October, 2013, while noting that cravings may persist well past the period of post-acute withdrawal. Just as addiction can impact every area of life, so too must the approach for cravings management. The goals for this workshop will be to review the literature on cravings management techniques, describe in detail four craving types and elicit a discussion of multi-faceted approaches to use in a variety of treatment settings to assist clients in cravings management. This dynamic presentation is both experiential and educational with the use of mixed-media and pop-culture references.

Core Focused Treatment, A Comprehensive Care Modality
with Gray Otis, PhD, NCC, CCMHC, DCMHS

Integrated Behavioral Health Track | Trauma Assessment and Treatment Track

Clients invariably present with multiple disorders combined with health and relationship stressors. Impaired Processing Treatment offers a systematic and integrative treatment modality to resolve complex client issues. Learn how to achieve successful outcomes through this comprehensive methodology. This presentation supports AMHCA Certifications in Trauma, Substance Use, and Integrated Behavioral Health.

This presentation explains “Impaired Processing Treatment, A Comprehensive Care Modality.” It offers an overall framework to comprehensively assess, diagnose, and treat co-occurring disorders as well as the increasing complexities of integrated behavioral healthcare. Most significantly, it resolves the underlying causes of disorders. Thorough client diagnosis commonly identifies two or more disorders such as substance use and trauma, anxiety and mood disorders, couples problems with behavioral compulsions, etc. In addition, clients also present with physiological health concerns, problematic relationships, ineffective coping mechanisms, perceptual distortions, and other issues that impair mental and emotional well-being. Mental health professionals can be overwhelmed in treating multiple co-morbid disorders that relate to the client’s health, relations, the lack of meaning in their lives, and many other stressors. Impaired Processing Treatment integrates with CBT or any other theoretical model. This modality offers the following benefits to both clinicians and clients:

• An inclusive approach to address all of the client’s concerns
• A targeted treatment focus to attend to the fundamental causes of disorders
• A systematic method to develop greater client emotional regulation and enhanced mental health resilience
• A defined process to enrich client relationships
• An easily administered means to assess counselor effectiveness and client outcomes Learn how to apply Impaired Processing Treatment to achieve successful outcomes. This presentation supports AMHCA certifications in Trauma, Substance Use, and Integrated Behavioral Health.

Restorative Practices: A Remedy For The Burnout Counselor
with Megan Boyd, PhD, LPC, CPCS

Ethics Track

The lived experiences of the past 2 years are shared in a collective way through virtual connectedness. Due to the significant shifts to daily practices, helping professionals are experiencing “burn-out” in a whole new way; one that requires a new way to attend to “self-care,” and re-define what that means.

Our Ethical Code calls on us to recognize that.. [our] effectiveness is dependent on their own mental and physical health. Should their professional judgment or competency be compromised for any reason, they seek capable professional assistance to determine whether to limit, suspend, or terminate services to their clients." Throughout the Pandemic, Counselors have been finding ways to ethically and appropriately care for themselves; however; burnout continues to be a priority among counselors and other helping professions. In order to care for ourselves, we can learn new and innovative ways to soothe and heal. Participants will define and conceptualize an understanding of attending to their wellness in personalized terms, learn and demonstrate 3-5 practices to improve their wellness as a helper and develop an intuitive path to wellness and recovery prior to the end of this workshop.

The Neurobiology Of Trauma And Its Application To Successful Treatment
with Judith A. Swack, Ph.D.

Trauma Assessment and Treatment Track

Trauma is structured and cleared in layers. It has neurobiological underpinnings that need to be accurately mapped to be successfully treated. Participants will learn the structure of trauma and an evidence-based technique from the field of Energy Psychology for rapidly clearing trauma from the conscious mind, unconscious mind and body.

Therapists need to understand how trauma imprints in the body and how it is structured so they can identify the causes and treat it effectively. If therapists do not understand the neurobiological underpinnings of trauma in the body, they may miss important clues and create false assumptions. The presenters will describe the neurophysiology of trauma and review the evidence based research on the use of Energy Psychology techniques for treating trauma by Van der Kolk, Swack, Seigel, Porges, Church, and Feinstein Dr. Swack will share her published research on the structure of trauma and teach participants a rapid and effective process for treating it. Through observation, testing and retesting, Dr. Swack found that the first layer of trauma contains shock/fear, anger, sadness, and pain. The second layer of trauma is composed of core beliefs including issues of shame, blame, and guilt and feelings of powerlessness. The next layer requires processing feelings of grief and emptiness in the case of loss trauma or pollution in the case of violence. The last layer is the anticipatory anxiety caused by the trauma. Dr. Swack has created a protocol to accurately find and treat the layers of trauma using the body's own resources and systems and Meridian Tapping techniques such as Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). Both Dr. Swack and Ms. Rawlings will describe how they have used this method for treating trauma in adults, adolescents, and children. It is effective in treating secondary trauma, so therapists can use this protocol for their own self-care.