Register for the

48th Annual
46th Annual

Psychotherapy networker symposium

March 20-23, 2025
The World's Premier Psychotherapy Conference, Live in DC & Online!

Esther Perel

World-renowned Relationship Expert, NYT bestselling author

Esther Perel has devoted her entire professional life to helping people build thriving relationships. She believes that the quality of our relationships determines the quality of our lives. Since arriving as a graduate student in the United States, Perel has examined the concept from myriad angles: the nature of cultural and religious identity, the negotiation between tradition and modernity, the ebb and flow between individualism and collectivism. She observed interracial and interreligious couples; the cultural forces that affect gender roles; practices of childrearing; and ultimately, the tensions, obstacles, and anxieties that arise when our quest for love and security conflicts with our pursuit of adventure and freedom.

Today, Perel is best known as the host of the wildly popular podcast Where Should We Begin? This fascinating, inside look at Perel’s sessions with real-life couples has unlocked a deep-seated cultural interest in hashing these issues out openly in order to live better lives. However, it has also unlocked within Perel the understanding that her years of study and practice go beyond the romantic, and that the lessons she has learned can be applied to relationships of all kinds, in all environments. The same principles used to create an open, balanced relationship with one’s significant other can be applied to our co-workers, our bosses, and our world at large.

New York Times best-selling author Esther Perel is recognized as one of today’s most insightful and original voices on modern relationships. As a psychotherapist, Perel has helmed a therapy practice in New York City for more than 35 years. In parallel, she serves as an organizational consultant for Fortune 500 companies around the world. Fluent in nine languages, Perel’s celebrated TED talks have garnered more than 40 million views and her best-selling books have been translated into 31 languages. Perel is an executive producer and host of the award-winning podcast Where Should We Begin? Her new podcast How’s Work? focuses on workplace dynamics and can be enjoyed on Spotify or other podcast providers.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Esther Perel maintains a private practice. She has employment relationships with Columbia University, Ackerman Institute for the Family, Norwegian Institute for the Expressive Arts Therapies, The Minuchin center for the Family, and 92nd Street Y. She receives royalties as a published author. Esther Perel receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Esther Perel is a member of the American Family Therapy Academy, The Society for Sex Therapy and Research, and the American Association for Sex Educators, Counsellors and Therapists.

Esther Perel

Jon Kabat-Zinn

Pioneering Innovator in Mindfulness for Clinical Practice

Featured in Bill Moyer's PBS Special, "Healing and the Mind", Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., is executive director at the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. He is the founder and former director of the UMMC Stress Reduction Clinic and an associate professor of medicine in the division of preventive and behavioral medicine. Using mindfulness meditation, Kabat-Zinn works to help people reduce stress and deal with chronic pain, and a variety of illnesses, particularly breast cancer. He was a trainer for the 1984 U.S. Men's Olympic Rowing Team and is especially interested in reducing the stress-related problems in the inner city and in prison populations.

Kabat-Zinn's books include: Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness (1991); Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life (1994) and Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting (1997), which was co-authored with his wife, Myla.

Jon Kabat-Zinn

Ramani Durvasula

Dr. Ramani Durvasula is a licensed clinical psychologist, Professor of Psychology at California State University, Los Angeles, and the Founder and CEO of LUNA Education, Training & Consulting, a company that offers a range of programs focused on educating survivors, clinicians, coaches and businesses on the impacts of narcissism on health, wellness and functioning. She’s the author of Don’t You Know Who I Am: How to Stay Sane in the Era of Narcissism, Entitlement and Incivility, Should I Stay or Should I Go: Surviving a Relationship With A Narcissist. Dr. Ramani also has a popular YouTube channel that focuses on narcissism and difficult relationships, mental health, and societal expectations. Her work has been featured at SxSW, TEDx and on a wide range of media platforms including, Red Table Talk, the Today Show, Oxygen, Investigation Discovery and Bravo. She is also a featured expert on the digital media mental health platform MedCircle. Dr. Durvasula’s research on personality disorders has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and she is a Consulting Editor of the scientific journal Behavioral Medicine. Dr. Durvasula is a brutally honest voice on the struggles raised by narcissism in the US and globally.  

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Ramani Durvasula is the founder and CEO of LUNA Education, Training, and Consulting. She maintains a private practice and has employment relationships with the California State University Los Angeles and the University of Johannesburg. Ramani Durvasula receives royalties as a published author. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Ramani Durvasula is an associate editor for Behavioral Medicine and a consulting editor for Psychology of Women Quarterly and Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Mental Health. She is an ad hoc reviewer for the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, AIDS and Behavior, and Sex Roles: A Journal of Research. Ramani Durvasula is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science Society for Behavioral Medicine, and the International Association of Applied Psychology.

Ramani Durvasula

Daniel J. Siegel

Interpersonal Neurobiology Expert, Executive Director of the Mindsight Institute

Daniel J. Siegel, MD, is a graduate of Harvard Medical School and completed his postgraduate medical education at UCLA with training in pediatrics and child, adolescent, and adult psychiatry. He is currently a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine, founding co-director of UCLA's Mindful Awareness Research Center, founding co-investigator at the UCLA Center for Culture, Brain and Development, and executive director of the Mindsight Institute, an educational center devoted to promoting insight, compassion, and empathy in individuals, families, institutions, and communities.

Dr. Siegel's psychotherapy practice spans thirty years, and he has published extensively for the professional audience. He serves as the Founding Editor for the Norton Professional Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology which includes over 70 textbooks. Dr. Siegel's books include his five New York Times bestsellers: Aware: The Science and Practice of Presence; Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain, Mind: A Journey to the Heart of Being Human, and two books with Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D, The Whole-Brain Child and No-Drama Discipline. His other books include:The Power of Showing Up also with Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D., The Developing Mind, The Pocket Guide to Interpersonal Neurobiology, Mindsight, The Mindful Brain, The Mindful Therapist, Parenting from the Inside Out (with Mary Hartzell, M.Ed.), and The Yes Brain (also with Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D). He has been invited to lecture for the King of Thailand, Pope John Paul II, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Google University, and TEDx.


Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Daniel Siegel is the clinical professor at the UCLA School of Medicine, the medical director of Lifespan Learning Institute, the executive director of Center for Human Development and Mindsight Institute, and the founding editor of Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology. He receives royalties as a published author. Dr. Daniel Siegel receives a speaking honorarium, recording royalties, and book royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Daniel Siegel serves on the advisory board for Gloo and Convergence in Washington, D.C.

Daniel J. Siegel

Frank Anderson

Renowned Harvard-trained psychiatrist, IFS Lead Trainer, Author Transcending Trauma

Frank Anderson, MD, completed his residency and was a clinical instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He is both a psychiatrist and psychotherapist. He specializes in the treatment of trauma and dissociation and is passionate about teaching brain-based psychotherapy and integrating current neuroscience knowledge with the IFS model of therapy.

Dr. Anderson is a lead trainer at the IFS Institute with Richard Schwartz and maintains a long affiliation with, and trains for, Bessel van der Kolk’s Trauma Center. He serves as an advisor to the International Association of Trauma Professionals (IATP) and was the former chair and director of the Foundation for Self-Leadership.

Dr. Anderson has lectured extensively on the Neurobiology of PTSD and Dissociation and wrote the chapter “Who’s Taking What” Connecting Neuroscience, Psychopharmacology and Internal Family Systems for Trauma in Internal Family Systems Therapy – New Dimensions. He co-authored a chapter on What IFS Brings to Trauma Treatment in Innovations and Elaborations in Internal Family Systems Therapy, and recently co-authored Internal Family Systems Skills Training Manual.

His most recent book, entitled Transcending Trauma: Healing Complex PTSD with Internal Family Systems was released on May 19, 2021.

His memoir, To Be Loved, released on May 7, 2024.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Frank Anderson maintains a private practice. He is the Executive Director of the Foundation for Self Leadership and has employment relationships with The Trauma Center and The Center for Self Leadership. Dr. Anderson receives royalties as a published author. He receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Frank Anderson is a member of the New England Society Studying Trauma and Dissociation and the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation.

Frank Anderson

Kenneth V. Hardy

Kenneth V. Hardy, PhD, is a Clinical and Organizational Consultant at the Eikenberg Institute for Relationships in New York, NY where he also serves a director.  

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Kenneth Hardy has employment relationships with Eikenberg Institute for Relationships and Eikenberg Academy for Social Justice . He receives royalties as a published author. Kenneth Hardy receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Kenneth Hardy has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Kenneth V. Hardy

Janina Fisher

Janina Fisher, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and former instructor at The Trauma Center, a research and treatment center founded by Bessel van der Kolk. Known as an expert on the treatment of trauma, Dr. Fisher has also been treating individuals, couples, and families since 1980.

She is past president of the New England Society for the Treatment of Trauma and Dissociation, an EMDR International Association Credit Provider, Assistant Educational Director of the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute, and a former Instructor, at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Fisher lectures and teaches nationally and internationally on topics related to the integration of the neurobiological research and newer trauma treatment paradigms into traditional therapeutic modalities.

She is co-author with Pat Ogden of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: Interventions for Attachment and Trauma (2015) and author of Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors: Overcoming Internal Self-Alienation (2017) and the forthcoming book, Working with the Neurobiological Legacy of Trauma (in press).

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Janina Fisher has an employment relationship with the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute. She is a consultant for Khiron House Clinics and the Massachusetts Department of MH Restraint and Seclusion Initiative. Dr. Fisher receives royalties as a published author. She receives a speaking honorarium, recording royalties and book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. Dr. Fisher has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Janina Fisher is on the advisory board for the Trauma Research Foundation. She is a patron of the Bowlby Center.

Janina Fisher

David Kessler

David Kessler is one of the world’s foremost experts on grief and loss. His decades of experience with thousands of people on the edge of life and death has taught him the secrets to living a happy and fulfilled life, even after life’s tragedies. He is the author of six books, including his latest bestselling book, Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief. He coauthored two books with Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. His new online model of grief support, Tender Hearts, offers over twenty-five groups. Additionally, David leads one of the most respected Grief Educator Certification programs. He is the founder of Grief.com.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: David Kessler is the is the co-founder and President Emeritus of Project Angel Food. He is a published author and receives royalties. David Kessler receives a speaking honorarium and recording and book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: David Kessler is a board member for the Farrah Fawcett Foundation. He is a team member of the Health Care Executives of Southern California, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the Red Cross.

David Kessler

Diana Fosha

Diana Fosha, PhD, is the developer of AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy), a healing-based, transformation-oriented model of psychotherapeutic treatment and she is founder and director of the AEDP Institute. For the last 20 years, Diana has been active in promoting a scientific basis for a healing-oriented, attachment-emotion-transformation focused trauma treatment model. Fosha’s work focuses on integrating positive neuroplasticity, recognition science and developmental dyadic research into experiential and transformational clinical work with patients. Her most recent work focuses on promoting flourishing as a seamless part of AEDP’s therapeutic process of transforming emotional suffering. Drawing on affective neuroscience, attachment theory, mother-infant developmental research, and research documenting the undreamed-of plasticity in the adult brain, AEDP has developed an experiential clinical practice, which reflects the integration of science, research and practice in psychotherapy.

Based in New York City, where she lives and practices, Fosha has been on the faculties of the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology of NYU and St. Luke’s/Roosevelt Medical Centers (now Mount Sinai) in NYC, and of the doctoral programs in clinical psychology at the Derner Institute for Advanced Psychological Studies at Adelphi University and at The City University of New York.


Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Diana Fosha is the Director and Founder of the AEDP Institute and maintains a private practice. She receives royalties as a published author. Diana Fosha receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Diana Fosha is on the advisory board of GAINS and the Society for Constructivism in the Human Science. She is on the Planning Committee and Advisory Board of by the Lifespan Learning Institute and is a member of the American Psychological Association.

Diana Fosha

Lisa Ferentz

Lisa Ferentz, LCSW-C, DAPA, is a recognized expert in the strengths-based, de-pathologized treatment of trauma and has been in private practice for over 35 years. She presents workshops and keynote addresses nationally and internationally, and is a clinical consultant to practitioners and mental health agencies in the United States, Canada, the UK and Ireland.

She has been an adjunct faculty member at several Universities, and is the Founder of “The Ferentz Institute,” now in its 11th year of providing continuing education to mental health professionals and graduating over 1,200 clinicians from her two certificate programs in Advanced Trauma Treatment.

In 2009, she was voted the “Social Worker of Year” by the Maryland Society for Clinical Social Work. Lisa is the author of Treating Self-Destructive Behaviors in Trauma Survivors: A Clinician’s Guide, 2nd Edition (Routledge, 2014), Letting Go of Self-Destructive Behaviors: A Workbook of Hope and Healing (Routledge, 2014), and Finding Your Ruby Slippers: Transformative Life Lessons From the Therapist’s Couch (PESI, 2017). Lisa also hosted a weekly radio talk show, writes blogs and articles for websites on self-harm and self-care, and teaches on many webinars.


Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Lisa Ferentz maintains a private practice and is the Founder and President of the Ferentz Institute. She receives royalties as a published author and is a consultant for Northwest Hospital. Lisa Ferentz receives a speaking honorarium and product royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Lisa Ferentz is a member of the National Association of Social Workers and the American Psychotherapy Association.

Lisa Ferentz
Plus, Linda Thai, Claudia Black, Ellyn Bader, Ed Tronick, Tammy Nelson, Arielle Schwartz, Matthias Barker and 65 more of the field's leading experts!

Limited-time Early Bird Discounts are Now Available!

Lock in your deeply discounted ticket and instantly select your workshops before they fill up. Plus, you get risk-free registration with no cancellation fees!
For 48 years, the Networker Symposium has been a gathering of connection, creativity, and rejuvenation for therapists dedicated to creating meaningful change for clients, communities, and themselves.

Featuring dozens of the field's leading innovators, and a community of over 5,000 of your devoted colleagues, this is the place to access the latest advances in the field and discover a range of possibilities to bring fresh ideas and inspiration to your practice. Plus, you’ll have the most fun you’ll ever have at a professional conference!

2025 Psychotherapy Networker Symposium

March 20-23, 2025
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Learn from leading therapy innovators, including...

Ellyn Bader, Couples Institute Co-Founder
Deb Dana, Leading Polyvagal Informed Therapy Innovator
Claudia Black, Expert in Adult Children of Addiction
Diana Fosha, developer fo Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP) 
Vienna Pharaon, “The Mindful MFT” and The Origins of You author 
Janina Fisher, renowned trauma expert and author
David Kessler, Grief Expert
Abi Blakeslee, Somatic Therapy Trainer
Ramani Durvasula, Narcissism expert
Harville Hendrix & Helen LaKelly Hunt, Developers of IMAGO Therapy
Arielle Schwartz, author of The Complex PTSD Treatment Manual

Deran Young, Founder of Black Therapists Rock
Tammy Nelson, founder of The Integrative Sex Therapy Institute
Stan Tatkin, developer of PACT and author Wired for Love
Alexia Rothman, renowned IFS practitioner
Matthias Barker, psychotherapy educator
Elliott Connie, developer of Solution Focused Brief Therapy
Martha Kauppi, author Polyamory: A Clinical Toolkit
David Grand, developer of Brainspotting
Peter Fraenkel, author Last Chance Couple Therapy
Lisa Ferentz, Founder of the Ferentz Institute
James Gordon, Founder of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine
Hilary Waller, Post-partum expert

Schedule at a Glance

Click on the days below to see times of each event
*All times are listed in Eastern Time
IP=In-Person V=Virtual 
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Thursday, March 20

9:00 AM - 3:00 PM ~ Creativity Day - Full Day Intensive Deep-Dive Workshops
(Opportunities for Ethics CE, Cultural CE, and certification workshops!)
3:30 PM - 4:30 PM ~ Main Stage: Special Symposium Opening Keynote Address
3:00 PM - 6:00 PM ~ Grand Opening of the Symposium Exhibit Hall & Conference Bookstore!

Thursday
Afternoon Keynote: 3:30 – 4:30 pm ET
Jean Twenge, PhD

iGen

Guiding the Smartphone Generation

Psychologist Jean Twenge is one of the foremost researchers exploring the lives of kids and teens today. Her up-to-the-minute studies tying the rise of mental health issues in teens to the explosion of smartphones have widely influenced key cultural figures and educational policy from coast to coast. A professor at San Diego State University and popular speaker, her talks and seminars about generational differences are based on an impressive dataset of over 40 million people, which keeps her in the center of both the intellectual debates and cultural maelstrom surrounding technology and teens. Among her 180 scientific publications and seven books are Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers and Silents—and What They Mean for America’s Future and Why Today's Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy—and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood. A frequent network news media guest, she writes the Generation Tech substack.  

In this talk, Twenge will delve into the latest findings about how being the first generation to spend their adolescence with smartphones is affecting today’s teens. Has it really made them more likely to experience unhappiness, anxiety, and depression? And if so, what can therapists do to help? 

Friday, March 21

7:30 AM ~ Morning Yoga and Movement Sessions
9:00 AM - 10:45 AM ~ Welcome & Morning Keynote
11:00 AM - 1 PM ~ Morning Clinical Workshops
1:15 PM - 2:45 PM ~ Luncheon Keynote
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM ~ Afternoon Clinical Workshops
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM ~ Evening of Comedy Event
9:00 PM ~ Symposium Dance Party

Friday
Morning Keynote: 9:00 am – 10:45 am EST
Esther Perel, MA, LMFT

Bridging Divides: Exploring Polarization in Therapy and Society

How can we repair relationships in a world torn apart by polarization, conflict, and misunderstanding? In this dynamic conversation, three experts come together to offer their unique perspectives on rebuilding connection amidst division. Esther Perel, celebrated for her transformative work on intimacy and relational repair in her bestselling books, courses, and the podcast Where Should We Begin?, delves into how we can restore trust, nuance, and complexity in intimate relationships. Mónica Guzmán, author of I Never Thought of It That Way and a pioneer in bridging political divides through curiosity, shares insights on fostering empathy and understanding across seemingly irreconcilable differences, drawing from her experience navigating family dynamics with opposing political views. Bill Doherty, author of Becoming a Citizen Therapist: Integrating Community Problem-Solving Into Your Work as a Healer and Take Back Your Marriage, brings his expertise in helping couples and communities resolve conflicts through dialogue and shared purpose. 

Together, they will explore the messy, powerful work of repair, recognizing that true connection doesn’t mean eliminating differences, but learning to hold space for them. In a world where we often mistake our stories for truth, these experts argue that real understanding goes beyond living alongside those who think like us. Instead, it lies in our ability to coexist respectfully and empathetically with those whose stories and perceptions may deeply challenge our own. The goal is not to erase the divide, but to ensure it does not define our relationships by default—acknowledging that even in profound disagreement, there is a shared humanity that compels us to care for one another when it matters most. 

 

Friday
Luncheon Address: 1:15 – 2:45 pm ET
Daniel J. Siegel, MD

How Attachment Trauma Shapes Our Personality

Early Experience & The Formation of The Self

These days, if the modern human mind could have a personal translator, PR agent, and cheerleader, that person would be Dan Siegel. Beyond his impressive CV—he’s a clinical professor of psychiatry, founder and co-investigator at numerous research centers, founding editor of the Norton professional series on interpersonal neurobiology, and executive director of the Mindsight Institute—Siegel’s bestselling books have found their way into the hands of millions of everyday people seeking advice on developing awareness, regulating emotions, and raising whole-brain children. Having worked as a therapist and mind researcher for over 30 years, Siegel gets people and their patterns—on both a human and neurobiological level. More than any other psychiatrist alive today, he’s changed the way we live, communicate, parent, and think about thinking.

In this keynote, we’ll explore how persistent patterns of emotion, thinking, and behavior—known as “personality”—may have formed, and how to enable those potential prisons to transform into platforms of possibility that serve as playgrounds in life. Using research from the trans-disciplinary field of Interpersonal Neurobiology, we will explore the Patterns of Developmental Pathways (PDPs). Join us, and have your mind blown by our field’s beloved mind expert.

*Seats are limited.  Advanced registration is required and an additional fee will apply.

 

Friday
Evening Event: 7:00 - 9:00 pm ET
Kellen Erskine & Elliott Connie

An Evening of Comedy with Kellen Erskine & Elliott Connie

After a long day of honing your clinical skills, join your friends and colleagues for an evening of comedy thrills! Kick back and indulge while you experience an evening of stand-up comedy headlined by comedy sensation Kellen Erskine with our very own Symposium faculty, Elliott Connie.

Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, America’s Got Talent, Comedy Central, and the Amazon Original Series Inside Jokes. Known for his sharp, observational humor and engaging, relatable stories, Erskine was named one of TBS’s Top Ten Comics to Watch in 2017, and his comedy clips have garnered over 150 million views on the streaming channel Dry Bar Comedy.

Opening the night is long-time Symposium faculty member and developer of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, Elliott Connie. When he’s not practicing and teaching, he’s traveling across the country honing his comedy chops and hosting shows for stars like Tiffany Haddish. With incisive, witty commentaries on everything from parenting to relationships, come see for yourself why Connie has dubbed his comedy calling “a new way to heal the world.” Let’s face it: therapy is hard work. And while the insurance companies may not recognize a bad case of comedy deficiency disorder, we sure do! So it’s okay to leave your notes, your DSM, and your inhibitions behind for tonight. We won’t tell.

*Join us for drinks, dessert, and an evening of much needed laughter.  Space is limited, and advanced registration is required. There is an additional fee to attend.

Wendy T. Behary, MSW, LCSW

Bestselling Author of “Disarming the Narcissist” 
Friday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

212 - Disarming the Covert Narcissist

Innovations in Addressing Narcissism in Individuals & Couples

Covert narcissism is an often overlooked form of narcissism that can be especially challenging to detect. Unlike their overt counterparts, covert narcissists don’t display grandiose, attention-seeking behaviors that reveal their narcissistic tendencies. Instead, they often present as modest, self-effacing, and even insecure, making it more difficult to recognize narcissistic traits like passive-aggression, blaming, low empathy, assurance-seeking, emotionally manipulating others, and a lack of accountability. In this workshop, we’ll use schema therapy, an emotion-focused, needs-meeting approach that provides the skills for clinicians to sturdy themselves, to learn how to identify and heal the underlying insecurities of the covert narcissist. We’ll also explore the origins of covert narcissism, including early trauma, high degrees of enmeshment, and attachment ruptures. You’ll also learn how to: 

  • How to work with both partners when covert narcissism shows up in couples therapy 
  • Identify patterns and activating conditions associated with covert narcissism, such as cultural influence, religion, and socioeconomic status 
  • Help covert narcissists quiet and convert their inner critic, let go of self-defeating patterns, and develop adaptive responses 
  • Address potentially triggering conditions in the therapy relationship  
  • Use somatosensory exercises and behavioral pattern-breaking skills with covert narcissists

With 25 + years of professional experience and advanced level certifications, Wendy Behary is the founder and director of The Cognitive Therapy Center of New Jersey and the Schema Therapy Institutes of NJ-NYC-DC. She has been treating clients, training professionals and supervising psychotherapists for more than 20 years. Wendy was on the faculty of the Cognitive Therapy Center and Schema Therapy Institute of New York (until the Institutes merged in 2012), where she trained and worked with Dr. Jeffrey Young since 1989.

She is a founding fellow and consulting supervisor for The Academy of Cognitive Therapy (Aaron T. Beck’s Institute). Wendy served as the President of the Executive Board of the International Society of Schema Therapy (ISST) from 2010-2014 and served as the Training and Certification Coordinator for the ISST Executive Board from 2008-2010. She is currently the chair of the Schema Therapy Development Programs Sub-Committee for the ISST.

Wendy Behary has co-authored several chapters and articles on Schema Therapy and Cognitive Therapy. She is the author of an international bestselling book, Disarming the Narcissist: Surviving and Thriving with the Self-Absorbed, translated in 15 languages. The Third Edition was released on October 1, 2021. Wendy has a specialty in treating narcissists and the people who live with and deal with them. As an author and an expert on the subject of narcissism, she is a contributing chapter author of several chapters on schema therapy for narcissism for professional readers. She lectures both nationally and internationally to professional and general audiences on schema therapy, narcissism, interpersonal relationships, anger, and dealing with difficult people. She receives consistent high praise for her clear and articulate teaching style and her ability to bring the therapy to life through dramatic demonstrations of client interactions in the treatment room.

Her work industry business speaking engagements focus on interpersonal conflict resolution. Her private practice is primarily devoted to treating narcissists, partners/people dealing with them, and couples experiencing relationship problems.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Wendy Behary is the co-founder, Clinical Director, and Director of Training for The Cognitive Therapy Center of New Jersey and The Schema Therapy Institute of NJ-NYC-DC. She is a published author and receives royalties. Wendy Behary receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Wendy Behary serves on the advisory board of the International Society for Schema Therapy and is a member of the NJ Association of Cognitive-Behavior Therapists, and the International Association of Cognitive-Behavior Therapists.

Wendy T. Behary, MSW, LCSW
Friday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

212 - Disarming the Covert Narcissist

Innovations in Addressing Narcissism in Individuals & Couples
*Please note: this workshop has met the in-person capacity.
More Details

Wendy T. Behary, MSW, LCSW

Bestselling Author of “Disarming the Narcissist” 
Friday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

212 - Disarming the Covert Narcissist

Innovations in Addressing Narcissism in Individuals & Couples

Covert narcissism is an often overlooked form of narcissism that can be especially challenging to detect. Unlike their overt counterparts, covert narcissists don’t display grandiose, attention-seeking behaviors that reveal their narcissistic tendencies. Instead, they often present as modest, self-effacing, and even insecure, making it more difficult to recognize narcissistic traits like passive-aggression, blaming, low empathy, assurance-seeking, emotionally manipulating others, and a lack of accountability. In this workshop, we’ll use schema therapy, an emotion-focused, needs-meeting approach that provides the skills for clinicians to sturdy themselves, to learn how to identify and heal the underlying insecurities of the covert narcissist. We’ll also explore the origins of covert narcissism, including early trauma, high degrees of enmeshment, and attachment ruptures. You’ll also learn how to: 

  • How to work with both partners when covert narcissism shows up in couples therapy 
  • Identify patterns and activating conditions associated with covert narcissism, such as cultural influence, religion, and socioeconomic status 
  • Help covert narcissists quiet and convert their inner critic, let go of self-defeating patterns, and develop adaptive responses 
  • Address potentially triggering conditions in the therapy relationship  
  • Use somatosensory exercises and behavioral pattern-breaking skills with covert narcissists

With 25 + years of professional experience and advanced level certifications, Wendy Behary is the founder and director of The Cognitive Therapy Center of New Jersey and the Schema Therapy Institutes of NJ-NYC-DC. She has been treating clients, training professionals and supervising psychotherapists for more than 20 years. Wendy was on the faculty of the Cognitive Therapy Center and Schema Therapy Institute of New York (until the Institutes merged in 2012), where she trained and worked with Dr. Jeffrey Young since 1989.

