Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Wednesday, May 17, 2017 | 8:30 am – 10:15 am
This presentation will correlate the phenomenon of relapse as a survival mechanism to provide relief, respite, avoidance, medicating or numbing feelings of pain, remorse, guilt or shame surrounding trauma and post traumatic stress disorder. We will explore the crossroads with moral injury, the soul wound. Additionally, we will provide research, case studies and exercises presented by Judith Taylor Crane to define a deeper understanding of trauma, PTSD and its soul sister, moral injury. Relapse will be defined as relapse in substance and alcohol addictions, process addictions, mental health diagnoses and relapse in self-defeating behaviors. The history of moral injury, codes of religious dogma, spiritual beliefs and codes of honor will be described. Finally, a correlation between moral injury and chronic relapse, suicide, overdoses, spiritual therapies and interventions will be presented.
Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:
- Compare and define PTSD/trauma and moral injury.
- Evaluate the correlation between relapse, trauma and moral injury.
- Demonstrate the knowledge of a spiritual component of moral injury/trauma and list and contrast three therapeutic experiential exercises that assist in healing.
P02 - The Half-Lived Life: Overcoming Passivity and Rediscovering Your Authentic Self
Wednesday, May 17, 2017 | 10:45 am - 12:15 pm
Until now passivity has been one of the least studied, discussed, and explained aspects of human behavior. The fields of psychology, personal growth, and recovery have completely ignored it. Understanding passivity is an essential and important key to creating healthy relationships, increasing self-esteem, and healing the bodies, minds, and spirits of individuals who are hurting or hurting others, and doing so without shame. In order to lead a fulfilling life, a person must overcome passivity, become compassionately assertive, and ultimately remember who he/she were meant to be, wanted to be, and not settle for a half-lived life characterized by quiet desperation, frustration, and settling. This workshop addresses the ever-increasing problems passivity presents to marriages, communication, conflict resolution, and stress. This material will positively impact individuals, groups, and families and does so without shaming those who lives may be less than what they’d hoped. As people recognize passivity and begins to understand and address it, they are building the foundation necessary to become creators of their worlds instead of feeling like the world controls them. These first steps allow people to become compassionately assertive with those they love and, in so doing, regain valuable insights into how to become the people they thought they would be, longed to be and, ultimately, can be, resulting in a fully-lived life.
Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:
- Define and identify passivity in relationships
- Examine and eliminate the “greatest trick” passive people play on themselves and others
- Work with the three major types of passivity
- Employ solutions and cures for passivity
- Become more compassionately assertive
- Learn how to remember who you wanted to be and what you want to do now
P03 - The Child is Father of the Man: Neurobiological Crossroads of Trauma, Addiction and Mood Disorders
Early life trauma can cause long-term and persisting changes to the brain and brain chemistry which can be measured and imaged, even decades after the childhood events. The presence (or absence) of childhood trauma can increase later-life vulnerability to addiction and mood disorders and also appears to influence which treatments are most effective. Taking a careful trauma history in children and adults is essential for any provider of healthcare. This session will explore all of the above.
Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:
- Name the three basic elements of the neuro-endocrine system altered in early life trauma that can affect mood, anxiety and addiction
- Explain a simple teaching model of the neurobiology of addiction to clients and their families
- Name and briefly explain at least three early life events that have correlated with later life mood and addictive disorders
Wednesday, May 17, 2017 | 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm
According to the Department of Health and Human Services and other federal and state agencies, the United States is in the midst of an addiction crisis. To address this national emergency, healthcare professionals nationwide must adopt strategies proven to combat substance use in their patients. The literature shows that Measurement-Based Care (MBC)—the practice of basing clinical care on client data collected throughout treatment—is effective in treating addiction, yet it is grossly underused and misunderstood as a standard of care in substance use disorder treatment. Addiction professionals and healthcare facilities nationwide need to understand MBC and implement its use at all levels of treatment. This session will introduce MBC and discuss how it can be applied within treatment plans, while also addressing the barriers to its use.
Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:
- Define the meaning of Measurement-Based Care (MBC)
- Explain the use of MBC in treating patients with substance use
- Describe the barriers to using MBC in the healthcare field
Thursday, May 18, 2017
Thursday, May 18, 2017 | 8:30 am – 10:00 am
Shame is that unpleasant feeling that drives emotional traumas and addiction. At times, it feels like our clients are exposed and dressed only in the “emperor's new clothes” when they are struggling with substance abuse and/or mental health disorders. How does a behavioral healthcare professional move a family or an individual to a new place of being? This lively interactive presentation will take participants on a nonlinear, evidence-based journey demonstrating how professionals may shift the conversation so clients move beyond shame, traumas and addiction and embrace new healthy ways of living. The importance of family mapping as a way into the conversation using the qualitative research method of portraiture will be addressed along with how we can help clients rewrite their stories through action and narrative.
Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:
- Identify and describe how clients (individuals and families) arrive at your door step
- Identify, define, describe shame, trauma, addiction and resilience and how they show up in clients (individual and family)
- Demonstrate the power of family mapping and the art and science of portraiture as well as triangulation of data and share standard invitational vocabulary as we work with clients as they own their own stories
Thursday, May 18, 2017 | 10:30 am – 12:00 pm
In this session, Dr. Ross will describe his clinical experience working with suicidal combat veterans. In his experience, a major driver of the suicidal ideation is self-blame for combat events, often the death of a buddy or a civilian. The combat self-blame is often superimposed on self-blame for childhood trauma. Dr. Ross will describe the cognitive errors behind the self-blame and therapeutic strategies for correcting them. The emphasis will be on practical therapeutic strategies with time left for questions and discussion.
Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:
- To describe the role of self-blame in suicidal ideation among combat troops.
- To describe the cognitive errors behind suicidal ideation among combat troops.
- To describe cognitive therapy strategies for self-blame and suicidal ideation among combat troops.
W01 - The Anger Solution: A Proven Method for Achieving Calm and Developing Healthy, Long-Lasting Relationships
Thursday, May 18, 2017 | 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm
The Anger Solution is based on John Lee’s book and is the culmination of more than two decades of work in the field of anger management. This presentation provides a unique approach for supervisors, human resource personnel, managers, employees, spouses, and the public to work effectively and elegantly with an often-confusing emotion. There is a simple and down-to-earth way of working with a feeling that every human being has a right to express. This unique presentation focuses on keys to working with anger as part of a safe encounter with the most misunderstood emotion.
Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:
- Experience the differences between appropriate anger and inappropriate rage
- Discover the nine things people do when experiencing “soft rage”
- Explore the four styles of rage and experience how, if anger is expressed appropriately, that it equals energy, intimacy and serenity
W02 - The Spectrum of Emotions
Thursday, May 18, 2017 | 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm
In this session we will review the developmental effects caused by unresolved trauma and its impact on the addictive client. Often these clients have a difficult time identifying, tolerating, and regulating their emotions. Therefore, it is important to provide an integrated approach that emphasizes mood state regulation. The “Spectrum of Emotions” is a conceptual tool that helps to identify the root of all addictive behaviors, and the often co-occuring physical and mental health symptoms, as well as provides specific cognitive and experiential treatment interventions. This treatment approach addresses clients who are stuck in addictive and self-defeating behaviors. Clinical examples and case vignettes will also be provided.
Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:
- Understand the effects of trauma on addiction and mental health symptoms.
- Identify the dissociative root underlying all addictive behaviors Learning objective.
- Learn specific treatment techniques
W03 - Intoxicating Cycles of Shame: The Missing Link in the Treatment of Co-Occurring Eating and Substance Use Disorders
Thursday, May 18, 2017 | 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm
A deep sense of shame often underlies and drives eating disorders (ED) and substance abuse (SA). When these two disorders co-occur, the level of shame intensifies. The special challenges of treating these co-occurring disorders will be discussed and this presentation highlights shame as a key force underlying and perpetuating the cyclical nature of these disorders. In this session clinicians will learn how to identify and help individuals break the patterns of shame that drive destructive behaviors.
Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:
- Articulate and identify the special challenges in diagnosing and treating co-occurring ED and SA.
- Articulate and identify the cyclical role that shame plays in the precipitation and perpetuation of these disorders.
- Identify and articulate practical ways to help individuals break cycles of shame and destructive behaviors in ED and SA.
