General Session
Annual Business Meeting and Legislative and Regulatory Update—including Scholarship and Honors Awards, with Mary Riemersma, MBA, CAE and guests, Suzanne Streater, MFT, SSMI and Dr. Betty Sutton of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (ABM)
Saturday, May 3, 2008
8 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
(2 CE Hrs., CE Hours not applicable for Psychologists and RNs)

This presentation will bring you up-to-date with association business as well as state and federal legislation that affects the mental health profession. The 2008 Scholarship and Honors recipients will also be announced. In addition, Suzanne Streater and Dr. Sutton from the Mental Health Program, Division of Correctional Health Care Services, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) will give an update on the Department of Corrections utilization of MFTs. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of Health Care Services, Mental Health Program Services, has a new Practitioner Development Unit. This unit serves as a focal point for the development and implementation of clinical internships, fellowships, continuing education, recruitment and retention, and other efforts geared toward the ongoing development of CDCR’s Mental Health clinical staff. Currently, the unit is staffed by with two individuals, Betty Sutton, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist and Suzanne Streater, M.A., MFT.

Mary Riemersma, M.B.A., M.S., is a Certified Association Executive and has been Executive Director for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists for twenty-three years. She has been in the business of managing associations for nearly 40 years. Dr. Betty Sutton is a Psychologist, who administers the Practitioner Development function. Dr. Sutton worked for CDCR in the Mental Health Program from 1994 through 2003, in a variety of clinical positions, retiring in 2003 as Chief Psychologist for the Mental Health Program. After retiring, Dr. Sutton had a part-time private practice and continued to be active in public mental health, participating in various statewide policy councils and committees, most notably implementing the education and training and human resources components of the Mental Health Services Act.

Suzanne Streater returned to CDCR Mental Health after a 12-year absence. She was one of the original members of the CDCR Mental Health Branch and worked on the initial implementation of the CDCR Mental Health Services Delivery System. During her 12-year hiatus from State service, she obtained her license as a Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT), worked as the mental health coordinator for Kern Crossroads—a Kern County juvenile detention facility, taught an online course through Taft College called, “Correctional Interviewing and Counseling,” and had a private psychotherapy practice. She returned to CDCR in February 2007 and rejoined the Mental Health Program in August 2007.

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Special Guest Presentation
What MFTs Can Do That Antidepressant Medications Can’t, with Michael D. Yapko, Ph.D.; Stephen V. Sobel, M.D.; William Glasser, M.D.; and facilitated by Ellyn Bader, Ph.D. (SA1)
Saturday, May 3, 2008
10:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. (2 CE Hrs.), *CD Available

Despite the overstated and oversimplified view that suggests depression is caused by a neurochemical imbalance in the brain, the clinical and research evidence makes it quite clear that depression is about much more than just “bad chemistry.” In fact, depression can have many causes, and there are many factors, including psychosocial ones, that can influence its course and prognosis. Medications alone are not and can never be an entirely adequate reply to the growing rates of depression for reasons that will be considered in this presentation. “Adjusting” individuals chemically while individuals, couples, and families face life challenges they are not adequately prepared to meet suggests the problem is in their biology and not their circumstances. This is an untenable and extreme position to take in light of the relevant psychosocial data. We, as health professionals, can do a great deal to address this issue much more realistically than leading people to believe they are “diseased” or that “a pill a day will keep the depression away.” (*CD of workshop available for purchase, see page 16 for details.)

Michael D. Yapko, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and marriage and family therapist residing in Fallbrook, California. He is internationally recognized for his work in depression and outcome-focused psychotherapy, routinely teaching to professional audiences all over the world. His clinical trainings are known for being practical as well as enjoyable. He is the author of numerous books, book chapters, and articles on the subjects of the brief therapy of depression and the use of hypnotic and strategic psychotherapies. For more information, please visit www.yapko.com.

Stephen V. Sobel, M.D., is a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry, specializing in the treatment of Mood and Anxiety Disorders, Behavioral Medicine and Eating Disorders. He is Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry at the University of California San Diego, and a Consulting Psychiatrist for the NFL San Diego Chargers and the NFL Player Assistance Program. Dr. Sobel is a nationally-recognized expert in the treatment of Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Anxiety Disorders, and Eating Disorders and has lectured and taught extensively throughout the United States to thousands of therapists, physicians, and psychiatrists. He has a private practice in psychiatry and has successfully treated thousands of adults and adolescents suffering from these disorders.

