Thank you for your interest in the 2021 ALAMFT Conference! The purpose of this program is to provide a continuing education opportunity for Alabama therapists to meet the state-required hours of ongoing training and to enhance the proficiencies of therapists with this annually offered conference.
This will be a Virtual Conference provided via Zoom
**Registration closes February 17, 2021**
AAMFT is pre-approved as a continuing education sponsor for: National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC): AAMFT has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 5209. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. AAMFT is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. Many regulatory boards accept AAMFT event attendance to fulfill CE requirements but do not have a pre-approval process. If in doubt, check with your board.
Note: AAMFT members can save up to $40.00 in conference registration fees by joining ALAMFT Network before registering for the conference. To sign up to be an ALAMFT Network member click this link: Join Now!
Friday, 2/19/2021
ALAMFT Business Meeting
8:00am to 8:50am Central Time
The 10 Best-Ever Anxiety Management Techniques, Margaret Wehrenberg, Psy.D
9:00am to 4:30pm Central Time, lunch on your own 12:15pm-1:15pm
Presenter: Margaret Wehrenberg, Psy.D., is a clinical psychologist, an author, and an international trainer and speaker. She is a practicing psychotherapist and coaches professionals for anxiety management. Margaret has been a trainer of therapists for over 25 years, and she is a sought-after speaker for continuing education seminars, consistently getting the highest ratings from participants for her dynamic style and high-quality content.
Dr. Wehrenberg contributes articles to the award-winning Psychotherapy Networker magazine and she blogs on depression for Psychology Today. Audio and DVD versions of her trainings are available for obtaining CEU’s. She has written 7 books on topics of anxiety and depression published by W.W. Norton, and a workbook, Stress Solutions, published by PESI. The 10 Best-Ever Anxiety Management Techniques and its accompanying workbook, consistent best-sellers, were released in revised editions in 2018. Her newest book, Pandemic Anxiety: Surviving Stress, Fear and Grief in turbulent Times will be released in early 2021 by W.W. Norton. Visit Margaret on Facebook @DrMargaretW or through her website www.margaretwehrenberg.com.In The 10 Best-Ever Anxiety Management Techniques, Margaret Wehrenberg, Psy.D presents the most useful psychotherapeutic approaches to stress and generalized anxiety, panic and social anxiety. Via discussion, practice in the seminar, and concise client examples in all age groups, participants will learn methods to manage anxiety that work in every clinical population. Even experienced clinicians will come away with tools to help clients resolve their anxiety symptoms and all participants will be prepared to respond effectively to most presentations of anxiety disorders.
Workshop: 6 CE
Drawing on the latest research for the neurobiological basis of anxiety to explain why psychotherapy is so effective, Dr. Wehrenberg demonstrates comprehensive techniques to stop rumination, eliminate panic and prepare people to participate in social environments without distress. Her pragmatic approach provides practical strategies you can immediately apply with all clients.
Among the 10 Best-Ever Anxiety Management Techniques are methods that manage the physiological aspects of anxiety: stress, the dread and agitation of generalized anxiety, panic attacks, and the nervous system-based blushing, sweating and shaking of social anxiety.
Participants will be able to apply tools to eliminate the distressing cognitive features of anxiety, such as rumination, catastrophic thinking, and cognitive errors with tools such as “Contain Your Worry” and “Erace the Trace” (of rumination). Participants will be able to identify and correct for the typical issues of procrastination and perfectionism as they appear when caused by generalized anxiety disorder. But also, you will be able to apply the neuroscience of memory reconsolidation as it affects and directs both desensitizing panic cues and the creation of effective social anxiety exposures.
This seminar is suited to any clinician who has clients with anxiety. It will aid the newer therapist to be effective in diagnosing and treating anxious clients of every age as well as strengthen the skills of even the most experienced clinician.
Objectives and Outline
I. Describe neurobiological basis of panic and social anxiety and the implications for why and how psychotherapy works to “use the brain to change the brain.”
