Description coming soon.

They’re not all “soldiers” – servicemembers of each branch go by different names.

But awareness of military culture goes far beyond understanding the nuances of Army v. Navy.

It requires a deep understanding of how identity and values shift with service… how emotions and the nervous system are uniquely regulated in a high-stakes environment… and how relational patterns change when there’s a battle-buddy bond.

Creating guilt, anger, confusion, and internal conflict that’s different from other stress and trauma responses.

In this session, Jennifer Sluga – complex trauma and military mental health specialist – will show you how to understand military culture through a new lens that goes beyond basic education in branches and deployment. You’ll learn:

• How to talk with clients about the impact of military culture on identity development
• Attachment-based strategies to support clients with relational distress
• Somatic techniques to regulate the nervous system and cultivate emotional balance

It’s not quite what they signed up for.

When U.S. service members are deployed domestically – such as for operations in major urban areas or along the border – they find themselves in the middle of politically and morally complex situations.

Duty, personal values, and public scrutiny collide –

Creating guilt, anger, confusion, and internal conflict that’s different from other stress and trauma responses.

In this session, Dr. Wyatt Evans – expert in moral injury and primary author of The Moral Injury Workbook – will give you a unique ACT-based skillset you need to work with moral pain and injury. You’ll learn:

• Tools to recognize moral distress so you can reduce this profound and debilitating form of suffering
• Structured, evidence-informed interventions that address moral conflict and values dissonance
• Strategies that promote psychological flexibility and adaptive meaning-making

From institutional betrayal to betrayal of one’s own moral code, the trauma experienced by military service members and veterans has extra layers.

And to provide effective treatment, you can’t leave this important context out.

In this session, Dr. Daphne Fatter – international trainer in integrative trauma-informed therapies and former Military Sexual Trauma coordinator in the VA healthcare system – will give you a roadmap for case conceptualization and treatment of military service members and veterans who have experienced trauma from combat, sexual harassment and assault, and exposure to life-limiting health conditions. You’ll learn:

• Case conceptualization skills grounded in military culture to build an effective working alliance
• Transdiagnostic coping techniques to decrease acute distress and support stabilization
• Decision-making tools for complex issues like which trauma to target first

Of course, by its very definition, trauma is devastating –

And there are ways for survivors to change for the better as a result of it.

Unfortunately, few therapists receive training in posttraumatic growth, leaving them focused on symptom reduction rather than prepared to help their clients activate the capacity for growth after adversity.

In this session, Dr. Taryn C. Greene – U.S. Air Force veteran and health psychologist at Boulder Crest Institute for Posttraumatic Growth – will show you what you need to know about posttraumatic growth so your military and veteran clients can learn to use their difficult life experiences as a means to live a more rewarding and fulfilling life. You’ll learn:

• A framework for posttraumatic growth that inspires clients to write the next chapter of their lives
• How to conceptualize the challenge to core beliefs that your clients are struggling with
• Strategies to offer “expert companionship” to your clients to increase connection and hope

Getting out of the military is as big a deal as going in.

It’s total culture shock as veterans face the reality of figuring out how to move forward in the absence of close comradeship, orders that structured each day, and purpose that felt larger than their own lives.

Adjustment challenges are the norm, not the exception.

And therapists working with veterans have to be ready to navigate unique challenges, supporting clients through issues as diverse as finding work that leans on their skills, making up for lost time with their families, and having difficulty relating to civilians.

In this session, Dr. Lillian Gibson – highly recommended speaker, consultant, and clinician with expertise in the treatment of trauma and transition stress – will give you a framework for the assessment and treatment of adjustment-related stress. You’ll learn:

• How to evaluate mental health symptoms common during the transition from military service
• Top strategies to normalize clients’ adjustment experiences – without making them feel dismissed
• Evidence-based interventions from IPT and MI to help clients create change in areas of struggle

A new phase of life begins after separation from military service –

And the terms of that separation have an echoing impact on the adjustment of military-connected clients.

Without awareness of the ways in which medical, administrative, and policy-driven discharges can shape mental health and treatment engagement, therapists run the risk of minimizing the impact of this important transition on their clients.

In this session, Dr. Michael Gatson – expert in military mental health – will show you how military discharge is more a major psychological transition than a formal ending. You’ll learn:

• Targeted clinical questions to assess the impact of discharge on your clients’ well-being
• Trust-building strategies for concerns about documentation, employment, or security clearance
• A culturally responsive, trauma-informed framework to reduce stigma

Description coming soon.

Your own military service history and that of your family. Your political affiliation and beliefs about war. Your awareness of hierarchical systems, veterans benefits, and community resources.

When you work with military and veteran clients, there’s more to self-examine and more to just plain know. And the standards of ethical competence are more complex.

From informed consent when fitness for duty may be on the line – to boundaries when your client is also eating in the mess hall – to determining whether disability criteria continue to be met – there is a unique intersection of military-connected challenges and professional ethics codes.

In this session, Duane K. L. France, MA, MBA, LPC – Army veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, author of Combat Vet Don’t Mean Crazy: Veteran Mental Health in Post-Military Life, and host of the Behind the Mission podcast – will show you how to navigate the complex treatment needs and regulatory demands of service members and veterans. You’ll learn:

• How to build a foundation of trust based on high ethical standards with military and veteran clients
• A framework to address the ethical imperative of balancing individual needs with broader systems
• Strategies for integrating cross-disciplinary ethical standards