William Glasser, M.D., is an internationally recognized psychiatrist who is best known as the author of Reality Therapy, a method of psychotherapy he created in 1965 and that is now taught all over the world. Glasser’s path has been one of a continuing progression from private practice to lecturing and writing and ultimately culminating in the publication of over twenty books. He wrote, Warning: Psychiatry Can Be Hazardous to Your Mental Health (2003), to help people improve their mental health and happiness. In 2005, he produced a booklet, Defining Mental Health as a Public Health Issue to provide a new resource for mental health professionals; and in 2007 he published, Eight Lessons for a Happier Marriage, together with his wife, Carleen.

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Saturday Luncheon Presentation
Post-Partum Sexuality: Changes and Challenges After Baby (SAL)
Saturday, May 3, 2008
12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. (Speaker 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
(1 CE Hr.), $45 Ticket, *CD Available

This course draws from research, theory, and clinical practice in working with individuals and couples who are experiencing massive life changes brought on by becoming parents, and how that impacts sexual behavior and emotional intimacy. The workshop will provide education and strategies for the clinician assessing and treating individuals and couples facing sexual difficulties. Those who find sexuality and sexual behavior sensitive material should be aware that these issues will be discussed in some detail in this course. (*CD of workshop available for purchase)

Tamar Springer, LCSW, is also a certified sex therapist, educator and consultant in private practice. For more than 15 years she has worked on relationship, sexuality, and parenting issues with individuals, couples and families. Tamar teaches, Making Marriage Work and Parenting for the First Time at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles. She has also worked as a mediator and parent educator for the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles.

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Saturday Luncheon Presentation
MFT Educators Forum and Luncheon (EDU)
Saturday, May 3, 2008
12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. (1 CE Hr.)

Free of Charge for MFT Educators (e.g. University Professors and Heads of Departments, MFT Programs—please provide proof upon submitting registration. ) $45 for all other interested parties.

This is a time and place for MFT educators throughout California to engage in an open dialogue about MFT educational content, the BBS changing educational requirements, the changing face of the MFT profession, and how to better prepare students for the evolving marketplace. There will be opportunities to learn what other schools are doing to better serve their students' needs, to learn about job opportunities for students, and to learn about available incentives to offset the financial burdens required for students to attend the variety of MFT programs throughout the state. This forum is about and for MFT educators. We hope that you will make it a priority to attend. Come prepared to learn from one another, to strategize about the future of MFT education, and to have any questions addressed that you may have about the evolving profession. The forum is free of charge for MFT Educators (e.g. University Professors and Heads of Departments, MFT Programs). $45 for all other interested parties.

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Special Guest Presentation
Evidence-Based Practice V. Practice-Based Evidence, with Barry L. Duncan, Psy.D.; Thomas L Sexton, Ph.D.; and facilitated by James R. Walt, M.A. (SA3)
Saturday, May 3, 2008
10:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. (2 CE Hrs.), *CD Available

Evidence-based practice (EBP) has been grossly misinterpreted as a justification for not only forcing certain approaches but also making funding contingent upon their use. In this presentation, the “evidence” regarding EBP will be exposed to be lacking and a shift to practice-based evidence suggested—a simple, straightforward way that clinicians of any theoretical preference can elicit clients’ “real time” feedback to not only improve outcomes but also to give clients the voice they deserve. You’ll leave with a new perspective of EBP that includes the importance of the relationship, honors client preferences, and incorporates the monitoring of outcomes. Evidence-based practices represent the most recent trend in the long-standing goal to identify the “best” methods to help diverse clientele who are seeking clinical treatment. The hope is to identify and create psychological treatments that have a high likelihood of producing the changes sought by those who seek services when practiced competently with appropriate clients. The evidence-based practices’ movement is controversial that has become one of central debates and controversies in Marriage and Family Therapy. Questions have been raised as to whether these methods are model specific or just common factors used by all good therapists. This conversation and discussion is intended to shed light on the issues, controversies, and implications for the changing profession of Marriage and Family Therapy. (*CD of workshop available for purchase, see page 16 for details.)

Barry Duncan, Psy.D., is a therapist, trainer, and researcher with over 17,000 hours of face-to-face experience with clients, and is the Co-Director of the Institute for the Study of Therapeutic Change. He is author or co-author of 14 books, including The Heroic Client (Jossey-Bass, 2004), the self-help book, What’s Right With You (HCI, 2005), Brief Intervention for School Problems (Guilford, 2007), and the forthcoming, The Heart and Soul of Change, 2nd Ed. (APA, 2008).