She is a founding fellow and consulting supervisor for The Academy of Cognitive Therapy (Aaron T. Beck’s Institute). Wendy served as the President of the Executive Board of the International Society of Schema Therapy (ISST) from 2010-2014 and served as the Training and Certification Coordinator for the ISST Executive Board from 2008-2010. She is currently the chair of the Schema Therapy Development Programs Sub-Committee for the ISST.

Wendy Behary has co-authored several chapters and articles on Schema Therapy and Cognitive Therapy. She is the author of an international bestselling book, Disarming the Narcissist: Surviving and Thriving with the Self-Absorbed, translated in 15 languages. The Third Edition was released on October 1, 2021. Wendy has a specialty in treating narcissists and the people who live with and deal with them. As an author and an expert on the subject of narcissism, she is a contributing chapter author of several chapters on schema therapy for narcissism for professional readers. She lectures both nationally and internationally to professional and general audiences on schema therapy, narcissism, interpersonal relationships, anger, and dealing with difficult people. She receives consistent high praise for her clear and articulate teaching style and her ability to bring the therapy to life through dramatic demonstrations of client interactions in the treatment room.

Her work industry business speaking engagements focus on interpersonal conflict resolution. Her private practice is primarily devoted to treating narcissists, partners/people dealing with them, and couples experiencing relationship problems.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Wendy Behary is the co-founder, Clinical Director, and Director of Training for The Cognitive Therapy Center of New Jersey and The Schema Therapy Institute of NJ-NYC-DC. She is a published author and receives royalties. Wendy Behary receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Wendy Behary serves on the advisory board of the International Society for Schema Therapy and is a member of the NJ Association of Cognitive-Behavior Therapists, and the International Association of Cognitive-Behavior Therapists.

Kory Andreas, LCSW-C

Autism-Focused Therapy Expert
Friday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

213 - Rethinking Adult-Diagnosed Autism

From Pathology to Identity

The “lost generation” of autistic adults—those who uncovered their Autism diagnosis in adulthood—are flooding our offices. As therapists, how can we best help them turn their lifelong barriers into breakthroughs? Say goodbye to stigma, outdated assessment methods, and what you thought you knew about Autism. In this workshop, we’ll uncover a new, innovative therapeutic approach that replaces ineffective generalist-therapy techniques with Autism-affirming strategies to create a new paradigm of care for neurodivergent clients. We’ll explore the expansive diagnostic scope of high- masking adults and equip you for the unique clinical considerations they present. You’ll discover:

 

  • How to identify previously unrecognized markers of neurodivergence
  • How to help clients soothe a nervous system “on fire” and address issues related to sensory sensitivities and comorbidities
  • How to unlock therapeutic pathways to identity-based acceptance, including navigating diagnostic grief
  • How to transform communication between partners in neurodivergence-affirming couples therapy

Kory Andreas, LCSW-C, is an Autism-focused therapist, consultant, and writer. She specializes in delivering neurodiversity awareness and affirming strategies to mental health practitioners, treatment facilities, and the corporate world.  

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Kory Andreas maintains a private practice. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Kory Andreas has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Kory Andreas, LCSW-C
Friday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

213 - Rethinking Adult-Diagnosed Autism

From Pathology to Identity
*Please note: this workshop has met the in-person capacity.
More Details

Kory Andreas, LCSW-C

Autism-Focused Therapy Expert
Friday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

213 - Rethinking Adult-Diagnosed Autism

From Pathology to Identity

The “lost generation” of autistic adults—those who uncovered their Autism diagnosis in adulthood—are flooding our offices. As therapists, how can we best help them turn their lifelong barriers into breakthroughs? Say goodbye to stigma, outdated assessment methods, and what you thought you knew about Autism. In this workshop, we’ll uncover a new, innovative therapeutic approach that replaces ineffective generalist-therapy techniques with Autism-affirming strategies to create a new paradigm of care for neurodivergent clients. We’ll explore the expansive diagnostic scope of high- masking adults and equip you for the unique clinical considerations they present. You’ll discover:

 

  • How to identify previously unrecognized markers of neurodivergence
  • How to help clients soothe a nervous system “on fire” and address issues related to sensory sensitivities and comorbidities
  • How to unlock therapeutic pathways to identity-based acceptance, including navigating diagnostic grief
  • How to transform communication between partners in neurodivergence-affirming couples therapy

Kory Andreas, LCSW-C, is an Autism-focused therapist, consultant, and writer. She specializes in delivering neurodiversity awareness and affirming strategies to mental health practitioners, treatment facilities, and the corporate world.  

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Kory Andreas maintains a private practice. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Kory Andreas has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Judith Matz, LCSW

Expert on Emotional Eating, Chronic Dieting, and Body Image
Friday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

214 - The Other F Word

Anti-Fat Bias in Clinical Practice

When your clients tell you they want to lose weight, how do you respond? Do you reply affirmatively? Do you ask questions? What comes up for you, personally? No matter your clinical specialization or treatment approach, you almost certainly have clients who struggle with body image and body size. How you respond to their concerns has the potential to help them heal—or to compound their shame. Yes, we therapists value inclusivity, but too often we forget to include body size in the mix of the diversity we appreciate, which has repercussions for our work and our clients’ well-being. In this workshop, you’ll explore how anti-fat bias shows up in the therapy room. As you unlearn messages rooted in diet culture, you’ll walk away with strategies to help clients feel more at peace with food and their bodies, without causing harm. You’ll also explore: 

  • How weight stigma affects the well-being of clients and therapists—and plays out in the therapy room 
  • How to improve client outcomes by challenging common misconceptions about the connection between trauma, binge eating, and weight  
  • Strategies clients and therapists can use to unlearn internalized weight stigma  
  • Resources to help clients feel more at home in—and take care of—their bodies 

Judith Matz, LCSW, is a therapist in private practice whose work focuses on clients who want to get off the diet/binge rollercoaster, develop a nourishing and satisfying relationship with food, and become more at home in their bodies. She’s the co-author of The Emotional Eating, Chronic Dieting, Binge Eating & Body Image Workbook, Beyond a Shadow of a Diet, and The Body Positivity and Making Peace with Food Card Decks

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Judith Matz is the director of The Chicago Center for Overcoming Overeating, Inc. and maintains a private practice. She receives royalties as a published author. Judith Matz receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Judith Matz is a member of the National Association of Social Workers, the National Eating Disorder Association, and the Association for Size Diversity and Health.

Judith Matz, LCSW
Friday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

214 - The Other F Word

Anti-Fat Bias in Clinical Practice
More Details

Judith Matz, LCSW

Expert on Emotional Eating, Chronic Dieting, and Body Image
Friday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

214 - The Other F Word

Anti-Fat Bias in Clinical Practice

When your clients tell you they want to lose weight, how do you respond? Do you reply affirmatively? Do you ask questions? What comes up for you, personally? No matter your clinical specialization or treatment approach, you almost certainly have clients who struggle with body image and body size. How you respond to their concerns has the potential to help them heal—or to compound their shame. Yes, we therapists value inclusivity, but too often we forget to include body size in the mix of the diversity we appreciate, which has repercussions for our work and our clients’ well-being. In this workshop, you’ll explore how anti-fat bias shows up in the therapy room. As you unlearn messages rooted in diet culture, you’ll walk away with strategies to help clients feel more at peace with food and their bodies, without causing harm. You’ll also explore: 

  • How weight stigma affects the well-being of clients and therapists—and plays out in the therapy room 
  • How to improve client outcomes by challenging common misconceptions about the connection between trauma, binge eating, and weight  
  • Strategies clients and therapists can use to unlearn internalized weight stigma  
  • Resources to help clients feel more at home in—and take care of—their bodies 

Judith Matz, LCSW, is a therapist in private practice whose work focuses on clients who want to get off the diet/binge rollercoaster, develop a nourishing and satisfying relationship with food, and become more at home in their bodies. She’s the co-author of The Emotional Eating, Chronic Dieting, Binge Eating & Body Image Workbook, Beyond a Shadow of a Diet, and The Body Positivity and Making Peace with Food Card Decks

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Judith Matz is the director of The Chicago Center for Overcoming Overeating, Inc. and maintains a private practice. She receives royalties as a published author. Judith Matz receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Judith Matz is a member of the National Association of Social Workers, the National Eating Disorder Association, and the Association for Size Diversity and Health.

Jill Stoddard, PhD

Expert ACT Trainer, author of “Imposter No More”
Friday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

215 - Helping Clients Overcome Imposter “Syndrome”

An ACT Approach

Deep down, the majority of successful people spend a good amount of time questioning their professional legitimacy. The result can be debilitating self-doubt and rumination, affecting everything from their work to their relationships. You might even be one of these self-doubters! So how can we help people break free of this so-called imposter “syndrome”? In this workshop, learn Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) techniques to help clients manage their imposterism and live up to their full professional potential—without being usurped by the crippling burden of self-doubt. You’ll explore why your clients (and you!) develop imposter thoughts, fall into traps trying to outrun the imposter experience, and how to take actionable steps toward cultivating psychological flexibility—the main goal of ACT---to move confidently in the direction of your most deeply held values. You’ll also learn:  

  • Which people are most vulnerable to the imposter experience—and why  
  • The five imposter subtypes—and how to work with them in the therapy room 
  • ACT metaphors and experiential exercises to bring your work to life for clients 

Jill Stoddard, PhD, is a psychologist, author, trainer, TEDx and keynote speaker, and award-winning teacher, as well as the co-host of the Psychologists Off the Clock podcast. She’s the founder of Flexible Communications, LLC, and The Center for Stress and Anxiety Management. Her books have been translated into 10 languages, and include The Big Book of ACT Metaphors, Be Mighty, and Imposter No More. Her perspectives have been featured in The Washington Post, Psychology Today, Today.com, The New York Times, and more. 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Jill Stoddard is the founder and director for The Center for Stress and Anxiety Management. She is an author and receives royalties. Dr. Stoddard receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Jill Stoddard is a member of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America; Association for Contextual and Behavioral Science; and Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy.

Jill Stoddard, PhD
Friday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

215 - Helping Clients Overcome Imposter “Syndrome”

An ACT Approach
More Details

Jill Stoddard, PhD

Expert ACT Trainer, author of “Imposter No More”
Friday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

215 - Helping Clients Overcome Imposter “Syndrome”

An ACT Approach

Deep down, the majority of successful people spend a good amount of time questioning their professional legitimacy. The result can be debilitating self-doubt and rumination, affecting everything from their work to their relationships. You might even be one of these self-doubters! So how can we help people break free of this so-called imposter “syndrome”? In this workshop, learn Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) techniques to help clients manage their imposterism and live up to their full professional potential—without being usurped by the crippling burden of self-doubt. You’ll explore why your clients (and you!) develop imposter thoughts, fall into traps trying to outrun the imposter experience, and how to take actionable steps toward cultivating psychological flexibility—the main goal of ACT---to move confidently in the direction of your most deeply held values. You’ll also learn:  

  • Which people are most vulnerable to the imposter experience—and why  
  • The five imposter subtypes—and how to work with them in the therapy room 
  • ACT metaphors and experiential exercises to bring your work to life for clients 

Jill Stoddard, PhD, is a psychologist, author, trainer, TEDx and keynote speaker, and award-winning teacher, as well as the co-host of the Psychologists Off the Clock podcast. She’s the founder of Flexible Communications, LLC, and The Center for Stress and Anxiety Management. Her books have been translated into 10 languages, and include The Big Book of ACT Metaphors, Be Mighty, and Imposter No More. Her perspectives have been featured in The Washington Post, Psychology Today, Today.com, The New York Times, and more. 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Jill Stoddard is the founder and director for The Center for Stress and Anxiety Management. She is an author and receives royalties. Dr. Stoddard receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Jill Stoddard is a member of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America; Association for Contextual and Behavioral Science; and Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy.

Kenneth V. Hardy, PhD

President of the Eikenberg Academy for Social Justice
Friday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

301 - Regulating Racial Reactivity & Defensiveness

How to Set the Stage for Positive Interactions

Many cross-racial interactions, inside and outside the therapy room, lead to reactivity and defensiveness that manifest in a number of ways, such as explosiveness, distancing, disengagement, and self-righteousness. But no matter what form reactivity takes, it gets in the way of meaningful and constructive conversations. These kinds of toxic interactions can ruin a friendship, work relationship, and even therapeutic relationship, leaving both parties feeling disillusioned, frustrated, and hopeless about not just current but future cross-racial encounters. In this workshop, we’ll explore:  

  • The anatomy of racial reactivity in order to help enhance race-related conversations and avoid inflicting racial harm 
  • How racial defensiveness can affect cross-racial engagement in the short and long-term  
  • Strategies for addressing, overcoming, and regulating racial reactivity inside and outside of therapy 
  • Effective ways to work with defensiveness to achieve honest and productive interactions 

Kenneth V. Hardy, PhD, is an organizational and clinical consultant and the director of the Eikenberg Institute for Relationships.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Kenneth Hardy has employment relationships with Eikenberg Institute for Relationships and Eikenberg Academy for Social Justice . He receives royalties as a published author. Kenneth Hardy receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Kenneth Hardy has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Kenneth V. Hardy, PhD
Friday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

301 - Regulating Racial Reactivity & Defensiveness

How to Set the Stage for Positive Interactions
More Details

Kenneth V. Hardy, PhD

President of the Eikenberg Academy for Social Justice
Friday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

301 - Regulating Racial Reactivity & Defensiveness

How to Set the Stage for Positive Interactions

Many cross-racial interactions, inside and outside the therapy room, lead to reactivity and defensiveness that manifest in a number of ways, such as explosiveness, distancing, disengagement, and self-righteousness. But no matter what form reactivity takes, it gets in the way of meaningful and constructive conversations. These kinds of toxic interactions can ruin a friendship, work relationship, and even therapeutic relationship, leaving both parties feeling disillusioned, frustrated, and hopeless about not just current but future cross-racial encounters. In this workshop, we’ll explore:  

  • The anatomy of racial reactivity in order to help enhance race-related conversations and avoid inflicting racial harm 
  • How racial defensiveness can affect cross-racial engagement in the short and long-term  
  • Strategies for addressing, overcoming, and regulating racial reactivity inside and outside of therapy 
  • Effective ways to work with defensiveness to achieve honest and productive interactions 

Kenneth V. Hardy, PhD, is an organizational and clinical consultant and the director of the Eikenberg Institute for Relationships.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Kenneth Hardy has employment relationships with Eikenberg Institute for Relationships and Eikenberg Academy for Social Justice . He receives royalties as a published author. Kenneth Hardy receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Kenneth Hardy has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Ellyn Bader, PhD

Co-director of The Couples Institute
Friday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

302 - Confrontation without Defensiveness

A Gentle, Compassionate Approach

Like it or not, confrontation is a necessary part of all therapy. Maybe your client comes into therapy with grand pronouncements: “I’m all in—I'll do the work!” And for a little bit, it seems like they’ll follow through. But when you bring up, even gently, the ways in which they’re undermining their goals, they deny, diffuse, or become defensive, and the work stalls. In this workshop, you’ll discover the six skills that are proven to help clients take accountability without triggering defensiveness. Using video from actual client sessions—including moments of confrontation—we’ll break down the “confrontation cycle,” walking through techniques that move clients forward, instead of causing them to regress or feel attacked. You’ll learn how to: 

  • Prime clients for moments of confrontation  
  • Use confrontation in individual and couples sessions 
  • Recognize and process your own emotional reactions during confrontation of all sorts, including soft, empathetic, and indirect 
  • Help clients confront themselves 

Ellyn Bader, PhD, is a psychologist, co-director of The Couples Institute in Menlo Park, California, and co-creator of The Developmental Model of Couples Therapy. She’s one of the early founders of couples therapy, as well as a recognized thought leader and trailblazer in relationship therapy. She coauthored the award-winning textbook In Quest of the Mythical Mate and Tell Me No Lies: How to Face the Truth and Build a Loving Marriage with her husband, Dr. Peter Pearson. She’s been featured on Nightline, Good Morning America, and NPR, as well as in O Magazine, Cosmopolitan, and the Wall Street Journal. 


Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Ellyn Bader is the director of The Couples Institute and receives compensation as a consultant. She receives royalties as a published author. Ellyn Bader receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Ellyn Bader is a member of the American Psychological Association, the International Transactional Analysis Association, and the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists.

Ellyn Bader, PhD
Friday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

302 - Confrontation without Defensiveness

A Gentle, Compassionate Approach
More Details

Ellyn Bader, PhD

Co-director of The Couples Institute
Friday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

302 - Confrontation without Defensiveness

A Gentle, Compassionate Approach

Like it or not, confrontation is a necessary part of all therapy. Maybe your client comes into therapy with grand pronouncements: “I’m all in—I'll do the work!” And for a little bit, it seems like they’ll follow through. But when you bring up, even gently, the ways in which they’re undermining their goals, they deny, diffuse, or become defensive, and the work stalls. In this workshop, you’ll discover the six skills that are proven to help clients take accountability without triggering defensiveness. Using video from actual client sessions—including moments of confrontation—we’ll break down the “confrontation cycle,” walking through techniques that move clients forward, instead of causing them to regress or feel attacked. You’ll learn how to: 

  • Prime clients for moments of confrontation  
  • Use confrontation in individual and couples sessions 
  • Recognize and process your own emotional reactions during confrontation of all sorts, including soft, empathetic, and indirect 
  • Help clients confront themselves 

Ellyn Bader, PhD, is a psychologist, co-director of The Couples Institute in Menlo Park, California, and co-creator of The Developmental Model of Couples Therapy. She’s one of the early founders of couples therapy, as well as a recognized thought leader and trailblazer in relationship therapy. She coauthored the award-winning textbook In Quest of the Mythical Mate and Tell Me No Lies: How to Face the Truth and Build a Loving Marriage with her husband, Dr. Peter Pearson. She’s been featured on Nightline, Good Morning America, and NPR, as well as in O Magazine, Cosmopolitan, and the Wall Street Journal. 


Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Ellyn Bader is the director of The Couples Institute and receives compensation as a consultant. She receives royalties as a published author. Ellyn Bader receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Ellyn Bader is a member of the American Psychological Association, the International Transactional Analysis Association, and the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists.

Scott Lyons, PhD, DO & Diane Poole Heller, PhD

Friday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

303 - Breaking Free of the Trauma Cycle

Trauma Reenactment Patterns in Therapy

Many clients find themselves stuck in a loop of repeatedly being pulled back into trauma reenactments, despite their best efforts to heal. In this workshop, we'll explore why our clients stay locked in a state of threat long after the original wounding has passed, and how the subsequent perceptual, cognitive, and somatic compensations become habits that prevent them from truly healing. Using the latest research, demonstrations, and experiential practices, we'll examine how to help clients identify and break free from the distorted thoughts and bodily responses that perpetuate the trauma cycle. You'll learn practical tools for:

  • Recognizing trauma reenactment patterns 
  • Getting to what’s preventing the release of these patterns 
  • Building a roadmap for therapy and for clients to release these painful patterns 

 

Scott Lyons, PhD, DO, is a licensed holistic psychologist, Doctor of Osteopathy, educator, and author of Addicted to Drama: Healing Dependency on Crisis and Chaos in Yourself and Others. He's the creator of The Embody Lab, the largest online learning platform for body-based trauma therapies, and developer of Somatic Stress Release, a holistic process of restoring biological resilience, taught in over 20 countries.  

Diane Poole Heller, PhD, is an internationally recognized speaker, author, and expert in the field of child and adult attachment theory as well as trauma resolution. Her signature approach, DARe (Dynamic Attachment Re-patterning experience), provides therapists and individuals with insights and skills to facilitate healing from attachment and trauma wounds. She’s the author of Crash Course; Healing Your Attachment Wounds and The Power of Attachment. 

Scott Lyons, PhD, DO & Diane Poole Heller, PhD
Friday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

303 - Breaking Free of the Trauma Cycle

Trauma Reenactment Patterns in Therapy
More Details

Scott Lyons, PhD, DO & Diane Poole Heller, PhD

Friday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

303 - Breaking Free of the Trauma Cycle

Trauma Reenactment Patterns in Therapy

Many clients find themselves stuck in a loop of repeatedly being pulled back into trauma reenactments, despite their best efforts to heal. In this workshop, we'll explore why our clients stay locked in a state of threat long after the original wounding has passed, and how the subsequent perceptual, cognitive, and somatic compensations become habits that prevent them from truly healing. Using the latest research, demonstrations, and experiential practices, we'll examine how to help clients identify and break free from the distorted thoughts and bodily responses that perpetuate the trauma cycle. You'll learn practical tools for:

  • Recognizing trauma reenactment patterns 
  • Getting to what’s preventing the release of these patterns 
  • Building a roadmap for therapy and for clients to release these painful patterns 

 

Scott Lyons, PhD, DO, is a licensed holistic psychologist, Doctor of Osteopathy, educator, and author of Addicted to Drama: Healing Dependency on Crisis and Chaos in Yourself and Others. He's the creator of The Embody Lab, the largest online learning platform for body-based trauma therapies, and developer of Somatic Stress Release, a holistic process of restoring biological resilience, taught in over 20 countries.  

Diane Poole Heller, PhD, is an internationally recognized speaker, author, and expert in the field of child and adult attachment theory as well as trauma resolution. Her signature approach, DARe (Dynamic Attachment Re-patterning experience), provides therapists and individuals with insights and skills to facilitate healing from attachment and trauma wounds. She’s the author of Crash Course; Healing Your Attachment Wounds and The Power of Attachment. 

Alexia Rothman, PhD

IFS Leading Practitioner and Trainer
Friday
3:00pm - 5:00pm ET

304 - Exploring the Heart of IFS Therapy

A Compassionate Approach to Healing

Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a compassionate, nonpathologizing, evidence-based approach to helping clients change entrenched patterns of thinking and behavior, and heal deep, traumatic wounding. IFS honors the natural multiplicity of the mind through parts work. It takes into account the various contexts and systems within which we’re embedded that shape our psyches. This workshop invites participants to honor and befriend their own protective parts as they explore fundamental principles and assumptions of IFS theory. You’ll learn to:  

  • Understand your clients' symptoms through a non-pathologizing lens 
  • Introduce clients to core components of the psyche, including parts, burdens, and the Self 
  • Shift clients from the “story” to guided internal parts work 
  • Help clients develop trusting, connected relationships with their protective parts 

Alexia Rothman, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist, international speaker and co-lead trainer for the Internal Family Systems model. She’s a former adjunct professor at Emory University and Agnes Scott College, and co-hosts the IFS-based podcasts, IFS Talks and Explorations in Psychotherapy. 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Alexia Rothman maintains a private practice. She is co-hosts of the podcasts IFS Masters and Explorations in Psychotherapy. She is a paid trainer with the IFS Institute, and she receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. Dr. Rothman receives compensation as a consultant. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Alexia Rothman is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Georgia Psychological Association, and the National Register of Health Service Psychologists.

Alexia Rothman, PhD
Friday
3:00pm - 5:00pm ET

304 - Exploring the Heart of IFS Therapy

A Compassionate Approach to Healing
More Details

Alexia Rothman, PhD

IFS Leading Practitioner and Trainer
Friday
3:00pm - 5:00pm ET

304 - Exploring the Heart of IFS Therapy

A Compassionate Approach to Healing

Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a compassionate, nonpathologizing, evidence-based approach to helping clients change entrenched patterns of thinking and behavior, and heal deep, traumatic wounding. IFS honors the natural multiplicity of the mind through parts work. It takes into account the various contexts and systems within which we’re embedded that shape our psyches. This workshop invites participants to honor and befriend their own protective parts as they explore fundamental principles and assumptions of IFS theory. You’ll learn to:  

  • Understand your clients' symptoms through a non-pathologizing lens 
  • Introduce clients to core components of the psyche, including parts, burdens, and the Self 
  • Shift clients from the “story” to guided internal parts work 
  • Help clients develop trusting, connected relationships with their protective parts 

Alexia Rothman, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist, international speaker and co-lead trainer for the Internal Family Systems model. She’s a former adjunct professor at Emory University and Agnes Scott College, and co-hosts the IFS-based podcasts, IFS Talks and Explorations in Psychotherapy. 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Alexia Rothman maintains a private practice. She is co-hosts of the podcasts IFS Masters and Explorations in Psychotherapy. She is a paid trainer with the IFS Institute, and she receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. Dr. Rothman receives compensation as a consultant. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Alexia Rothman is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Georgia Psychological Association, and the National Register of Health Service Psychologists.

