About The Event

Addictions are prevalent across all sections of society and can take multifarious forms. APBAM’s mission is to give professionals and volunteers working with addictions and other behavioural challenges the opportunity to learn from leaders in the field, both locally and abroad. Our aim is to give conference participants new insights and the tools to be effective agents of change.

Our theme for this year’s conference is ‘Therapeutic Solutions in an Age of Disruption’; applying existing psychological and behavioural techniques and evidence-based skills to addictions in pioneering ways. We shall also explore novel means of dealing with age-old behavioural challenges faced by practitioners, as well as the impact of new technologies.

This event is a 2 days conference with a special add-on 1 day workshop that you can choose from among 3 different workshop tracks. Refer to our ‘Workshops’ section to find out more!

Conference Speakers

Click on the photo to see Speaker's Profile
Dr Robert Weiss

Dr Robert Weiss

Dr Robert Ali

Dr Robert Ali

Dr Munidasa Winslow

Dr Munidasa Winslow

Andrew da Roza

Andrew da Roza

Dr Sivakumar Thurairajasingam

Dr Sivakumar Thurairajasingam


Sharmini Winslow

Sharmini Winslow

Elizabeth Pang

Elizabeth Pang

Joy Low

Joy Low

Karen Sik

Karen Sik

Dr Prem Kumar Shanmugam

Dr Prem Kumar Shanmugam


Prof Tikki Pangestu

Prof Tikki Pangestu

Early bird tickets ends on 15th October 2019. Reserve your seat now!

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Conference Schedule

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  • Day 1

    26 November 2019, Tuesday

  • In the current age of disruption, how can you update your methods to maintain a stable relationship with your clients? Dr Winslow talks about this and more in this exciting talk about therapy

  • The goals of treatment are similar to those of treatments for other serious, often chronic, health problems: reduce the major symptoms, improve health and social function, and monitor the condition to manage threats of relapse. Treatment can be provided in inpatient or outpatient settings, depending on the client’s needs, and typically incorporates a combination of behavioural therapies, medications, and recovery support services. The intensity of the treatment can vary substantially across program types. However, despite these differences, substance use disorder treatments have similar rates of positive outcomes as treatment for those chronic illnesses. Relapse rates for substance use disorders (40 to 60 percent) are comparable to those for chronic diseases, such as diabetes (20 to 50 percent), hypertension (50 to 70 percent), and asthma (50 to 70 percent). This presentation will explore the key elements of evidence based effective addiction treatment.

  • Technological disruptions are here to stay. Will therapists be replaced by machines and avatars ? It is only a matter of time when mental health practitioners will have to adapt, and hopefully make effective use of technology to enhance outcomes. Let’s explore the state of affairs regarding online therapy, the do’s and don’ts of different types of online therapy and consider the ethical and legal considerations. *Tea Break from 1530-1600

  • Individuals seeking treatment for alcohol and substance abuse are likely to have a history of truma. Hence, service providers are at a greater likelihood of getting patients with co-occuring trauma. Although not all professionals are trained trauma therapists due to the specialised training and supervision required, being trauma-informed can help professionals provide treatment that is sensitive to the unique symptoms of trauma. This workshop will discuss trauma and what it means to be trauma-informed; how substance abuse, trauma, and mental health interact; trauma-informed screening and assessment tools, strategies, and approaches that can help professionals make trauma-informed practices more integral to addiction treatment thereby providing more effective care. *Tea Break from 1530-1600

  • The Alcohol Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST), was developed by specialist addiction researchers for the World Health Organisation in response to the overwhelming public health burden associated with problematic substance use worldwide. The ASSIST was developed for use in primary health care settings where harmful substance use among clients may go undetected, or become worse. Many health care workers can identify dependence among clients, but may not easily identify substance use that is not dependent, but still causing harms. The ASSIST screens for all levels of problem or risky substance use. The risk score determines the level of intervention (treatment as usual, brief intervention or referral to specialist treatment). The ASSIST is now available as a downloadable app (iOS and android) for self-completion. A short form of the ASSIST has also been developed. The ASSIST-Lite is an ultra-rapid screening tool, ideal for time pressured areas such as emergency departments. This session will explore the key elements of ASSIST and the linked intervention. *Tea Break from 1530-1600