II. The neurological basis of worry and two ways to manage it.
III. Manage Stress and its impact on anxiety – 4 competencies to eliminate and reduce stress
- Eliminating stressors
- Managing time and environment
- Managing attitude
- Rest and relaxation,
- including understanding and using Attention Restoration theory
- the default mode network
- Fear Based Anxiety Disorders: Panic and Social Anxiety
V. Apply the panic reduction protocol “Prevent Panic”
- Eliminate panic triggers
- Model effective use of diaphragmatic breathing techniques and relaxation methods that reduce both physical and mental tension.
- Social Anxiety Disorder:
- Utilize the science-based protocol for memory reconsolidation to create successful exposures.
- “3 Cs for Effective Exposure” to eliminate social anxiety
VII. Eliminating Worry, Dealing with Perfectionism and Procrastination, Cognitive Interventions to reduce persistent rumination
VIII. Pulling it all together to treat Social Anxiety
- Change catastrophic Thinking
- Challenge false beliefs and write new scripts
Saturday, 2/20/2021
MI Basics, Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment Core Curriculum, Tony Watkins, MA, LMFT (AL; KY)
8:00am to 4:00pm Central Time, lunch on your own 12:00pm-1:00pm
Presenter: Tony is a Marriage and Family Therapist licensed in Alabama and Kentucky. Tony is an AAMFT clinical fellow and AAMFT approved clinical supervisor. Tony is the clinical director of the masters in Marriage and Family Therapy program at Campbellsville University. Tony also provides clinical services through his private practice, Comprehensive Counseling Solutions, LLC, https://comprehensivecounselingsolutions.org/, located in Arab, AL. Tony utilizes his seventeen-plus years of clinical experience providing support for clients with suicidal ideation, couples with conflicted relationships, adolescents and adults with varying relationship, mental health, and substance abuse disorders and children with behavioral problems.
As a trainer and consultant, Tony is a Master Trainer for Assessing and Managing Suicide Risk (AMSR), Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST), and Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR). Tony has provided AMSR training to thousands of mental health professionals and as a Master Trainer and provides T4T's to train new trainers. Tony consults with communities and organizations to create suicide-safer communities and provides training for professionals and non-professionals across the county.
Workshop: 7 CE
The two courses, MI Basics and SBIRT Core Curriculum, will provide attendees practical, evidence-based principles and screening tools to assess individuals for alcohol and substance misuse using the AUDIT and the DAST, as well as, gain skills to engage clients to be motivated to consider change.
Motivational Interviewing: 4-Hour Class-Synchronous 8 am-12 pm
This class will provide the Basics of MI. Motivational interviewing is a person-centered, evidence-based, goal-oriented method for enhancing intrinsic motivation to change by exploring and resolving ambivalence with the individual. The MI SPIRIT: Collaboration; evocation; acceptance; compassion.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand Motivational Interviewing
- Learning Person-Centered Counseling Skills-OARS
- Recognize Change Talk and Sustain Talk
- Evoking and Responding to Change Talk
- Responding to Sustain Talk and Discord
SBIRT Core Skills: 3-hour class-Synchronous 1-4 pm
- What Is SBIRT and Why Use it?
- SBIRT Defined
- Screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) is a comprehensive, integrated, public health approach to the delivery of early intervention and treatment services. It is used for—
- Persons with substance use disorders
- Those whose use is at higher levels of risk
- Primary care centers, hospitals, and other community settings provide excellent opportunities for early intervention with at-risk substance users and for intervention for persons with substance use disorders.
- Research Demonstrates Effectiveness - A growing body of evidence about SBIRT’s effectiveness—including cost-effectiveness—has demonstrated its positive outcomes. §The research shows that SBIRT is an effective way to reduce drinking and substance abuse problems.
Learning Objectives:
- Define SBIRT and its supporting evidence.
- Describe SBIRT’s value for patients, payers, policymakers, physicians, and allied health and human service professionals.
- Better answer the question: Why might I choose to support SBIRT implementation?