Thursday, May 18, 2017 | 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm
As we grow and become fully human, we work through our relational attachments from where we came from (family) and how we relate (food), and ultimately we discover what type of relationships (love) we want to foster. This keynote address brings three powerful women innovators together to explore our clients’ relationship challenges with others and their survival patterns. Often our clients are not aware of what they are doing, thinking and feeling and their relational patterns are driven by misconceived, outdated patterns. Some people react immediately based on feelings, others on their thoughts, and others will act out to soothe their wounds. Clients may shut down, freeze or become hypervigilant, become addicted to substances, food or love as a way of managing their feelings. Stranger, Cruze and Glass will provide new ways of intervening with clients and offer a new language and actions so a narrative of empowerment may be achieved.
Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:
- Summarize and revisit how birthright effects our clients
- Describe and discuss how clients’ relationships with food and love color their ways of interacting
- Utilize practical strategies that move clients from a shame-based perspective to owning their stories and establishing new ways of being
Friday, May 19, 2017
Friday, May 19, 2017 | 8:30 am – 10:00 am
Most therapists are proficient at helping clients identify and gain awareness about traumatic events. Insight, however, does not equal change. To move beyond trauma, we must be able to help clients identify not just the traumatic experiences but the coping strategies and personal behaviors resulting from these events and in addition, help clients replace these behaviors with healthy alternatives.
Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:
- Define trauma
- List three common sequelae of trauma
- Differentiate values-focused therapy from feeling-focused therapy
Friday, May 19, 2017 | 10:15 am – 11:45 am
Love in the time of Twitter has its own inherent dangers, and you don’t have to surf the dark web to find them. Internet dating, catch-and-release relationships, cohort consciousness, porn on the playground, sexting and the netherworld of internet narcissism are all part of our daily lives, not an underground uncommon experience assigned to a few. We would be naïve to overlook the seductive nature of what has become the everyday world we live in and a breeding ground for trauma, shame and addiction. Fortunately, how we navigate this world is still up to us, and healthy living begins with recognizing the seductive nature of technology.
Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:
- Define choice fatigue and describe its relationship to Internet dating
- Define revenge porn
- Define catch-and-release dating
Friday, May 19, 2017, 10:15 am - 11:45 am
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or chronic Post Traumatic Stress comprises a series of symptoms that usually leaves the mind overwhelmed, broken, fragmented, disturbed, and over-reactive to stressful triggers. These symptoms can feel unbearable, make relationships disintegrate, tempt the use of addictive substances, incite suicidal ideation, and more. Writing deeply accesses the subconscious mind allowing the mind to recover from the wounds of trauma. In this session, we will review and cover how focused writing allows the mind to uncover, discover, and recover the energy and memories needed to create a new and healthy way of being.
Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:
- Learn how to use writing to reveal underlying traumas
- Implement how to guide the client from reawakened trauma to new coping behaviors other than addictions
- Learn how to change the client engaged in addictive behaviors to change their point of view
Friday, May 19, 2017, 10:15 am - 11:45 am
In this session Dr. Reimers will present an overview of various types of trauma, and offer views on the natural process of recovery versus non-recovery. Highlights include the inexplicable link between trauma and addictions; the role of avoidance and addiction as primary contributors in non-recovery, summarizing how avoidance serves to keep the trauma active in the present; and other variables that determine the likelihood of recovery. Acknowledging that there are many possible ways to recover, Dr. Reimers presents a pathway to recovery she uses in her work with patients and external participants, both locally and nationwide. Efficacy quantitative and qualitative outcome data concludes the presentation.
Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:
Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:
- · Understand role of unresolved trauma as core issue of many mental health issues
- · Increase understanding of the critical role of avoidance in unresolved trauma
- · Increase knowledge of pathways to recovery from trauma
Friday, May 19, 2017 | 12:45 pm – 4:00 pm
As a universal experience, shame can be looked at as a gatekeeper to wellness. Shame has the power to color the filters through which we experience the world. This is not only true of our clients but is also true for us as helping professionals.In this extended session on shame participants will look at the developmental process of shame and how the powerful experience of shame impacts active addiction, treatment, as well as active recovery. Shame can be one of the largest obstacles to recovery, and yet we haven’t had many tools for addressing it. In this workshop, participants will gain a better understanding of how to frame shame as well as address it. Participants will review current research surrounding shame and shame resilience. Participants will receive experiential group and individual ideas to address shame in clients in the context of substance use disorder treatment.
Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:
- Have a deeper understanding of both shame and guilt
- Know how to provide education around shame and addiction
- Gain tools in addressing shame in the context of substance use disorder treatment
There will be one 15 Minute Break