Frank Anderson, MD & Tammy Nelson, PhD

Friday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

305 - Healing From Sexual Trauma

Integrating IFS and Integrative Relationship Therapy

Healing from sexual trauma can be a complex journey involving struggles with anxiety, depression, relationship problems, and other mental health and behavioral issues. At the cutting edge of treatment is the integration of Internal Family Systems with Integrative Relationship Therapy. In this workshop, you’ll be introduced to the benefits of viewing clients’ unwanted symptoms through an IFS lens, and you’ll explore how sex and relationship therapy can play a powerful role in integrating dismembered parts of the self. You’ll learn to apply the most effective interventions in the narrative, grief, and vision phases of treatment, and to move clients toward recovery. You’ll learn to help clients explore: 

  • Common sexual problems experienced by survivors of sexual trauma 
  • The three-phase recovery process for couples with trauma 
  • Triggers and how to implement a powerful IFS method for emotion regulation 
  • Identity, sexual integrity, and relationship assumptions  

Frank Anderson, MD, is a psychiatrist and psychotherapist in Harvard, MA, specializing in the treatment of trauma and dissociation. A lead trainer at the IFS Institute, he’s affiliated with Bessel van der Kolk’s Trauma Center and advises the International Association of Trauma Professionals. His most recent book is Transcending Trauma: Healing Complex PTSD with Internal Family Systems. 

Tammy Nelson, PhD, is an internationally acclaimed psychotherapist, Board Certified Sexologist, Certified Sex Therapist, and Certified Imago Relationship Therapist.  She’s the executive director of the Integrative Sex Therapy Institute. She’s host of the podcast The Trouble with Sex, a TEDx speake and the author of several books, including Open Monogamy: A Guide to Co-Creating Your Ideal Relationship Agreement, Getting the Sex You Want: Shed Your Inhibitions and Reach New Heights of Passion Together, the bestselling The New Monogamy: Redefining Your Relationship After Infidelity, When You’re the One Who Cheats: Ten Things You Need to Know, and Integrative Sex and Couples Therapy. 

Frank Anderson, MD & Tammy Nelson, PhD
Friday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

305 - Healing From Sexual Trauma

Integrating IFS and Integrative Relationship Therapy
More Details

Frank Anderson, MD & Tammy Nelson, PhD

Friday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

305 - Healing From Sexual Trauma

Integrating IFS and Integrative Relationship Therapy

Healing from sexual trauma can be a complex journey involving struggles with anxiety, depression, relationship problems, and other mental health and behavioral issues. At the cutting edge of treatment is the integration of Internal Family Systems with Integrative Relationship Therapy. In this workshop, you’ll be introduced to the benefits of viewing clients’ unwanted symptoms through an IFS lens, and you’ll explore how sex and relationship therapy can play a powerful role in integrating dismembered parts of the self. You’ll learn to apply the most effective interventions in the narrative, grief, and vision phases of treatment, and to move clients toward recovery. You’ll learn to help clients explore: 

  • Common sexual problems experienced by survivors of sexual trauma 
  • The three-phase recovery process for couples with trauma 
  • Triggers and how to implement a powerful IFS method for emotion regulation 
  • Identity, sexual integrity, and relationship assumptions  

Frank Anderson, MD, is a psychiatrist and psychotherapist in Harvard, MA, specializing in the treatment of trauma and dissociation. A lead trainer at the IFS Institute, he’s affiliated with Bessel van der Kolk’s Trauma Center and advises the International Association of Trauma Professionals. His most recent book is Transcending Trauma: Healing Complex PTSD with Internal Family Systems. 

Tammy Nelson, PhD, is an internationally acclaimed psychotherapist, Board Certified Sexologist, Certified Sex Therapist, and Certified Imago Relationship Therapist.  She’s the executive director of the Integrative Sex Therapy Institute. She’s host of the podcast The Trouble with Sex, a TEDx speake and the author of several books, including Open Monogamy: A Guide to Co-Creating Your Ideal Relationship Agreement, Getting the Sex You Want: Shed Your Inhibitions and Reach New Heights of Passion Together, the bestselling The New Monogamy: Redefining Your Relationship After Infidelity, When You’re the One Who Cheats: Ten Things You Need to Know, and Integrative Sex and Couples Therapy. 

David Kessler, MA, RN, FACHE & Paul Denniston, RYT 500

Friday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

306 - When Grief Meets Trauma

Advanced Techniques using Heart, Mind and Body

Grieving clients are often experiencing not just loss but trauma. As practitioners, it’s important that we’re able to recognize and address both as we help them move toward healing. This requires tools and techniques for close listening, looking to the body for clues, and releasing regret, anger, and rumination. In this workshop, you’ll:  

  • Learn the difference between grief and trauma, and how they intersect in traumatic grief 
  • Understand when focusing on the story of the loss helps, and when it keeps clients stuck  
  • Apply tools that help clients move toward healing when grief involves guilt, sudden death, lengthy illness, suicide, addiction, or old wounds  
  • Lean somatic techniques to release grief that becomes stuck in their body 

David Kessler, MA, RN, FACHE, is one of the world’s foremost experts on grief, the founder of Grief.com, and author of seven books, including Finding Meaning and his newest, Finding Meaning Workbook: Tools for Releasing Pain and Remembering with Love. He’s coauthored books with Elisabeth Kubler Ross and Louise Hay, and leads grief certification programs for professionals and online groups for those in grief. 

Paul Denniston, RYT 500, authored the bestselling book Healing Through Yoga: Transform Loss into Empowerment. The founder of Grief Yoga, he teaches this practice to counselors, psychologists, and health care professionals  and certifies other yoga teachers in the Grief Yoga Teacher Training.   

David Kessler, MA, RN, FACHE & Paul Denniston, RYT 500
Friday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

306 - When Grief Meets Trauma

Advanced Techniques using Heart, Mind and Body
More Details

David Kessler, MA, RN, FACHE & Paul Denniston, RYT 500

Friday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

306 - When Grief Meets Trauma

Advanced Techniques using Heart, Mind and Body

Grieving clients are often experiencing not just loss but trauma. As practitioners, it’s important that we’re able to recognize and address both as we help them move toward healing. This requires tools and techniques for close listening, looking to the body for clues, and releasing regret, anger, and rumination. In this workshop, you’ll:  

  • Learn the difference between grief and trauma, and how they intersect in traumatic grief 
  • Understand when focusing on the story of the loss helps, and when it keeps clients stuck  
  • Apply tools that help clients move toward healing when grief involves guilt, sudden death, lengthy illness, suicide, addiction, or old wounds  
  • Lean somatic techniques to release grief that becomes stuck in their body 

David Kessler, MA, RN, FACHE, is one of the world’s foremost experts on grief, the founder of Grief.com, and author of seven books, including Finding Meaning and his newest, Finding Meaning Workbook: Tools for Releasing Pain and Remembering with Love. He’s coauthored books with Elisabeth Kubler Ross and Louise Hay, and leads grief certification programs for professionals and online groups for those in grief. 

Paul Denniston, RYT 500, authored the bestselling book Healing Through Yoga: Transform Loss into Empowerment. The founder of Grief Yoga, he teaches this practice to counselors, psychologists, and health care professionals  and certifies other yoga teachers in the Grief Yoga Teacher Training.   

Terry Casey, PhD

Expert on Legal and Ethical Issues
Friday
3:00 - 5:00 pm ET

307 - So You Want to Be a Life Coach?

And Other New Legal & Ethical Questions for Therapists

For many therapists, especially those who wish to provide teletherapy, the idea of coaching holds great appeal. We dream of doing what we’re already doing now, only more freely and with fewer constraints. However, there are several misconceptions about life coaching, especially when it comes to providing services across state lines. Similarly, there are a number of misunderstandings surrounding interjurisdictional practice, interstate compacts, and working with online counseling companies. It’s critical to be up to date on the complex legal and ethical parameters involving these issues. In this workshop, you’ll learn about some of the most common misconceptions and commonly held myths pertaining to these topics and you’ll leave equipped with the tools and resources you need to make informed choices.  You’ll learn:  

  • How to articulate the difference between therapy and coaching to clients looking for “coaching” services
  • The ethical and legal implications of providing coaching online  
  • How to know when providing services across state lines is legal (and when it’s not) 
  • How interstate compacts work and how they can benefit you and your clients  
  • How to weigh the risks and benefits of treating clients through online counseling companies 

Terry Casey, PhD, is a licensed psychologist, consultant, and educator, and consultant specializing in ethical, legal, and practice issues. He maintains a private practice and has served for several years as the Ethics Committee Chair for a state-level professional organization.  .

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Terry Casey maintains a private practice and is a faculty member of Lipscomb University. He is a published author and receives royalties. Dr. Casey receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Terry Casey is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Tennessee Psychological Association, the Tennessee Licensed Professional Counselor Association, and others. For a complete list, please contact info@pesi.com.

Terry Casey, PhD
Friday
3:00 - 5:00 pm ET

307 - So You Want to Be a Life Coach?

And Other New Legal & Ethical Questions for Therapists
More Details

Terry Casey, PhD

Expert on Legal and Ethical Issues
Friday
3:00 - 5:00 pm ET

307 - So You Want to Be a Life Coach?

And Other New Legal & Ethical Questions for Therapists

For many therapists, especially those who wish to provide teletherapy, the idea of coaching holds great appeal. We dream of doing what we’re already doing now, only more freely and with fewer constraints. However, there are several misconceptions about life coaching, especially when it comes to providing services across state lines. Similarly, there are a number of misunderstandings surrounding interjurisdictional practice, interstate compacts, and working with online counseling companies. It’s critical to be up to date on the complex legal and ethical parameters involving these issues. In this workshop, you’ll learn about some of the most common misconceptions and commonly held myths pertaining to these topics and you’ll leave equipped with the tools and resources you need to make informed choices.  You’ll learn:  

  • How to articulate the difference between therapy and coaching to clients looking for “coaching” services
  • The ethical and legal implications of providing coaching online  
  • How to know when providing services across state lines is legal (and when it’s not) 
  • How interstate compacts work and how they can benefit you and your clients  
  • How to weigh the risks and benefits of treating clients through online counseling companies 

Terry Casey, PhD, is a licensed psychologist, consultant, and educator, and consultant specializing in ethical, legal, and practice issues. He maintains a private practice and has served for several years as the Ethics Committee Chair for a state-level professional organization.  .

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Terry Casey maintains a private practice and is a faculty member of Lipscomb University. He is a published author and receives royalties. Dr. Casey receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Terry Casey is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Tennessee Psychological Association, the Tennessee Licensed Professional Counselor Association, and others. For a complete list, please contact info@pesi.com.

Ed Tronick, PhD

Child Attachment Researcher, Developer of Still-Face Paradigm
Friday
3:00 - 5:00 pm ET

308 - How Clients’ Early Parental Relationships Affect Therapy

And What to Do About It

The processes driving child development, primarily those embedded in the parent-child relationship, are the most striking mechanisms of human change. In fact, the parent-child relationship is so profound and its effects so long-lasting that it can help us to understand and predict how best to foster the client-therapist relationship so it can succeed in producing change. In this workshop, you’ll discover:  

  • The particularly important ways therapy relationships mirror clients’ family relationships  
  • Why kids’ meaning-making processes are so messy, and how that’s mirrored in therapy when they’re adults 
  • Ways to think about parent-child disruption and repair, and its lasting effects on your clients 
  • How to break down the ways a parent’s depression and stress haveinfluenced a person’s social-emotional development  

Ed Tronick, PhD, is a developmental and clinical psychologist, professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, and author or coauthor of over 300 articles and seven books. He’s currently working on developing norms for the neurobehavior of clinically healthy newborns and the effects of maternal depression, other affective disorders, and drug exposure on infant and child social emotional development.  

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Edward Tronick has employment relationships with Sapienza University, University of Massachusetts, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham &Women's Hospital, and UMass Chan Medical School. He receives royalties as a published author. He receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Edward Tronick is a member of the scientific review board Neo-Aqua Project on NICU Environment and a member of the ECD Science Council of EMPOWER. He serves on several advisory boards, please contact PESI, Inc for a complete list.

Ed Tronick, PhD
Friday
3:00 - 5:00 pm ET

308 - How Clients’ Early Parental Relationships Affect Therapy

And What to Do About It
*Please note: this workshop has met the in-person capacity.
More Details

Ed Tronick, PhD

Child Attachment Researcher, Developer of Still-Face Paradigm
Friday
3:00 - 5:00 pm ET

308 - How Clients’ Early Parental Relationships Affect Therapy

And What to Do About It

The processes driving child development, primarily those embedded in the parent-child relationship, are the most striking mechanisms of human change. In fact, the parent-child relationship is so profound and its effects so long-lasting that it can help us to understand and predict how best to foster the client-therapist relationship so it can succeed in producing change. In this workshop, you’ll discover:  

  • The particularly important ways therapy relationships mirror clients’ family relationships  
  • Why kids’ meaning-making processes are so messy, and how that’s mirrored in therapy when they’re adults 
  • Ways to think about parent-child disruption and repair, and its lasting effects on your clients 
  • How to break down the ways a parent’s depression and stress haveinfluenced a person’s social-emotional development  

Ed Tronick, PhD, is a developmental and clinical psychologist, professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, and author or coauthor of over 300 articles and seven books. He’s currently working on developing norms for the neurobehavior of clinically healthy newborns and the effects of maternal depression, other affective disorders, and drug exposure on infant and child social emotional development.  

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Edward Tronick has employment relationships with Sapienza University, University of Massachusetts, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham &Women's Hospital, and UMass Chan Medical School. He receives royalties as a published author. He receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Edward Tronick is a member of the scientific review board Neo-Aqua Project on NICU Environment and a member of the ECD Science Council of EMPOWER. He serves on several advisory boards, please contact PESI, Inc for a complete list.

Saturday, March 22

7:30 AM ~ Morning Yoga and Movement Sessions
9:00 AM - 10:45 AM ~ Welcome & Morning Keynote
11:00 AM - 1:00 PM ~ Morning Clinical Workshops
1:15 PM - 2:45 PM ~ Luncheon Keynote
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM ~ Afternoon Clinical Workshops
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM ~ Storytelling Event

Saturday
Morning Keynote: 9:00 - 10:45 am ET
Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD

The Liberative Nature of Mindfulness

Coming to Terms with Things as They Are

Having developed Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), an approach that changed many western medical practices, Jon Kabat-Zinn has been dubbed the “Godfather of Modern Mindfulness.” But for those who’ve followed his work over the last 50+ years, he’s been something else: their greatest teacher. Humble, practical, and full of spiritual
wisdom and humor.

A Professor of Medicine emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School—where he founded the MBSR clinic in 1979 and years later, the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine—Kabat-Zinn is the author of 15 books, including the time-honored bestseller Wherever You Go, There You Are and the recently released Mindfulness Meditation for Pain Relief. Used to treat everything from anxiety to trauma to immune response, with everyone from hospital patients to combat veterans, his teachings have produced a community of global healers, with more than 1,000 MBSR instructors and over 740 MBSR programs in hospitals, clinics, and health centers worldwide.

In this can’t-miss keynote, he’ll explore why mindfulness is so foundational to psychotherapy and how it can continue to provide all of us—clients and therapists—with a refuge for healing, acceptance, and radical acts of love during tumultuous times. The message of mindfulness, Kabat-Zinn once told the Networker, “Is an invitation to everybody to wake up to the true dimensionality of who we are.” Join us and open yourself to an unforgettable experience of being in the here and now.

Saturday
Luncheon Address: 1:15 – 2:45 pm ET
Linda Thai, LMSW, ERYT-200, CLYL

The Missing Piece of Attachment Theory

Restoring Safety & Belonging for Our Clients & Ourselves

Born in Vietnam, forcibly displaced as a child to Australia, and now living in rural Alaska, Linda Thai has dedicated her life to unraveling the mysteries of how trauma impacts the human mind and body, both personally and collectively. Her relentless focus on expanding our understanding of trauma, driven by her personal experience as a former child refugee, has led to her becoming a highly sought-after international teacher and trainer for therapists around the globe. A colleague of internationally renowned psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk, she’s assisted with his small-group psychotherapy workshops aimed at healing attachment trauma. Her teaching is infused with empathy, storytelling, humor, research, practical tools, applied knowledge, and experiential wisdom.

In this keynote address, she’ll elucidate a new view of attachment theory that better encompasses our needs as whole humans, engages the full web of relationships anchoring our lives, and helps break the cycle of historical and intergenerational trauma at the individual and community levels.

*Seats are limited.  Advanced registration is required and an additional fee will apply.

 

Saturday
Evening Event: 7:00 pm ET
Claudia Black, David Kessler & Paul Denniston

Storytelling Event

“The Client Who Changed Me”

This evening of candid storytelling about the intimate moments of therapeutic practice has become such a hit that we’re bringing it back! Each storyteller will reveal a tale from the heart about a session, a client, or a therapeutic moment that stands out from all others because it was… the most touching? Surprising? Humbling? Explosive? Hilarious? Come and find out – and leave with a deepened sense of what’s at the core of relationships.

*Seats are limited.  Advanced registration is required and an additional fee will apply.

Matthias Barker, LMHC

Social Media and Therapy Educator, Content Creator
Saturday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

413 - Healing Parent-Child Estrangement

Transforming Conflict into Reconnection

Parent-child estrangement is a deeply painful and complex issue, with latest reports indicating that as many as 1 in 4 families are affected. Understanding and addressing these relational wounds can significantly enhance not just our clients’ mental health but the health of entire family systems and communities. This workshop offers a deep dive into the emotional dynamics of parent-child estrangement and provides practical tools for transforming relational pain into opportunities for connection and growth. By mastering these techniques, you’ll be equipped to guide clients through the delicate process of repairing and strengthening parent-child relationships. You’ll discover:

  • Effective communication strategies for addressing and resolving conflicts between parents and adult children
  • How to confidently assess when repair is possible and what boundaries are necessary for both a client’s and a parent's mental health
  • How to help clients establish and maintain healthy boundaries in parent-child relationships
  • How to guide families through the emotional healing process, turning negative emotions into opportunities for growth and reconnection

Matthias Barker is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) with a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Northwest University. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Matthias specializes in treating high-acuity sexual trauma, childhood trauma, and marital issues.

Matthias is a prolific educator and content creator, having self-published two mental health journals on a trauma-informed approach to motivation and gratitude. He has developed seven workshops on a variety of topics such as trauma, anxiety, and setting boundaries with parents as well as co-creating a comprehensive course on healing from trauma with Dr. Frank Anderson, a renowned trauma expert.

As a passionate advocate for mental health, Matthias is dedicated to making psychoeducation more accessible by bridging the gap between the academic realm and the everyday experiences of the general public. As a result, he has become a sought-after authority in both the mental health and social media fields. Through his social media platforms, Matthias reaches millions, sharing psychoeducational content and building a thriving community dedicated to mental health awareness and education. With over 3 million followers across TikTok, Instagram, and his podcast, which once ranked #38 on the Spotify global health and fitness charts, his impact continues to grow.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Matthias Barker maintains a private practice. He receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Matthias Barker has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Matthias Barker, LMHC
Saturday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

413 - Healing Parent-Child Estrangement

Transforming Conflict into Reconnection
*Please note: this workshop has met the in-person capacity.
More Details

Matthias Barker, LMHC

Social Media and Therapy Educator, Content Creator
Saturday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

413 - Healing Parent-Child Estrangement

Transforming Conflict into Reconnection

Parent-child estrangement is a deeply painful and complex issue, with latest reports indicating that as many as 1 in 4 families are affected. Understanding and addressing these relational wounds can significantly enhance not just our clients’ mental health but the health of entire family systems and communities. This workshop offers a deep dive into the emotional dynamics of parent-child estrangement and provides practical tools for transforming relational pain into opportunities for connection and growth. By mastering these techniques, you’ll be equipped to guide clients through the delicate process of repairing and strengthening parent-child relationships. You’ll discover:

  • Effective communication strategies for addressing and resolving conflicts between parents and adult children
  • How to confidently assess when repair is possible and what boundaries are necessary for both a client’s and a parent's mental health
  • How to help clients establish and maintain healthy boundaries in parent-child relationships
  • How to guide families through the emotional healing process, turning negative emotions into opportunities for growth and reconnection

Matthias Barker is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) with a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Northwest University. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Matthias specializes in treating high-acuity sexual trauma, childhood trauma, and marital issues.

Matthias is a prolific educator and content creator, having self-published two mental health journals on a trauma-informed approach to motivation and gratitude. He has developed seven workshops on a variety of topics such as trauma, anxiety, and setting boundaries with parents as well as co-creating a comprehensive course on healing from trauma with Dr. Frank Anderson, a renowned trauma expert.

As a passionate advocate for mental health, Matthias is dedicated to making psychoeducation more accessible by bridging the gap between the academic realm and the everyday experiences of the general public. As a result, he has become a sought-after authority in both the mental health and social media fields. Through his social media platforms, Matthias reaches millions, sharing psychoeducational content and building a thriving community dedicated to mental health awareness and education. With over 3 million followers across TikTok, Instagram, and his podcast, which once ranked #38 on the Spotify global health and fitness charts, his impact continues to grow.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Matthias Barker maintains a private practice. He receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Matthias Barker has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Stephen Madigan, PhD

Award-winning couple and family therapist
Saturday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

414 - Helping Clients Rewrite Disempowering Stories

Plotting Positive Change with Narrative Therapy

The stories people tell themselves—and their therapists—are powerful. They can keep clients stuck, but they can also galvanize change. Although our culture often reinforces stories of personal deficit, rather than resilience and resourcefulness, narrative therapy effectively helps clients reauthor their stories within a broader context, revealing deeper truths about their lives and identities. In this workshop, you’ll explore a range of practical tools for engaging your clients in this work, including how to help them creatively remember empowering storylines after they leave a session. You’ll discover how to help clients:

  • Re-evaluate, reimagine, and revise negative identity conclusions.
  • Remember critical conversations that can shift their view of themselves and their relationships
  • Engage with evocative Narrative Therapy questions that help contextualize their problems in a new, enlivening way
  • Practice therapeutic letter writing to help alter disempowering, limiting narratives

Stephen Madigan, PhD, is an award-winning couple and family therapist, bestselling author, and director of training with the Vancouver School for Narrative Therapy.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Stephen Madigan has employment relationships with Vancouver School for Narrative Therapy, Yaletown Family Therapy and Mediation, VSNT.live online website, and Norway High Couple Conflict Teams. He receives royalties as a published author. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Stephen Madigan is an author with Psychotherapy Networker. He is a member of the BC Association of Clinical Counsellor and Family Mediation Canada."

Stephen Madigan, PhD
Saturday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

414 - Helping Clients Rewrite Disempowering Stories

Plotting Positive Change with Narrative Therapy
*Please note: this workshop has met the in-person capacity.
More Details

Stephen Madigan, PhD

Award-winning couple and family therapist
Saturday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

414 - Helping Clients Rewrite Disempowering Stories

Plotting Positive Change with Narrative Therapy

The stories people tell themselves—and their therapists—are powerful. They can keep clients stuck, but they can also galvanize change. Although our culture often reinforces stories of personal deficit, rather than resilience and resourcefulness, narrative therapy effectively helps clients reauthor their stories within a broader context, revealing deeper truths about their lives and identities. In this workshop, you’ll explore a range of practical tools for engaging your clients in this work, including how to help them creatively remember empowering storylines after they leave a session. You’ll discover how to help clients:

  • Re-evaluate, reimagine, and revise negative identity conclusions.
  • Remember critical conversations that can shift their view of themselves and their relationships
  • Engage with evocative Narrative Therapy questions that help contextualize their problems in a new, enlivening way
  • Practice therapeutic letter writing to help alter disempowering, limiting narratives

Stephen Madigan, PhD, is an award-winning couple and family therapist, bestselling author, and director of training with the Vancouver School for Narrative Therapy.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Stephen Madigan has employment relationships with Vancouver School for Narrative Therapy, Yaletown Family Therapy and Mediation, VSNT.live online website, and Norway High Couple Conflict Teams. He receives royalties as a published author. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Stephen Madigan is an author with Psychotherapy Networker. He is a member of the BC Association of Clinical Counsellor and Family Mediation Canada."

Terri Cole, LCSW

Author of Boundary Boss & founder of Real Love Revolution
Saturday
11:00am - 1:00pm ET

415 - Combating Burnout with Better Boundaries

Optimizing Your Skills and Work-Life Balance

It’s no surprise to anyone in our line of work: therapy is a demanding business. Recent studies show that nearly 40 percent of therapists say their workload has increased since the pandemic, and nearly half of therapists say they’re feeling burned out. But burnout doesn’t just affect us: it also affects those we help. In this workshop, you’ll learn perhaps the most vital ingredient in preventing burnout: establishing—and maintaining—proper personal and professional boundaries. You’ll learn how this optimizes your work and outcomes with clients as well as ways to implement these boundaries in multiple spheres: in creating your workload, in the moment with clients, and in establishing a healthy work-life balance. You’ll walk away with personalized, practical tools and strategies for increasing your professional longevity and maintaining overall well-being. You’ll learn how to:

  • Manage feelings of activation or overwhelm when it arises in the middle of a session
  • Recognize the early signs of professional burnout and boundary violations
  • Use scripts for setting and enforcing professional boundaries with your clients
  • Unlearn people-pleasing beliefs that keep you locked in “fix-it mode,” no matter the personal cost

Terri Cole, LCSW, is a New York-based licensed psychotherapist, relationship expert, speaker, coach, and founder of Real Love Revolution and Terri Cole's Boundary Bootcamp. She’s the author of Boundary Boss: The Essential Guide to Talk True, Be Seen, and (Finally) Live Free and Too Much: A Guide to Breaking the Cycle of High-Functioning Codependency. 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Terri Cole maintains a private practice. She receives royalties as a published author. She is a podcast host. Terri Cole receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Terri Cole is a member of the National Association of Social Workers.

