Full Course Description

Anxiety Certification Course: Integrate CBT and Exposure & Response Prevention for Treatment of GAD, Panic Disorder, OCD, Social Anxiety & Phobias

Do you feel overwhelmed by the severity of your client’s anxiety symptoms?

Does their need to seek reassurance and perform compulsions prevent them from moving forward in therapy? You are not alone if you find your clients experiencing the same symptoms after several therapy sessions, if they get stuck on the “why’s” of anxiety, or if they are unable to take meaningful action against their anxiety.

Join award winning experts in anxiety and OCD—Kimberly Morrow, LSCW & Elizabeth DuPont Spencer, LCSW-C—for this intensive 2-Day Anxiety Certification Course to learn the gold standard of care for treating GAD, Panic Disorder, OCD, Social Anxiety, and Phobias. You’ll learn to skillfully integrate CBT and Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) to climb over obstacles in therapy and gain confidence in your ability to treat the most symptomatic, anxious clients on your caseload.

In this intensive 2-Day Anxiety Certification Course, you’ll reap the benefits of Morrow and Spencer’s expertise as well as their friendly and passionate approach to teaching CBT with ERP.

You’ll start seeing real results with these cutting-edge CBT and ERP interventions, that give you:

Ways to help clients face their triggers and change their relationship with fear
Strategies to manage your own anxiety about treating your anxious clients
Methods to use exposure therapy in meaningful, successful ways
Specific strategies for Panic Disorder, phobias, OCD and social anxiety

Packed with videos, case examples, and opportunities to practice and build skills confidently, you’ll walk away with strategies you can use the very next day!

Best of all, upon completion of this training, you’ll be eligible to become a Certified Clinical Anxiety Treatment Professional (CCATP) through Evergreen Certifications. Certification lets colleagues, employers, and clients know that you’ve invested the extra time and effort necessary to understand the complexities of anxiety counseling. Professional standards apply. Visit www.evergreencertifications.com/CCATP for details.

Don’t miss this opportunity to grow your confidence and your practice while helping your clients get their lives back! PURCHASE NOW!

CERTIFICATION MADE SIMPLE!

No hidden fees – PESI pays for your application fee (a $99.99 USD value)*!
Simply complete this live event and the post-event evaluation included in this training, and your application to be a Certified Clinical Anxiety Treatment Professional (CCATP) through Evergreen Certifications is complete.*

Attendees will receive documentation of CCATP certification from Evergreen Certifications 4 to 6 weeks following the program.

*Professional standards apply. Visit www.evergreencertifications.com/CCATP for professional requirements.

**Note: SLPs do not qualify for CCATP certification. Instead, they qualify for Certified Anxiety-Informed Professional (CAIP) certification. If you are an SLP and want to apply for CAIP certification at no additional cost, please contact PESI customer service after completing the post-event evaluation. Visit www.evergreencertifications.com/CAIP for professional requirements.

Program Information

Objectives

Identify the structured components of a CBT session for clients with anxiety.
Identify diagnostic criteria and evidence-based assessment tools for DSM-5® anxiety disorders, including OCD, GAD, social anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and emerging conditions such as PANS/PANDAS.
Analyze the impact of Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) on client symptom severity.
Summarize evidence-based strategies to enlist family support to improve the client’s ability to handle anxiety.
Utilize cognitive restructuring techniques to help clients challenge and modify automatic negative thoughts associated with anxiety.
Identify the rationale for using high-intensity exposure interventions
Appraise client response when using interoceptive exposure methods for panic disorder.
Define the rationale for paradoxical exposure techniques in social anxiety treatment.
Develop individualized strategies for clients with GAD to reduce excessive worry.
Choose play-based exposure interventions tailored to the developmental needs of children with anxiety disorders.
Use standardized outcome measures to evaluate the effectiveness of ERP techniques for reducing OCD symptoms.
Develop a termination and relapse prevention plan that incorporates evidence-based strategies and a wellness plan to maintain treatment gains.

