Pre-Conference Options
12:00 - 4:00 PM (ET) (with a break from 1:30 - 2:00 PM)
9:00 AM - 1:00 PM (PT) (with a break from 10:30 - 11AM)
Considerations in the Treatment of Eating Disorders
with Laurie Cooper, PsyD, CEDS-S
Ethics Track
All mental health conditions should be approached with the utmost care in considering the basic ethical practices common to each clinical discipline, confidentiality and informed consent, operating within one's scope of competency and ensuring practices that do not cause harm to our clients. However, the numerous ethical issues facing eating disorders practitioners may differ significantly from those ethical conundrums that arise when working with a general client base.
- What are the unique issues that contribute to such complexity in working with patients affected by an eating disorder
- How do we ensure competency in the face of such complexity in the treatment of eating disorders field and to be operating within our scope of expertise?
- Can we provide efficacious care and include the client's own preferences, when the illness appears to have significantly disrupted the patient's judgment and value system?
- How might the lack of professionals with eating disorder expertise impact our own treatment of patients with an eating disorder?
This presentation will cover these issues and more, using a framework of Principlism to conceptualize case examples and illustrate common areas of ethical difficulties specific to treatment of individuals with eating disorders.
Understanding Psychotropic Medications
with Joseph Kertesz, MA, LCMHD, NCC
Integration Track
This presentation will cover:
Antidepressants: All tend to treat depressive symptoms to approximately equally.
It is important for the MHP to understand: different groups of antidepressants; speed of onset; side effects; which mental health conditions are best treated by each.
Anxiolytics: Antianxiety medications are primarily from the drug classes of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and benzodiazepines. These drugs have many differences.
It is important for the MHP understand: different groups of anxiolytics; qualities that set the anxiolytics apart from each other such as onset, elimination, side effects, active metabolites and secondary indications; which mental health conditions are best treated by each medications.
Mood Stabilizers: These medications are currently being used primarily for bipolar disorders. They are sometimes used for off label disorders. The side effect profiles of the drugs are considerable, but they are effective. It is important for the MHP to understand: the different uses; the side effects; which mental health conditions are best treated by each.
Typical and Atypical Antipsychotic Antipsychotics: These medications are currently being used for a variety of psychiatric disorders; many of them are off label uses. However, the side effects of the antipsychotics vary considerably. It is important for the MHP to understand: the different uses of atypical antipsychotics; the side effects; which mental health conditions are best treated by each.
Communications with Physicians: Most physicians welcome input from MHPs regarding the impact psychotropic medications are having on clients functioning. Methods for communicating with physicians about medications will be presented.
The Neurobiology of Trauma and Its Application to Successful Treatment
with Judith A. Swack, Ph.D. and Wendy Rawlings, MS LMHC
Trauma Track | Neuroscience Track
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.