Thomas L. Sexton, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology at Indiana University where he is on the faculty of the nationally accredited doctoral program in Counseling Psychology. In addition, he directs the Center for Adolescent and Family Studies (CAPS), a national research center for the study and dissemination of research-based practices for the treatment of at-risk adolescents and their families. He is one of the model developers of Functional Family Therapy. In that role, he has presented workshops on Functional Family Therapy and consulted with various systems of care attempting to integrate evidence-based practices both nationally and internationally. He is co-author of the FFT Clinical Manual (Sexton & Alexander 2004), author of all of the most recent theoretical chapters on FFT, and the designer of the FFT Clinical Services System. His interest in Family Psychology and psychotherapy research has resulted in over 40 journal articles, 25 book chapters, and 4 books.

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Private Practice: How to Make a Living While Making a Difference (SA2)
Saturday, May 3, 2008
10:15 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. (5 CE Hrs.)
Co-sponsored by www.BeAWealthyTherapist.com

Feel uncomfortable about marketing your private practice? Or maybe you have tried marketing with disappointing results. You are not alone. Most therapists weren’t taught in graduate school how to build and market a financially rewarding private practice. This presentation offers practical instructions on building an effective, ethical, and low-cost marketing plan to attract self-paying clients and addresses specific methods for increasing your marketing confidence.

Casey Truffo, MFT, is an award-winning speaker and coach to therapists on five continents. She is the author of Be a Wealthy Therapist: Finally You Can Make a Living While Making a Difference. Founder of www. BeAWealthy Therapist.com, her mission is to teach therapists how to earn a good living.

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Breakthroughs with High Conflict Couples (SA4)
Saturday, May 3, 2008
10:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. (2 CE Hrs.), *CD Available

Couples struggle to have constructive discussions on sensitive issues, even though they are taught guidelines about how to communicate better. Conventional communication guidelines are often useless when couples feel high duress and tension. The participants will learn techniques to manage the emotional brain (limbic system) to communicate effectively under stress. Participants will also learn how to rapidly repair ruptures that occur in stressful dialogues. These rapid repairs allow couples to stay on track with constructive discussions. (*CD of workshop available for purchase, see page 16 for details.)

Peter Pearson, Ph.D., is in private practice and is Co- Founder and Co-Director of The Couples Institute in Menlo Park, California. He served as an Associate Consulting Professor at Stanford University, School of Counseling Psychology for 11 years. Dr. Pearson conducts intensive workshops for couples and is frequently invited to speak at conferences for therapists. He speaks from real life experience having averaged 24 hours of couples therapy per week for the last 18 years. His major training belief is that learning couples therapy ought to be practical, stimulating, and engaging, with a good dose of humor!

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Behind Closed Doors (SA5)
Saturday, May 3, 2008
10:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. (2 CE Hrs.), *CD Available

Are eating disorders addictions, mental illnesses, brain diseases, clients “gone bad,” or some other type of disorder? Can you do psychotherapy with someone suffering from anorexia? In this presentation there will be no theory and no lecture. The goal of this workshop is to provide excerpts of actual therapy sessions, which can then be deconstructed in order for participants to gain insights into the practical use of theoretical ideas for the treatment of eating disorders. (*CD of workshop available for purchase, see page 16 for details.)

Carolyn Costin, M.A., M.Ed., MFT, has been a specialist in the treatment of eating disorders since 1979. Her experience in the field and her own personal recovery from anorexia nervosa enhances her understanding of these complex disorders. Ms. Costin is the Founder and Director of The Eating Disorder Center of California, Monte Nido, and RainRock Residential Treatment Centers. Carolyn frequently appears as a keynote speaker and workshop presenter at national conferences. She is also the author of The Eating Disorder Source Book, Your Dieting Daughter, and 100 Questions and Answers About Eating Disorders.

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Developing a Supervisory Alliance with Beginning Therapists: An Integrative Approach (SA6)
Saturday, May 3, 2008
10:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. (2 CE Hrs.), *CD Available

This workshop will describe an effective and integrative approach to supervision that emphasizes the supervisory alliance with beginning therapists. We will focus on (among other things): decreasing self-criticism of supervisees, increasing supervisee entitlement of experiences in therapy, creating a compassionate supervisory environment, and recognizing strengths and areas for growth and development. Specific applications of this approach will be shared including interventions and case examples of “difficult” supervisees. This approach will also be described from the perspective of a beginning MFT therapist supervisee. (*CD of workshop available for purchase, see page 16 for details.)

David Gard, Ph.D., and Julia M. Lewis, Ph.D., are professors at San Francisco State University and are co-coordinators of the SFSU Clinical Psychology MFT Program. Dr. Gard has been teaching at SFSU since 1997, and supervising since 2002. Dr. Lewis has been teaching and supervising at SFSU since 1984. Abigail Whiteside is a second year student trainee in the SFSU/MFT Program.