Terri Cole, LCSW
Saturday
11:00am - 1:00pm ET

415 - Combating Burnout with Better Boundaries

Optimizing Your Skills and Work-Life Balance
More Details

Terri Cole, LCSW

Author of Boundary Boss & founder of Real Love Revolution
Saturday
11:00am - 1:00pm ET

415 - Combating Burnout with Better Boundaries

Optimizing Your Skills and Work-Life Balance

It’s no surprise to anyone in our line of work: therapy is a demanding business. Recent studies show that nearly 40 percent of therapists say their workload has increased since the pandemic, and nearly half of therapists say they’re feeling burned out. But burnout doesn’t just affect us: it also affects those we help. In this workshop, you’ll learn perhaps the most vital ingredient in preventing burnout: establishing—and maintaining—proper personal and professional boundaries. You’ll learn how this optimizes your work and outcomes with clients as well as ways to implement these boundaries in multiple spheres: in creating your workload, in the moment with clients, and in establishing a healthy work-life balance. You’ll walk away with personalized, practical tools and strategies for increasing your professional longevity and maintaining overall well-being. You’ll learn how to:

  • Manage feelings of activation or overwhelm when it arises in the middle of a session
  • Recognize the early signs of professional burnout and boundary violations
  • Use scripts for setting and enforcing professional boundaries with your clients
  • Unlearn people-pleasing beliefs that keep you locked in “fix-it mode,” no matter the personal cost

Terri Cole, LCSW, is a New York-based licensed psychotherapist, relationship expert, speaker, coach, and founder of Real Love Revolution and Terri Cole's Boundary Bootcamp. She’s the author of Boundary Boss: The Essential Guide to Talk True, Be Seen, and (Finally) Live Free and Too Much: A Guide to Breaking the Cycle of High-Functioning Codependency. 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Terri Cole maintains a private practice. She receives royalties as a published author. She is a podcast host. Terri Cole receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Terri Cole is a member of the National Association of Social Workers.

Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD

Pioneering Innovator in Mindfulness for Clinical Practice
Saturday
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm ET

501 - Inviting Awareness to Become Your Default Mode

Deep Relationality Embodied in This Timeless Moment — and This One…

Come experience mindfulness with one of the world’s leading practitioners and learn how to truly implement these practices in your life to improve your present-moment awareness as a therapist and utilize these practices with your clients. In this session you'll discover:

  • How present moment awareness is actually developed in the brain, and why it’s critical for our health
  • Skills for diving deeply into what is going on at subtle levels of experience to unlock stuck places in our minds
  • How these practices enhance your connection to your work and your clients through the ability to deeply listen and engage in dialogue.

Featured in Bill Moyer's PBS Special, "Healing and the Mind", Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., is executive director at the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. He is the founder and former director of the UMMC Stress Reduction Clinic and an associate professor of medicine in the division of preventive and behavioral medicine. Using mindfulness meditation, Kabat-Zinn works to help people reduce stress and deal with chronic pain, and a variety of illnesses, particularly breast cancer. He was a trainer for the 1984 U.S. Men's Olympic Rowing Team and is especially interested in reducing the stress-related problems in the inner city and in prison populations.

Kabat-Zinn's books include: Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness (1991); Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life (1994) and Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting (1997), which was co-authored with his wife, Myla.

Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD
Saturday
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm ET

501 - Inviting Awareness to Become Your Default Mode

Deep Relationality Embodied in This Timeless Moment — and This One…
More Details

Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD

Pioneering Innovator in Mindfulness for Clinical Practice
Saturday
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm ET

501 - Inviting Awareness to Become Your Default Mode

Deep Relationality Embodied in This Timeless Moment — and This One…

Come experience mindfulness with one of the world’s leading practitioners and learn how to truly implement these practices in your life to improve your present-moment awareness as a therapist and utilize these practices with your clients. In this session you'll discover:

  • How present moment awareness is actually developed in the brain, and why it’s critical for our health
  • Skills for diving deeply into what is going on at subtle levels of experience to unlock stuck places in our minds
  • How these practices enhance your connection to your work and your clients through the ability to deeply listen and engage in dialogue.

Featured in Bill Moyer's PBS Special, "Healing and the Mind", Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., is executive director at the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. He is the founder and former director of the UMMC Stress Reduction Clinic and an associate professor of medicine in the division of preventive and behavioral medicine. Using mindfulness meditation, Kabat-Zinn works to help people reduce stress and deal with chronic pain, and a variety of illnesses, particularly breast cancer. He was a trainer for the 1984 U.S. Men's Olympic Rowing Team and is especially interested in reducing the stress-related problems in the inner city and in prison populations.

Kabat-Zinn's books include: Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness (1991); Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life (1994) and Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting (1997), which was co-authored with his wife, Myla.

Megan Devine, LPC

Grief Expert, Best-selling author of "It’s Ok That You’re Not Ok"
Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

502 - Grief on the Job

Setting Boundaries & Holding Space for Others

Working with people in pain has never been easy, but recently, it’s become even more difficult. Between our country’s multiple mental health crises, a shortage of providers, and diminishing professional boundaries, many of today’s therapists are feeling overwhelmed, burnt out, and under-supported. Does this sound familiar? Our repeated exposure to our clients’ anxiety, depression, anger, and loss can manifest as a type of grief. In this workshop, you’ll learn specific tools you can use to manage this grief and set boundaries in the workplace, while still remaining present, attuned, and helpful to your clients. You’ll also discover how to:

  • Create and maintain boundaries with clients and coworkers in real time
  • Detect and navigate systemic workplace failures that are sources of emotional overwhelm
  • How to build a support system to help you manage grief when it arises
  • How to temper your use of self-disclosure and empathy to prevent getting “sucked in”

Megan Devine, LPC, is an acclaimed grief expert, psychotherapist and author of the best-selling book It’s Ok That You’re Not Ok: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn’t Understand, considered required reading by grieving people and professionals around the world. With over 20 years in the field, her pioneering work provides a professional, inclusive, and realistic approach to grief, one that goes beyond pathology-based, reductive models.

A sought-after expert when grief erupts in the public sphere, Megan’s work is featured widely in the media including the New York Times, NPR, Washington Post, GQ, Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic, the PBS documentary Speaking Grief, and more. Megan is the founder of Refuge in Grief, a hub of grief education and outreach where she leads people through some of the most devastating times of their lives. Her podcast, It’s OK That You’re Not OK, explores survival (and even hope) after life goes horribly wrong. Learn more about her trainings, consultancy work, consumer and industry-facing support materials, and her licensed programs at refugeingrief.com and megandevine.co.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Megan Devine is the founder and CEO of Refuge in Grief as well as The After Institute. Megan Devine maintains a private practice and is the on-line advisor/author of Empowering Parents. She is the creator and host of It’s Ok that You’re Not OK with Megan Devine. She receives royalties as a published author. Megan Devine receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Megan Devine has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Megan Devine, LPC
Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

502 - Grief on the Job

Setting Boundaries & Holding Space for Others
More Details

Megan Devine, LPC

Grief Expert, Best-selling author of "It’s Ok That You’re Not Ok"
Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

502 - Grief on the Job

Setting Boundaries & Holding Space for Others

Working with people in pain has never been easy, but recently, it’s become even more difficult. Between our country’s multiple mental health crises, a shortage of providers, and diminishing professional boundaries, many of today’s therapists are feeling overwhelmed, burnt out, and under-supported. Does this sound familiar? Our repeated exposure to our clients’ anxiety, depression, anger, and loss can manifest as a type of grief. In this workshop, you’ll learn specific tools you can use to manage this grief and set boundaries in the workplace, while still remaining present, attuned, and helpful to your clients. You’ll also discover how to:

  • Create and maintain boundaries with clients and coworkers in real time
  • Detect and navigate systemic workplace failures that are sources of emotional overwhelm
  • How to build a support system to help you manage grief when it arises
  • How to temper your use of self-disclosure and empathy to prevent getting “sucked in”

Megan Devine, LPC, is an acclaimed grief expert, psychotherapist and author of the best-selling book It’s Ok That You’re Not Ok: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn’t Understand, considered required reading by grieving people and professionals around the world. With over 20 years in the field, her pioneering work provides a professional, inclusive, and realistic approach to grief, one that goes beyond pathology-based, reductive models.

A sought-after expert when grief erupts in the public sphere, Megan’s work is featured widely in the media including the New York Times, NPR, Washington Post, GQ, Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic, the PBS documentary Speaking Grief, and more. Megan is the founder of Refuge in Grief, a hub of grief education and outreach where she leads people through some of the most devastating times of their lives. Her podcast, It’s OK That You’re Not OK, explores survival (and even hope) after life goes horribly wrong. Learn more about her trainings, consultancy work, consumer and industry-facing support materials, and her licensed programs at refugeingrief.com and megandevine.co.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Megan Devine is the founder and CEO of Refuge in Grief as well as The After Institute. Megan Devine maintains a private practice and is the on-line advisor/author of Empowering Parents. She is the creator and host of It’s Ok that You’re Not OK with Megan Devine. She receives royalties as a published author. Megan Devine receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Megan Devine has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Laurel Parnell, PhD

Director of the Parnell Institute for Attachment-Focused EMDR
Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

503 - Introduction to Attachment-Focused EMDR

Client-Centered Therapy for Childhood Trauma and Neglect

Sometimes EMDR alone isn’t enough to heal entrenched traumas, particularly when clients struggle with early attachment issues. Attachment-Focused Eye Movement and Desensitization Reprocessing (AF-EMDR) combines multiple approaches to support attachment-wounded clients through their trauma healing process. In this introductory workshop, you’ll learn about resourcing and developmental repair, including how to modify the EMDR protocol can be so that it flows more easily. You’ll be introduced to new ways of combining powerful protocols—EMDR, Resource Tapping, and talk therapy—with principles of attachment theory to provide a more client-centered, reparative treatment that support client safety, maintain the therapeutic connection, and enhance attunement. You’ll explore:

  • The benefits and basic principals of AF-EMDR and Resource Tapping for specific client issues
  • How to manage emotions and reduce stress by tapping in the 4 foundational resources of peaceful places, nurturing figures, protector figures, and wise figures
  • How to address developmental deficits by harnessing clients’ imagination along with bilateral stimulation

Laurel Parnell, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and director of the Parnell Institute for Attachment-Focused EMDR. One of the world's leading experts on Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), she is the originator of the EMDR-related therapies Attachment-Focused EMDR and Resource Tapping. Dr. Parnell has served on the faculty of the California Institute for Integral Studies and John F. Kennedy University. She is the author of several books and videos on EMDR, including, Attachment-Focused EMDR: Healing Relational Trauma, Rewiring the Addicted Brain with EMDR-Based Treatment, A Therapist's Guide to EMDR and Tapping In. Dr. Parnell keynotes conferences, trains clinicians in EMDR, and teaches workshops internationally on Attachment-Focused EMDR, Rewiring the Addicted Brain and Resource Tapping. Learn more about Dr. Parnell at www.parnellemdr.com.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Laurel Parnell maintains a private practice and is the director of the Parnell Institute, LLC. She receives royalties as a published author. Dr. Parnell receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Laurel Parnell has no relevant non-financial relationships."

Laurel Parnell, PhD
Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

503 - Introduction to Attachment-Focused EMDR

Client-Centered Therapy for Childhood Trauma and Neglect
More Details

Laurel Parnell, PhD

Director of the Parnell Institute for Attachment-Focused EMDR
Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

503 - Introduction to Attachment-Focused EMDR

Client-Centered Therapy for Childhood Trauma and Neglect

Sometimes EMDR alone isn’t enough to heal entrenched traumas, particularly when clients struggle with early attachment issues. Attachment-Focused Eye Movement and Desensitization Reprocessing (AF-EMDR) combines multiple approaches to support attachment-wounded clients through their trauma healing process. In this introductory workshop, you’ll learn about resourcing and developmental repair, including how to modify the EMDR protocol can be so that it flows more easily. You’ll be introduced to new ways of combining powerful protocols—EMDR, Resource Tapping, and talk therapy—with principles of attachment theory to provide a more client-centered, reparative treatment that support client safety, maintain the therapeutic connection, and enhance attunement. You’ll explore:

  • The benefits and basic principals of AF-EMDR and Resource Tapping for specific client issues
  • How to manage emotions and reduce stress by tapping in the 4 foundational resources of peaceful places, nurturing figures, protector figures, and wise figures
  • How to address developmental deficits by harnessing clients’ imagination along with bilateral stimulation

Laurel Parnell, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and director of the Parnell Institute for Attachment-Focused EMDR. One of the world's leading experts on Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), she is the originator of the EMDR-related therapies Attachment-Focused EMDR and Resource Tapping. Dr. Parnell has served on the faculty of the California Institute for Integral Studies and John F. Kennedy University. She is the author of several books and videos on EMDR, including, Attachment-Focused EMDR: Healing Relational Trauma, Rewiring the Addicted Brain with EMDR-Based Treatment, A Therapist's Guide to EMDR and Tapping In. Dr. Parnell keynotes conferences, trains clinicians in EMDR, and teaches workshops internationally on Attachment-Focused EMDR, Rewiring the Addicted Brain and Resource Tapping. Learn more about Dr. Parnell at www.parnellemdr.com.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Laurel Parnell maintains a private practice and is the director of the Parnell Institute, LLC. She receives royalties as a published author. Dr. Parnell receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Laurel Parnell has no relevant non-financial relationships."

Shawna Murray-Browne, PhD, LCSW-C

Developer of Decolonizing Therapy for Black Folk Training
Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

504 - Decolonized Practice Demystified

The Healing Circles as Transformative Psychoeducation

Healing circles go beyond traditional therapy models to create a liberatory, decolonial practice that's especially resonant for marginalized communities. As a powerful form of psychoeducation, it reduces the stigma associated with many mental health issues, including loneliness, and fosters therapeutic cohesion. Therapists passionate about expanding their reach and exploring ways to make impact off the couch will benefit greatly from learning more about this way to facilitate healing. In this workshop, you’ll engage in reflective exercises about yourself as a healing circle facilitator, learn ways to honor the cultural experiences of marginalized groups, and explore real-world examples of healing circles that incorporate mindfulness, oral history, movement, and spirituality. Although the examples focus on meeting the needs of Black women, you’ll be invited to imagine how you can incorporate healing circles in your work.

  • Uncover the unique mental health challenges faced by Black women—like racial trauma, ancestral grief, and the exhaustion of code-switching—by integrating decolonial frameworks that honor identity and lived experience.
  • Unlock the power of oral history archives and collective listening to create thriving community spaces beyond talk therapy
  • Experience contemplative practices like guided imagery and body mapping to help process tough historical topics in ways that feel relevant and impactful today.
  • Consider what it can mean to commit to out-of-the-box, decolonial therapeutic practices that challenge the status quo

Shawna Murray-Browne, PhD, LCSW-C, is an award-winning community healer, speaker, and Liberation-Focused Psychotherapist. Best known for her training, Decolonizing Therapy for Black Folk, she was named by The Huffington Post as one of the “Ten Black Female Therapists You Should Know,” featured on the PBS special Mysteries of Mental Illness and a two-time guest on the popular Therapy for Black Girls podcast. 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Shawna Murray-Browne is the CEO of Kindred Wellness, LLC. She receives royalties as a published author. Shawna Murry-Browne book royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Shawna Murray-Browne is an author with Psychotherapy Networker.

Shawna Murray-Browne, PhD, LCSW-C
Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

504 - Decolonized Practice Demystified

The Healing Circles as Transformative Psychoeducation
More Details

Shawna Murray-Browne, PhD, LCSW-C

Developer of Decolonizing Therapy for Black Folk Training
Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

504 - Decolonized Practice Demystified

The Healing Circles as Transformative Psychoeducation

Healing circles go beyond traditional therapy models to create a liberatory, decolonial practice that's especially resonant for marginalized communities. As a powerful form of psychoeducation, it reduces the stigma associated with many mental health issues, including loneliness, and fosters therapeutic cohesion. Therapists passionate about expanding their reach and exploring ways to make impact off the couch will benefit greatly from learning more about this way to facilitate healing. In this workshop, you’ll engage in reflective exercises about yourself as a healing circle facilitator, learn ways to honor the cultural experiences of marginalized groups, and explore real-world examples of healing circles that incorporate mindfulness, oral history, movement, and spirituality. Although the examples focus on meeting the needs of Black women, you’ll be invited to imagine how you can incorporate healing circles in your work.

  • Uncover the unique mental health challenges faced by Black women—like racial trauma, ancestral grief, and the exhaustion of code-switching—by integrating decolonial frameworks that honor identity and lived experience.
  • Unlock the power of oral history archives and collective listening to create thriving community spaces beyond talk therapy
  • Experience contemplative practices like guided imagery and body mapping to help process tough historical topics in ways that feel relevant and impactful today.
  • Consider what it can mean to commit to out-of-the-box, decolonial therapeutic practices that challenge the status quo

Shawna Murray-Browne, PhD, LCSW-C, is an award-winning community healer, speaker, and Liberation-Focused Psychotherapist. Best known for her training, Decolonizing Therapy for Black Folk, she was named by The Huffington Post as one of the “Ten Black Female Therapists You Should Know,” featured on the PBS special Mysteries of Mental Illness and a two-time guest on the popular Therapy for Black Girls podcast. 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Shawna Murray-Browne is the CEO of Kindred Wellness, LLC. She receives royalties as a published author. Shawna Murry-Browne book royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Shawna Murray-Browne is an author with Psychotherapy Networker.

Tasha Oswald, PhD

Autism & Neurodiversity-Affirming Therapy Expert
Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

505 - Rethinking & Supporting Autism in Adults

A Neurodiversity-Affirming Approach

Many adult clients entering therapy don’t know they’re autistic, and often neither do their therapists. After all, they may have become experts at masking “quirky” autistic traits and they might not fit therapist stereotypes of autism. Yet, neurodivergent wiring shapes every aspect of their life, including their therapy. Working effectively with this population means understanding the implications of having felt like an outsider their whole life due to their neurodivergence, often experiencing minority stress and discrimination from being cast as “weird” or even “broken.” In this workshop, you will:

  • Gain confidence in identifying autistic traits and “masking” in your adult clients.
  • Understand the unique challenges and experiences of autistic adults to effectively support treatment and build therapeutic rapport.
  • Support your clients in exploring and embracing their autistic identity.
  • Integrate a neurodiversity-affirming mindset and strategies into your clinical practice with ease.

Tasha Oswald, PhD, is a neurodivergent therapist and developer of the Autism Clinical Specialist Certification. Previously with the University of California, Davis’s MIND Institute, she’s the founder and director of Neurodiversity Wellness Center and Neurodiversity Training Institute.   

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Tasha Oswald maintains a private practice. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Tasha Oswald has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Tasha Oswald, PhD
Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

505 - Rethinking & Supporting Autism in Adults

A Neurodiversity-Affirming Approach
More Details

Tasha Oswald, PhD

Autism & Neurodiversity-Affirming Therapy Expert
Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

505 - Rethinking & Supporting Autism in Adults

A Neurodiversity-Affirming Approach

Many adult clients entering therapy don’t know they’re autistic, and often neither do their therapists. After all, they may have become experts at masking “quirky” autistic traits and they might not fit therapist stereotypes of autism. Yet, neurodivergent wiring shapes every aspect of their life, including their therapy. Working effectively with this population means understanding the implications of having felt like an outsider their whole life due to their neurodivergence, often experiencing minority stress and discrimination from being cast as “weird” or even “broken.” In this workshop, you will:

  • Gain confidence in identifying autistic traits and “masking” in your adult clients.
  • Understand the unique challenges and experiences of autistic adults to effectively support treatment and build therapeutic rapport.
  • Support your clients in exploring and embracing their autistic identity.
  • Integrate a neurodiversity-affirming mindset and strategies into your clinical practice with ease.

Tasha Oswald, PhD, is a neurodivergent therapist and developer of the Autism Clinical Specialist Certification. Previously with the University of California, Davis’s MIND Institute, she’s the founder and director of Neurodiversity Wellness Center and Neurodiversity Training Institute.   

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Tasha Oswald maintains a private practice. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Tasha Oswald has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Diana Fosha, PhD

Developer of AEDP and the Director of the AEDP Institute
Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

506 - The Transformative Power of Therapist Affirmation

Healing Relational Trauma Relationally

In AEDP, a healing-oriented therapy that holds undoing aloneness as a sine qua non of trauma work, affirmation is not a mere nicety but a robust experiential clinical intervention, activating the brain’s intrinsic capacity for healing and self-repair. Through affirmation and AEDP's dyadic experiential work, people experience profound shifts in self-concept, attachment security, and overall quality of life. In this workshop, we’ll examine pioneering developmental work on recognition, emphasizing its role in fostering secure attachment bonds and healthy emotional development. You’ll discover:

  • New, neurobiologically informed ways to help traumatized clients feel deeply seen, understood, and valued from the first session
  • The key elements of attunement and moment-to-moment tracking to harness affirmation
  • How to use relationally attuned affirmation to work with defensive walls traumatized clients have built

Diana Fosha, PhD, is the developer of AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy), a healing-based, transformation-oriented model of psychotherapeutic treatment and she is founder and director of the AEDP Institute. For the last 20 years, Diana has been active in promoting a scientific basis for a healing-oriented, attachment-emotion-transformation focused trauma treatment model. Fosha’s work focuses on integrating positive neuroplasticity, recognition science and developmental dyadic research into experiential and transformational clinical work with patients. Her most recent work focuses on promoting flourishing as a seamless part of AEDP’s therapeutic process of transforming emotional suffering. Drawing on affective neuroscience, attachment theory, mother-infant developmental research, and research documenting the undreamed-of plasticity in the adult brain, AEDP has developed an experiential clinical practice, which reflects the integration of science, research and practice in psychotherapy.

Based in New York City, where she lives and practices, Fosha has been on the faculties of the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology of NYU and St. Luke’s/Roosevelt Medical Centers (now Mount Sinai) in NYC, and of the doctoral programs in clinical psychology at the Derner Institute for Advanced Psychological Studies at Adelphi University and at The City University of New York.


Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Diana Fosha is the Director and Founder of the AEDP Institute and maintains a private practice. She receives royalties as a published author. Diana Fosha receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Diana Fosha is on the advisory board of GAINS and the Society for Constructivism in the Human Science. She is on the Planning Committee and Advisory Board of by the Lifespan Learning Institute and is a member of the American Psychological Association.

Diana Fosha, PhD
Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

506 - The Transformative Power of Therapist Affirmation

Healing Relational Trauma Relationally
*Please note: this workshop has met the in-person capacity.
More Details

Diana Fosha, PhD

Developer of AEDP and the Director of the AEDP Institute
Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

506 - The Transformative Power of Therapist Affirmation

Healing Relational Trauma Relationally

In AEDP, a healing-oriented therapy that holds undoing aloneness as a sine qua non of trauma work, affirmation is not a mere nicety but a robust experiential clinical intervention, activating the brain’s intrinsic capacity for healing and self-repair. Through affirmation and AEDP's dyadic experiential work, people experience profound shifts in self-concept, attachment security, and overall quality of life. In this workshop, we’ll examine pioneering developmental work on recognition, emphasizing its role in fostering secure attachment bonds and healthy emotional development. You’ll discover:

  • New, neurobiologically informed ways to help traumatized clients feel deeply seen, understood, and valued from the first session
  • The key elements of attunement and moment-to-moment tracking to harness affirmation
  • How to use relationally attuned affirmation to work with defensive walls traumatized clients have built

Diana Fosha, PhD, is the developer of AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy), a healing-based, transformation-oriented model of psychotherapeutic treatment and she is founder and director of the AEDP Institute. For the last 20 years, Diana has been active in promoting a scientific basis for a healing-oriented, attachment-emotion-transformation focused trauma treatment model. Fosha’s work focuses on integrating positive neuroplasticity, recognition science and developmental dyadic research into experiential and transformational clinical work with patients. Her most recent work focuses on promoting flourishing as a seamless part of AEDP’s therapeutic process of transforming emotional suffering. Drawing on affective neuroscience, attachment theory, mother-infant developmental research, and research documenting the undreamed-of plasticity in the adult brain, AEDP has developed an experiential clinical practice, which reflects the integration of science, research and practice in psychotherapy.

Based in New York City, where she lives and practices, Fosha has been on the faculties of the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology of NYU and St. Luke’s/Roosevelt Medical Centers (now Mount Sinai) in NYC, and of the doctoral programs in clinical psychology at the Derner Institute for Advanced Psychological Studies at Adelphi University and at The City University of New York.


Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Diana Fosha is the Director and Founder of the AEDP Institute and maintains a private practice. She receives royalties as a published author. Diana Fosha receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Diana Fosha is on the advisory board of GAINS and the Society for Constructivism in the Human Science. She is on the Planning Committee and Advisory Board of by the Lifespan Learning Institute and is a member of the American Psychological Association.

Frank Anderson, MD & Matthias Barker, LMHC

Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

507 - Becoming a Spirituality Competent Therapist

How to Bring Your and Your Client's Beliefs into Treatment

Although a recent national survey found that most clients have overwhelmingly positive attitudes about integrating their religion and spirituality into treatment, most therapists report feeling ill-equipped to meet these needs, especially if a sense of spiritual disconnection or lack of faith has led to personal struggles. In this workshop, you’ll explore what it means to be a spiritually competent therapist. You’ll walk away with practical guidance and interventions to incorporate spirituality into your practice, making sure you’re equipped to address religious and spiritual issues in a way that fosters meaningful and productive therapeutic outcomes. You’ll discover:

  • How to navigate clients’ spiritual crises, disconnection from faith, and existential struggles
  • The ethical implications of introducing spirituality in therapy
  • Practical interventions for integrating spirituality into treatment to enhance outcomes and empower clients

Frank Anderson, MD, completed his residency and was a clinical instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He is both a psychiatrist and psychotherapist. He specializes in the treatment of trauma and dissociation and is passionate about teaching brain-based psychotherapy and integrating current neuroscience knowledge with the IFS model of therapy.

Dr. Anderson is a lead trainer at the IFS Institute with Richard Schwartz and maintains a long affiliation with, and trains for, Bessel van der Kolk’s Trauma Center. He serves as an advisor to the International Association of Trauma Professionals (IATP) and was the former chair and director of the Foundation for Self-Leadership.

Dr. Anderson has lectured extensively on the Neurobiology of PTSD and Dissociation and wrote the chapter “Who’s Taking What” Connecting Neuroscience, Psychopharmacology and Internal Family Systems for Trauma in Internal Family Systems Therapy – New Dimensions. He co-authored a chapter on What IFS Brings to Trauma Treatment in Innovations and Elaborations in Internal Family Systems Therapy, and recently co-authored Internal Family Systems Skills Training Manual.

