Speaker(s):

Dean Rosen, PsyD

Presentation: There has been a quiet revolution taking place of parents who recognize that their child has strong identification with a gender that was not assigned at birth. Some children are showing this identity as young as three or four, often insisting that they live as that other gender. While psychologists believed in the not so distant past that they could change a child’s gender variance by rewarding the play of more stereotypical boy or girl toys, we now recognize that gender is a more fixed trait that is biologically based and not easily changed. When not allowed to live in their preferred gender, these youth can develop severe symptoms of depression, anxiety, self-harm or other self-destructive escapist behaviors. These children are subject to much bullying for breaking the gender code enforced by peers on how boys should act and how girls should act.

This presentation will inform the attendees on the development of our current concepts of gender, the treatment approaches used to deal with gender dysphoria, and the resources available to help families and their child, including self-help groups, medical approaches, community resources, and counseling or psychotherapy to build self-acceptance and acceptance by parents as well as how schools can support these students to build a climate of respect and tolerance. This presentation will also address what is now called non-binary identities of youth who see themselves on a gender spectrum, somewhere between male or female.

Objectives:

• Review the evolution of our concept of disorders of gender identities
• Discuss the experience of gender variant youth as they develop
• Describe the multiple approaches used to help families and children
• Explain gender as a spectrum and non-binary identities

Speaker(s):

Mark Shields, MEd, LPC, CRAADC

Rev. Ladell Flowers, MEd

Scott Johnston, MUA

Presentation: This presentation will review 14 years of SAMHSA Access To Recovery (ATR) grant funding in Missouri. This presentation will review successes and lessons learned. The presentation will focus of the future of recovery support services in Missouri.

Objectives:

• Articulate the initial purposes and design of the ATR grant
• Verbalize positive ATR outcome statistics
• Identify specific successful recovery support services and strategies
• Explain benefits of membership in the Missouri Coalition of Recovery Support Providers
• Identify current funding for recovery support services

Speaker(s):

Nena Kircher, PsyD

Presentation: In a forensic setting, the therapist’s task of lowering the client’s defenses to help him rebuild a healthier self is often much more difficult when working with certain individuals (e.g. personality disorders, sex offenders, psychopathy, etc). Individuals serving longer sentences or those who are civilly committed may lose their sense of hope and have a need for diversion and escape from the bleakness of their routine. Creative therapies offer not only this diversion, but a safer way for offenders to express things that they may not be able to share through words. Techniques from modalities such as art, music, and cinema therapy can easily be integrated into the individual or group therapy setting to help reach patients who have difficulty with more traditional processing or talk therapy. In this presentation a variety of therapeutic techniques will be discussed along with case examples.

Objectives:

• Describe the utility of creative therapies in a forensic environment
• Identify an example of a technique for each of the following: art, music, and cinema therapy
• Define objectives for using basic creative therapy techniques with clients in your practice

Slides and Handouts:

Kircher_Coloring Outside the Lines for Spring Institute 2018.odp [Repaired]

Kircher_Coloring Outside the Lines for Spring Institute 2018.odp [Repaired]

Speaker(s):

Shari Scott, MA, LPC, LCPC, NCC, CISD

Presentation: Suicide slipped into the top ten as far as causes of death in the United States (according to the CDC). Deaths among school-aged children and teens continue to be on the rise; so much so, that suicide has statistically risen to the second leading cause of death among people aged 10-34. Suicide traumatizes those left in its path, but what do we do when those traumatized include an entire school and its staff? This presentation covers common grief reactions, statistics, red flags in youth, and how to ‘get grief right.’

Objectives:

• Define basic reactions for grief
• Identify red flags in suicidal youth
• Explore educational program ideas to reduce the incidence of suicide
• Identify steps to take following suicide/death of a student
• Describe survivor’s guilt and guilt related to suicide
• Explore ‘complicated grief’ reactions
• Discuss ways to get through grief together

Slides and Handouts:

Scott_In the Aftermath of Loss and Suicide DMH 2018

Speaker(s):

Craig McAndrew, MA, LPC, LCAC

Presentation: Veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can actually grow from this disorder. Post Traumatic Growth (PTG) refers to positive changes in one’s life after experiencing PTSD. This presentation will discuss the paths to PTG. Treatment for PTSD can be frustrating for the client as well as the therapist as the process does take time. By educating clients about growth after Trauma, the therapist can assist the clients with better treatment planning and provide hope and direction to the veteran with PTSD.

Objectives:

• Define Trauma Resistant, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Post Traumatic Growth
• Show how different instances of Trauma in soldiers resulted in growth for that soldier and the resulting good to their life and lives of others
• Identify and explain the THRIVE system to help vets with Post Traumatic Growth

Slides and Handouts:

McAndrew-POST TRAUMATIC GROWTH and Veterans