Room Block Available Now at the Skirvin! Use the link below to get your room!
https://www.hilton.com/en/hi/groups/personalized/O/OKCSKHF-OKAMFT-20220331/index.jhtml?WT.mc_id=POGThursday Afternoon:
Ethics with Dr. Berman--How to avoid going to court and what to do if you can't.
Mental health professionals have an ethical duty to help their clients and do no one harm. Attorneys are professionals who have a fiduciary duty to be zealous advocates for their clients by defeating opposing parties even if it causes someone harm. When an LMFT is drawn into the adversarial world of the courtroom, they become a stranger in a strange land. The language is the same, but the vocabulary often has different meaning. Telling the truth under oath may cause your client harm. Worse, if the attorney representing the opposing party is unsuccessful at impeaching your testimony, the will attempt to impeach you!
Part 1 of this seminar will explore how to avoid finding yourself on the witness stand. We will explore Supreme court rulings, federal and state laws, ethical and best practice standards regarding your potential role as a court involved therapist, and what to do if you are served a subpoena or court order to provide documents and/or give testimony.
Part 2 will provide an overview of the court process in the event it can't be avoided and how to do more than just survive it. We will explore the differences between fact witness and expert witness testimony, direct and cross examination, and the "Thou Shalts" & "Thou Shalt Nots" of being on the witness stand.
Friday All Day:
Keynote with Dr. Hertlein--The e-Therapist: Digital issues and Couple/Family Life
In this workshop, we will discuss the impact technology has on both romantic relationships and the family. First, we will discuss technology's impact on the development, maintenance, and dissolution of personal relationships. Common presenting problems couples experience that are related to technology are how technology is used in different stages of relationships, infidelity, sexual issues, unwanted surveillance, lack of boundaries, and possible impaired marital quality and satisfaction. Rules and roles within relationships regarding technology can help couples navigate the use of technology in a healthy way. Therapists can use technology to promote more closeness and intimacy by allowing couples to communicate on a more regular basis, whether they are physically together.
Technology also influences the development and maintenance of family relationships. Common presenting problems related to technology in the family are how to govern children’s online behavior, protecting youth from cyberbullying and online threats, etc. Physical concerns include headaches, back/shoulder pain, eye strain, poor posture, and fatigue. Parents and legal guardians can mediate these different problems through monitoring what their young people are doing on the internet, setting up media-free times, and encouraging young people to fix their posture or to do something more active. Strategies for these tough conversations and how to provide youth with autonomy in a digital world will be presented.
Finally, the last portion of the workshop is dedicated to exploring how technology has become embedded itself into our systems. Technology has changed the way Brofenbrenner’s ecological systems interact with each other. An example of this is the implementation of virtual and remote learning. This caused the exosystem to infiltrate the microsystem, learning from devices, social media, and TV have impacted the child and they are a part of the child’s immediate environment. Further discussion about technology’s implications for the ecological model will be presented.