Outline

Getting Started: How to Optimize the Early CBT Sessions

Principles of CBT – Establish roles and goals
How to socialize your client to the CBT Session structure
Getting your client to complete homework
What not to do (reassurance, rabbit hole)
Tools for goal setting
Begin with the end in mind: Termination considerations

Assessment and Treatment Planning: Set the Stage for Successful Treatment

Diagnosis – why it’s important
Key questions to ask at intake
Assessment forms – where to find them
Teach your clients to use a notebook
Using a SUDS scale

Anxiety and the Brain: What Every Client Needs to Know

Why this is a pivotal point of treatment
Simple ways to teach clients about anxiety and the brain
The role of avoidance and safety behaviors
Medication-what is helpful and what is not

The Art of Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)

Help clients ride the wave of anxiety
Create a fear hierarchy using SUD scales
How to set up an exposure
Strategies to handle resistance to exposure
What NOT to do and why

Cognitive Therapy: Change the Way Clients Think about Thinking

Empower clients to choose how to interpret their thoughts
Utilize values clarification to motivate change
Challenge distortions and core beliefs that get in the way of change
The role of mindfulness in anxiety treatment

Family Involvement: Teach Loved Ones to be a Part of the Solution

Help families learn healthier ways to talk back to anxiety
Teach how to respond without reassuring
Challenge loved ones to face their own fears

Phobias and OCD: Exposure and Response Prevention in Action

Identify OCD’s tricks
Strategies for the most common phobias (heights, spiders, small spaces and more!)
How to get comfortable with extreme exposures
Vomit phobia, fear of harm, contamination, obsessive thoughts, sexual obsession
Identify your own obstacles to successful ERP
Get out of the office!
When and how to use imaginary scripts
Demonstrations and practice

Panic Disorder: Interoceptive Exposure Techniques That Work

Why deep breaths aren’t enough
Practice breathing to increase CO2
Identify the fear in panic
How to induce symptoms of panic to build tolerance of discomfort
Strategies for choosing a panic behavior to replicate

Social Anxiety: Paradoxical Treatment Interventions that Get Results

Going after embarrassment
Tools to practice mindfulness during conversations
Build clients’ “I can handle it” muscle
Help clients improve insight about their fears
How to remove safety behaviors in social situations

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and Worry: Helping Our Clients Live in the Present

Challenge the belief that “I won’t be able to handle it”
Understand worry as a compulsion
Skills to help clients handle distressing thoughts/feelings
Mindfulness to get out of the future and into the present
Write worry scripts, assign time for worry, chase after worry

Kids with Anxiety: Playing with Fear

Special considerations when working with children
School refusal, contamination, bad thoughts, PANS/PANDAS
Add play to your treatment plan
Strategies for age appropriate interventions
Teach kids to talk back to their fears
How to handle parent resistance/therapy interference

Termination and Relapse Prevention

Develop a client wellness plan that sticks
Help clients identify red flags for future struggles
Teach clients to do ongoing exposures
Establish a plan for when to return to therapy
Risks and limitations of the research

Target Audience

Social Workers
Psychologists
Counselors
Art Therapists
Marriage and Family Therapists
Physicians
Case Managers
Addiction Counselors
Therapists
Speech-Language Pathologists (See certification note in description)
Other Mental Health Professionals

Copyright : 11/20/2025

Integrative Mental Health: Treating Anxiety and Depression with a Whole-Person Perspective

As a therapist, you’ve likely seen the frustration and exhaustion in your clients’ eyes – the weight of anxiety that never fully lifts, the heaviness of depression that keeps pulling them back.

You’ve guided them through traditional interventions, but for some, progress is slow, inconsistent, or even stagnant. The reality is that anxiety and depression are complex, deeply personal experiences that don’t fit neatly into one-size-fits-all treatment models.

When clients don’t respond to standard approaches, it can leave both therapist and client feeling defeated.

Join Dr. Ashley Smith, author of The Way I See It: A Psychologist’s Guide to a Happier Life, to stop merely managing symptoms and begin to address the full spectrum of factors contributing to anxiety and depression - biological, psychological, social, existential, and lifestyle-based.

This 3-hour course will give you everything you need to get started on your path to providing truly holistic care. You’ll learn:

A whole-person assessment approach to identify and select intervention targets
A ready-to-use framework for holistic care to guide your treatment plans
Values-based goal-setting strategies to target lifestyle changes, including diet, exercise, sleep, and spirituality, that matter most to your client
Ethical guidelines for staying in your zone of competence
Current research on the role of supplements, psychedelics, and medications and indications for use of each

Through case studies, hands-on exercises, and an ethical lens on whole-person care, you will learn how to craft individualized, dynamic treatment plans that empower your clients to heal – not just cope.

