This year's conference offers a variety of breakout session topics covering the full range of all helping professions. From mental health to suicide, substance abuse to family problems, ethics to pain management, and housing to client empowerment. Following is detailed conference breakout information, the schedule, and some basic information about our presenters to help you inform yourself to make the best decision for your needs.
Thursday, 4/23/09:
Conference Registration begins at 8:15a
Keynote Address: 8:45 - 9:45a (1 CE): “Home Is Where One Starts From”, Jonathan Bradford, MSW, Pine Rest, Inc.
Breakout I: 10:00 - 11:50a (2 CE)
A. Pain Management: A Biopsychosocial Approach, Scott Shaw, LMSW, LPC, Network 180
Veteran social worker and counselor, Scott Shaw will help participants learn about the prevalence and common types of pain, current perspectives and biopsychosocial and physiological considerations. Consideration will also be devoted to the psychology of pain management and medical/non-medical treatments. Participants will be able to assist clients in more effectively managing chronic pain as well as working more constructively with primary care providers. This training would provide required education on the topic of pain management (as mandated for Social Workers). Biopsychosocial treatment for chronic pain will be explored with quality of life outcomes.
B. Ethical Issues in Counseling & Social Work Practice, Jerry McLaughlin, PhD, LPC, Western Michigan University
Professor and counselor, Jerry McLaughlin, reacquaints participants with basic ethical principles and issues. Participants will learn of the potential complexities of ethical decision-making, will be provided several ethical decision-making protocols, and will be presented with a number of ethical dilemmas for practice. Review of some of the basic ethical principles governing counseling and social work practice will be done as well as an examination of several systematic ways of deciding ethical issues. Discussion of specific challenges to practitioners in the areas of informed consent, professional liability, boundary-violations, and documentation will also be covered.
- Lunch: 12:00p - 1:00p -
Breakout II: 1:00 - 2:50p (2 CE)
A. Pain Management: A Biopsychosocial Approach, Scott Shaw, LMSW, LPC, Network 180
Repeat. Same as above. . .
B. Practical Skills in Suicide Prevention, Tim Meagher, LLP, Pine Rest Traverse City Clinic
Tim Meagher, psychologist and clinical supervisor at Pine Rest Traverse City Clinic, will help participants understand suicide risk factors and related data, Identify and enhance protective factors for at-risk individuals, collect clinically relevant information, and make clinical judgments to develop a plan to manage risk. This course will provide easy-to-understand, evidenced-based techniques for assessing and managing suicide risk. Participants will gain knowledge in the primary competencies needed to respond to life threatening behavior and prevent suicide.
Breakout III: 3:10 - 5:00p (2 CE)
A. Getting from Unhealthy To Safe Conflict, Greg Porteous, MSW, Pine Rest Traverse City Clinic
Greg Porteous, social worker and conflict resolution specialist, will help participants to identify the personal and interpersonal dynamics that result in unsafe conflict, and identify ways to help clients move from emotionally unsafe relationships lacking intimacy and trust toward safe and appropriately intimate relationships. The workshop will introduce a simple, portable model to explore the individual and interpersonal aspects of human relationship that typically result in unhealthy communication and unsafe conflict. Participants will explore an exciting and easy-to-use framework for helping clients identify ways to change unsafe conflict into something emotionally safe and productive.
B. The Role of Faith in the Treatment Process, Phillip Ellis, PhD, Pine Rest, Inc.
Phillip Ellis, PhD, counselor and person of faith, will help participants to develop a greater understanding of the role of faith in the lives of their clients and the integral role faith can play as a resource in the healing process. This workshop will present theories and data on the impact of faith in the healing process and offer guidelines for developing a model of inclusion of faith as a valuable asset in treatment.
Friday, 4/24/09:
Conference Registration begins at 8:15a
Keynote Address: 8:45 - 9:45a (1 CE): “Organizing for Change”, Jane Hayes, PhD, Grand Valley State University
Breakout I: 10:00 - 11:50a (2 CE)
A. Social Work, Advocacy & Organizing in the 21st Century, Jane Hayes, PhD, Grand Valley State University
Jane Hayes will continue her discussion from the keynote address in greater detail focused on practical solutions and strategies to client empowerment and advocacy. This workshop will focus on the role of social work practice for the 21st century. Participants will develop a greater understanding of the role of social work within the context of policy practice and political organizing to affect change.
B. From Intrigue to Addiction, John Weeldyer, MA, Pine Rest, Inc.
John Weedyer will walk participants through a process to gain a better understanding of the progression from initial use of substances to misuse, abuse, and dependency of addictive drugs. Participants will also gain knowledge of DSM IV-TR diagnostic criteria and ASAM Patient Placement Criteria to help them assess and understand the clinical signs of these problems and work for solutions.
- Lunch: 12:00 - 1:00p -
Breakout II: 1:00 - 2:50p (2 CE)
A. Changing the Tiger's Stripes: Managing Change in Individual & Organizational Behavior, Bill Paxton, MSW, Master's Degree in Management, Pine Rest Traverse City Clinic
Bill Paxton, social worker with addictions experience and Executive Director of Pine Rest Traverse City Clinic, gives a talk which explores the process and dynamics of change at an individual and organizational level. The principles involved in assessing readiness for change, the transtheoretical stages of change model (Prochaska and DiClemente), and motivational interviewing (Rollnick and Miller) will be applied to clients with mental health difficulties and to organizations. Matching specific change techniques to the person’s or organization’s stage of change will be explained.
B. Intensive Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorder, Gregory Worthington, PhD, MA, MA, Pine Rest, Inc.
Gregory Worthington, PhD clinical psychologist and autism specialist, presents participants with information on how qualitative interviews have been utilized to inform the treatment process of his collaborative team’s work. Participants will understand the components of the screening devices, diagnostic process, and intensive intervention strategies utilized by this collaborative treatment team.
He will discuss the preliminary results of his collaborative team’s qualitative interviews of parents who have children on the Autistic Spectrum and how this information has been used to guide the team’s diagnostic and therapeutic work. He will discuss how the team has expanded screening efforts for Autism Spectrum Disorders in the region and discuss the team’s diagnostic process. He will describe intensive intervention options and report on the team’s methods for tracking progress.
Breakout III: 3:10 - 5:00p (2 CE)
A. Ethical Boundary Challenges in the Helping Professions, Jerry McLaughlin, PhD, LPC, Western Michigan University
Jerry McLaughlin, professor and counselor, facilitates a discussion which focuses on the harbingers of, challenges created by, and possible remedies to potential threats to the helping relationship posed by multiple relationships among helpers and helpees. This workshop is especially helpful to all workers who work outside of an office setting in homes, communities, and other places where relationships can take on different forms from the traditional therapeutic relationship. Participants will gain an historical perspective on dual and multiple relationships in the helping professions, learn key terms used in the literature of dual and multiple relationships, e.g., boundary crossings, boundary violations, etc., gain appreciation of how contemporary changes in how helping services are delivered have affected the issues of dual and multiple relationships, and learn about different ways of orienting to the issues of dual and multiple relationships, including ways of limiting possible liability for service providers and iatrogenic effects for consumers.
B. Chemical Dependency & the Family, Doug Pryor, MA, LLP, CAAC-R, Grace Center
Doug Pryor, addictions counselor and veteran worker in the field, provides participants information on issues of family relationships, boundary problems and codependency in families with addicted members. This discussion will have a special focus on codependency and dual-diagnosis where people have co-existing mental health and addictions problems. The presentation will focus on the history of understanding these dynamics in the context of family life.