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Think Deeply! Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Hypnosis: Hypnotic Strategies for Enhancing Therapeutic
Outcomes (SA7)
Saturday, May 3, 2008
2:15 to 5:15 p.m. (3 CE Hrs.), *CD Available

Hypnosis isn’t a therapy in its own right—it’s an experiential vehicle for delivering therapeutic ideas and establishing therapeutic associations in the client’s subjective experience. Is there empirical evidence that hypnosis enhances treatment outcomes when employed in psychotherapy? The answer is unambiguous: Hypnosis has been empirically shown to enhance the effects of treatment in general, and CBT in particular, making treatment more effective and results more enduring. In this workshop, we will explore the therapeutic merits of integrating hypnotic approaches with CBT, highlighting the value of hypnosis as a means of teaching cognitive skills and empowering people to behave more effectively. (*CD of workshop available for purchase, see page 16 for details.)

Michael D. Yapko, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and marriage and family therapist residing in Fallbrook, California. He is internationally recognized for his work in depression and outcome-focused psychotherapy, routinely teaching to professional audiences all over the world. To date, he has been invited to present his ideas and methods to colleagues in 29 countries, across six continents, and all over the United States. His clinical trainings are known for being practical as well as enjoyable. He is the author of numerous books, book chapters, and articles on the subjects of brief therapy of depression and the use of hypnotic and strategic psychotherapies. His works have been translated into eight languages. For more information, please visit www.yapko.com.

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Eight Lessons For a Happy Marriage (SA8)
Saturday, May 3, 2008
2:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. (3 CE Hrs.), *CD Available

Based on the fundamental truth that the only person you can change is yourself, Dr. Glasser and his wife, Carleen, will discuss the elements of failed marriages and how, using Choice Theory, couples can change the course of their relationship. (*CD of workshop available for purchase)

William Glasser, M.D., is an internationally recognized psychiatrist who is best known as the author of Reality Therapy, a method of psychotherapy he created in 1965 and that is now taught all over the world. Dr. Glasser attended medical school at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, and took his psychiatric training at the Veterans Administration Hospital in West Los Angeles and UCLA (1954 -1957). He became Board Certified in 1961 and was in private practice from 1957 to 1986. Glasser’s path has been one of a continuing progression from private practice to lecturing and writing, and ultimately, culminating in the publication of over twenty books. In 2005, he produced a booklet, Defining Mental Health as a Public Health Issue, to provide a new resource for mental health professionals and in 2007 he published Eight Lessons for a Happier Marriage, together with his wife, Carleen.

Carleen Glasser has twenty-five years of experience as a teacher and school counselor, specializing in group work with children in grades K-12. She has been a Senior Faculty member of the William Glasser Institute since 1994 and has worked with her husband, Dr. Glasser, teaching his ideas all over the world. Her books, which teach Choice Theory to children, are widely used in schools around the U.S., Canada, Japan, and Croatia. She has also co-authored four books with Dr. Glasser including the latest, Eight Lessons for a Happier Marriage.

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Practice-Based Evidence: So You Want To Be More Effective (SA9)
Saturday, May 3, 2008
2:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. (3 CE Hrs.)

What distinguishes the therapy stars from the stinkers? The answer is surprisingly simple: dedication to excellence and a commitment to feedback. If you bring the dedication, this workshop will open a path, via practice-based evidence, to usher you to clinical excellence. You'll learn how to use a simple feedback system to identify clients who are not benefiting, enabling you to clarify what isn't working, and change your course before it's too late. You'll discover ways to deepen the conversation, use client feedback, create a collaborative alliance, and recruit clients' own resources in the service of change. You'll leave with practical strategies for transcending your comfort zones, expanding your expertise, and hastening your journey to clinical excellence. This presentation translates current research about the predictive validity of early change and the power of feedback to improve outcome. It will provide sufficient information for participants to begin collecting outcome feedback in their practices.

Barry Duncan, Psy.D., is a therapist, trainer, and researcher with over 17,000 hours of face-to-face experience with clients, and is the co-director of the Institute for the Study of Therapeutic Change. He is author or co-author of 14 books, including The Heroic Client (Jossey-Bass, 2004), the selfhelp book, What’s Right With You (HCI, 2005), Brief Intervention for School Problems (Guilford, 2007), and the forthcoming, The Heart and Soul of Change, 2nd Ed. (APA, 2008).

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Functional Family Therapy: An Evidence-Based Family Intervention for Adolescents with Behavior Problems (SA10)
Saturday, May 3, 2008
2:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. (3 CE Hrs.)

