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1. Complete a comprehensive PTSD assessment with the child, family, and extended family to enable you to more effectively identify the root causes of the trauma in the marriage, the child, or family.
2. Identify “undercurrents”, or hidden causes of trauma, that are contributing to symptomology within the family to increase the effectiveness of treatment.
3. Establish techniques that provide clarity of roles within traumatized families to help reduce presenting issues such as self-harm, anxiety, depression, violence, suicidal ideation, eating disorders, substance abuse, and extreme disrespect.
4. Develop a safety plan with clients and their families to effectively respond to potential crisis that may arise within the therapeutic process.
5. Implement three “rules of thumb” for assessing whether to begin active trauma treatment or focus on safety and stabilization when working with a family in crisis.
6. Recognize and address common ethical and legal dilemmas that may arise when actively involving the child and family in trauma treatment.
7. Summarize how family systems treatment interventions can be interwoven with traditional individual trauma treatment approaches, such as TF-CBT, to further improve clinical outcomes.
8. Utilize specific pre-treatment techniques that motivate the clients’ family members to engage in the therapeutic process.
9. Assess the client’s “window of tolerance” and self-regulation skills to determine appropriate treatment interventions.
10. Create clinical treatment plans that are designed to address the specific needs of each client/family.
11. Articulate how to develop a comprehensive informed consent plan prior to beginning treatment with traumatized clients and families.
12. Utilize various scaling techniques to evaluate progress in treatment and identify potential risks for relapse.

Engage Resistant Families: Powerful FST Strategies to Build Motivation and Rapport

• The art of the 15-minute motivational phone call
• 7 must-ask questions to quickly motivate and build rapport
• Lower no-show rates: Get parents and kids to attend the first session and beyond
• Why a soft startup to treatment is important
• Tips to avoid the call becoming a therapy session
• Video case example: “Just Fix My Kid” – Engaging the parent in a 15-minute motivational phone call

Assessment and Treatment Planning: Identify the Core Drivers of Unhealed Trauma

• Event-based Trauma v. Interactional Trauma
• How quickly to join with a traumatized family?
• 3 rules of thumb: When to stabilize and when to start active trauma treatment
• Stress Chart Technique: Diagnose the root causes of the trauma
• Seed/Tree Diagram Technique: Identify four toxic “seeds” that maintain the problem symptoms
• Video case example: Apology session: Healing generational trauma of abuse and neglect between father and son

Transform the Family Dynamic: FST Techniques to Heal Trauma and Create Healthier Families

• Safety first: Develop a clear plan to lower risk
• Shift parent mindsets from “fix the child” to “fix our family”
• Assess window of tolerance and selfregulation skills
• Reveal wound “undercurrents” to externalize the problem
• Determine whether re-telling the trauma story is necessary
• The Arrow technique: Help clients reduce shame, blame, approval addiction and the performance trap
• Empower families to uncover strategies to heal their own trauma
• Video case example: A self-harming teen and the stronghold of shame

Healing Trauma in the Here and Now: Step-by-Step Instructions for Creating New Interactional Patterns

• How to create a specific, written plan for healing trauma
• Who, what, when, where and how to inject healthy undercurrents into the family
• Dozens of unique techniques and strategies, including:
  • Opening to the Future
  • The High/Low Checkup
  • Medication Compliance Plan
  • Emotional Warm-ups: The Positive Child Report
  • Externalizing the Family Secrets for Deep Healing
  • And more!
• Dress rehearsals for implementing the trauma contract
• Troubleshooting checklist: Problem solve any loopholes
• Demonstration: How to execute effective dress rehearsals with clients

Family Systems Graduation: Evaluate Progress and Relapse Prevention

• 0-100% scaling technique: Assess overall progress of the trauma contract
• Mini-scales technique: Reveal headway made on the key undercurrents
• Decision tree: Clearly map out the next possible treatment steps
• Red flags checklist: Identify any possible signs of relapse, next steps
• Post-treatment tune-ups: Set up 30, 60, 90 day check-ins; assess when a tune-up session is needed
• Demonstrations: Learn each of the core family systems trauma relapse prevention techniques

Ethical and Legal Considerations: Your Questions Answered

• How to develop a solid informed consent plan for the entire family
• Know your codes: AAMFT, ASWB/NASW, ACES/ACA, APA
• Decision tree: Weigh the risks and benefits of revealing the trauma story
• Risks v. benefits of involving the entire family in treatment
• Confidentiality and HIPAA considerations Limitations of the research and potential risks
• Video case example: What would you do if…? An ethical examination of a very messy clinical case

Scott P. Sells, Ph.D., MSW, LCSW, LMFT, is former tenured professor of social work, Savannah State University, Savannah, GA and Associate Professor at UNLV in Las Vegas, NV. Dr. Sells is the author of three best-selling books, Treating the Tough Adolescent: A Family-Based, Step-by-Step Guide (1998), Parenting Your Out-of-Control Teenager: 7 Steps to Reestablish Authority and Reclaim Love (2001), and Treating the Traumatized Child: A Step-by-Step Family Systems Approach (Springer, 2017). He has over 20 publications in such periodicals as Psychotherapy Networker, Contemporary Corrections, Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse, Professional Issues in Criminal Justice, Family Process, and Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, plus book chapters in the Handbook of Family Therapy Research Methods (1996) and Social Worker’s Desk Reference, 2/E (2008).

Dr. Sells has extensive experience as a keynote speaker for the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy, the National Association of Social Workers, the Southeastern Psychological Association, and others. He was invited to be one of six expert presenters at the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy’s prestigious Summer Institutes as well as the world-renowned Cape Cod Institute. Dr. Sells is currently the founder and model developer of an evidence-based model as the FST | Family Systems Trauma Model that is being used by both juvenile justice and child welfare in over 14 states and in Europe.

Speaker Disclosures:

Financial: Scott Sells is the owner of Savannah Family Institute, Inc. He receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.

Non-financial: Scott Sells has no relevant non-financial relationship to disclose.

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CE Information Coming Soon
Continuing education credit information is coming soon for this non-interactive self-study package.

CEs may be available for select professions, as listed in the target audience. Hours will be dependent on the actual recording time. Please check with your state licensing board or organization for specific requirements.

There may be an additional fee for CE certificates. Please contact our Customer Service at 1-800-844-8260 for more details.

**Materials that are included in this course may include interventions and modalities that are beyond the authorized practice of mental health professionals. As a licensed professional, you are responsible for reviewing the scope of practice, including activities that are defined in law as beyond the boundaries of practice in accordance with and in compliance with your professions standards.

All members of the PESI, Inc. planning committee have provided disclosures of financial relationships with ineligible organizations and any relevant non-financial relationships prior to planning content for this activity. None of the committee members had relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies or other potentially biasing relationships to disclose to learners. For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography.

• Psychologists
• Social Workers
• Mental Health Counselors
• Marriage and Family Therapists
• Addiction Counselors
• Other Mental Health Professionals Who Work with Kids