P01 - The End to the Theoretical Clubs and the Beginning of an Integrative Model: Brain-Based Therapy 
 
Thursday, November 3, 2016 | 8:30 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.
 
 
This presentation attempts to cut through the theoretical fluff inherent in the brand name therapies to arrive at the common factors that produce the most efficacious outcome. Brain-based therapy searches for those factors consistent with neuroscience, memory research, and developmental psychology. This approach takes advantage of what we have learned from evidence-based practices and outcome management studies to identify the factors that work, as well as those that are counter-therapeutic. It defines therapy as a mind-brain changing process that transforms dysregulation to the re-regulation of mood, cognition, and behaviors.
 
Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:
  • Explain the need to develop the common denominators among therapies for the major psychological disorders
  • Identify the new developments in neuroscience applicable to psychotherapy
  • Explain how these new developments can be explained to clients as part of therapy
 
 
P02 - Brain-Based Therapy and PTSD
 
Thursday, November 3, 2016 |  10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
 
 
Recent advances in neuroscience have increased our knowledge of how and why people change. Brain-based therapy synthesizes neuroscience, evidence-based treatment, psychotherapy research, and attachment theory into a hybrid therapeutic model. This model helps identify which elements of psychotherapeutic schools are effective and which may be counter-therapeutic. Brain-based therapy envisions the therapeutic process as brain changing as necessary to change mood and behavior. The model proposes moving beyond the theoretical school paradigm. This session will examine the use of brain-based therapy to enhance outcomes with people who have been traumatized. The role that brain function plays in mood, memory, and behavior will be identified, including discussions on the difference between male and female brains, the middle aged brain, and how alcohol affects the brain. Special attention will be given to addressing the neuro-dynamics of PTSD and the crucial role of memory. Using a synthesized model of neuroscience, attachment theory, and evidence-based treatment, attendees will learn how to more effectively treat clients with PTSD. In this training participants will develop a new way of looking at the therapeutic process, enabling them to move beyond the traditional theoretical school approach. Attendees will learn how to use the Brain-Based Therapy approach to educate clients and make the goals of treatment understandable.
 
Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:
 
  • Explain how the memory systems can be dysregulated
  • Describe the variations of response to trauma
  • Explain the common factors to evidence-based practices for PTSD
 
 
P03 —Finding Balance: How Yoga Eases Symptoms of Trauma and Addiction
 
Thursday, November 3, 2016 | 1:30 p.m.  –  3:00 p.m. 
 
 
The human body is a miraculous vessel that acts as a record keeper of life experiences.  Every event, especially difficult or traumatic ones, makes an imprint in how we hold our posture and how we show up in the world.  It’s when our physical tension becomes too great to carry that we look to substances to ease the pain.  This presentation will look at how the body’s memories of trauma play a role in the cycle of addiction.  Attendees will learn the signs of a dysregulated nervous system and how yoga can invite relaxation and reconnect us to a sense of wholeness.
 
Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:
 
  • Learn how to recognize symptoms of hyper and hypo arousal within trauma survivors with substance use disorders.
  • Identify how yoga balances the nervous system
  • Apply principles of yoga into private practice.
 
 
P04 —Using Acceptance Commitment Therapy as an Initial Intervention in a Residential or Outpatient Treatment Setting
 
Thursday, November 3, 2016 | 3:30 p.m.  –  5:00 p.m. 
 
 
Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) has been shown to be useful in the treatment of addictive disorders. This session will describe the concepts of ACT and demonstrate its practical application in everyday practice with clients at addiction treatment centers. The cornerstones of ACT include principles of mindfulness, remaining open to new ideas and moving toward one’s values rather than escaping one’s feelings. In short, accepting feelings rather than escaping them and moving toward values rather than toward suffering define the goals of this type of behavioral therapy. Introducing patients to these principles can be done early in drug and alcohol treatment and set the tone for ongoing therapy.
 
Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:
 
  • Describe the basic matrix of ACT.
  • Utilize specific techniques that can be used in drug and alcohol treatment at any stage of treatment.
  • Create a general plan for a therapy session that can be individualized for themselves and their patient in any given setting using ACT principles.
 