Functional Family Therapy (FFT) is one of the current evidence-based family psychotherapy models. FFT is designed to address complex clinical problems often seen as the most difficult to address: externalizing behavior disorders of youth who have school problems, drug use and abuse, violence, delinquency, oppositional defiance, and conduct disorders, among others. FFT has been designated as a “model program” and an evidence-based program by The Blueprints Program and the Surgeon General (among others). While having a strong basis in processresearch coupled with demonstrated and sustainable outcomes obtained through manualized and systematic treatment, training, and supervision protocols, the “heart” of FFT is a relationally-focused model that is responsive to the uniqueness of clients, and the individuality and creativity of the therapist. Thus, while they are research based, these change mechanisms and the behaviors (“techniques”) designed to accomplish them must be creatively implemented within a relational context in a way that matches the client for successful therapy to occur. As such, FFT is a good example of how an evidence-based therapeutic model must also be attentive to the relational process (if not the “art”) of therapy as a unique and individual encounter between a skilled therapist and family struggling to find solutions.

Thomas L. Sexton, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology at Indiana University where he is on the faculty of the nationally accredited doctoral program in Counseling Psychology. In addition, he directs the Center for Adolescent and Family Studies (CAPS), a national research center for the study and dissemination of research-based practices for the treatment of at-risk adolescents and their families. He is one of the model developers of Functional Family Therapy. He is co-author of the FFT Clinical Manual (Sexton & Alexander 2004), author of all of the most recent theoretical chapters on FFT, and the designer of the FFT Clinical Services System. His most recent book is The Handbook of Family Therapy, a major reference for family psychology. He is also the author of the upcoming book on Functional Family Therapy by the American Psychological Press (Sexton & Alexander, in press).

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Couples Therapy Consultation: Solutions to Your Questions and Obstacles (SA11)
Saturday, May 3, 2008
2:15 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. (2 CE Hrs.) , *CD Available

As a seasoned therapist, have you wondered how to handle a couple who present with lots of acting out behavior? Have you wondered how to approach the first phone call so more couples come in for the first session? Do you feel perplexed at times about how to handle blame, regression, or a narcissistic partner? This brand-new workshop was designed specifically for YOU to present YOUR cases and ask questions about perplexing dilemmas YOU have when working with couples. If you have a situation that you would like to present, please contact Ellyn Bader at Ellyn@couplesinstitute.com and she will provide you with a format. This will be a REAL hands-on “Help! What do I do now!?” workshop! (*CD of workshop available for purchase, see page 16 for details.)

Ellyn Bader, Ph.D., is in private practice and is Co-Founder and Co-Director of The Couples Institute in Menlo Park, California. She served on the Clinical faculty at Stanford University, Department of Psychiatry for 8 years. Over the past 25 years she has conducted professional training programs in couples therapy and has trained therapists throughout the United States as well as Europe, Asia, South America, and Australia. She is a past-president of the International Transactional Analysis Association and a recipient of the Clark Vincent Award for an outstanding literary contribution to the field of marital therapy from the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. Dr. Bader is frequently invited to speak at national and international conferences. She and her husband, Peter Pearson, Ph.D., coauthored the book, In Quest of the Mythical Mate: A Developmental Approach to Diagnosis and Treatment in Couples Therapy (Brunner/Mazel) and Tell Me No Lies: How to Face the Truth and Build an Honest Marriage (St.Martins Press).

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Saturday, May 3, 2008
7:15 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
*Comedy Show begins promptly at 7:30 p.m.
(Free Event for Full/Saturday Conference
Registrants, $25 for Non-registrants)

Laugh with Carol Metcalf and Henrietta Komras and enjoy the evening with friends and colleagues!

Carol Metcalf has been delighting audiences with her irreverent slant on family life for over 20 years… in other words she’s old and feisty! Growing up in an Air Force family in Texas, she has been in e ve ry college in Texas performing as well as has been a regular at the Comedy St o re in Los Angeles. Carol was also chosen “pick of the we e k” for her one woman show by The LA Weekly. Catch her before she marries again!

Before doing comedy, Henrietta Komras was married for twenty years to a rabbi. She began thinking about doing comedy because everyone at temple said she was funny. Finally, she left the rabbi, headed for Hollywood, and is making-up for lost fun. Henrietta performs at all the major clubs in L.A. including: The Improv, The Comedy Store, The Ice House, and The Laugh Factory. Her comedy has been heard on VSTAR Wireless, 1KTV, Laugh Trax, and she has done nationally syndicated comedy pieces for Premiere Radio.