This November, we will be welcoming back the world-renowned Dr Robert Weiss. The 8 hours acquired for this workshop can be credited to the 20 hours needed to receive the ‘Certification in Sexual Addictions’.

(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.

(1 hour)

Objective:

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

(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.

(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.

(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.

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.

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

• Warm ups for group building and safety.

• Introduction to Sociodrama

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

Main objectives: By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to: Describe methamphetamine, including patterns of use and consequences Understand the principles of how to manage people who use methamphetamine: 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…

• Describe methamphetamine, including patterns of use and consequences
• Understand the principles of how to manage people who use methamphetamine:
  • 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