Co-Host Sponsor, Retreat Premier Addiction Treatment
 
 
P05 – Comorbidities and the Importance of Therapeutic Technique and Mindfulness
 
Friday, November 4, 2016 | 8:30 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.
 
 
Addictive disease, like any other chronic lifelong illness, may be accompanied by multiple other disease entities. These can be psychiatric or neurologic, or may involve other medical conditions. Although concurrent, such entities may not have any actual relationship. And while addictive disease is currently viewed as a single disease entity, it may have as substrate any of a number of psychoactive substances, each one resulting in a differing pattern of intoxication, withdrawal, and recovery. Opioid use disorders might therefore be treated somewhat differently than alcohol or marijuana use disorders. Thus it is crucial that the treating clinician understand when comorbidities should be treated concurrently using one solidified technique and approach—and when they should not be. In this session technique and approach, biopsychosocial and spiritual methodologies will be discussed. 
 
Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:
 
  • Distinguish conditions often seen concurrently with addictive disease from primary separate illness states
  • Understand where the self-medication hypothesis arose, and understand what it is that self-medication refers to
  • Address patients with comorbidities using appropriate technique and methodologies
 
P06: Panel - New England's Opioid Crisis: What's Working in Addressing the Epidemic
 
Friday, November 4, 2016 | 10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
 
 
Behavioral healthcare professionals from across New England know all too well the devastation that has been inflicted by illicit use of prescription drugs and heroin. Daily news reports share tragic stories of overdoses, shattered families, and traumatized communities. What is not always so clear is what is working to address this epidemic: What community resources are making a difference? What government policies are being established? What therapeutic techniques are providers finding particularly effective? Join Addiction Professional magazine editor Gary Enos for a panel discussion with experts from across the region on what's working to address New England's opioid crisis.
 
Upon attending this session, attendees will be able to:
 
  • Describe therapeutic techniques providers can employ to help patients with opioid use problems
  • Understand recent community initiatives to combat the crisis
  • Identify resources to share with colleagues and providers regarding opioid and heroin misuse
 
 
P07 -  An Integral Approach to Connecting to Clients: Building Rapport, Increasing Efficiency   (1.5 CEs)
 
Friday, November 4, 2016 | 1:30 p.m.  –  3:00 p.m.
 
 
How do you engage with a client in such a way as to make sure that you are taking into consideration client’s rules, tools, perceptions and needs? As most therapists know, engaging with their clients is more than just trying to solve their immediate challenges. Getting past social rules and personal fears (vulnerabilities) to encounter meaningful information that is often stigmatized and protected can be challenging, yet it is critical in delivering a positive and healing experience for both the therapist and the client. This presentation will introduce the “Four Quadrant Assessment” from Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory. The tool, when utilized in your initial interview and during follow up sessions, will help you to create a map to focus your efforts. This presentation will also include several examples from the speaker’s own practice to better illustrate how this tool works in increasing the effectiveness of each session.
 
Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:
 
  • Learn the rudimentary understanding of Integral Theory (AQAL) and its many applications to the field of psychotherapy
  • Learn the basic understanding of the four quadrant assessment  
  • Conceptualize and apply the four quadrant assessment  
 
 
P08 - Family Therapists, Updated for the Digital Age: Understanding the Role of Technology in our Client’s Lives
 
Friday, November 4, 2016 | 3:30 p.m.  –  5:00 p.m.
 
 
Today’s clients are increasingly seeking help for problems related to life online. Parenting concerns, adult obsessions to gambling, porn and spending, cyber-cheating, cyber-bullying and simple tech-overwhelm all figure into this matrix. This thought-provoking, playful, yet highly structured multimedia presentation is geared toward the clinician who feels the need to know more about online life, yet feels overwhelmed by the process. This session will help frame current, digitally driven, tech-related cultural issues, related to what shows up most frequently in the therapy space. The focus is both educational and inspirational, as attendees can both note needed areas professional self-growth, while reflecting on potential countertransference concerns. 
 
Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:
 
  • List and define the 3 A’s of digital media, the drivers of our fascination and involvement with digital technology
  • Compile a concrete list of today’s dominant social media outlets, along with their specific cultures and uses.
  • Rate their Digital Awareness skillset – outlining specific areas of needed professional growth