His most recent book, entitled Transcending Trauma: Healing Complex PTSD with Internal Family Systems was released on May 19, 2021.

His memoir, To Be Loved, released on May 7, 2024.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Frank Anderson maintains a private practice. He is the Executive Director of the Foundation for Self Leadership and has employment relationships with The Trauma Center and The Center for Self Leadership. Dr. Anderson receives royalties as a published author. He receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Frank Anderson is a member of the New England Society Studying Trauma and Dissociation and the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation.
 
Matthias Barker, LMHC,
is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) with a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Northwest University. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Matthias specializes in treating high-acuity sexual trauma, childhood trauma, and marital issues.Matthias is a prolific educator and content creator, having self-published two mental health journals on a trauma-informed approach to motivation and gratitude. He has developed seven workshops on a variety of topics such as trauma, anxiety, and setting boundaries with parents as well as co-creating a comprehensive course on healing from trauma with Dr. Frank Anderson, a renowned trauma expert.As a passionate advocate for mental health, Matthias is dedicated to making psychoeducation more accessible by bridging the gap between the academic realm and the everyday experiences of the general public. As a result, he has become a sought-after authority in both the mental health and social media fields. Through his social media platforms, Matthias reaches millions, sharing psychoeducational content and building a thriving community dedicated to mental health awareness and education. With over 3 million followers across TikTok, Instagram, and his podcast, which once ranked #38 on the Spotify global health and fitness charts, his impact continues to grow.Speaker Disclosures:Financial: Matthias Barker maintains a private practice. He receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant relationships with ineligible organizations.Non-financial: Matthias Barker has no relevant non-financial relationships. journals, for a complete list contact PESI, Inc.

Frank Anderson, MD & Matthias Barker, LMHC
Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

507 - Becoming a Spirituality Competent Therapist

How to Bring Your and Your Client's Beliefs into Treatment
More Details

Frank Anderson, MD & Matthias Barker, LMHC

Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

507 - Becoming a Spirituality Competent Therapist

How to Bring Your and Your Client's Beliefs into Treatment

Although a recent national survey found that most clients have overwhelmingly positive attitudes about integrating their religion and spirituality into treatment, most therapists report feeling ill-equipped to meet these needs, especially if a sense of spiritual disconnection or lack of faith has led to personal struggles. In this workshop, you’ll explore what it means to be a spiritually competent therapist. You’ll walk away with practical guidance and interventions to incorporate spirituality into your practice, making sure you’re equipped to address religious and spiritual issues in a way that fosters meaningful and productive therapeutic outcomes. You’ll discover:

  • How to navigate clients’ spiritual crises, disconnection from faith, and existential struggles
  • The ethical implications of introducing spirituality in therapy
  • Practical interventions for integrating spirituality into treatment to enhance outcomes and empower clients

Frank Anderson, MD, completed his residency and was a clinical instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He is both a psychiatrist and psychotherapist. He specializes in the treatment of trauma and dissociation and is passionate about teaching brain-based psychotherapy and integrating current neuroscience knowledge with the IFS model of therapy.

Dr. Anderson is a lead trainer at the IFS Institute with Richard Schwartz and maintains a long affiliation with, and trains for, Bessel van der Kolk’s Trauma Center. He serves as an advisor to the International Association of Trauma Professionals (IATP) and was the former chair and director of the Foundation for Self-Leadership.

Dr. Anderson has lectured extensively on the Neurobiology of PTSD and Dissociation and wrote the chapter “Who’s Taking What” Connecting Neuroscience, Psychopharmacology and Internal Family Systems for Trauma in Internal Family Systems Therapy – New Dimensions. He co-authored a chapter on What IFS Brings to Trauma Treatment in Innovations and Elaborations in Internal Family Systems Therapy, and recently co-authored Internal Family Systems Skills Training Manual.

His most recent book, entitled Transcending Trauma: Healing Complex PTSD with Internal Family Systems was released on May 19, 2021.

His memoir, To Be Loved, released on May 7, 2024.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Frank Anderson maintains a private practice. He is the Executive Director of the Foundation for Self Leadership and has employment relationships with The Trauma Center and The Center for Self Leadership. Dr. Anderson receives royalties as a published author. He receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Frank Anderson is a member of the New England Society Studying Trauma and Dissociation and the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation.
 
Matthias Barker, LMHC,
is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) with a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Northwest University. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Matthias specializes in treating high-acuity sexual trauma, childhood trauma, and marital issues.Matthias is a prolific educator and content creator, having self-published two mental health journals on a trauma-informed approach to motivation and gratitude. He has developed seven workshops on a variety of topics such as trauma, anxiety, and setting boundaries with parents as well as co-creating a comprehensive course on healing from trauma with Dr. Frank Anderson, a renowned trauma expert.As a passionate advocate for mental health, Matthias is dedicated to making psychoeducation more accessible by bridging the gap between the academic realm and the everyday experiences of the general public. As a result, he has become a sought-after authority in both the mental health and social media fields. Through his social media platforms, Matthias reaches millions, sharing psychoeducational content and building a thriving community dedicated to mental health awareness and education. With over 3 million followers across TikTok, Instagram, and his podcast, which once ranked #38 on the Spotify global health and fitness charts, his impact continues to grow.Speaker Disclosures:Financial: Matthias Barker maintains a private practice. He receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant relationships with ineligible organizations.Non-financial: Matthias Barker has no relevant non-financial relationships. journals, for a complete list contact PESI, Inc.

Rebecca Kase, LCSW

Expert Trainer, Author of Polyvagal-Informed EMDR
Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

508 - Applying Polyvagal to Trauma Healing

How to Turn Theory into Intervention

We now know that helping clients heal from trauma includes teaching them to tune into their bodies and be able to use it as a resource. Therapists who can translate skills for calming and regulating the body not only provide clients with relief but create embodied hope that true healing is possible. Polyvagal-inspired interventions are some of the most effective of these body-based skills, and now they can be adapted for self-help outside of sessions. In this workshop you’ll learn to teach clients to adjust the volume on their emotions and give them a variety of techniques they can use to regulate in times of overwhelm. These include how to:

  • Unlock the power of polyvagal theory in therapy
  • Assess vagal functioning and tone in your clients
  • Create an autonomic blueprint that will also help them cue coping strategies
  • Apply the BASC intervention to foster mindfulness and regulation

Rebecca Kase, LCSW, is an internationally renowned EMDR expert, consultant, trainer, and owner of Kase & CO Training and Consulting. She is the author of Polyvagal-Informed EMDR: A Neuro-Informed Approach to Healing (Norton, 2023) and has worked in a variety of settings with a variety of populations including children, adolescents, and adults. She has additional experience working with dissociation and complex trauma and incorporates yoga and mind-body techniques throughout her clinical work. She advocates for embodied presence, humility and curiosity as vital components for healing and successful therapy. Rebecca strives to provide engaging, safe, and shame-free environments for clinicians to explore and learn.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Rebecca Kase maintains a private practice and receives compensation as a national speaker. She previously received royalties from Bilateralstimulation.io. Rebecca Kase receives royalties as a published author. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Rebecca Kase is a member of the EMDR International Association, the International Society for the Study of Traumatic Dissociation, and the Yoga Alliance.

Rebecca Kase, LCSW
Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

508 - Applying Polyvagal to Trauma Healing

How to Turn Theory into Intervention
More Details

Rebecca Kase, LCSW

Expert Trainer, Author of Polyvagal-Informed EMDR
Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

508 - Applying Polyvagal to Trauma Healing

How to Turn Theory into Intervention

We now know that helping clients heal from trauma includes teaching them to tune into their bodies and be able to use it as a resource. Therapists who can translate skills for calming and regulating the body not only provide clients with relief but create embodied hope that true healing is possible. Polyvagal-inspired interventions are some of the most effective of these body-based skills, and now they can be adapted for self-help outside of sessions. In this workshop you’ll learn to teach clients to adjust the volume on their emotions and give them a variety of techniques they can use to regulate in times of overwhelm. These include how to:

  • Unlock the power of polyvagal theory in therapy
  • Assess vagal functioning and tone in your clients
  • Create an autonomic blueprint that will also help them cue coping strategies
  • Apply the BASC intervention to foster mindfulness and regulation

Rebecca Kase, LCSW, is an internationally renowned EMDR expert, consultant, trainer, and owner of Kase & CO Training and Consulting. She is the author of Polyvagal-Informed EMDR: A Neuro-Informed Approach to Healing (Norton, 2023) and has worked in a variety of settings with a variety of populations including children, adolescents, and adults. She has additional experience working with dissociation and complex trauma and incorporates yoga and mind-body techniques throughout her clinical work. She advocates for embodied presence, humility and curiosity as vital components for healing and successful therapy. Rebecca strives to provide engaging, safe, and shame-free environments for clinicians to explore and learn.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Rebecca Kase maintains a private practice and receives compensation as a national speaker. She previously received royalties from Bilateralstimulation.io. Rebecca Kase receives royalties as a published author. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Rebecca Kase is a member of the EMDR International Association, the International Society for the Study of Traumatic Dissociation, and the Yoga Alliance.

Sally Spencer-Thomas, PsyD

International Experts on Suicide Prevention
Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

509 - Helping Clients with Suicidal Ideation

Honing Your Clinical Confidence and Compassion

Working with clients experiencing suicidal ideation can bring up lots of emotions in you, especially if this isn’t your specialty area. You might feel a mix of fear, anxiety, uncertainty, and self-doubt. You might question your clinical abilities—thinking, should I refer out?—or feel rushed to find a solution you don’t readily have. If you’ve felt this way, you’re not alone! In this workshop, we’ll confront these worries and trepidation by learning practical, evidence-based tools that will support you and your clients through these dark moments. We’ll cover ways to create a therapeutic environment that fosters hope, resilience, and empowerment that will buoy clients as they navigate suicidal ideation and work toward building an enjoyable and fulfilling life. You’ll discover how to:

  • Address roadblocks that hinder rapport-building with clients with suicidal thoughts and get to the root causes of those thoughts
  • Develop crisis-management techniques and create safety plans focused on the client’s self-empowerment
  • Take a more constructive, modern approach than outdated methods like contracting for safety
  • Enhance client safety by using a partnership approach to assess access to lethal means

 

Sally Spencer-Thomas, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist and inspirational international speaker. Dr. Spencer-Thomas was moved to work in suicide prevention after her younger brother, a Denver entrepreneur, died of suicide after a difficult battle with bipolar condition.

Dr. Spencer-Thomas has been an invited speaker at the White House on the topics of mental health and suicide prevention and has held leadership positions for the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, the International Association for Suicide Prevention, the American Association for Suicidology, and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. She has won multiple awards for her leadership including the 2014 Survivor of the Year from the American Association of Suicidology, the 2014 Invisible Disabilities Association Impact Honors Award, the 2012 Alumni Master Scholar from the University of Denver, the 2015 Farbarow Award from the International Association for Suicide Prevention and the 2016 Career Achievement Alumni Award from the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Professional Psychology.

She has a Doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Denver, a Masters in non-profit management from Regis University, and a bachelor’s in psychology and studio art with a minor in economics from Bowdoin College. She has written four books on mental health and violence prevention.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Sally Spencer Thomas maintains a private practice and receives royalties as a published author. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Sally Spencer Thomas is the president of United Suicide Survivors International and is a member of the executive board for the American Association of Suicidology. She is co-chair of the Workplace Special Interest Group for the International Association of Suicide Prevention and is a member of the Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

Sally Spencer-Thomas, PsyD
Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

509 - Helping Clients with Suicidal Ideation

Honing Your Clinical Confidence and Compassion
*Please note: this workshop has met the in-person capacity.
More Details

Sally Spencer-Thomas, PsyD

International Experts on Suicide Prevention
Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

509 - Helping Clients with Suicidal Ideation

Honing Your Clinical Confidence and Compassion

Working with clients experiencing suicidal ideation can bring up lots of emotions in you, especially if this isn’t your specialty area. You might feel a mix of fear, anxiety, uncertainty, and self-doubt. You might question your clinical abilities—thinking, should I refer out?—or feel rushed to find a solution you don’t readily have. If you’ve felt this way, you’re not alone! In this workshop, we’ll confront these worries and trepidation by learning practical, evidence-based tools that will support you and your clients through these dark moments. We’ll cover ways to create a therapeutic environment that fosters hope, resilience, and empowerment that will buoy clients as they navigate suicidal ideation and work toward building an enjoyable and fulfilling life. You’ll discover how to:

  • Address roadblocks that hinder rapport-building with clients with suicidal thoughts and get to the root causes of those thoughts
  • Develop crisis-management techniques and create safety plans focused on the client’s self-empowerment
  • Take a more constructive, modern approach than outdated methods like contracting for safety
  • Enhance client safety by using a partnership approach to assess access to lethal means

 

Sally Spencer-Thomas, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist and inspirational international speaker. Dr. Spencer-Thomas was moved to work in suicide prevention after her younger brother, a Denver entrepreneur, died of suicide after a difficult battle with bipolar condition.

Dr. Spencer-Thomas has been an invited speaker at the White House on the topics of mental health and suicide prevention and has held leadership positions for the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, the International Association for Suicide Prevention, the American Association for Suicidology, and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. She has won multiple awards for her leadership including the 2014 Survivor of the Year from the American Association of Suicidology, the 2014 Invisible Disabilities Association Impact Honors Award, the 2012 Alumni Master Scholar from the University of Denver, the 2015 Farbarow Award from the International Association for Suicide Prevention and the 2016 Career Achievement Alumni Award from the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Professional Psychology.

She has a Doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Denver, a Masters in non-profit management from Regis University, and a bachelor’s in psychology and studio art with a minor in economics from Bowdoin College. She has written four books on mental health and violence prevention.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Sally Spencer Thomas maintains a private practice and receives royalties as a published author. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Sally Spencer Thomas is the president of United Suicide Survivors International and is a member of the executive board for the American Association of Suicidology. She is co-chair of the Workplace Special Interest Group for the International Association of Suicide Prevention and is a member of the Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

Sunday, March 23

8:30 AM - 9:45 AM ~ Welcome & Morning Keynote
10:00 AM - 1:00 PM ~ Clinical Workshops

Sunday
Morning Keynote: 9:00 - 10:45 pm ET
Tricia Hersey

Rest as Freedom Dreaming

A Revolutionary Tool for Dismantling Oppression

Multidisciplinary artist, writer, theologian, and community organizer, Tricia Hersey has radically changed the way we think about rest. After an epiphany about her own mental and physical exhaustion and its connection to the legacy of forced labor endured by her ancestors, she founded The Nap Ministry, a hugely popular community-based organization, and began advocating for revolutionary rest. But resting isn’t just about giving our minds and bodies a break from the daily grind—though that’s a part of it. In her bestselling books, Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto” and We Will Rest! The Art of Escape, Hersey invites us to re-envision rest as a social justice issue. Refusing to overfunction and run ourselves ragged in the name of productivity helps free us from the destructive mental, physical, and spiritual impact of oppressive systems like capitalism and white supremacy.  

In this keynote, Hersey will guide us in a collective experience of immersive daydreaming. She’ll introduce us to rest as a powerful way of practicing love, liberation, and communitycare. By giving ourselves permission to freedom-dream, we can access the liberating forces inherent in rest, and reconnect with it as a divine human right. 

Where Theory Meets Practice

The Sessions You Need.

The Symposium is dedicated to addressing the genuine needs of therapists like yourself.

Unlike any other conference, it offers an unparalleled array of practical workshops led by globally recognized clinical experts. These workshops have the potential to revolutionize the outcomes you achieve with your clients, providing you with valuable tools and strategies that can make a profound difference in your practice.

The latest insights from

  • Internal Family Systems
  • EMDR Updates
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapies
  • Guided Imagery Interventions
  • Polyvagal-Informed Therapies
  • AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy)
  • Somatic & Body-Based Interventions
  • Psychopharmacology for Therapists
  • Expressive Arts & Creative Therapies
  • Dialectical Behavior Therapy
  • Exposure Therapies
  • Energy Psychology (EFT, Tapping)
  • Neuroscience-Based Interventions
  • Integrative Sex Therapy
  • Positive Psychology
  • Imago Therapy
  • Attachment-based Therapies
  • Hypnotherapy
  • Harm Reduction Therapy
  • Brainspotting
  • and much more!

On the issues that matter most

  • Traumatic Stress
  • Anxiety & Panic
  • Grief & Grieving
  • Autism
  • Narcissism & Gaslighting
  • Couples Therapy
  • Ethics & Cultural Competency
  • Addictions
  • Attachment Wounds
  • Boundaries
  • Spirituality in Psychotherapy
  • Collective, History, and Cultural Trauma
  • Teen Mental Health
  • Racialized Stress & Trauma
  • Gender, Sex & Sexuality
  • Suicidality
  • Dissociation
  • Emotional Immaturity
  • Child Development
  • Psychopharmacology

Unite with thousands of colleagues and unlock the solutions to your current challenges. Discover the approaches that truly work!

Register Now

2025 EXPERT FACULTY

Ann Kelley, PhD

Relationship and couples therapy expert

Ann Kelley, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice specializing in interdisciplinary relational couples therapy. Dr. Kelley is the co-author of Secure Relating: Holding Your Own in an Insecure World (HarperCollins April 2024) and co-producer of the internationally recognized Therapist Uncensored podcast. She and her wife and co-author, Sue Marriott, live in Austin, Texas where they raised their three now-launched children. Her professional work and writing is motivated by her ongoing concern about the toxic strategies being used by media and political forces that provoke fear, anger and polarization, and she’s driven to promote deep and wide conversations towards secure relating.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Ann Kelley maintains a private practice and is the co-founder and host of Therapist Uncensored Podcast & Community. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Ann Kelley has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Ann Kelley, PhD

Relationship and couples therapy expert
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Christopher Willard, PhD

Mindfulness and Meditation Instructor

Christopher Willard, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist, author and consultant based in Massachusetts. He has spoken in over 31 countries and has presented at two TEDx events. He is the author of 20 books, including Alphabreaths (2019), Growing Up Mindful (2016). and Feelings are Like Farts (2024). His thoughts on mental health have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, mindful.org, cnn.com, and elsewhere. He teaches at Harvard Medical School.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Christopher Willard receives compensation as a consultant and has employment relationships with Harvard Medical School, Cambridge Health Alliance, and the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy. He receives royalties as a published author. Dr. Willard receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Christopher Willard is the president and board member of the Mindfulness In Education Network. He is on the advisory boards of Mindfulness First and Peace in Schools. Dr. Willard is a member of Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy.

Christopher Willard, PhD

Mindfulness and Meditation Instructor
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Elizabeth Earnshaw, MA, LMFT, CGT

Couples therapy expert, founder of “A Better Life Therapy”

Elizabeth Earnshaw, MA, LMFT, CGT, is a couples therapist and the founder and clinical director of A Better Life Therapy. She’s a Clinical Fellow of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy, and has published two books, I Want This To Work and Til Stress Do Us Part, as well as a clinician’s tool titled The Couples Therapy Flip Chart. 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Elizabeth Earnshaw is the co-founder of The Rory Project and has an employment relationship with A Better Life Therapy, LLC. She receives royalties as a published author. Elizabeth Earnshaw receives a speaking honorarium and book royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Elizabeth Earnshaw has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Elizabeth Earnshaw, MA, LMFT, CGT

Couples therapy expert, founder of “A Better Life Therapy”
More Information

Elizabeth Nielson, PhD

Co-founder of Fluence Psychedelics Training Organization

Dr. Elizabeth Nielson, PhD, is a co-founder of Fluence and a psychologist with a focus on developing psychedelic medicines as empirically supported treatments for PTSD, substance use problems, and mood disorders. Dr. Nielson is a Site Co-Principal Investigator and therapist for an FDA approved Phase 3 clinical trial of MDMA-assisted Psychotherapy for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and has served as a therapist on FDA approved clinical trials of psilocybin-assisted treatment of alcohol use disorder, psilocybin-assisted treatment of treatment resistant depression, and earlier phase 2 and 3 trials of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. Through Fluence, she provides continuing education and training programs for therapists who wish to engage in integration of psychedelic experiences in clinical settings. Her research includes qualitative and mixed-methods projects designed to further understand the phenomenology and mechanisms of change in psychedelic-assisted therapy, including the experiences of trial participants and of the therapists themselves. Having completed an NIH postdoctoral fellowship at NYU, she has published and presented on topics of psychedelic therapist training, therapists’ personal experience with psychedelics, and including psychedelic integration in group and individual psychotherapy.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Elizabeth Nielson is the co-founder of Fluence and has employment relationships with New York State Psychiatric Institute and MAPS NY Private Practice Research Site. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Elizabeth Nielson is the founding member and an advisory board member of the Psychedelic Medicine Association. She is a member of the American Psychological Association and the International Society for Research on Psychedelics.

Elizabeth Nielson, PhD

Co-founder of Fluence Psychedelics Training Organization
More Information

George Faller, LMFT

Founder of the New York Center for Emotionally Focused Therapy

Prior to a career in the field of mental health, George Faller, LMFT spent 20 years as a NYC Firefighter and NYC Police Officer. His experience as a FDNY Peer Counselor, particularly following the events of 9/11, sparked his passion to help those impacted by trauma.

He is a certified trainer/supervisor/therapist in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and founder of the New York Center for Emotionally Focused therapy where he serves as president. He is a supervisor with the American Association for Marriage & Family Therapy (AAMFT) and teaches classes at the Ackerman Institute for the Family in Manhattan. He is a licensed marriage & family therapist currently practicing in Connecticut and New York. George is the director of training at the Greenwich Center for Hope & Renewal in Connecticut and is on board of the Porter Cason Institute at Tulane University in New Orleans.

George brings a unique and varied experience to his practice. Whether he is providing marriage therapy to Wall Street executives, leading a conference for the United States Military or equipping therapists from around the globe, his ability to inspire is far-reaching. George is also committed to bringing EFT to underprivileged populations and pushing the leading edge of effective therapy.

George is the coauthor of the books True Connection, Sacred Stress, and Emotionally Focused Family Therapy and cohost of podcast Foreplay Radio. For more information go to www.georgefaller.com and checkout www.successinvulnerability.com


Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: George Faller is the Director of Training for the Center For Hope & Renewal, and the President of the New York Center for Emotionally Focused Therapy. He is the co-host of the ForePlay Radio Podcast, leader of Success in Vulnerability, and adjunct professor at the Ackerman Institute for the Family. George receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: George Faller has no relevant non-financial relationships.

George Faller, LMFT

Founder of the New York Center for Emotionally Focused Therapy
More Information

Ingmar Gorman, PhD

Co-founder of Fluence Psychedelics Training Organization

Dr. Ingmar Gorman is a co-founder of Fluence, a psychedelic education company training mental health providers in psychedelic treatments. As a psychologist, he shares his expertise in empirically supported psychedelic treatments with his clients and trainees alike. Dr. Gorman received his clinical training in New York City at the New School for Social Research, Mount Sinai Beth Israel Hospital, Columbia University, and Bellevue Hospital. He completed his NIH postdoctoral fellowship at New York University. He simultaneously served as site co-principal investigator on an FDA approved Phase 3 clinical trial of MDMA-assisted Psychotherapy for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and is currently a study therapist and supervisor on the same study. He is co-author on a Nature Medicine paper reporting the results of the first Phase 3 clinical trial of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD. Dr. Gorman has also published on the topics of classic psychedelics, ketamine, and Psychedelic Harm Reduction and Integration.

 Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Ingmar Gorman is the co-founder and CEO of Fluence International Inc., the lead scientific advisor for Journey Clinical, and receives grants from Beckley Psytech . He receives royalties as a published author. Dr. Gorman receives a speaking honorarium from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc.
Non-financial: Dr. Ingmar Gorman has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Ingmar Gorman, PhD

Co-founder of Fluence Psychedelics Training Organization
More Information

Jill Stoddard, PhD

Expert ACT Trainer, author of “Imposter No More”

Jill Stoddard, PhD, is a psychologist, author, trainer, TEDx and keynote speaker, and award-winning teacher, as well as the co-host of the Psychologists Off the Clock podcast. She’s the founder of Flexible Communications, LLC, and The Center for Stress and Anxiety Management. Her books have been translated into 10 languages, and include The Big Book of ACT Metaphors, Be Mighty, and Imposter No More. Her perspectives have been featured in The Washington Post, Psychology Today, Today.com, The New York Times, and more. 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Jill Stoddard is the founder and director for The Center for Stress and Anxiety Management. She is an author and receives royalties. Dr. Stoddard receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Jill Stoddard is a member of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America; Association for Contextual and Behavioral Science; and Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy.

Jill Stoddard, PhD

Expert ACT Trainer, author of “Imposter No More”
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Judith Matz, LCSW

Expert on Emotional Eating, Chronic Dieting, and Body Image

Judith Matz, LCSW, is a therapist in private practice whose work focuses on clients who want to get off the diet/binge rollercoaster, develop a nourishing and satisfying relationship with food, and become more at home in their bodies. She’s the co-author of The Emotional Eating, Chronic Dieting, Binge Eating & Body Image Workbook, Beyond a Shadow of a Diet, and The Body Positivity and Making Peace with Food Card Decks

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Judith Matz is the director of The Chicago Center for Overcoming Overeating, Inc. and maintains a private practice. She receives royalties as a published author. Judith Matz receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Judith Matz is a member of the National Association of Social Workers, the National Eating Disorder Association, and the Association for Size Diversity and Health.

Judith Matz, LCSW

Expert on Emotional Eating, Chronic Dieting, and Body Image
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Kellie Newsome, PMH-NP

Psychopharmacology Clinical Expert

Kellie Newsome, PMH-NP, practices combined psychotherapy and medication treatment in North Carolina. She hosts The Pocket Psychiatrist, a podcast for clients, as well as The Cariat Psychiatry Podcast for mental health professionals.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Kellie Newsome has an employment relationship with Mood Treatment Center and is the podcast host of Carlat Psychiatry Podcast. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Kellie Newsome has no relevant non-financial relationships."