Join us to explore a new way forward - one that treats the whole person, not just the diagnosis.

Program Information

Objectives

Define biological, psychological, social, existential, and lifestyle factors that contribute to anxiety and depression.
Identify key assessment tools and strategies to address client concerns across the five domains or holistic mental health care.
Determine ethical considerations and best practices for integrating lifestyle-based, biological, and interdisciplinary interventions into clinical practice.

Outline

The Case for Whole Person Care

The many forms of anxiety and depression
The five pillars of holistic care:
- Biological
- Psychological
- Social
- Existential
- Lifestyle
Competence, collaboration, and coordination of care
Traditional treatments: The state of the research
The latest evidence supporting holistic intervention
Limitations of the research and potential risks

A Whole-Person Assessment Approach

Assess the five domains through:
- Clinical interview
- Self-report measures
- Wellness and values measures
- Bio/behavioral data and technology
Experiential activity: Case conceptualization

HOLISTIC TREATMENT INTERVENTIONS TO TARGET ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION

Lifestyle Interventions

Need-to-know information for clinicians
- Beyond sleep hygiene
- Foods that impact moods
- Movement and the mind
Make changes that last
- Habit stacking
- Values-based goal setting

Biological Interventions

Latest research on psychotropic medications
Top 5 supplements to support the nervous system
Psychedelics: Current research and guidelines

Psychological Interventions

3 mindfulness strategies to use anywhere
Mind/body techniques to mitigate stress
Psychoeducation: Positive psychology vs toxic positivity
The science of happiness: Take-aways to implement immediately
Experiential activity: Non-medication mindfulness techniques

Social Interventions

Interpersonal strategies to support healthy relationships
THINK, FAST, and GIVE: DBT skills for interpersonal effectiveness
Healthy boundaries with people, social media, and technology

Existential Interventions

Creative interventions to support finding meaning
Worldview mapping
Align choices with values and beliefs

Tying it All Together

Apply the framework to intervention
Where to begin: Collaborative prioritization
Experiential Activity: Treatment Planning

Integrative Care in the Therapy Room

Zone of competence: Ethical considerations
When to refer and to whom
Coordination of care and collaborative decision-making

Target Audience

Counselors
Psychologists
Social Workers
Marriage and Family Therapists
Addictions Counselors
Nurses
Physicians
Dieticians

Copyright : 08/05/2025

Helping the Anxious Generation: A Power-Packed Menu of Evidence-Based Interventions to Ease Anxiety and Build Resilience in Teens and Young Adults

There’s no doubt that a record number of teens and young adults are on the brink of crisis.

But it takes a special skillset to help this hurting and anxious generation.

This is your rare opportunity to learn the latest and most effective techniques directly from Dr. Ashley Smith, an award-winning psychologist, sought-after speaker, researcher and author of The Way I See It: A Psychologist’s Guide to a Happier Life!

Drawing on evidence-based clinical interventions and 20 years of specializing in youth anxiety, Dr. Smith designed this fast-paced, strategy-rich training to help you feel confident and competent in addressing this growing need.

In this training, you will:

Go beyond diagnostic labels and criteria
Learn rapport-building strategies that work with reluctant and resistant teens and young adults
Dive into the neurology of anxiety in the 15–25-year-old brain
Gain hands on experience in the implementation of cognitive, mindfulness, relaxation, and behavioral strategies
Leave with a menu of intervention options and a clear framework for deciding when to use which tool

Purchase now and prepare to meet the needs of this hurting generation that desperately needs your help.

Program Information

Objectives

Choose mindfulness techniques, cognitive interventions, and relaxation strategies to use with teens and young adults.
Utilize metaphors to explain key concepts and intervention rationales to teens and young adults.
Identify cognitive strategies to help clients address anxious or unhelpful thoughts.

