Pre-Conference Workshops

Ethical Practice in Behavioral Health

Wednesday, October 15 | 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Registration Fee $75.00

Topics covered in this skill-building workshop include: principles which guide ethical decision making in treatment and prevention; diagnosis and ethics;  avoiding the iatrogenic effect; strength based ethical practice; “unfinished business” and ethical dilemmas; the ethical use of evidence-based practices; the ethics of boundaries, physical touch, self-disclosure and verbal communication; ending helping relationships in an ethical manner; striving for self-actualization as an ethical principle.

Objectives

• Use principles to guide ethical decision making in treatment and prevention.
• Work with clients from a strength-based perspective. 
• Use ethical principles when making diagnoses.
• Use ethical principles to establish healthy boundaries with clients.
• Examine evidence-based practices from an ethical lens.
• Explore ethics as it pertains to verbal communication with clients.

About the Trainer

Mark Sanders, LCSW, CADC is the Project Manager Illinois for Great Lakes ATTC, Mental Health TTC and Prevention TTC. He is an international speaker and consultant in behavioral health whose presentations have reached thousands throughout the United States, Europe, Canada, West Indies, Lithuania and Guam. He is the recipient of four lifetime achievement awards including the prestigious NAADAC Enlightenment Award. He was one of three finalists for the National Association for Addiction Professionals 50th Anniversary Legends Award. Mark is also the recipient of the Illinois Certification Board's Professional of the Year Award, The Illinois Certification Board, Jessica Hayes Lifetime Achievement Award and The Barbara Bacon Award for outstanding contributions to the social work profession as a Loyola University of Chicago alumni. 

Mark is the author of five books on behavioral health recovery. Recent writings include: Slipping Through the Cracks: Intervention Strategies For Clients With Multiple Addictions Disorders and Relationship Detox: A Counselors Guide To Helping Clients Develop Healthy Relationships In Recovery. He was lead writer on a trauma informed gun violence prevention curriculum which is being implemented in several large cities in the United States. His groundbreaking monograph Recovery Management co-authored with historians William White and Earnest Kurtz helped shift substance use disorders treatment and recovery from the acute care model solely towards a Recovery Oriented System of Care. Mark has had two stories published in the New York Times bestselling book series, Chicken Soup for The Soul.

Mark has also had a 30 year career as a university educator having taught at The University of Chicago, Loyola University of Chicago and Illinois State University Schools of Social Work. He is co-founder of Serenity Academy Chicago, a program which sponsors recovery-oriented peer groups in local high schools.

Motivational Interviewing:  Beyond the Basics Training

Wednesday, October 15 | 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Registration Fee $75.00
This workshop has limited capacity. Register early! 

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is defined as “a particular way of talking with people about change and growth to strengthen their own motivation and commitment” (Miller & Rollnick, 2023, p. 3). MI is designed to evoke and enhance the individual’s own motivation to change, using strategies that are empathetic and non-confrontational. While it has long been recognized as an effective way to promote behavior change within individuals in substance use treatment, MI has a wide range of applications beyond the clinician-client interaction.  MI’s guiding helping style draws out the individual’s own strengths and desires to help them make the behavioral changes needed to reach their goals.  Participants will learn about the guiding spirit of MI and the four tasks, and will have the opportunity to practice core skills and appropriately respond to challenges in an experiential skill-development training.

Objectives

• Describe key aspects of the spirit of motivational interviewing as well as the four tasks and the importance of effective engagement
• Describe common traps and communication barriers (e.g. the persuasion trap, the wandering trap) which can arise and contribute to potential discord
• Generate effective responses consistent with motivational interviewing to elicit change talk and to help clients explore and resolve ambivalence
• Demonstrate use of core motivational interviewing skills, as well as the ability to identify and appropriately respond to sustain talk and discord

About the Trainer

Josh Seezs is a Certified Social Worker-Private Independent Practice (CSW-PIP), Clinician, Master Trainer Consultant at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and serves as an adjunct faculty member at the Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School in Center City, MN. Josh also serves on the Board of Directors at Central Minnesota Mental Health Center (CMMHC). He is certified in Motivational Interviewing and is experienced in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and suicide prevention. He treated co-occurring disorders and served Veterans and their families for fourteen years at the St. Cloud Veterans Affairs Health Care System. With a passion for helping others achieve their goals, Josh employs evidence-based techniques to guide individuals towards positive change. He is a graduate of George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.