2-Day Certification Training: Treating Anxiety Disorders in Children & Adolescents

Credit

Speaker

Stephanie Sarkis, PhD, NCC, DCMHS, LMHC Related seminars and products

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Stephanie Moulton Sarkis, PhD, NCC, DCMHS, LMHC, is a renowned therapist and leading expert on gaslighting. With over two decades of experience as a clinician, author, and speaker, Dr. Sarkis has become a trusted voice in the fight against gaslighting and related forms of psychological manipulation. Her groundbreaking book, Gaslighting: Recognize Manipulative and Emotionally Abusive People – and Break Free, has become a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the devastating impact of gaslighting and how to heal from its side effects. She was named a Diplomate and Clinical Mental Health Specialist in Child and Adolescent Counseling by the American Mental Health Counselors Association, one of only 20 professionals in the United States with this dual designation. Dr. Sarkis is also a national certified counselor, licensed mental health counselor, and a Florida Supreme Court Certified Family and Circuit Mediator. She has been in private practice for over 20 years. Dr. Sarkis is a senior contributor for Forbes online and is also a contributor to Psychology Today. Her Psychology Today posts have been viewed over 70 million times. Her Psychology Today article “11 Red Flags of Gaslighting in a Relationship” went viral, with over 15 million views. She has taught the graduate-level classes Diagnosis and Assessment of Mental Health Disorders in addition to Law and Ethics of Counseling at the University of Florida and Florida Atlantic University. Dr. Sarkis earned a PhD, EdS, and MEd in Mental Health Counseling from the University of Florida, named by US News and World Report as the top counselor education program in the country. Dr. Sarkis has appeared on CNN, 10% Happier with Dan Harris, Sirius XM Doctor Radio, ABC (US), ABC (Australia), in USA Today, The Washington Post, Newsweek, and many more media outlets. Her research on comorbid ADHD and its impact on pediatric executive function was published in the Journal of Attention Disorders. She hosts the Talking Brains podcast and is based in Tampa, Florida. Her latest book Healing from Toxic Relationships is available now. Visit her Website at www.stephaniesarkis.com.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Stephanie Moulton Sarkis maintains a private practice. She serves as a contributor to Forbes, The Huffington Post, and Psychology Today and is an advisory panel member for Evergreen Certifications. Dr. Sarkis is a facilitator for Collaborative Divorce. She receives royalties as a published author. She receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Stephanie Moulton Sarkis is a professional expert for Understood.org, part of the National Center for Learning Disabilities. She is a member of the Attention Deficit Disorder Association, American Mental Health Counselors Association, Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder, and the National Board for Certified Counselors.

Additional Info

For live CE credit, you must watch the live webcast in its entirety at its scheduled time and complete the CE quiz and evaluation within one week. You will have access for 90 days after the program for review.

Please note: Each day there will be a lunch and two 15-minute breaks; one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Lunch and break times will be announced by the speaker and at their discretion. A more detailed schedule is available upon request.

Objectives

1. Incorporate motivational therapeutic activities into your practice to improve client engagement in treatment.
2. Implement structured clinical interviewing strategies to aid in developing comprehensive treatment plans.
3. Summarize the “3 ingredient framework” of how anxiety develops in children to assist with assessment and treatment planning.
4. Analyze the efficacy of prescription drugs for treatment of anxiety symptoms in children.
5. Implement a three-step skill building model for stress management among young clients.
6. Evaluate exposure therapy interventions for effective treatment of OCD, separation anxiety, social anxiety, and phobias.
7. Design effective strategies to decrease the stress response in kids with learning disabilities to improve information processing, listening skills, and comprehension.
8. Implement calming techniques to reduce overall anxiety, such as mindfulness and yoga, to reduce fight or flight response, and simultaneously engage the relaxation response.
9. Evaluate the impact deep breathing exercises have on anxiety to enable task completion in children with ADHD.
10. Utilize specific anxiety techniques to minimize the ruminative nature of obsessive thoughts that often precede dysfunctional compulsive behaviors.
11. Teach clients to engage the parasympathetic nervous system to create new neuropathways to reduce hyper arousal and decrease maladaptive behaviors.
12. Implement clinical strategies to decrease symptoms of pervasive separation anxiety in children and adolescents.

Outline

DAY ONE

Sources of Anxiety and Treatment Overview

• What research tells us about therapy effectiveness applied to children
• How anxiety develops in children: the “Three Ingredients Framework”
• Biological sensitivity
• Anxiety personality style
• Stress overload
• Treatment goals, strategies, and recommendations
• The baseball analogy for behavior change and symptom reduction
• Behavioral health recommendations

• The 1st intervention: “3-S” process for stress management
• Symptoms
• Sources
• Solutions
• The 2nd intervention: anxiety regulation skills
• ”Relaxation Response”
• Breathing practices
• Mindfulness practices for children
• Flow activities
• Yoga games
• Martial arts
• ”Baby Buddhas” meditation for preschoolers
• Other approaches to self-regulation

• Recommendations for schools
• Pros and cons of medication
• Nature’s remedies
• Herbal treatments
• Homeopathy
• DSM-5® anxiety disorders: current updates
• Separation anxiety
• Normal separation process
• Therapeutic exposure
• ”Helicopter”, “bulldozer” and “snowplow” parenting
• Strategies to help parents let go

• Generalized anxiety
• Why we worry
• Introducing language for new thought patterns
• 9 strategies for replacing worry with alternative cognitive habits
• Panic disorder
• Diagnosis and treatment success rate
• Agoraphobia component
• Treatment metaphors
• ”Floating Technique”
• ”LifeSkills” Self Help Program

DAY TWO

Interventions for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders

• Obsessive-compulsive disorders: expanded classification
• Relationship between obsessions and compulsions
• Trichotillomania (hair pulling)
• Excoriation (skin picking)
• Body dysmorphia
• PANDAS (medically induced OCD: Pediatric Autoimmune Disorder Associated with Streptococcus Infection)

• Social Anxiety Disorder
• Selective mutism
• Self-esteem issues and treatment
• Social communication skills
• Group therapy

• Specific Phobias
• Diagnosis and examples
• Virtual reality exposure
• Stressor- and Trauma-related disorders
• Expanded diagnostic classification
• Attachment disorders
• Adjustment disorders
• Acute stress disorders
• Trauma-related disorders
• New frontiers in trauma treatment

• Therapy progress measures
• Case consultations​

Target Audience

• Social Workers
• Psychologists
• Counselors
• Teachers
• School Administrators
• Nurses
• Occupational Therapists
• Occupational Therapy Assistants
• Speech-Language Pathologists
• Marriage and Family Therapists
• Other Helping Professionals who Work with Children