Outline

From Normative to Clinical Anxiety

Today’s teens: generation-specific predisposing factors
Anxiety disorders – does diagnosis even matter?
Two pathways in the brain and implications for intervention
- The amygdala
- The prefrontal cortex
Limitations of the research and potential risks

Supporting Anxious Youth

Rapport-building approaches
Rapid stabilization approaches for crisis intervention
Conceptualizing anxiety: Body, brain, behavior
Unhelpful stances for providers, parents, caregivers:
- Accommodating
- Demanding
Supportive stance: SPACE Protocol

INTERVENTIONS

Breath retraining and visual imagery exercises
10 teen-friendly mindfulness strategies
Thinking strategies: Cognitive restructuring and more
Exposure: in vivo, imaginal, interoceptive
Values-based and committed actions
Behavioral experiments
Experiential activities and case studies

Put it All Together: A Decision-Making Framework

Design interventions – when to use what
Enhance treatment effectiveness
- Lifestyle factors
- Boost motivation and treatment adherence
Trouble shooting when you get stuck

Target Audience

Clinical Psychologists
Counselors
Art Therapists
Marriage and Family Therapists
Social Workers
School Counselors
School Social Workers
School Psychologists
Nurses
Educators

Eco-Anxiety and Climate Distress

The shadow of ecological uncertainty and loss looms larger with each passing day. With smoky skies, floods, drought and extreme weather events now the norm – it’s the world your clients are living in.

You’re likely already witnessing the mental health impacts firsthand, with many clients starting to express deep concerns about their own future and the well-being of future generations. Telling you they feel isolated when sharing their fears with others, betrayed by previous generations and governments, and overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness.

That’s why climate psychology expert, Leslie Davenport developed this training.

Leslie is the author of Emotional Resiliency in the Era of Climate Change and co-creator of the Climate Psychology Certificate Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. She has been featured on PBS News Hour, NPR, BBC, The New Yorker, Scientific American, The Atlantic and other major media outlets.

And now you can watch her for this three-hour training as she shares the clinical practices, tools and strategies you need to help the rapidly rising number of clients struggling with climate distress in the context of climate justice.

You’ll discover:

How to recognize clinical presentations of anxiety and grief in the context of climate change
Strategies to combat hopelessness and foster a sense of agency in your clients aligned with social justice needs and values
Trauma-informed therapeutic modalities for addressing climate distress through a diverse lens
How to develop climate-sensitive treatment plans for Gen Z clients
And much more!

You’ll end this training more equipped to guide clients through climate distress, ready to foster a sense of resilience and agency in them and feeling empowered to make a positive impact in participating in a more just world.

Together, we can navigate this uncertain terrain and move toward a sustainable future for our clients, our local and global communities, and ourselves!

Purchase now.

Program Information

Objectives

Determine how emotional responses to the climate crisis impacts mental health.
Choose strategies to channel eco-anxiety into meaningful actions for climate-related challenges.
Analyze how societal attitudes about climate change (dismissal, pathologization, and patronization), effect the emotional experiences of young people with eco anxiety.
Summarize the current understanding of eco-anxiety and related intervention options.

Outline

Climate Psychology: An Emerging Clinical Specialization

Definition, scope, and foundations of climate psychology
The interplay between climate change and mental health
The placement of social justice within the context of climate psychology
Common psychological responses to climate change
A rational anxiety – climate change is the new context in which we do therapy

Ecojustice and the Mental Health Clinician: Considerations for Vulnerable Populations and BIPOC Communities

Examine the intersections of ecojustice, therapy, and social justice
Experiences of vulnerable populations in relation to ecojustice
Ensure cultural competence and inclusivity in therapy sessions
Become an agent of change

Working with Gen Z: Address Youth and Adolescent Mental Health in the Age of Climate Distress

The impact of climate distress on youth and adolescent mental health
Clinical intake with a climateinformed practice addition
Develop climate-sensitive treatment plans for Gen Z clients
Collaborate with schools, communities, and more

The Neuroscience of Climate Change Denial or Engagement

Neurological mechanisms underlying disavowal behaviors
Impact of cognitive biases on climate disavowal
Role of empathy, emotion, and social influence in climate engagement
Framing climate messages to resonate with the brain

Trauma-Informed Perspectives on Working with Clients Facing Eco Distress

Manifestations: anxiety, stress, grief, anger, outrage, apathy, and more
The “Window of Tolerance” as it applies to eco anxiety and grief
Trauma responses and triggers in the context of climate distress
Trauma-informed therapeutic modalities for addressing climate distress
Risks, limitations, and contraindications

Target Audience

Counselors
Social Workers
Art Therapists
Marriage and Family Therapists
Psychologists
Addiction Counselors
Nurses
Therapists
Other Mental Health Professionals