Kellie Newsome, PMH-NP

Psychopharmacology Clinical Expert
More Information

Margaret Nichols, PhD

Executive Director of the Institute for Personal Growth

Margaret Nichols, PhD, is a psychologist, AASECT certified sex therapy supervisor and founder and first Executive Director of the Institute for Personal Growth, a psychotherapy organization in New Jersey specializing in clinical work with the sex, relationship and gender diverse community. She is the author of The Modern Clinician’s Guide to Working with LGBTQ+ Clients: The Inclusive Psychotherapist. Dr. Nichols is an international speaker and author of many articles on LGBTQ sexuality, transgender youth, kink, and consensual nonmonogamy, as well as co-director of Modern Sex Therapy Institutes Transgender Mental Health certification program.  

Speaker Disclosures
Financial: Dr. Margaret Nichols maintains a private practice and receives royalties as a published author. She receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Margaret Nichols has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Margaret Nichols, PhD

Executive Director of the Institute for Personal Growth
More Information

Nancy L. Johnston, MS, LPC, LSATP

Author and Expert on Toxic Codependency

Nancy Johnston, MS, LPC, LSATP, has been a therapist for over 40 years and is an expert in the field of codependent relationships. The author of Disentangle: When You’ve Lost Your Self in Someone Else (2020). Nancy has helped thousands of clients extricate themselves from toxic codependency, connect with self, and live with more peace and confidence.

Nancy is Master Addiction Counselor and an AMHCA Diplomate in Substance Abuse & Co-Occurring Disorders. She has also authored two other books My Life as a Border Collie: Freedom from Codependency (2012) and Your Healthy Self: Skills for Working with Codependent Behaviors (2015).

In addition to working with individuals, couples, and families, she offers online workshops on "Self-Recovery" and designs and facilitates a Codependence Camp twice a year. Over the past 15 years, Nancy has presented at numerous conferences including the Cape Cod Symposium on Addictive Disorders, the Carolinas Conference for Addiction and Recovery, Addiction: Focus on Women, the Virginia Summer Institute for Addiction Studies, the American Mental Health Counselors Association’s Annual Conference, the Virginia Counselors Association’s Annual Conference, and Specialty Docket Training for the Virginia Supreme Court. More information about Nancy and her work is available at her website: nancyljohnston.com.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Nancy Johnston maintains a private practice and is an independent contractor with Dr. Kuley and Associates. She receives royalties as a published author. Nancy Johnston receives a speaking honorarium from Virginia Summer Institute for Addiction Studies. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Nancy Johnston is a member of the American Mental Health Counselors' Association, the Virginia Counselors' Association, the National Association of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselors, and the Virginia Association of Addiction Professionals.

Nancy L. Johnston, MS, LPC, LSATP

Author and Expert on Toxic Codependency
More Information

Rebecca Kase, LCSW

Expert Trainer, Author of Polyvagal-Informed EMDR

Rebecca Kase, LCSW, is an internationally renowned EMDR expert, consultant, trainer, and owner of Kase & CO Training and Consulting. She is the author of Polyvagal-Informed EMDR: A Neuro-Informed Approach to Healing (Norton, 2023) and has worked in a variety of settings with a variety of populations including children, adolescents, and adults. She has additional experience working with dissociation and complex trauma and incorporates yoga and mind-body techniques throughout her clinical work. She advocates for embodied presence, humility and curiosity as vital components for healing and successful therapy. Rebecca strives to provide engaging, safe, and shame-free environments for clinicians to explore and learn.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Rebecca Kase maintains a private practice and receives compensation as a national speaker. She previously received royalties from Bilateralstimulation.io. Rebecca Kase receives royalties as a published author. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Rebecca Kase is a member of the EMDR International Association, the International Society for the Study of Traumatic Dissociation, and the Yoga Alliance.

Rebecca Kase, LCSW

Expert Trainer, Author of Polyvagal-Informed EMDR
More Information

Robert Schwarz, PsyD, DCEP

Executive Director of EnergyPsycho.org

Robert Schwarz, PsyD, DCEP, is a licensed psychologist and master therapist and trainer who has been practicing for over 30 years. He is the Executive Director of the Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology (energypsych.org). He has been teaching trauma treatment as well as energy psychology approaches for over 20 years. He has presented workshops internationally on trauma, Ericksonian hypnosis, brief therapy and energy psychology.

He is the author of Tools for Transforming Trauma, and PTSD: A Clinician’s Guide, as well as a book on couples work We’re No Fun Anymore and numerous articles and videos. Dr. Schwarz has organized over 20 conferences on treating trauma, Energy Psychology, Ericksonian Hypnosis and brief therapy training over 15,000 therapists. He is a clinical member of AAMFT, an approved consultant in Hypnosis, and a diplomat in Comprehensive Energy Psychology. He is known for his ability to provide specific clinical skills within an integrative model. Participants consistently comment that his workshops are engaging and entertaining, full of humor as well as deeply moving demonstrations.


Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Robert Schwarz maintains a private practice and is the executive director of the Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology. He is a published author and receives royalties. Dr. Schwarz receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Robert Schwarz has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Robert Schwarz, PsyD, DCEP

Executive Director of EnergyPsycho.org
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Roger Kuhn, PhD,

Author of Somacultural Liberation, Educator and Activist

Roger J. Kuhn, PhD, is a Poarch Creek Two-Spirit Indigequeer soma-cultural AASECT Certified Sex Therapist and sexuality educator. Roger’s work explores the concepts of decolonizing and unsettling sexuality and focuses on the way culture impacts and informs our bodily experiences. In addition to his work as a licensed psychotherapist, Roger is a faculty lecturer of American Indian Studies at San Francisco State University. He is a board member of the American Indian Cultural Center of San Francisco and a community organizer of the Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirit powwow.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Roger Kuhn maintains a private practice and has an employment relationship with the San Francisco State University. Dr. Kuhn receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. Dr. Kuhn has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Roger Kuhn is a member of the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists and the American Anthropological Association.

Roger Kuhn, PhD,

Author of Somacultural Liberation, Educator and Activist
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Sally Spencer-Thomas, PsyD

International Experts on Suicide Prevention

Sally Spencer-Thomas, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist and inspirational international speaker. Dr. Spencer-Thomas was moved to work in suicide prevention after her younger brother, a Denver entrepreneur, died of suicide after a difficult battle with bipolar condition.

Dr. Spencer-Thomas has been an invited speaker at the White House on the topics of mental health and suicide prevention and has held leadership positions for the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, the International Association for Suicide Prevention, the American Association for Suicidology, and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. She has won multiple awards for her leadership including the 2014 Survivor of the Year from the American Association of Suicidology, the 2014 Invisible Disabilities Association Impact Honors Award, the 2012 Alumni Master Scholar from the University of Denver, the 2015 Farbarow Award from the International Association for Suicide Prevention and the 2016 Career Achievement Alumni Award from the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Professional Psychology.

She has a Doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Denver, a Masters in non-profit management from Regis University, and a bachelor’s in psychology and studio art with a minor in economics from Bowdoin College. She has written four books on mental health and violence prevention.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Sally Spencer Thomas maintains a private practice and receives royalties as a published author. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Sally Spencer Thomas is the president of United Suicide Survivors International and is a member of the executive board for the American Association of Suicidology. She is co-chair of the Workplace Special Interest Group for the International Association of Suicide Prevention and is a member of the Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

Sally Spencer-Thomas, PsyD

International Experts on Suicide Prevention
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Sue Marriott, LCSW, CGP

Interpersonal Neurobiology Expert

Sue Marriott is a clinical social worker, educator, and podcaster who has worked with individuals and groups in private practice in Austin, TX for over 30 years. Her passion boils down to bridging the life-changing relational sciences to those who would otherwise not have access to it. In that spirit, she co-authored Secure Relating: Holding Your Own in an Insecure World (HarperCollins April 2024) and co-created an independently produced podcast, Therapist Uncensored (which maintains an Apple top 10 ranking in social sciences with >9 million downloads in >200 countries). These were both created with her co-conspirator wife and rebel-rouser, Dr. Ann Kelley.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Sue Marriott maintains a private practice and is the co-host of Therapist Uncensored Podcast. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Sue Marriott has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Sue Marriott, LCSW, CGP

Interpersonal Neurobiology Expert
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Tova Rubin, PhD

Ethics in Therapy Expert Trainer

Tova Rubin, Ph.D., is in private practice in the DC area. She’s adjunct faculty at George Washington University and a hospice volunteer.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Tova Rubin maintains a private practice and receives royalties as a published author. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Tova Rubin is a contributing author with Psychotherapy Networker.

Tova Rubin, PhD

Ethics in Therapy Expert Trainer
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Wendy T. Behary, MSW, LCSW

Bestselling Author of “Disarming the Narcissist” 

With 25 + years of professional experience and advanced level certifications, Wendy Behary is the founder and director of The Cognitive Therapy Center of New Jersey and the Schema Therapy Institutes of NJ-NYC-DC. She has been treating clients, training professionals and supervising psychotherapists for more than 20 years. Wendy was on the faculty of the Cognitive Therapy Center and Schema Therapy Institute of New York (until the Institutes merged in 2012), where she trained and worked with Dr. Jeffrey Young since 1989.

She is a founding fellow and consulting supervisor for The Academy of Cognitive Therapy (Aaron T. Beck’s Institute). Wendy served as the President of the Executive Board of the International Society of Schema Therapy (ISST) from 2010-2014 and served as the Training and Certification Coordinator for the ISST Executive Board from 2008-2010. She is currently the chair of the Schema Therapy Development Programs Sub-Committee for the ISST.

Wendy Behary has co-authored several chapters and articles on Schema Therapy and Cognitive Therapy. She is the author of an international bestselling book, Disarming the Narcissist: Surviving and Thriving with the Self-Absorbed, translated in 15 languages. The Third Edition was released on October 1, 2021. Wendy has a specialty in treating narcissists and the people who live with and deal with them. As an author and an expert on the subject of narcissism, she is a contributing chapter author of several chapters on schema therapy for narcissism for professional readers. She lectures both nationally and internationally to professional and general audiences on schema therapy, narcissism, interpersonal relationships, anger, and dealing with difficult people. She receives consistent high praise for her clear and articulate teaching style and her ability to bring the therapy to life through dramatic demonstrations of client interactions in the treatment room.

Her work industry business speaking engagements focus on interpersonal conflict resolution. Her private practice is primarily devoted to treating narcissists, partners/people dealing with them, and couples experiencing relationship problems.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Wendy Behary is the co-founder, Clinical Director, and Director of Training for The Cognitive Therapy Center of New Jersey and The Schema Therapy Institute of NJ-NYC-DC. She is a published author and receives royalties. Wendy Behary receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Wendy Behary serves on the advisory board of the International Society for Schema Therapy and is a member of the NJ Association of Cognitive-Behavior Therapists, and the International Association of Cognitive-Behavior Therapists.

Wendy T. Behary, MSW, LCSW

Bestselling Author of “Disarming the Narcissist” 
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Elliot Connie, MA, LPC

Founder of The Solution Focused Universe

Elliott Connie, MA, LPC, is a Texas-based psychotherapist in private practice and the founder/director of The Solution-Focused University, an online learning community that trains and provides resources for professionals who want to master the Solution Focused approach in their work. Over the course of his 15-year clinical career, Elliott has successfully worked with thousands of individuals, couples, and families using a solution-focused model to help them achieve their desired outcomes. He is an experienced speaker who has gained international recognition for training hundreds of practitioners throughout the United States, Australia, Europe and Asia on the solution-focused treatment model. Elliott is the author/co-author of four books, including Solution-Focused Brief Therapy with Clients Managing Trauma (Oxford University Press, 2018), The Solution focused Marriage: 5 Simple Habits That Will Bring Out the Best in Your Relationship (The Connie Institute, 2012), Solution Building in Couples Therapy (Springer, 2012), and The Art of Solution Focused Therapy (Springer, 2009).

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Elliott Connie is the founder of The Solution Focused Universe and maintains a private practice. He receives royalties as a published author. Elliott Connie receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Ellicott Connie is a member of the American Counselor Association and the Solution-Focused Brief Therapy Association

Elliot Connie, MA, LPC

Founder of The Solution Focused Universe
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Leanne Campbell, PhD

Trainer and Codeveloper of EFT Programs

Dr. Leanne Campbell, is a Registered Psychologist, a co-founder and managing partner of Campbell & Fairweather Psychology group, and an ICEEFT (International Center for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy) Certified Trainer. In addition to providing psychological services to hundreds of individuals, couples, and families over the past three decades, Dr. Campbell provides trainings in Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT) to professionals around the globe with a primary focus in the areas of grief and trauma. Most recently, she co-authored with Dr. Sue Johnson the first individually focused EFT book, A Primer for Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT): Cultivating Growth and Fitness in Every Client (Routledge, 2022).

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: T. Leanne Campbell maintains a private practice and receives royalties as a published author. She receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: T. Leanne Campbell is a board member International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy. She is a member of the Canadian Psychological Association, the College of Psychologists of British Columbia, and the International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy.

Leanne Campbell, PhD

Trainer and Codeveloper of EFT Programs
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William Doherty, PhD

Director of the MN Couples on the Brink Project and Cofounder of Braver Angels

William Doherty, PhD, is a professor and director of the Minnesota Couples on the Brink Project at the University of Minnesota. He’s cofounder of Braver Angels, a nonprofit working to depolarize America. His new book (with Tai Mendenhall) is Becoming a Citizen Therapist: Integrating Community Problem-Solving into Your Work as a Healer. .


Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. William Doherty receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. William Doherty is a member of the National Council on Family Relations, the International Council of the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide in Jerusalem, and the American Psychological Association. He serves on several editorial boards, for a complete list contact PESI, Inc.

William Doherty, PhD

Director of the MN Couples on the Brink Project and Cofounder of Braver Angels
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Monica Band, PhD

Mental Health Justice Advocate and Educator

Dr. Monica P. Band is an award-winning practicing mental health therapist and educator on a mission to make mental health care more diverse, equitable, and inclusive for the next generation. She has dedicated her clinical work to better understanding and facilitating healing dialogues around intergenerational trauma and cultural identity work within her shared communities. Dr. Band has advanced training in utilizing EMDR specifically treating attachment wounds and complex trauma. She provides adjunct instruction for universities, train the trainer workshops, subject matter consultation, and interdisciplinary partnerships to destigmatize mental health for people of color and LGBTQIA+ communities.

Currently, Dr. Band owns Mindful Healing Counseling Services, LLC, a mental health group private practice that serves the D.C. metro area. She obtained her doctoral degree in counselor education and supervision at Marymount University and her master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling at The George Washington University.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Monica Band maintains a private practice. She receives a speaking honorarium from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Monica Band is a member of the American Counseling Association and the Virginia Counselors Association.

Monica Band, PhD

Mental Health Justice Advocate and Educator
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Terry Casey, PhD

Expert on Legal and Ethical Issues

Terry Casey, PhD, is a licensed psychologist, consultant, and educator, and consultant specializing in ethical, legal, and practice issues. He maintains a private practice and has served for several years as the Ethics Committee Chair for a state-level professional organization.  .

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Terry Casey maintains a private practice and is a faculty member of Lipscomb University. He is a published author and receives royalties. Dr. Casey receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Terry Casey is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Tennessee Psychological Association, the Tennessee Licensed Professional Counselor Association, and others. For a complete list, please contact info@pesi.com.

Terry Casey, PhD

Expert on Legal and Ethical Issues
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Connor Beaton

ManTalks founder and bestselling author of Men's Work

Connor Beaton is the founder of ManTalks, an international organization focused on improving the lives, relationships, and mental health of men. He’s also an international speaker, author of the bestselling book Men’s Work: A Practical Guide to Face Your Darkness, End Self-Sabotage, and Find Freedom, and host of the podcast ManTalks. He’s also a TEDx speaker and has been featured in Forbes, The Huffington Post, The Good Men Project, and National Post. 

Connor Beaton

ManTalks founder and bestselling author of Men's Work
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Christine Mark-Griffin, LCSW

EMDR Therapy for Children Expert and Award-Winning Author

Christine Mark-Griffin, LCSW,RYT is an internationally acclaimed expert in EMDR therapy for children and award-winning author. Christine is passionate about playfully combining her love of yoga, music, movement & fitness with clinical practice to help others learn, grow and heal. She is the owner of Spark All Wellness, a small group practice located in San Francisco, California specializing in EMDR and trauma-informed yoga therapy with women and children. She is also the founder of EMDR for Kids, where her mission is to empower therapists, parents, and children of all ages with resources, tools, and advanced training to overcome trauma & adversities. 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Christine Mark-Griffin is the owner of Spark All Wellness. She receives a speaking honorarium, recording and book royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Christine Mark-Griffin is a member of National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and EMDR International Association (EMDRIA)."

Christine Mark-Griffin, LCSW

EMDR Therapy for Children Expert and Award-Winning Author
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Steve Shapiro, PhD

Expert on treating severe mental illness, AEDP Institute Founding Member

Steve Shapiro, PhD, is a psychologist, certified IEDTA teacher, trainer, and supervisor, and a founding member of the AEDP institute with over 20 years of clinical and teaching experience. His work as the director of an emergency psychiatric hospital for over 16 years has informed his approach to challenging patients with a history of trauma, a high degree of resistance, or excessive anxiety and dysregulation. He trains clinicians internationally. 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Steven Shapiro maintains a private practice and has employment relationships with Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP) Institute, MCP Hahnemann University, He receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Steven Shapiro is a fellow with the Pennsylvania Psychological Association and a member of the International Center for Clinical Excellence."

Steve Shapiro, PhD

Expert on treating severe mental illness, AEDP Institute Founding Member
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Kory Andreas, LCSW-C

Autism-Focused Therapy Expert

Kory Andreas, LCSW-C, is an Autism-focused therapist, consultant, and writer. She specializes in delivering neurodiversity awareness and affirming strategies to mental health practitioners, treatment facilities, and the corporate world.  

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Kory Andreas maintains a private practice. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Kory Andreas has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Kory Andreas, LCSW-C

Autism-Focused Therapy Expert
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Stephen Madigan, PhD

Award-winning couple and family therapist

Stephen Madigan, PhD, is an award-winning couple and family therapist, bestselling author, and director of training with the Vancouver School for Narrative Therapy.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Stephen Madigan has employment relationships with Vancouver School for Narrative Therapy, Yaletown Family Therapy and Mediation, VSNT.live online website, and Norway High Couple Conflict Teams. He receives royalties as a published author. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Stephen Madigan is an author with Psychotherapy Networker. He is a member of the BC Association of Clinical Counsellor and Family Mediation Canada."

Stephen Madigan, PhD

Award-winning couple and family therapist
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Terri Cole, LCSW

Author of Boundary Boss & founder of Real Love Revolution

Terri Cole, LCSW, is a New York-based licensed psychotherapist, relationship expert, speaker, coach, and founder of Real Love Revolution and Terri Cole's Boundary Bootcamp. She’s the author of Boundary Boss: The Essential Guide to Talk True, Be Seen, and (Finally) Live Free and Too Much: A Guide to Breaking the Cycle of High-Functioning Codependency. 

Terri Cole, LCSW

Author of Boundary Boss & founder of Real Love Revolution
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Megan Devine, LPC

Grief Expert, Best-selling author of "It’s Ok That You’re Not Ok"

Megan Devine, LPC, is an acclaimed grief expert, psychotherapist and author of the best-selling book It’s Ok That You’re Not Ok: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn’t Understand, considered required reading by grieving people and professionals around the world. With over 20 years in the field, her pioneering work provides a professional, inclusive, and realistic approach to grief, one that goes beyond pathology-based, reductive models.

A sought-after expert when grief erupts in the public sphere, Megan’s work is featured widely in the media including the New York Times, NPR, Washington Post, GQ, Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic, the PBS documentary Speaking Grief, and more. Megan is the founder of Refuge in Grief, a hub of grief education and outreach where she leads people through some of the most devastating times of their lives. Her podcast, It’s OK That You’re Not OK, explores survival (and even hope) after life goes horribly wrong. Learn more about her trainings, consultancy work, consumer and industry-facing support materials, and her licensed programs at refugeingrief.com and megandevine.co.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Megan Devine is the founder and CEO of Refuge in Grief as well as The After Institute. Megan Devine maintains a private practice and is the on-line advisor/author of Empowering Parents. She is the creator and host of It’s Ok that You’re Not OK with Megan Devine. She receives royalties as a published author. Megan Devine receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Megan Devine has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Megan Devine, LPC

Grief Expert, Best-selling author of "It’s Ok That You’re Not Ok"
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Rebecca Knowles, OTD, OTR/L, RYT

Director of Research, Education, and Quality at Unyte

Rebecca Knowles, OTD, OTR/L, RYT, is an occupational therapist and yoga instructor specializing in sensory processing and mental health. She serves as Unyte's Director of Research, Education, and Quality. 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Rebecca Knowles maintains a private practice and has employment relationships with Unyte Health US, Inc. and Midwestern University. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant finical relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Rebecca Knowles is a member of the American Occupational Therapy Association.

Rebecca Knowles, OTD, OTR/L, RYT

Director of Research, Education, and Quality at Unyte
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Sahaj Kaur Kohli, MAEd, LGPC, NCC

Founder of Brown Girl Therapy

Sahaj Kaur Kohli, MAEd, LGPC, NCC, is a therapist, international speaker, and founder of Brown Girl Therapy, the first and largest mental health and wellness community organization for adult children of immigrants. The author of  But What Will People Say? Navigating Mental Health, Identity, Love, and Family Between Cultures, she writes The Washington Post’s advice column Ask Sahaj.

Sahaj Kaur Kohli, MAEd, LGPC, NCC

Founder of Brown Girl Therapy
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IN-PERSON

Omni Shoreham - Washington DC
Sale Price

$729.99

$1199.99

Full Price

$879.99

SAVE up to $100 FOR A LIMITED TIME!
Be in the room with many of the fields leading trainers and choose from dozens of new, practical clinical workshops over 4 days.
Earn up to a year's worth of CE hours ($800 value - included!)
Complete download access to all handouts and resources from faculty to use in your clinical practice (included!)
Official canvas tote bag full of swag from Psychotherapy Networker and our sponsors ($30 value)
Get online access to every live streamed session + 14-day on-demand replay access to every streamed session so you don't miss a thing (included with in-person registration - $499 value)
Daily morning yoga and movement sessions + the famous Symposium Friday night dance party (included)
Receive $250 off the complete conference recording package with lifetime access and self-study CEs included ($250 value! - add at registration or at the conference)
Psychotherapy’s largest exhibit hall and bookstore with conference-only pricing on all the latest books and tools for your practice – all in one spot!
Daily book signing and meet-and-greet events
Exclusive lunch and dinner events (3-course meal in the ballroom, keynote, and CEs included! Add your ticket at reservation)
100% risk-free registration with no cancellation fees, ever

Virtual

Live Online
Sale Price

$299.99

$499.99

Full Price

$599.99

SAVE up to $150 FOR A LIMITED TIME!
Livestream access to dozens of new, practical clinical workshops over 4 days
Earn up to a year's worth of CE hours ($800 value - included!)
Complete download access to all handouts and resources from faculty to use in your clinical practice (included!)
User-friendly, all-in-one platform that can be accessed on desktop or mobile with speaker Q&A and live chat
Get online access to every live streamed session + 14-day on-demand replay access to every streamed session so you don't miss a thing
Join “Networker Backstage” sessions for exclusive 1-on-1 time with Symposium faculty speakers
Full virtual bookstore & exhibit hall with conference-only pricing and free shipping only for attendees
Upgrades available to access special lunch & dinner keynotes and special events
Receive $250 off the complete conference recording package with lifetime access and self-study CEs included ($250 value! - add at registration or at the conference)
100% risk-free registration with no cancellation fees, ever

Schedule at a Glance

Click on the days below to see times of each event
Please note the times are listed in PDT

Thursday, October 3

8:30 AM - Noon PDT
Workshops
Noon - 1:00 PM PDT
Break
1:00 PM – 3:00 PM PDT
Workshops Continued
3:00 PM – 6:30 PM PDT
Exhibit Hall Grand Opening

Chris Aiken, MD & Kellie Newsome, PMH-NP

Psychopharmacology Clinical Experts
Thursday
9:30 am – 12:00 pm; 1:00 – 3:00 pm ET

107 - Psychopharmacology for Therapists

Talking to Your Clients About Medications

Many of our therapy clients are either taking psychiatric medications or curious about them. That means knowing how to talk about medications as a non-prescriber is a key part of our therapist's role. But with over 150 different types of psychiatric meds available and various views on their effectiveness, where do you begin? This workshop offers an easy introduction to meds that covers a wide range of clients, approaches, and issues—from substance use disorders to rapid-acting treatments to psychedelics. Together, we’ll examine the latest advances, including newly approved drugs for depression and postpartum depression. You’ll also explore:  

  • How to tailor your therapy approach and techniques based on what medication a client is using 
  • Common misunderstandings about psychiatric medications and how to talk to clients about what medications can and can’t do 
  • Specific lifestyle changes you can recommend that often enhance medication response 
  • Circumstances under which medications work best, and ones in which they don’t 

Chris Aiken, MD, is the editor-in-chief of The Carlat Psychiatry Report, the medical director of the Mood Treatment Center, and an Assistant Professor at NYU’s School of Medicine. His books include Prescribing Psychotropics and The Depression and Bipolar Workbook. His research focuses on novel medications and natural approaches to mood disorders. 

Kellie Newsome, PMH-NP, practices combined psychotherapy and medication treatment in North Carolina. She hosts The Pocket Psychiatrist, a podcast for clients, as well as The Carlat Psychiatry Podcast, for mental health professionals.  

