Child Sexual Behavior Concerns
 

Thursday, April 19, 2012
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Waukesha County Technical College
Pewaukee, WI
(We meet in the Richard T. Anderson Education Center—enter at the front left entrance of the main building)

Workshop Description: 

          For those involved in the care of children presenting with mental, emotional or behavioral health challenges, addressing child sexual behavior concerns can be among the most difficult issues that caregivers and mental health practitioners face.  This workshop will provide participants with knowledge and tools for navigating the complexities of children and adolescents with problematic sexual behaviors. 

Workshop Goals: 

          Through small group discussion and video presentations that enable participants to apply concepts to cases, participants will:

• Explore the continuum of sexual behaviors in children, from healthy to concerning to problematic;

• Consider ways that children derail from healthy sexual development;

• Receive insights and tools for how to identify and discern concerning or problematic sexual behaviors from healthy ones;

• Gain age appropriate fluency in how to speak to children at each developmental stage;  and

• Learn to develop effective interventions and preventative strategies.  The workshop will include application of concepts to cases through small group discussion and video.

About the Presenter:

             Kelli Underwood LCSW is the Director of Child and Family Programs at the Center for Contextual Change, and is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Chicago’s Master’s in Social Work Program.  She received a Master’s degree in Social Work from Indiana University in1996, and has been at the Center for Contextual Change since 1998.    Her expertise is in facilitating a collaborative journey towards healing with children, adolescents, adults and families coping with traumatic experiences.  Ms. Underwood specializes in treating children with sexually reactive behaviors and adolescents and adults who have committed sexual offenses.  Ms. Underwood provides consultation and trainings on a variety of topics involving trauma, bullying, compassion fatigue and sexual violence to professionals, schools, community groups, parents and youth.  

Autism Spectrum Disorders: Beginning with the Basics for Successful Intervention
 

Tuesday, May 1, 2012
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Hilton Garden Inn
Oshkosh, WI

Workshop Description:

           Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are characterized as social/communication disorders.  Persons with ASDs present with challenges in expressive as well as receptive language.  Some covet social interactions, and some do not. Sensory integration challenges are present for most.  These characteristics of persons with ASDs will be discussed as will their specific learning styles.  The latter provides a window into the best means for supporting the areas of skill deficiency.  The need for predictability and trust within respectful relationships will be emphasized. 

Workshop Goals:

           Participants will learn practical intervention strategies, the rationale for such and the means by which they can be implemented.  If you think you already know the basics about Autism, you may be surprised; you may gain a whole new respect for and understanding of this population.

About the Presenter:

            Glenis Benson, Ph.D., has supported persons with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) for over 30 years. She has been Senior Advisor to the United Nations for the Middle East, Director of the Autism Program and Assistant Professor in Pediatrics at USD. She has taught for the KY Autism Training Center with the University of Louisville as well as for numerous other universities and colleges. In 2001 she co-produced, wrote and narrated a video entitled Autism Spectrum Disorders (http://www.attainmentcompany.com).

          Dr. Benson obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She majored in Educational Psychology and minored in Communication conducting both her doctoral and master’s research with persons with ASD. Glenis trains nationally and internationally at a wide variety of conferences on the topics of behavioral supports as well as ASDs. She has taught, conducted research with, as well as trained personnel to support persons with both ASDs and behavioral challenges.  Dr. Benson has a private practice based in Madison. 

Challenging the Status Quo: DSM-5 and Alternative Therapies
 

Tuesday, May 15, 2012
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Waukesha County Technical College
Pewaukee, WI
(We meet in the Richard T. Anderson Education Center—enter at the front left entrance of the main building)

Workshop Description:

           Advances in research make it challenging for clinicians to stay current. Mental health is no exception. In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association will release a new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual to attempt to capture what has been learned about mental illness since 2004. In the proposed changes, new diagnoses are defined (hoarding disorder, temper dysregulation disorder with dysphoria, etc.), dimensional behavioral scales are introduced (for suicide, anxiety, etc.), and a number of disorders are eliminated (narcissism, Asperger’s syndrome, etc.)

          Findings about the limitations of prescription treatments as well as new evidence about the power of the human mind to heal itself have continued to fuel consumers’ interest in alternative treatments, and received increasing attention among researchers. For the first time we are seeing the creation of an “evidence base” to help us make decisions about treatments that lie outside the mainstream. Most of these treatments fail to live up to their initial promise, but some are intriguing.

          These two processes challenge the status quo of mental health treatment. This day will be spent examining what changes may lay ahead for diagnosis and treatment in the mental illnesses in the next few years. Join us as we take a peek into the future.

Workshop Goals:

 At the end of the day, Participants will: 

• Become familiar with proposed changes in DSM-5;

• Understand practice using the new diagnostic system proposed for personality disorders;

• Review the evidence concerning alternative treatments for mental illnesses (herbs, vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids, etc.); and

• Explore the value  of the placebo effect and how to use it in clinical practice.

About the Presenter:

           David Mays, M.D., Ph.D., is a licensed physician in the state of Wisconsin. He is Board Certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, and has Additional Qualifications in Forensic Psychiatry. He is an Assistant Clinical Professor on the faculties of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, with a dual appointment as faculty in the Department of Professional Development and Applied Studies. Over the last 23 years, Dr, Mays has practiced psychiatry in a variety of settings, including an HMO, an assertive community treatment program, private clinical and forensic practice, and as the clinical director of the forensic program at the Mendota Mental Health Institute. 

          Dr. Mays has received numerous awards for his teaching and clinical work, including the Distinguished Service Award from the Alliance for the Mentally Ill in Dane County, the Exemplary Psychiatrist Award from the National Alliance of the Mentally Ill, and the 2010 Outstanding Mental Health Professional Award from the Wisconsin National Alliance on Mental Illness. He is a highly sought after presenter on numerous topics in mental health, including psychiatric diagnosis and treatment, personality disorders, suicide and aggression risk management, mainstream and alternative treatments in psychiatry, and the biology of ethics.

Expressive Arts Therapy with Traumatized Children: The Art is the Evidence
 

Thursday, May 24, 2012
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Hilton Garden Inn
Oshkosh, WI 

Workshop Description:

           Trauma has many faces, from single incident, acute trauma (such as a car accident) to long-term trauma (such as severe child abuse complicated by attachment to the perpetrator). This workshop will explore a continuum of therapeutic interventions for trauma treatment for children, depending upon the complexity and duration of the trauma. Incident-specific cognitive-behavioral approaches using art for acute trauma, and directive and non-directive expressive approaches using art and play for more complex cumulative trauma, will be observed through slides and videotaped excerpts of actual client sessions.  Through experiential exercises, participants will learn a few simple techniques to help children use art as a means of working through trauma. 

Workshop Goals:

 Participants will: 

• Be able to define at least two cognitive behavioral approaches used in art therapy to treat acute trauma;

• Be able to delineate situations where a non-directive approach to trauma treatment is indicated; and

• Identify at least three interventions for treating trauma in children.

About the Presenter: 

            P. Gussie Klorer, Ph.D., ATR-BC, LCSW, LCPC is a professor in the Graduate Art Therapy Counseling program at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.  She has over 30 years experience working with traumatized children in residential treatment and private practice.  Dr. Klorer is widely published, the author of Expressive Therapy with Troubled Children (2000) as well as numerous articles and book chapters focused on her clinical work.  She has served on the Editorial Boards of the Trauma and Loss Journal, the American Journal of Art Therapy, and Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association.  Dr. Klorer is the 2001 recipient of the Clinician’s Award from the American Art Therapy Association.  She is also a practicing artist, working in mixed media.