  • The substance abuse or the underlying mental health problem? What has caused this change in behaviour? Which would you treat first? Often these are some of the common but complicating issues that burden healthcare workers dealing with “Co-occurring disorders”. The term “Co-occurring disorders” refers to the combination of substance use and mental disorders. Other common acronyms used to describe this group are MICA (mentally ill chemical abusers), CAMI (chemical abuse and mental illness) and SAMI (substance abuse and mental illness). Invariably the phenomenon of “Co-occurring Disorders (COD)” complicates the client’s problem and also management. This session on “Co-occurring Disorders (COD)” takes you on an interesting journey, revisiting the interactions between drugs and mental health problems, its interactions, and causal effects. The session illustrates the complexities of recovery among clients burdened by both substance use problems and a mental disorder. In this session, the participants would: • Understand the vulnerabilities and impact of Co-occurring Disorders • Be skilled at differentiating ‘co-occurring disorders’ from ‘substance-induced mental disorders’ • Identify the common ‘co-occurring disorders’ • Discuss assessment & treatment options / models The session would most benefit counsellors, psychologists and healthcare workers practising in the field of substance use and recovery dealing with the complexities of co-morbid mental health problems. *Tea Break from 1530-1600

  • Day 2

    27 November 2019, Wednesday

  • It has taken nearly 25 years for the psychotherapy and addiction fields to accept, honor and understand how to treat behavioral addictions. Thankfully, for some time now we have had diagnoses for compulsive gambling and gaming for example, labels which have not only validated the issues themselves but that also pointed the way toward useful assessment and treatment planning in those arenas. But when it comes to compulsive or addictive sexual behaviors the path to clinical clarity is just beginning. In late 2018 World Health Organization formulated a brand-new diagnosis for Compulsive Sexual Behavior Problems. This diagnosis is the leading edge of change for a problem long viewed as a joke or simply as an excuse for bad behavior. This talk will review the history of the sexual addiction field and sexual compulsivity diagnosis, with an emphasis on current sex/intimacy/relationship problems being experienced by porn addicts.

  • The effectiveness of reducing harms from addictive behaviour requires robust, feasible and evidence-based public policies. ENDS (Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems) represents an important breakthrough in interventions and products which can help addicted smokers quit smoking and lead healthier lives, and also resulting in substantial savings to the healthcare delivery system. Effective public policies and regulations are needed for ENDS which have the following characteristics, among many others: a solid grounding in science, policies which are risk-proportionate, ensuring product quality and safety, preventing access to youth and adolescents, responsible marketing and distribution strategies (including advertising), effective monitoring/surveillance mechanisms of policy measures, promotion of research, and, most importantly, promoting equitable access and affordability to those who stand to benefit the most from ENDS. The development and implementation of such policies requires a multi-stakeholder, collaborative and inclusive approach involving scientists, regulators/policy makers, manufacturers, smokers themselves, civil society, religious/community leaders and the media.

  • The substance abuse or the underlying mental health problem? What has caused this change in behaviour? Which would you treat first? Often these are some of the common but complicating issues that burden healthcare workers dealing with “Co-occurring disorders”. The term “Co-occurring disorders” refers to the combination of substance use and mental disorders. Other common acronyms used to describe this group are MICA (mentally ill chemical abusers), CAMI (chemical abuse and mental illness) and SAMI (substance abuse and mental illness). Invariably the phenomenon of “Co-occurring Disorders (COD)” complicates the client’s problem and also management. This session on “Co-occurring Disorders (COD)” takes you on an interesting journey, revisiting the interactions between drugs and mental health problems, its interactions, and causal effects. The session illustrates the complexities of recovery among clients burdened by both substance use problems and a mental disorder. In this session, the participants would: • Understand the vulnerabilities and impact of Co-occurring Disorders • Be skilled at differentiating ‘co-occurring disorders’ from ‘substance-induced mental disorders’ • Identify the common ‘co-occurring disorders’ • Discuss assessment & treatment options / models The session would most benefit counsellors, psychologists and healthcare workers practising in the field of substance use and recovery dealing with the complexities of co-morbid mental health problems. *Tea Break from 1530-1600

  • Conceived by Jacob L Moreno, Psychodrama employs guided dramatic action to examine problems or issues raised by an individual in a group or individual setting that can’t be articulated in traditional talk therapy. Using a combination of experiential methods – sociometry, role theory, and group dynamics – Psychodrama facilitates insight, personal growth, spontaneity discovery and integration on cognitive, affective (emotions), and behavioral levels. Psychodrama is for everyone and anyone who would like to experience the spontaneity and ‘magic’ of working with action methods especially those that are currently in recovery from Mental Health &/or Emotional challenges i.e. Mood disorders, Anxiety, Depression, Post-traumatic stress, Eating disorders, Self-harm, Alcohol and substance abuse. Be prepared to face your Goliath, slay your peace robbers and walk out with a new level of joy as you regain your power through Psychodrama. Come experience the spontaneity and be part of the action! *Tea Break from 1530-1600

  • While much fear and hype has been created in the past decade by well-meaning clinicians and the media, the actual role and effect of digital media on family life has yet to be fully understood and researched. So, what can a useful, caring mom, teacher, counselor or therapist offer today to families struggling with issues such as digital boundaries, cyberbullying and tech stressors, as well as problems like online gaming, gambling and sexuality? This timely, engaging talk, gives attendees a chance to revisit, reshape and challenge their beliefs about how digital technology is affecting family life, relationships, school, therapy and the workplace. Blending current research with historical references, this talk provides clarity in an area where many can under-informed or even downright confused. *Tea Break from 1530-1600