Chris Aiken, MD & Kellie Newsome, PMH-NP

Psychopharmacology Clinical Experts
Thursday
9:30 am – 12:00 pm; 1:00 – 3:00 pm ET

107 - Psychopharmacology for Therapists

More Information

Kelly Jacobs, LCPC, LCPAT, ATR-BC & Alberta Gyimah-Boadi, MA, LCPC, ATR-BC

Thursday
9:30 am – 12:00 pm; 1:00 – 3:00 pm ET

109 - Discovering the Artist Within

The Liberating Power of Creative Improvisation

In therapy, as in art, people often get blocked, stuck in repetitive patterns, and cut off from their natural source of creativity. In both the therapy room and on the artist’s canvas, getting unstuck is a matter of improvising. Improvisation is a creative leap of faith, a liberating experience that often leads to fresh discoveries and insights. In this experiential workshop, you’ll learn how to use the creative arts to tap into your intuition.  Along the way, you’ll discover how this process parallels tapping into your innate creativity as a therapist, and how you can help clients leave judgment behind to access the hidden strengths of the authentic artist within. Absolutely no prior art-making experience is required! You’ll explore: 

  • A non-judgmental, empowering, and playful approach to creating art that jump-starts curiosity and experimentation 
  • How to engage with imagery that arises during the creation process with an attuned, therapeutic presence 
  • New insights and awareness that emerge when we turn our attention away from the familiar realm of verbal language 
  • How to use art materials intentionally, safely, and ethically in session with clients  

Kelly Jacobs, LCPC, LCPAT, ATR-BC is an art therapist and psychotherapist who merges creative expression, embodied awareness, and ecotherapy approaches in clinical practice. She works in private practice in Maryland supporting clients in the creative navigation of traumatic stress, life transitions, mood disorders, and perinatal issues. 

Alberta (Alby) Gyimah-Boadi, MA, LCPC, ATR-BC, is a trauma-informed art therapist with over six years of experience providing individual, family, and group therapy to children, adolescents, and adults. She has significant experience in international, community-based, school, and medical settings. She currently works at Children’s National Medical Center and in private practice at Mosaic Therapy Services in the DC area. 

Kelly Jacobs, LCPC, LCPAT, ATR-BC & Alberta Gyimah-Boadi, MA, LCPC, ATR-BC

Thursday
9:30 am – 12:00 pm; 1:00 – 3:00 pm ET

109 - Discovering the Artist Within

More Information

Jody Wager, MS, BC-DMT & Liz Freeman, MA, BC-DMT

Expert dance and movement therapy trainers
Thursday
9:30 am – 12:00 pm; 1:00 – 3:00 pm ET

110 - Embodiment Tools for Therapists

The Dance of Engagement

Embodied therapists mindfully connect to present-moment experiences and gain valuable insight by focusing on the wisdom of the body—their own and their client’s. In this workshop, you’ll explore somatic attunement through a range of expressive dance, movement, and integrative art activities. Through various movement experiences, you’ll develop your innate ability to attend empathically to clients, respond authentically, and translate nonverbal experiences into cognitive insights. Whatever your clinical approach, you’ll learn body-mind exercises that can be integrated into any practice. Discover: 

  • Movement techniques to be more fully present and self-aware when working with trauma, anxiety, depression, and other clinical issues 
  • How to use kinesthetic empathy to better understand and gather information about what your client might be feeling in that moment, or the intensity of emotions held in your client’s body 
  • New methods to stay grounded and centered in sessions 

Jody Wager, MS, BC-DMT, is a dance therapist with 40+ years of experience moving with and treating clients of all ages and abilities. She’s the director of the expressive therapy department at Dominion Hospital in Falls Church, VA, and the past president of the American Dance Therapy Association and the National Coalition of Creative Arts Therapies Associations. 

Liz Freeman, MA, BC-DMT, serves as the lead dance/movement therapist for Creative Forces: NEA Military Healing Arts Network. She works at the National Intrepid Center of Excellence directorate of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, which is an integrative treatment program for active-duty service members recovering from traumatic brain injury and associated psychological health conditions. 

Jody Wager, MS, BC-DMT & Liz Freeman, MA, BC-DMT

Expert dance and movement therapy trainers
Thursday
9:30 am – 12:00 pm; 1:00 – 3:00 pm ET

110 - Embodiment Tools for Therapists

More Information

Jacqui Johnson, LPC, MS, ATR-BC, CCMHC, PMH-C, RYT & Elliot Gann, PSYD

Thursday
9:30 am – 12:00 pm; 1:00 – 3:00 pm ET

111 - Healing Trauma through Therapeutic Beat-Making

A Neurobiological, Polyvagal, & Holistic Approach to Recovery

It comes as no surprise: music is healing. And now, there’s substantial evidence showing that Polyrhythmic Healing—a holistic therapeutic approach that integrates the principles of neurobiology, Polyvagal Theory, and Therapeutic Beat Making (TBM)— treating complex trauma. In this workshop, learn how complex trauma impacts our nervous system and how Polyrhythmic Healing can provide a pathway to healing that’s been used by Indigenous cultures for centuries. Through demonstrations and by creating your own beats, see firsthand how this unique approach can enhance your work and help trauma survivors regulate their emotional responses to create lasting change. You’ll also learn how to: 

  • Use rhythmic patterns and bilateral stimulation to engage trauma survivors’ limbic system and regulate their autonomic nervous system 
  • Help trauma survivors develop a deeper connection between their mind and body, creating a sense of safety so that they can more easily process what happened 
  • Make your therapy approach more culturally sensitive by offering a range of holistic treatment options 
  • Enhance your clinical approach with knowledge from Polyvagal Theory and neurobiology  
  • Help trauma survivors create a nonverbal, healing narrative 

Jacqui Johnson, LPC, MS, LPC, ATR-BC, CCMHC, PMH-C, RYT, is a Somatic Healing Justice Art, Play, and Hip-Hop Therapist based in Philadelphia, as well as the founder of Sankofa Healing Studio. Her areas of expertise include trauma-responsive care, gender issues, adverse childhood experiences, race, and community violence. She lectures, provides supervision and consultation, and leads initiatives that increase accessibility for therapists of color. She also facilitates trauma-responsive art therapy groups for incarcerated women and youth at the Philadelphia County Jail, combining art, play, storytelling, and hip-hop.

Elliott Gann, PsyD, is a licensed child and adolescent psychologist, music therapist, consultant, trainer, and the Executive Director of Today’s Future Sound, based in Oakland, California. He’s done Therapeutic Beat-Making (TBM) work in over 25 countries over the last 10 years, including in the Bay Area, where he oversees beat-making curricula development and program implementation at several schools, promoting mental health, social justice, and cross-culturalism. He leads beat-making groups at Mott Haven Community High School in New York City, as well as weekly TBM workshops for incarcerated teens at San Mateo Juvenile Hall in San Mateo, California. He’s currently operating as a Hip Hop ambassador for the U.S. State Department’s TEAMBeats program. He’s the creator of the Therapeutic Beat Making Model, currently in development.

Jacqui Johnson, LPC, MS, ATR-BC, CCMHC, PMH-C, RYT & Elliot Gann, PSYD

Thursday
9:30 am – 12:00 pm; 1:00 – 3:00 pm ET

111 - Healing Trauma through Therapeutic Beat-Making

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Friday, October 4

7:00 AM – 8:00 AM PDT
Morning Movement/Yoga
9:00 AM – 10:45 AM PDT
Welcome & Keynote Address
11:00 AM – 1:00 PM PDT
Morning Workshops
1:15 PM – 2:45 PM PDT
Luncheon Address & Exhibit Hall Happenings
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM PDT
Afternoon Workshops
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM PDT
Innovations Reception in the Exhibit Hall
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM PDT
Trauma Research Foundation Reception with Bessel van der Kolk
8:00 PM – 11:00 PM PDT
Innovations Dance Party

Diane Poole Heller, PhD

Expert on Trauma and Attachment Theory
Friday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

209 - Break the Cycle of Intergenerational Trauma

Clinical Strategies for Healing Attachment Wounds

Intergenerational trauma can elude conventional treatment methods and be a profound challenge for families and therapists alike. Being able to illuminate symptoms of clients’ inherited trauma patterns and offer techniques to address their deep-rooted issues is paramount. In this workshop, we’ll dive into a real client session and discover how to heal intergenerational wounds   by addressing generational boundary ruptures and approaching parental wounds with compassion. You’ll learn to:  

  • Move clients out of any tension, friction, pain, and grief attached to their ancestral lineage  
  • Recognize how symptoms of intergenerational trauma may appear during a session  
  • Use the imaginal realm to address negative merging and troubled family histories 
  • Set the stage for client safety and empower clients to engage compassionately with parents’ unmet needs and core wounding  

Diane Poole Heller, PhD, is a speaker, author and attachment and trauma expert whose DARe (Dynamic Attachment Repatterning experience) approach facilitates healing from attachment and trauma wounds. Senior Faculty for the Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute, she’s taught Somatic Experiencing trauma work internationally for over 25 years and is the author of The Power of Attachment, Crash Course, and the audio book Healing Your Attachment Wounds.  


Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Diane Poole Heller has an employment relationship with Trauma Solutions. She is a published author and receives royalties. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Diane Poole has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Diane Poole Heller, PhD

Expert on Trauma and Attachment Theory
Friday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

209 - Break the Cycle of Intergenerational Trauma

More Information

Jill Stoddard, PhD

Expert ACT Trainer, author of “Imposter No More”
Friday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

215 - Helping Clients Overcome Imposter “Syndrome”

An ACT Approach

Deep down, the majority of successful people spend a good amount of time questioning their professional legitimacy. The result can be debilitating self-doubt and rumination, affecting everything from their work to their relationships. You might even be one of these self-doubters! So how can we help people break free of this so-called imposter “syndrome”? In this workshop, learn Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) techniques to help clients manage their imposterism and live up to their full professional potential—without being usurped by the crippling burden of self-doubt. You’ll explore why your clients (and you!) develop imposter thoughts, fall into traps trying to outrun the imposter experience, and how to take actionable steps toward cultivating psychological flexibility—the main goal of ACT---to move confidently in the direction of your most deeply held values. You’ll also learn:  

  • Which people are most vulnerable to the imposter experience—and why  
  • The five imposter subtypes—and how to work with them in the therapy room 
  • ACT metaphors and experiential exercises to bring your work to life for clients 

Jill Stoddard, PhD, is a psychologist, author, trainer, TEDx and keynote speaker, and award-winning teacher, as well as the co-host of the Psychologists Off the Clock podcast. She’s the founder of Flexible Communications, LLC, and The Center for Stress and Anxiety Management. Her books have been translated into 10 languages, and include The Big Book of ACT Metaphors, Be Mighty, and Imposter No More. Her perspectives have been featured in The Washington Post, Psychology Today, Today.com, The New York Times, and more. 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Jill Stoddard is the founder and director for The Center for Stress and Anxiety Management. She is an author and receives royalties. Dr. Stoddard receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Jill Stoddard is a member of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America; Association for Contextual and Behavioral Science; and Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy.

Jill Stoddard, PhD

Expert ACT Trainer, author of “Imposter No More”
Friday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

215 - Helping Clients Overcome Imposter “Syndrome”

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Judith Matz, LCSW

Expert on Emotional Eating, Chronic Dieting, and Body Image
Friday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

214 - The Other F Word

Anti-Fat Bias in Clinical Practice

When your clients tell you they want to lose weight, how do you respond? Do you reply affirmatively? Do you ask questions? What comes up for you, personally? No matter your clinical specialization or treatment approach, you almost certainly have clients who struggle with body image and body size. How you respond to their concerns has the potential to help them heal—or to compound their shame. Yes, we therapists value inclusivity, but too often we forget to include body size in the mix of the diversity we appreciate, which has repercussions for our work and our clients’ well-being. In this workshop, you’ll explore how anti-fat bias shows up in the therapy room. As you unlearn messages rooted in diet culture, you’ll walk away with strategies to help clients feel more at peace with food and their bodies, without causing harm. You’ll also explore: 

  • How weight stigma affects the well-being of clients and therapists—and plays out in the therapy room 
  • How to improve client outcomes by challenging common misconceptions about the connection between trauma, binge eating, and weight  
  • Strategies clients and therapists can use to unlearn internalized weight stigma  
  • Resources to help clients feel more at home in—and take care of—their bodies 

Judith Matz, LCSW, is a therapist in private practice whose work focuses on clients who want to get off the diet/binge rollercoaster, develop a nourishing and satisfying relationship with food, and become more at home in their bodies. She’s the co-author of The Emotional Eating, Chronic Dieting, Binge Eating & Body Image Workbook, Beyond a Shadow of a Diet, and The Body Positivity and Making Peace with Food Card Decks

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Judith Matz is the director of The Chicago Center for Overcoming Overeating, Inc. and maintains a private practice. She receives royalties as a published author. Judith Matz receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Judith Matz is a member of the National Association of Social Workers, the National Eating Disorder Association, and the Association for Size Diversity and Health.

Judith Matz, LCSW

Expert on Emotional Eating, Chronic Dieting, and Body Image
Friday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

214 - The Other F Word

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Rebecca Kase, LCSW

Expert Trainer, Author of Polyvagal-Informed EMDR
Friday
3:00 pm - 5:00 pm ET

310 - Embodied Stabilization Practices for Trauma Recovery

Integrating Mindfulness, Yoga, and Buddhist Principles for Trauma Healing

We now know that when we work with traumatized clients to create synchronicity between their body and mind, we’re establishing a clear path for emotional wellness. Embodiment practices not only enhance our clinical toolkit but can help stabilize these clients, create self-awareness, and increase peace of mind. In this experiential workshop, you’ll learn several concrete interventions to apply to trauma stabilization work that draw from yogic, Buddhist, and somatic approaches. These techniques will support your clients in stabilizing and increasing their access to the window of tolerance for trauma healing. You’ll discover:

  • What the latest research tells us about integrating embodiment practices into trauma therapy
  • How to help clients best apply breathwork and simple yoga postures to decrease hyperarousal and create an immediate sense of calm
  • Ways to incorporate Metta meditation as a tool for social engagement and increased heart rate coherence

Rebecca Kase, LCSW, is an internationally renowned EMDR expert, consultant, trainer, and owner of Kase & CO Training and Consulting. She is the author of Polyvagal-Informed EMDR: A Neuro-Informed Approach to Healing (Norton, 2023) and has worked in a variety of settings with a variety of populations including children, adolescents, and adults. She has additional experience working with dissociation and complex trauma and incorporates yoga and mind-body techniques throughout her clinical work. She advocates for embodied presence, humility and curiosity as vital components for healing and successful therapy. Rebecca strives to provide engaging, safe, and shame-free environments for clinicians to explore and learn.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Rebecca Kase maintains a private practice and receives compensation as a national speaker. She previously received royalties from Bilateralstimulation.io. Rebecca Kase receives royalties as a published author. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Rebecca Kase is a member of the EMDR International Association, the International Society for the Study of Traumatic Dissociation, and the Yoga Alliance.

Rebecca Kase, LCSW

Expert Trainer, Author of Polyvagal-Informed EMDR
Friday
3:00 pm - 5:00 pm ET

310 - Embodied Stabilization Practices for Trauma Recovery

More Information

Wendy T. Behary, MSW, LCSW

Bestselling Author of “Disarming the Narcissist” 
Friday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

212 - Disarming the Covert Narcissist

Innovations in Addressing Narcissism in Individuals & Couples

Covert narcissism is an often overlooked form of narcissism that can be especially challenging to detect. Unlike their overt counterparts, covert narcissists don’t display grandiose, attention-seeking behaviors that reveal their narcissistic tendencies. Instead, they often present as modest, self-effacing, and even insecure, making it more difficult to recognize narcissistic traits like passive-aggression, blaming, low empathy, assurance-seeking, emotionally manipulating others, and a lack of accountability. In this workshop, we’ll use schema therapy, an emotion-focused, needs-meeting approach that provides the skills for clinicians to sturdy themselves, to learn how to identify and heal the underlying insecurities of the covert narcissist. We’ll also explore the origins of covert narcissism, including early trauma, high degrees of enmeshment, and attachment ruptures. You’ll also learn how to: 

  • How to work with both partners when covert narcissism shows up in couples therapy 
  • Identify patterns and activating conditions associated with covert narcissism, such as cultural influence, religion, and socioeconomic status 
  • Help covert narcissists quiet and convert their inner critic, let go of self-defeating patterns, and develop adaptive responses 
  • Address potentially triggering conditions in the therapy relationship  
  • Use somatosensory exercises and behavioral pattern-breaking skills with covert narcissists

With 25 + years of professional experience and advanced level certifications, Wendy Behary is the founder and director of The Cognitive Therapy Center of New Jersey and the Schema Therapy Institutes of NJ-NYC-DC. She has been treating clients, training professionals and supervising psychotherapists for more than 20 years. Wendy was on the faculty of the Cognitive Therapy Center and Schema Therapy Institute of New York (until the Institutes merged in 2012), where she trained and worked with Dr. Jeffrey Young since 1989.

She is a founding fellow and consulting supervisor for The Academy of Cognitive Therapy (Aaron T. Beck’s Institute). Wendy served as the President of the Executive Board of the International Society of Schema Therapy (ISST) from 2010-2014 and served as the Training and Certification Coordinator for the ISST Executive Board from 2008-2010. She is currently the chair of the Schema Therapy Development Programs Sub-Committee for the ISST.

Wendy Behary has co-authored several chapters and articles on Schema Therapy and Cognitive Therapy. She is the author of an international bestselling book, Disarming the Narcissist: Surviving and Thriving with the Self-Absorbed, translated in 15 languages. The Third Edition was released on October 1, 2021. Wendy has a specialty in treating narcissists and the people who live with and deal with them. As an author and an expert on the subject of narcissism, she is a contributing chapter author of several chapters on schema therapy for narcissism for professional readers. She lectures both nationally and internationally to professional and general audiences on schema therapy, narcissism, interpersonal relationships, anger, and dealing with difficult people. She receives consistent high praise for her clear and articulate teaching style and her ability to bring the therapy to life through dramatic demonstrations of client interactions in the treatment room.

Her work industry business speaking engagements focus on interpersonal conflict resolution. Her private practice is primarily devoted to treating narcissists, partners/people dealing with them, and couples experiencing relationship problems.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Wendy Behary is the co-founder, Clinical Director, and Director of Training for The Cognitive Therapy Center of New Jersey and The Schema Therapy Institute of NJ-NYC-DC. She is a published author and receives royalties. Wendy Behary receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Wendy Behary serves on the advisory board of the International Society for Schema Therapy and is a member of the NJ Association of Cognitive-Behavior Therapists, and the International Association of Cognitive-Behavior Therapists.

Wendy T. Behary, MSW, LCSW

Bestselling Author of “Disarming the Narcissist” 
Friday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

212 - Disarming the Covert Narcissist

More Information

Britt Rathbone, LCSW-C & Sami Ascanio, LCSW-C

Acclaimed DBT Experts
Friday
11:00 am - 1:00 pm ET

210 - DBT in Action

Breakthrough Techniques for Your Toughest Clients

Have you picked up a few DBT skills over the years, but without fully understanding what makes this way of working so different and powerful? Research has shown DBT is highly effective with high-risk clients who present with a range of complex problems. Because it integrates techniques from other popular approaches, many DBT strategies can be woven into clinical frameworks and methods you're already comfortable using. In this workshop, you’ll learn the nuts and bolts of structuring an individual DBT session to help foster change for even the most complicated clients. You’ll explore:  

  • How DBT is distinguished from other approaches to therapy 
  • Twelve sets of DBT strategies used in individual therapy sessions with high-risk clients 
  • Twenty-six specific DBT interventions that can be integrated into your treatments for complex trauma, suicidality, personality disorders, and more 
  • How to reinforce your current go-to interventions with DBT-based skills 

Britt Rathbone, LCSW-C, treats adolescents and trains therapists as founder and director of Capital Youth Services. He’s the coauthor of multiple professional and parenting books, including What Works with Teens.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Britt Rathbone is the founder and director of Rathbone & Associates and has employment relationships with Washington Center for Mental Health Training and the University of Maryland School of Social Work. He receives royalties as a published author. Britt Rathbone receives a speaking honorarium, product, and book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Britt Rathbone is a volunteer for DBT- Linehan Board of Certification. He is a member of the Greater Washington Society for Clinical Social Work, the National Association of Social Workers, the American Group Psychotherapy Association and the Registry of Group Psychotherapists. 

Sami Ascanio, LCSW-C, is the director of the DBT program at Capital Youth Services. An experienced DBT therapist, she trains clinicians nationally on implementing the work with complex diagnostic profiles. 


Britt Rathbone, LCSW-C & Sami Ascanio, LCSW-C

Acclaimed DBT Experts
Friday
11:00 am - 1:00 pm ET

210 - DBT in Action

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William Doherty, PhD

Director of the MN Couples on the Brink Project and Cofounder of Braver Angels
Friday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

204 - Therapists in a Divided World

Clinical Skills for Polarized People

Our nation is more divided now than at any time since the Civil War. Polarization enters the therapy room through emotional triggers, relationship distress, and worries for the future. How can we work with that? Many people demonize and hold contempt for the political “other,” even when the “other” is in their families. Therapists are not immune to this toxic political culture, and it can affect how we work with clients facing political stress and divisions in their lives. At a broader level, how can we apply a larger therapeutic perspective to societal problems instead of just taking a side in the contempt and outrage wars? Explore clinical tools and a larger vision for our role as citizen therapists. You’ll discover how to: 

  • Develop an understanding of the political "other” inside and outside of therapy 
  • Identify the connection between your current clinical work and societal polarization 
  • Practice skills in bridging gaps between individuals and groups who see themselves as politically polarized 
  • Connect with initiatives where you can use your knowledge and skills for the public good 

William Doherty, PhD, is a professor and director of the Minnesota Couples on the Brink Project at the University of Minnesota. He’s cofounder of Braver Angels, a nonprofit working to depolarize America. His new book (with Tai Mendenhall) is Becoming a Citizen Therapist: Integrating Community Problem-Solving into Your Work as a Healer. .


Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. William Doherty receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. William Doherty is a member of the National Council on Family Relations, the International Council of the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide in Jerusalem, and the American Psychological Association. He serves on several editorial boards, for a complete list contact PESI, Inc.

William Doherty, PhD

Director of the MN Couples on the Brink Project and Cofounder of Braver Angels
Friday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

204 - Therapists in a Divided World

More Information

Terry Casey, PhD

Expert on Legal and Ethical Issues
Friday
3:00 - 5:00 pm ET

307 - So You Want to Be a Life Coach?

And Other New Legal & Ethical Questions for Therapists

For many therapists, especially those who wish to provide teletherapy, the idea of coaching holds great appeal. We dream of doing what we’re already doing now, only more freely and with fewer constraints. However, there are several misconceptions about life coaching, especially when it comes to providing services across state lines. Similarly, there are a number of misunderstandings surrounding interjurisdictional practice, interstate compacts, and working with online counseling companies. It’s critical to be up to date on the complex legal and ethical parameters involving these issues. In this workshop, you’ll learn about some of the most common misconceptions and commonly held myths pertaining to these topics and you’ll leave equipped with the tools and resources you need to make informed choices.  You’ll learn:  

  • How to articulate the difference between therapy and coaching to clients looking for “coaching” services
  • The ethical and legal implications of providing coaching online  
  • How to know when providing services across state lines is legal (and when it’s not) 
  • How interstate compacts work and how they can benefit you and your clients  
  • How to weigh the risks and benefits of treating clients through online counseling companies 

Terry Casey, PhD, is a licensed psychologist, consultant, and educator, and consultant specializing in ethical, legal, and practice issues. He maintains a private practice and has served for several years as the Ethics Committee Chair for a state-level professional organization.  .

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Terry Casey maintains a private practice and is a faculty member of Lipscomb University. He is a published author and receives royalties. Dr. Casey receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Terry Casey is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Tennessee Psychological Association, the Tennessee Licensed Professional Counselor Association, and others. For a complete list, please contact info@pesi.com.

Terry Casey, PhD

Expert on Legal and Ethical Issues
Friday
3:00 - 5:00 pm ET

307 - So You Want to Be a Life Coach?

More Information

Saturday, October 5

7:00 AM – 8:00 AM PDT
Morning Movement/Yoga
9:00 AM – 10:45 AM PDT
Welcome & Keynote Address
11:00 AM – 1:00 PM PDT
Morning Workshops
1:15 PM – 2:45 PM PDT
Luncheon Address & Exhibit Hall Happenings
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM PDT
Afternoon Workshops
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM PDT
Innovations Reception in the Exhibit Hall
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM PDT
Trauma Research Foundation Reception with Bessel van der Kolk

Matthias Barker, LMHC

Social Media and Therapy Educator, Content Creator
Saturday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

413 - Healing Parent-Child Estrangement

Transforming Conflict into Reconnection

Parent-child estrangement is a deeply painful and complex issue, with latest reports indicating that as many as 1 in 4 families are affected. Understanding and addressing these relational wounds can significantly enhance not just our clients’ mental health but the health of entire family systems and communities. This workshop offers a deep dive into the emotional dynamics of parent-child estrangement and provides practical tools for transforming relational pain into opportunities for connection and growth. By mastering these techniques, you’ll be equipped to guide clients through the delicate process of repairing and strengthening parent-child relationships. You’ll discover:

  • Effective communication strategies for addressing and resolving conflicts between parents and adult children
  • How to confidently assess when repair is possible and what boundaries are necessary for both a client’s and a parent's mental health
  • How to help clients establish and maintain healthy boundaries in parent-child relationships
  • How to guide families through the emotional healing process, turning negative emotions into opportunities for growth and reconnection

Matthias Barker is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) with a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Northwest University. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Matthias specializes in treating high-acuity sexual trauma, childhood trauma, and marital issues.

Matthias is a prolific educator and content creator, having self-published two mental health journals on a trauma-informed approach to motivation and gratitude. He has developed seven workshops on a variety of topics such as trauma, anxiety, and setting boundaries with parents as well as co-creating a comprehensive course on healing from trauma with Dr. Frank Anderson, a renowned trauma expert.

