Stepfamilies - Living With Other People's Children! Judy Osborne, LMHC: Stepfamilies have complex relationships, filled with great opportunities and daunting challenges. All couples experience a two year period of adjustment no matter how much in love. Feeling like a family takes about five years. Working with the couple can provide a place to understand and explore the time it takes to adapt, enhance and strengthen their family. Stepfamilies can become safe and comfortable places to live.
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Families and Addiction: Identification and Intervention, Paula Morissette, LMHC:
This workshop will explore the impact of addiction on families and the changing roles of family in the treatment of addiction. The emphasis will be on assisting clinicians in the field in broadening their experience with addiction work with families and family members. Both the advantages and challenges in doing this work will be explored. Best practice and empirically based treatment protocols will be presented and attendees will have an opportunity to gain a basic working knowledge of Multi-systemic Family Therapy approaches. The format will be didactic and experiential, using case materials and small group exercises. [back to Annual Conference]

Cross Cultural Counseling and the Family, Carl Skeene, Jr., Psy. D., LMHC:
This workshop will combine experiential, didactic and discussion formats. Through an initial exercise participants will be encouraged to recognize and bring into awareness their own biases as counselors of those who are different from them in race, ethnicity, culture, gender, disability. The question of: What is “Cultural Competence”? will also be discussed, along with other issues to expand participant’s knowledge base in this important area. Participation will be encouraged to foster a lively dialogue. [back to Annual Conference]

The Role of the Mental Health Counselor in Family Bereavement: Linda Roberts, LMHC:
Today the fastest growing segment of our population is the elderly. For us as LMHCs, this can mean there will be a greater need to help clients and their loved ones through the grieving process. We will examine a variety of issues: understanding the different stages of the grief process and how the use of psycho-educational materials can help our families to cope; how unique the grief process is within the family and the importance of respecting cultural traditions; where to find available resources within the community to help the family cope. [back to Annual Conference]

Understanding Domestic Violence and Its Impact on Families, Karen Enegess, LMHC:
In this workshop, a working definition of domestic violence will be presented, in order to distinguish it from other forms of dysfunctional or abusive relationships. We will examine what has traditionally been a disconnect between the field of domestic violence and the clinical field and the importance of bridging this gap in order to achieve best practices. We will explore some cross-cultural issues relating to domestic violence, its effects on children, tips for clinical work with individuals and couples, and look at some of the challenges and frustrations in working with those impacted by domestic violence. [back to Annual Conference]

Autism and Working with Families, Barbara Natoli, LMHC:
This workshop will offer an overview of Autism Spectrum Disorders and related diagnostic criteria. Common co-morbid diagnoses will also be presented. The challenges for families and parenting will be discussed in relation to impairments in social interactions, including social pragmatic difficulties, lack of social reciprocity, difficulty developing peer relationships, perseverative and challenging behaviors and communication delays. We will review therapeutic, behavioral and educational strategies for intervention and participants will be encouraged to ask questions and share case studies. [back to Annual Conference]

Sexual Minorities and Family: Resilience and Redefinition. Robin Chalfin, LICSW: This presentation will explore issues relevant to counseling sexual minorities as they create and sustain families. The foci are: exploring the cultural and social phenomena that shape our attitudes toward sexual orientation, understanding romantic love and childrearing within same sex relationships, and redefining kinship in light of new family formations. [back to Annual Conference]

The Eating Disordered Family: Progressive Imbalances of Power and Allegiances in the Family System, Kenneth Freedman, LICSW:
This discussion will focus on the systemic breakdown of the family when a member presents with a chronic eating disorder. Because of the complex nature of this disorder, there is marked upheaval in the family’s capacity to flow normally. Clinicians are faced with a multi-layered challenge re understanding the way in which a family navigates multiple providers, creates an internal narrative, and grapples with their public façade. This workshop will guide the participant through useful methods and theoretical frameworks which can make successful interventions possible.
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