Overview of the MFT and LCSW Licensing Processes (SU1)
Sunday, May 4, 2008
10:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. (2 CE Hrs.)

Attention Interns: as with other CAMFT Conference workshops, this two-hour workshop can be used towards your hours of experience as long as your Supervisor approves such hours.

Sean O’Connor has been with the Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) for seven years. As the BBS Outreach Coordinator, he presents information on the MFT and LCSW licensing processes at schools and agencies throughout California. He also writes the BBS News and works on various special projects. Sean is pursuing a masters degree in Public Policy and Administration and resides in Sacramento, California.

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LifeForce Yoga for Anxiety and Depression (SU2)
Sunday, May 4, 2008
9:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. (3 CE Hrs.), *CD Available
(CE hours not applicable to Psychologists or RNs)

This experiential workshop will take a somatic approach to mood disturbance and treatment. Learn about the studies that link positive mental health with Yogic practices, including Yogic breathing exercises, postures and meditations. We will review the physiological changes occurring in the body during Yoga practice that produce the immediate “feel good” affect and learn about the evidence for the cumulative benefits that Yoga produces in the mind and body. In addition to a consideration of the Yogic principles, philosophy and practice that make the daily practice of Yoga beneficial in maintaining a balanced mood, we will explore the therapeutic benefits of Yoga for trauma survivors. Experience for yourself the shift in your outlook as we practice a few simple exercises that can change your life and the lives of your clients. (*CD of workshop available for purchase, see page 16 for details.)

Amy Weintraub, MFA, E-RYT 500, author of Yoga for Depression and Founder and Director of the LifeForce Yoga Healing Institute, is a senior Kripalu teacher and Mentor and serves as the LifeFo rc e Facilitator for the Psychotherapy Networker Symposia. She leads workshops and professional trainings in Li f e Fo rce Yoga internationally, including Kriplu Center, Omega, Mt. Madonna, the Crossings, Boston University Graduate School of Psychology, and the University of Georgia Medical School. She writes frequently on the subject of yoga and mental health for national magazines, and is featured on the first home video practice to address mood, LifeForce Yoga to Beat the Blues—Level 1 (DVD), and the CD Breath to Beat the Blues www.yogalfordepression.com.

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Right Brain Attachment and Affect Regulation:
Central Mechanisms of Psychotherapeutic Change (SU3)
Sunday, May 4, 2008
9:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. (3 CE Hrs.), *CD Available

Dr. Allan Schore will discuss current advances in the neurobiology of attachment, detailing the enduring positive and negative impact of interactively regulated and dysregulated bodily-based affective transactions on the organization of the infant’s early developing right brain, which for the rest of the life span is dominant for the nonconscious processing of emotions, stress regulation, and intersubjectivity. Applying the developmental model to the change process of psychotherapy, he will then describe the critical role of the right brain in implicit facial, gestural, and prosodic communications within the intersubjective field, and in empathy, transference- countertransference, mentalization, and affect regulation. This work suggests that more so than insight, interactive regulation within the therapeutic alliance is a central mechanism in the treatment of early forming personality disorders, and that both optimal development and effective psychotherapy promote an expansion of the biological substrate of the human unconscious, the right brain/mind/body system, the dynamic core of the implicit self. (*CD of workshop available for purchase.)

Dr. Allan Schore is on the clinical faculty of the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, and at the UCLA Center for Culture, Brain, and Development. His ground-breaking contributions have impacted the fields of affective neuroscience, neuropsychiatry, trauma theory, developmental psychology, attachment theory, pediatrics, infant mental health, psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, and behavioral biology. Dr. Schore’ s activities as a clinician-scientist span from his practice of psychotherapy over the last 4 decades, to his current involvement in neuroimaging research on the neurobiology of attachment and studies of borderline personality disorder, to his biological work on relational trauma in wild elephants.

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I Know I Have a Book in Me (SU4)
Sunday, May 4, 2008
9:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. (3 CE Hrs.), *CD Available
Note: CE not applicable to psychologists for this session.