  • *Tea Break from 1530-1600

Day 3 Workshop Choices

Understanding Assessment, Diagnosis and Treatment of Sexual Addiction/Compulsivity Workshop

$300

November 28 @ 8:00 am – 5:00 pm

Synopsis

This November, we will be welcoming back the world-renowned Dr Robert Weiss. The hours for this workshop can be counted to the 8 hours supplementary training needed to complete the 20 hours ‘Learning About Sexual Addictions‘ certification by Dr Robert Weiss. A joint certification of completion will be issued by Seeking Integrity and Promises. More information here

Session 1: Introduction to Problematic Sexual Behaviour versus Sexual Health

(1.5 hours)
This short overview of the problem will allow attendees to fit sexual addiction/compulsivity into a more encompassing view of behavioural compulsions/addictions (gambling, gaming, spending eating etc.). This session will introduce the reasons such clients give for their obsessive behaviour patterns with insight into their etiology. This introductory talk will set the stage for the remainder of the day by helping attendees gain the clinical awareness and insight to see these problems for what they are – ineffective, maladaptive attempts to meeting healthy emotional needs via fantasy, intensity and emotional escape.

Objectives:
  • Attendees will learn to differentiate sex/porn addictions from fetishes and kink
  • Attendees will gain basic referral resources and information, including self-help groups, 12 step groups, online resources, and articles and books.

Session 2: Experiential Activity: The Psycho-Sexual Assessment -live interactive exercise.

(1 hour)

Objective:
  • Attendees will learn three questions essential to a useful psycho-sexual assessment.

Session 3: Applied Addiction Treatment – How to Promote Behaviour Change

(1.5 hours)
What are our ‘best practices’ when it comes to treating behavioural addictions? What is the key to ‘waking up’ the client who has been negotiating life based on fantasy, intensity and emotional escape versus healthy reality? This session is designed as a basic introduction to the tasks of addiction treatment (residential or outpatient) by reviewing primary treatment goals and the processes associated with helping our clients achieve them. We will gain insight and understanding of the powerful role that denial plays in the emotional lives of addicted clients, by learning to negotiate around that denial, helping promote change, insight and personal growth.

Objectives:
  • Attendees will learn two ways to confront denial in an addiction client.
  • Attendees will be introduced to 3 key tools required when providing addiction treatment.
  • Attendees will learn the continuum of treatment from outpatient to inpatient to determine which client may need what kind of care and when.

Session 4: Narcissism and Addiction as Skills of Emotional Survival – The Etiology of Addiction

(1.5 hours)
Difficult to understand and often even harder to love – addicts with personality/intimacy problems can express both the arrogance and unavailability of a defended heart along with the deep inner despair of low-self-esteem and longing. This offers an empathic framework for the development of adult process/behavioral addictions (sex, food, gambling), emotional detachment, narcissism and related personality problems. By taking the stance that emotionally defensive actions and addictive behavior be misguided attempts at connection without risk, loss or pain, this presentation will be useful to both professionals and laypeople toward re-categorizing “problem behaviors and actions” as survivorship, while still holding these adults accountable for their own actions and healing.

Objectives:
  • To build a common understanding of the relationship between early childhood abuse/neglect, adult intimacy problems and addiction.
  • To gain empathy and compassion for the struggles of addicted persons.
  • To support the evolving relationship between mental health and addiction treatment processes.

Session 5: Prodependence: Moving Beyond Codependency

(1.5 hours)
Abstract: The past 35 years have brought endless new, useful, even cutting-edge treatments to the addiction space with experiences like motivational interviewing, Smart Recovery, EMDR, trauma work, somatic work and more. All of these allow us to evolve increasingly better treatment outcomes. But when it comes to the treatment of an addict’s spouses and beloved family, we have seen little new thought (or change) since the introduction of the codependency model over 35 years ago. Prodependence, moves beyond the trauma-based theories of codependency and co-addiction, allowing us to view this population with fresh eyes and fresh ideas. Prodependence is invitational, loving and personally affirming to those who are intimately involved with addicts. Prodependence, a fully new way of viewing loved ones of addicts neither assumes nor assigns any pathology (or labels) to those who love addicts in the best way they can. This model turns codependency on its head, and by doing so brings a more compassionate, client-centered way of treating with wounded spouses and families.

Objectives:
  • Introduce a new model of treatment (educate participants) for partners of addicts.
  • Attendees will be able to compare and contrast codependency and prodependency to understand the differences between the models.
  • Attendees will develop new skills to intervene on loved ones of addicts.

*A $75 discount will be applied to any workshop for every main conference ticket purchased.