As a passionate advocate for mental health, Matthias is dedicated to making psychoeducation more accessible by bridging the gap between the academic realm and the everyday experiences of the general public. As a result, he has become a sought-after authority in both the mental health and social media fields. Through his social media platforms, Matthias reaches millions, sharing psychoeducational content and building a thriving community dedicated to mental health awareness and education. With over 3 million followers across TikTok, Instagram, and his podcast, which once ranked #38 on the Spotify global health and fitness charts, his impact continues to grow.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Matthias Barker maintains a private practice. He receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Matthias Barker has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Matthias Barker, LMHC

Social Media and Therapy Educator, Content Creator
Saturdy
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

413 - Healing Parent-Child Estrangement

More Information

Lynn Lyons, LICSW

Renowned anxiety trainer and author
Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

512 - Helping Anxious, Isolated, & Depressed Teens

Challenging Current Treatment Trends

There’s no escaping the dire reports about the high rates of anxiety and depression in teens and young adults. Regardless of what you attribute the cause to—the pandemic, social media, parenting, or the state of the world in general—there’s plenty to worry about. We therapists surely want to step in, but is what we’re doing really working? Are our methods and common ways of treating depression and anxiety in young people helping, or are we inadvertently reinforcing the problem? In this workshop, we’ll challenge current trends around treating anxiety, and explore some surprising approaches for bolstering young adults’ mental health. You’ll discover how to develop clear treatment goals for young adults and offer effective therapy that involves actionable steps, psychoeducation, and building connection. You’ll also learn how to:

  • Avoid common pitfalls that can make anxiety and depression worse for kids and young adults
  • Use social media to help develop critical thinking in teens around mental health
  • Interrupt commonly overlapping patterns of anxiety and depression in clients
  • Shift harmful mental health paradigms using research, curiosity, and homework

Lynn Lyons, LICSW, is an internationally recognized psychotherapist, author, and speaker with a special interest in interrupting the generational patterns of anxiety in families. Her skill-based approach to anxiety focuses on the need to teach families about HOW anxiety works and what families can do to pull members out of the powerful “anxiety cult” that demands obedience to its need for certainty and comfort. Lynn’s approach uses humor, playful connection, and a constant focus on DOING, an umbrella strategy she has taught to thousands of professionals and families.

Lynn is the co-author with Reid Wilson of Anxious Kids, Anxious Parents and the companion book for kids Playing with Anxiety: Casey’s Guide for Teens and Kids. She is the author of Using Hypnosis with Children: Creating and Delivering Effective Interventions and has two DVD programs for parents and children.

She maintains a private practice in Concord, New Hampshire where she sees families whenever she’s not on the road teaching.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Lynn Lyons maintains a private practice and receives royalties as a published author. She receives compensation as an international presenter. Lynn Lyons receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Lynn Lyons has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Lynn Lyons, LICSW

Renowned anxiety trainer and author
Saturdy
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

512 - Helping Anxious, Isolated, & Depressed Teens

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Alexandra Solomon, PhD

Relationship and Dating Expert
Saturday
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

409 - Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Helping Clients Stuck in Relational Ambivalence

When a relationship is simultaneously “too good to leave” and “too bad to stay” clients experience relational ambivalence. It can arise at any point in a relationship, whether someone is newly dating or has been married for decades. Exploring this process can be especially challenging for therapists, who must resist the temptation to cast a “vote” on what they should do. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to work with relationally ambivalent clients, starting with three key questions that can help clients understand their feelings more deeply. Together, we’ll explore other concrete practices that can help partners loosen feelings of stuckness, counter negative self-talk, and make empowered decisions with more clarity and ease. We’ll also learn why relational ambivalence is becoming more common—and more upsetting. In addition, you'll discover:

  • An integrative framework for understanding and transforming relational ambivalence
  • Strategies for helping clients understand and work with issues of self-trust, including journaling and The Empty Chairs exercise
  • How to manage our own feelings that can arise when working with relational ambivalence, including internalized, sneaky, and pervasive cultural beliefs about love
  • Why the opposite of ambivalence isn’t certainty, but patience

Alexandra H. Solomon, PhD, is staff clinical psychologist, member of the teaching faculty in the marriage and family therapy graduate program, and clinical assistant professor of psychology at The Family Institute at Northwestern University. In addition to her clinical work with couples and individuals, Solomon teaches graduate and undergraduate students. One of her courses is Northwestern University’s internationally renowned “Building Loving and Lasting Relationships: Marriage 101,” which combines traditional and experiential learning to educate students about key relational issues like intimacy, sex, conflict, acceptance, and forgiveness. Solomon’s work has been widely cited, and her articles on love and marriage have appeared in The Handbook of Clinical Psychology, The Handbook of Couple Therapy, Family Process, Psychotherapy Networker, and other top publications in psychology. Her work also appears in O Magazine and The Huffington Post, and she is a frequent interviewee and contributor for the Oprah Winfrey Network, Yahoo! Health, The Atlantic, CBS Early Show, NPR, Psychology Today, and WGN Morning News. She is a sought-after speaker for corporate, collegiate, and professional audiences on topics related to modern love. Solomon lives in Highland Park, IL, with her husband, Todd, and their two children, Brian and Courtney.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Alexandra Solomon maintains a private practice and has an employment relationship with Northwestern University. She receives royalties as a published author and is the podcast host of Reimaging Love. Dr. Solomon receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Alexandra Solomon is a thought leader for Heleo, a founding expert for the Mine'd app, and an ambassador for The Relationship School. She is an ad hoc for several peer review journals, for a complete list contact PESI, Inc. Dr. Solomon is a member of the American Psychological Association, and the American Association for Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists.

Alexandra Solomon, PhD

Relationship and Dating Expert
Saturdy
11:00 am – 1:00 pm ET

409 - Should I Stay or Should I Go?

More Information

Shadeen Francis, LMFT, CST

Sex Therapy, Emotional Intelligence, and Social Justice Teacher
Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

514: Treating Desire Issues in Modern Relationships

Pleasure as a Path to Embodiment and Connection

Though sex seems to be everywhere in modern life, keeping the spark alive in our romantic relationships remains a challenge and runs us up against a lot of tropes and misconceptions. When working with clients who present with desire issues, therapists often find themselves stepping into a powerful matrix of identities, attitudes, and assumptions. Not only must they navigate the complex landscape of a clients’ relationships with their bodies, beliefs, and intimate partners, but with desire itself. In this workshop, you’ll be invited to reframe problems of desire not as a dysfunction to be fixed, but as opportunities for deeper connection and embodiment. We'll explore innovative approaches to help clients tune into their bodies and rediscover pleasure amidst life's demands, moving beyond the pressure of sexual performance to a more holistic understanding of eroticism and desire. You’ll learn:

  • How to put clients at ease when discussing topics related to sex and desire
  • Strategies to help clients explore their true desires and communicate them effectively
  • Interventions to address libido and desire discrepancies in therapy
  • Approaches that help clients step into desire as a path to embodiment and connection

Shadeen Francis, LMFT, CST, is a therapist, professor, and author specializing in sex therapy and social justice. She trains organizations and is a guest expert for various media outlets, including CBC, NBC, and Fox.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Shadeen Francis has employment relationships with The People's Therapy Group and Council for Relationships. She serves as a clinical advisor for Actually Wellness and is a co-founding expert for Mine'd. Shadeen Francis receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Shadeen Francis is a member of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists, Women of Color Sexual Health Network, the Association of Black Sexologists and Clinicians, the Family Therapist Education & Advocacy Movement, and the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. She is an ad-hoc reviewer with Routledge Press.

Shadeen Francis, LMFT, CST

Sex Therapy, Emotional Intelligence, and Social Justice Teacher
Saturdy
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

514: Treating Desire Issues in Modern Relationships

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Tasha Oswald, PhD

Autism & Neurodiversity-Affirming Therapy Expert
Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

505 - Rethinking & Supporting Autism in Adults

A Neurodiversity-Affirming Approach

Many adult clients entering therapy don’t know they’re autistic, and often neither do their therapists. After all, they may have become experts at masking “quirky” autistic traits and they might not fit therapist stereotypes of autism. Yet, neurodivergent wiring shapes every aspect of their life, including their therapy. Working effectively with this population means understanding the implications of having felt like an outsider their whole life due to their neurodivergence, often experiencing minority stress and discrimination from being cast as “weird” or even “broken.” In this workshop, you will:

  • Gain confidence in identifying autistic traits and “masking” in your adult clients.
  • Understand the unique challenges and experiences of autistic adults to effectively support treatment and build therapeutic rapport.
  • Support your clients in exploring and embracing their autistic identity.
  • Integrate a neurodiversity-affirming mindset and strategies into your clinical practice with ease.

Tasha Oswald, PhD, is a neurodivergent therapist and developer of the Autism Clinical Specialist Certification. Previously with the University of California, Davis’s MIND Institute, she’s the founder and director of Neurodiversity Wellness Center and Neurodiversity Training Institute.   

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Tasha Oswald maintains a private practice. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Tasha Oswald has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Tasha Oswald, PhD

Autism & Neurodiversity-Affirming Therapy Expert
Saturdy
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

505 - Rethinking & Supporting Autism in Adults

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Shawna Murray-Browne, PhD, LCSW-C

Developer of Decolonizing Therapy for Black Folk Training
Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

504 - Decolonized Practice Demystified

The Healing Circles as Transformative Psychoeducation

Healing circles go beyond traditional therapy models to create a liberatory, decolonial practice that's especially resonant for marginalized communities. As a powerful form of psychoeducation, it reduces the stigma associated with many mental health issues, including loneliness, and fosters therapeutic cohesion. Therapists passionate about expanding their reach and exploring ways to make impact off the couch will benefit greatly from learning more about this way to facilitate healing. In this workshop, you’ll engage in reflective exercises about yourself as a healing circle facilitator, learn ways to honor the cultural experiences of marginalized groups, and explore real-world examples of healing circles that incorporate mindfulness, oral history, movement, and spirituality. Although the examples focus on meeting the needs of Black women, you’ll be invited to imagine how you can incorporate healing circles in your work.

  • Uncover the unique mental health challenges faced by Black women—like racial trauma, ancestral grief, and the exhaustion of code-switching—by integrating decolonial frameworks that honor identity and lived experience.
  • Unlock the power of oral history archives and collective listening to create thriving community spaces beyond talk therapy
  • Experience contemplative practices like guided imagery and body mapping to help process tough historical topics in ways that feel relevant and impactful today.
  • Consider what it can mean to commit to out-of-the-box, decolonial therapeutic practices that challenge the status quo

Shawna Murray-Browne, PhD, LCSW-C, is an award-winning community healer, speaker, and Liberation-Focused Psychotherapist. Best known for her training, Decolonizing Therapy for Black Folk, she was named by The Huffington Post as one of the “Ten Black Female Therapists You Should Know,” featured on the PBS special Mysteries of Mental Illness and a two-time guest on the popular Therapy for Black Girls podcast. 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Shawna Murray-Browne is the CEO of Kindred Wellness, LLC. She receives royalties as a published author. Shawna Murry-Browne book royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Shawna Murray-Browne is an author with Psychotherapy Networker.

Shawna Murray-Browne, PhD, LCSW-C

Developer of Decolonizing Therapy for Black Folk Training
Saturdy
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

504 - Decolonized Practice Demystified

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Elizabeth Earnshaw, MA, LMFT, CGT

Couples therapy expert, founder of “A Better Life Therapy”
Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

513 - ‘Til Stress Do Us Part

Making Couples Therapy Actually Work

How many of your couples clients have ended up feeling like therapy isn't helping them? They go in week after week and find themselves frustrated that the skills they learn in session aren’t translating in their real lives. They know they shouldn’t yell and that it’s better to show affection and talk about challenges than it is to withdraw. Yet, at the end of a long day, they snap at each other or stumble down to the basement to avoid interaction, anyway. How can we help them—and help ourselves not feel like ineffective couples therapists? Before we teach them techniques, we need to address their stress. Our clients are suffering because there’s too much stress spillover into their relationships and they are too depleted to cope with it effectively. In this workshop, we’ll talk about how to identify it and what responding to stress can do to change the lives of your couples (and to make working with them feel less overwhelming). You'll discover:

  • How to assess and address the stress spillover couples are experiencing physiologically, behaviorally, and psychologically
  • How to use Dyadic Coping to help couples learn to cope with stress as a unit
  • Tools that therapists can use in session to reduce physiological overwhelm and help each partner come back to a “safe and social” state
  • A novel three-part system to help clients manage stress in their lives: shedding, preventing, and adapting

Elizabeth Earnshaw, MA, LMFT, CGT, is a couples therapist and the founder and clinical director of A Better Life Therapy. She’s a Clinical Fellow of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy, and has published two books, I Want This To Work and Til Stress Do Us Part, as well as a clinician’s tool titled The Couples Therapy Flip Chart. 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Elizabeth Earnshaw is the co-founder of The Rory Project and has an employment relationship with A Better Life Therapy, LLC. She receives royalties as a published author. Elizabeth Earnshaw receives a speaking honorarium and book royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Elizabeth Earnshaw has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Elizabeth Earnshaw, MA, LMFT, CGT

Couples therapy expert, founder of “A Better Life Therapy”
Saturdy
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

513 - ‘Til Stress Do Us Part

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Sally Spencer-Thomas, PsyD

International Experts on Suicide Prevention
Saturday
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

509 - Helping Clients with Suicidal Ideation

Honing Your Clinical Confidence and Compassion

Working with clients experiencing suicidal ideation can bring up lots of emotions in you, especially if this isn’t your specialty area. You might feel a mix of fear, anxiety, uncertainty, and self-doubt. You might question your clinical abilities—thinking, should I refer out?—or feel rushed to find a solution you don’t readily have. If you’ve felt this way, you’re not alone! In this workshop, we’ll confront these worries and trepidation by learning practical, evidence-based tools that will support you and your clients through these dark moments. We’ll cover ways to create a therapeutic environment that fosters hope, resilience, and empowerment that will buoy clients as they navigate suicidal ideation and work toward building an enjoyable and fulfilling life. You’ll discover how to:

  • Address roadblocks that hinder rapport-building with clients with suicidal thoughts and get to the root causes of those thoughts
  • Develop crisis-management techniques and create safety plans focused on the client’s self-empowerment
  • Take a more constructive, modern approach than outdated methods like contracting for safety
  • Enhance client safety by using a partnership approach to assess access to lethal means

 

Sally Spencer-Thomas, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist and inspirational international speaker. Dr. Spencer-Thomas was moved to work in suicide prevention after her younger brother, a Denver entrepreneur, died of suicide after a difficult battle with bipolar condition.

Dr. Spencer-Thomas has been an invited speaker at the White House on the topics of mental health and suicide prevention and has held leadership positions for the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, the International Association for Suicide Prevention, the American Association for Suicidology, and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. She has won multiple awards for her leadership including the 2014 Survivor of the Year from the American Association of Suicidology, the 2014 Invisible Disabilities Association Impact Honors Award, the 2012 Alumni Master Scholar from the University of Denver, the 2015 Farbarow Award from the International Association for Suicide Prevention and the 2016 Career Achievement Alumni Award from the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Professional Psychology.

She has a Doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Denver, a Masters in non-profit management from Regis University, and a bachelor’s in psychology and studio art with a minor in economics from Bowdoin College. She has written four books on mental health and violence prevention.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Sally Spencer Thomas maintains a private practice and receives royalties as a published author. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Sally Spencer Thomas is the president of United Suicide Survivors International and is a member of the executive board for the American Association of Suicidology. She is co-chair of the Workplace Special Interest Group for the International Association of Suicide Prevention and is a member of the Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

Sally Spencer-Thomas, PsyD

International Experts on Suicide Prevention
Saturdy
3:00 – 5:00 pm ET

509 - Helping Clients with Suicidal Ideation

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Sunday, October 6

8:30 AM – 9:45 AM PDT
Keynote Address
10:00 AM – Noon PDT
Final Workshops

Scott Lyons, PhD, DO

Creator of The Embody Lab
Sunday
10:00 am – 1:00 pm EST

610 - Helping the Drama-Addicted Client

How to Break Free from Cycles of Chaos and Crisis

Do you have a client or know someone who seems to thrive on chaos, a person who manufactures crisis where there is none, makes mountains out of molehills, and whose very presence feels like an inescapable whirlwind? Maybe people in their lives label them a “drama queen.” In this workshop, we’ll turn the notion of the “drama queen” on its head, exploring a new perspective that manufacturing of stress may actually be an addiction, and how those suffering from it are experiencing a much deeper psychological, biological, and social pain. Using the latest research and real client stories, we’ll examine why some people may constantly find themselves caught up in dramatic situations, even to their own detriment. You’ll learn about the underlying trauma that fuels this behavior, as well as some practical somatic tools for breaking free from destructive drama cycles and cultivating more resilience, presence, and embodied ways of being to counteract the effects of being around those addicted to drama. Discover:

  • How to identify patterns that reflect a possible drama addiction
  • The somatic effects of these addictive behaviors
  • Potential origins of drama addiction—and how we’re heading toward a global pandemic of a dependency on crisis and chaos
  • Easy-to-learn, accessible exercises to help those addicted to drama recover and heal

Scott Lyons, PhD, DO  is a licensed holistic psychologist, Doctor of Osteopathy, educator, author of Addicted to Drama: Healing Dependency on Crisis and Chaos in Yourself and Others, and the host of The Gently Used Human podcast. He’s also the creator of The Embody Lab, the largest online learning platform for body-based trauma therapies, and developer of Somatic Stress Release, a holistic process of restoring biological resilience, taught in over 20 countries. He’s a Certified Body-Mind Centering teacher and practitioner, a cranio-sacral Therapist, a visceral manipulation therapist, Somatic Experiencing practitioner, clinical hypnotherapist, and a 500-hour registered yoga teacher.  

Scott Lyons, PhD, DO

Creator of The Embody Lab
Sunday
10:00 am – 1:00 pm EST

610 - Helping the Drama-Addicted Client

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Stephen Madigan, PhD

Award-winning couple and family therapist
Sunday
10:00 am – 1:00 pm EST

609 - A Narrative Approach to High-Conflict Couples

Connecting Couples to Context

Pop psychology suggests couples exist in a separate sphere from the rest of the world. Many of our psychological theories support this view: partners have a “core self,” an “attachment style,” individual love languages, predictable “dances,” and entrenched relational patterns, all of which reinforce the idea that their conflicts originate solely from within their isolated, separate relationship. No wonder partners can so easily get lost in destructive patterns of blaming themselves and one another for problems! In this workshop, you’ll explore the power of Narrative Therapy Informed Relational Interviewing (NIRI), a way of artfully helping couples connect the dots between their relational struggles and the larger cultural, economic, and relational contexts that impact them and contribute to stressful disconnections. You’ll help couples practically apply frameworks such as non-individualism, relational-contextual intersubjectivity, and structural inequality to soften and revise negative relational narratives and break free of reactivity, shame, and blame. You’ll learn to:

 

  • Reconnect clients with relational values before addressing their conflicts
  • Structure NIRI sessions in ways that reduces a couple's reactivity
  • Reframe client’s conflicts and relational failures as opportunities for accessing new responses
  • Help clients heal by writing therapeutic letters directly to their relationship

Stephen Madigan, PhD, is an award-winning couple and family therapist, bestselling author, and director of training with the Vancouver School for Narrative Therapy.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Stephen Madigan has employment relationships with Vancouver School for Narrative Therapy, Yaletown Family Therapy and Mediation, VSNT.live online website, and Norway High Couple Conflict Teams. He receives royalties as a published author. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Stephen Madigan is an author with Psychotherapy Networker. He is a member of the BC Association of Clinical Counsellor and Family Mediation Canada."

Stephen Madigan, PhD

Award-winning couple and family therapist
Sunday
10:00 am – 1:00 pm EST

609 - A Narrative Approach to High-Conflict Couples

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Laurel Parnell, PhD

Director of the Parnell Institute for Attachment-Focused EMDR
Sunday
10:00 am – 1:00 pm EST

608 - Attachment-Focused EMDR for Complex PTSD

When EMDR Alone isn’t Enough

We all know EMDR is a powerful, widely used trauma treatment. But how can we make it even more effective with clients whose issues are complicated by complex trauma? Attachment-Focused Eye Movement and Desensitization Reprocessing (AF-EMDR) extends the benefits of EMDR and bilateral stimulation for clients who struggle with relational traumas and attachment deficits rooted in childhood physical or sexual abuse, neglect, early losses, birth trauma, and medical trauma. In this workshop, you’ll move beyond the resourcing and developmental repair interventions used in phase one of AF-EMDR treatment. You’ll learn to process complex PTSD through creatively adjusting standard EMDR phases and procedural steps while incorporating a client-centered, attachment-repair orientation. You’ll discover:

  • Techniques for maintaining an attachment-focus during the desensitization, installation, closure, and reevaluation phases of EMDR
  • Creative ways of adapting the standard EMDR protocol for clients with complex PTSD and attachment wounds
  • Practical interwoven strategies that use imagination for addressing common blocks to processing traumas
  • Methods for creating distance as well as other ways to support clients when processing emotionally intense childhood traumas to provide safety and reduce re-traumatization

Laurel Parnell, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and director of the Parnell Institute for Attachment-Focused EMDR. One of the world's leading experts on Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), she is the originator of the EMDR-related therapies Attachment-Focused EMDR and Resource Tapping. Dr. Parnell has served on the faculty of the California Institute for Integral Studies and John F. Kennedy University. She is the author of several books and videos on EMDR, including, Attachment-Focused EMDR: Healing Relational Trauma, Rewiring the Addicted Brain with EMDR-Based Treatment, A Therapist's Guide to EMDR and Tapping In. Dr. Parnell keynotes conferences, trains clinicians in EMDR, and teaches workshops internationally on Attachment-Focused EMDR, Rewiring the Addicted Brain and Resource Tapping. Learn more about Dr. Parnell at www.parnellemdr.com.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Laurel Parnell maintains a private practice and is the director of the Parnell Institute, LLC. She receives royalties as a published author. Dr. Parnell receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Laurel Parnell has no relevant non-financial relationships."

Laurel Parnell, PhD

Director of the Parnell Institute for Attachment-Focused EMDR
Sunday
10:00 am – 1:00 pm EST

608 - Attachment-Focused EMDR for Complex PTSD

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

We have a 100% satisfaction guarantee. If you are not satisfied, please contact us HERE. To request a copy of our full grievance policy, please email cepesi@pesi.com.

Yes, both in-person and virtual attendees will have the opportunity to ask or submit their questions live to get real expert responses. We will address as many questions as time allows.

No problem. Attend whatever sessions you are interested in. Please note that you can only receive CE credit for the sessions you attend live.

Symposium relies heavily on our volunteers, and we're grateful to have their continued support each year. For information on the program and how to join, click here.

Yes! While other conferences charge extra for CE, our registration passes include live CE hours as part of your ticket. After the event, an email will be sent to you that will explain how you will complete your electronic evaluation and access your certificate of completion.

While the conference is being held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, availability is now limited. We've secured an overflow hotel. More information on your options can be found here

We love bringing in students and those new to the field to experience Symposium. For more information on the student rate, click here.

Psychotherapy Networker is a non-profit educational organization. For over 47 years, we have featured the leading researchers, innovators, and developers in the field through our award-winning magazine, CE trainings, and our annual Symposium.

Our focus is on telling the stories of psychotherapy and being a place where clinicians of all licenses and backgrounds who practice psychotherapy can keep up on what's happening in the field, hear captivating stories from colleagues on what's really happening in their practices, learn through CE trainings from the best in the field, and enjoy the most celebrated annual gathering of psychotherapists in the world.

Unique Opportunities

Special Meal Events

Earn extra CE, spend time in an intimate environment with speakers, have your meals covered, and enjoy some of the finest cuisine. Be sure to add at registration. 

Exhibit Hall

Visit the Psychotherapy Networker Exhibit Hall each day for exclusive opportunities to meet face-to-face with our field’s experts, win prizes, and to experience the latest products and services that will enhance your practice.

Experience Washington, DC

Located in one of DC's premier neighborhoods, the luxurious and historic Omni Shoreham is the ideal location to learn, unwind, be inspired, and build connection with your colleagues and yourself.

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Testimonials

I literally grew up with the Networker, accompanying me through every stage of my career. It is a community that provides belonging, information, and keeps me on my toes.

Esther Perel

Renowned relationship and couples expert

There's nothing like the Symposium! It's special because it's where therapists can feel a sense of belonging, stimulation, and excitement. We're stronger together.

Sue Johnson

Developer of Emotionally Focused Therapy

The Networker is just a large, intellectual, and clinical playground. My friends and I continue to talk about it through the year. I highly recommend that people come. It's the gift that keeps on giving.

Shadeen Francis

Sex Therapy and Social Justice Expert

The Symposium is how the field finds community and connection. It's a fabulous opportunity to develop ourselves as people and professionals.

Dan Siegel

Cofounder of the Mindsight Institute

The Symposium offers so many useful ideas for your practice. It's the premier psychotherapy conference in the country.

Dick Schwartz

Internal Family Systems Founder
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As many others are creating complicated barriers to cancellations, we're making it easier.

If at any time you aren't 100% completely satisfied with your experience, in person or as a virtual attendee, just email us at symposium@psychnetworker.org and speak with one of our friendly customer service representatives. We'll make it right, guaranteed. We're that confident you'll find this learning experience to be all that's promised and more.

The Psychotherapy Conference For Therapists and By Therapists

Location

Omni Shoreham Hotel
  • 2500 CALVERT ST. NW WASHINGTON, DC 20008

Rooms are not currently available over all Symposium dates at the Omni Shoreham. You are welcome to call the Omni to check availability at (888) 444-6664 or select the button below to view other hotel options.

Accommodation Information Here
The luxurious Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. has hosted presidents, world leaders, rock stars, and inaugural balls, making it a true landmark in our nation’s capital.

Today, the hotel fuses modern comforts, state-of-the-art amenities, and distinguished service to enhance your Symposium experience.
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