If you’ve ever wanted to write, either for professional journals or the general public, this workshop is for you. Learn how to address “blocks,” procrastination, and other creative dilemmas, as well as develop your own unique writer’s “voice.” Through lecture, anecdotes and experiential exercises, explore ways to turn your clinical expertise and the lessons of your own personal journey into marketable topics for magazines, journals and books. (*CD of workshop available for purchase, see page 16 for details.)

Formerly a Hollywood screenwriter (My Favorite Year; Welcome Back, Kotter, etc.), Dennis Palumbo is now a LMFT in private practice, specializing in creative issues. He’s authored numerous articles for journals and magazines, as well as the recent book, Writing From the Inside Out (John Wiley and Sons). Mr. Palumbo has been asked by Patrick Healy, CAMFT 2008 President, to repeat this workshop as it is always in demand and space is limited.

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Interactive Guided Imagery(SM) Experiential: Accessing the Placebo Effect (SU5)
Sunday, May 4, 2008
9:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. (3 CE Hrs.), *CD Available

Want to experience how you can access and activate the powerful placebo effect? Then join us for an experiential day of learning how to use Interactive Guided Imagery(SM) with your clients. Interactive Imagery is done one-on-one working directly with images that arise from your clients’ own imagination. This training provides a unique window of personal exploration into one’s own inner wisdom, unconscious knowledge and healing potential. It’s empowering! It’s revealing! Leading health care practitioners and institutions including: Andrew Weil, M.D.; Belleruth Napastek; Marty Rossman, M.D.; David Bresler, Ph.D.; Dean Ornish, M.D.; Rachel Naomi Remens, M.D.; the Mayo Clinic; Columbia University Medical Center; U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs; and Blue Shield of California Wellness support and recommend it. You will too, after experiencing Interactive Guided Imagery(SM)! (*CD of workshop available for purchase.)

Judith Westerfield, MFT, has trained hundreds of health care practitioners in the therapeutic use of Interactive Guided Imagery(SM). She is a faculty instructor with The Academy for Guided Imagery and a California BBS Continuing Education provider. Judy is in private practice in Laguna Niguel, California specializing in using Guided Imagery and Hypnosis for life-altering conditions.

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Rituals for Our Time: When Psychology is Not Enough! (SU6)
Sunday, May 4, 2008
9:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. (3 CE Hrs.), *CD Available

Life-enhancing rituals are practiced around the world for healing, empowerment, and making whole that which is fragmented. In this stimulating, informative workshop, you will learn the why, how, where, and when of introducing simple, yet potent, rituals into your psychotherapy practice. You will have the opportunity to apply all the elements of creating a ritual by participating in (or observing) a non-threatening group ceremony. (*CD of workshop available for purchase, see page 16 for details.)

Connie Clark, M.A., MFT, has a private practice in Sausalito, specializing in personal and professional transitions, addictions, and women’s empowerment. She is widely known for her JoyWorks Programs: motivational talks, seminars, coaching, and women’s retreats (in Sayulita, Mexico). For over 20 years, Connie has designed and led life-transforming rituals for individuals, families, and businesses.

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Just Say “No!” to Drugs as a First Intervention for Child Problems,
with Barry L. Duncan, Psy.D. (FIN)
Keynote Speaker 1 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (2 CE Hrs.), *CD Available
(Free Event for Full/Sunday Registrants, $50 for Non-registrants)

The data clearly indicates that given the meager benefits of medicating children and substantial risks, psychosocial interventions should be tried first. Knowing that there is no irresistible scientific justification to medicate, therapists are free to put other options on the table and draw in the voices of their clients to confidently facilitate medication decisions—they can help children and parents get the facts about risks and benefits, and make clear the take-home message that there are many paths to preferred ends. This presentation advocates for a critical risk/benefit analysis, suggesting that therapists become informed so that they can assist families with decisions about medication. You’ll learn that you need not feel timid in the face of medical authority and you will leave empowered to talk about medication, raise concerns about robotic prescription practices and side effects, and offer alternatives. This presentation covers current research about the effectiveness and safety of psychotropic drugs for children and adolescents and provides guidelines for holding medication discussions with families struggling with the decision to medicate a child or teen. (*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 Hearrt and Soul of Change, 2nd Ed. (APA, 2008)