Experiential methods for group work

$300

November 28 @ 8:00 am – 5:00 pm

Synopsis

This workshop will equip you to engage your group members in activities that will promote spontaneity and deeper sharing; that goes beyond talk therapy. Participants will learn how to warm their groups up and to facilitate lively role playing and group participation. Elements of Psychodrama, Sociodrama, sociometry and role training will be included in this session.
*As this is an Experiential workshop, the content presented will be partly influenced by the needs of the participants in the session.

Session 1

  • Moreno’s Theory of Group Psychotherapy.
  • Group warm up for participants.

Session 2

  • Warm ups for group building and safety.

Session 3

  • Introduction to Sociodrama

Session 4

  • Group Sociodrama.
  • Facilitating group Sharing.
  • Question and Answers.

*A $75 discount will be applied to any workshop for every main conference ticket purchased.

“Ice” Abuse Treatment Approaches Workshop

$300

November 28 @ 8:00 am – 5:00 pm

Synopsis

Main objectives: By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to: Describe “ice”, including patterns of use and consequences Understand the principles of how to manage people who use “ice”: Explain the basis of addiction, recovery and relapse Practice counselling skills and techniques: Conducting an assessment Micro-counselling skills Motivational interviewing Relapse prevention approaches focusing on: Coping with cravings Managing high risk situations Dealing…

Main Objectives

  • Describe “ice”, including patterns of use and consequences
  • Understand the principles of how to manage people who use “ice”:
    • Explain the basis of addiction, recovery and relapse
    • Practice counselling skills and techniques:
      • Conducting an assessment
      • Micro-counselling skills
      • Motivational interviewing
    • Relapse prevention approaches focusing on:
      • Coping with cravings
      • Managing high risk situations
      • Dealing with lapses and relapse
    • Principles and practice of the Community Reinforcement Approach
    • Principles and practice of Contingency Management
    • Principles and practice of utilizing Social Network Involvement

*A $75 discount will be applied to any workshop for every main conference ticket purchased.

Get Tickets Now!

Early Bird Tickets(Ends on 15th October 2019)

Early Bird Full Conference Pack 1

$785
  • Early Bird 2 Day Main Conference Ticket @ $560
  • 1 Day ‘Understanding Assessment, Diagnosis and Treatment of Sexual Addiction / Compulsivity’ Workshop by Robert Weiss @ $225
Buy Tickets Now

Early Bird Full Conference Pack 2

$785
  • Early Bird 2 Day Main Conference Ticket @ $560
  • 1 Day ‘Experiential Training’ Workshop by Sharmini Winslow @ $225
Buy Tickets Now

Early Bird Full Conference Pack 3

$785
  • Early Bird 2 Day Main Conference Ticket @ $560
  • 1 Day ‘Methamphetamine Abuse Treatment Approaches’ Workshop by Robert Ali & Dr Sivarkumar Thurairajasingam @ $225
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Early Bird 2 Day Main Conference Ticket

$560
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Conference Tickets(On sale from 16th October 2019)

Conference Pack A

$875
  • 2 Day Main Conference Ticket @ $650
  • 1 Day ‘Understanding Assessment, Diagnosis and Treatment of Sexual Addiction / Compulsivity’ Workshop by Robert Weiss @ $225
Buy Tickets Now

Conference Pack B

$875
  • 2 Day Main Conference Ticket @ $650
  • 1 Day ‘Experiential Training’ Workshop by Sharmini Winslow @ $225
Buy Tickets Now

Conference Pack C

$875
  • 2 Day Main Conference Ticket @ $650
  • 1 Day ‘Methamphetamine Abuse Treatment Approaches’ Workshop by Robert Ali & Dr Sivarkumar Thurairajasingam @ $225
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2 Day Main Conference

$650
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VCF Funded Tickets

VCF Funded 2 Day Main Conference Ticket

$455

The 6th APBAM 2019 Main Conference is a pre-approved local training course under the VCF Local Training Grant. If your organisation is a registered VWO/Charity with NCSS, you would be eligible for this ticket.
Please view instructions here before purchasing this ticket.
Our VCF Ref. No: PAS00001813
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Student Tickets

Student Ticket

$195

Get a headstart in your career in addictions treatment with this 70% discount over the normal price! Only for Singaporean Tertiary Students.
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Workshop Tickets

1 Day ‘Understanding Assessment, Diagnosis and Treatment of Sexual Addiction / Compulsivity’

$300

Workshop by Robert Weiss
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1 Day ‘Experiential Training’

$300

Workshop by Sharmini Winslow
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1 Day ‘Methamphetamine Abuse Treatment Approaches’

$300

Workshop by Robert Ali & Dr Sivarkumar Thurairajasingam
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Venue Location

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    APBAM
    10 Sinaran Drive
    #09-23
    Novena Medical Centre
    Singapore 307506

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