As restrictions to physical distancing begin to lift in the coming months, we are all facing an unprecedented situation: on the one hand, we will be “going back to normal,” but, on the other one, much has changed over the past few months, so we will actually living in a “new normal.” This juxtaposition of familiar and new can be the source of much anxiety and distress, but it can also represent an opportunity to redefine ourselves and grow. As therapists, we have a unique opportunity to help our clients not only cope with these changes, but also thrive in the face of this new life we’re about to start.

Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy (IBCT) is an evidence-based approach to the treatment of couples developed by Andrew Christensen from UCLA and the late Neil S. Jacobson from the University of Washington. IBCT is integrative in that it brings together the twin goals of emotional acceptance and behavior change. Also, it integrates a variety of treatment strategies under a consistent behavioral theoretical framework. IBCT is part of what some have called the “third wave” of behavior therapy.

Suicide remains the 10th leading cause of death for all individuals in the United States and is the second leading cause of death for individuals between the ages of 35 and 54 (CDC, 2018). Evidence based practice around suicide prevention and treatment can be difficult to understand and implement, causing tension between ethical standards of avoiding harm and practicing within areas of competency with day-to-day clinical obligations. This training seeks to find balance between resolving ethical tensions and increasing competencies regarding the treatment of suicidal patients. Participants will review up-to-date information on best practices for suicidal patients, practice interventions, and use working with suicidal clients as a lens from which discuss ethical codes related to practice.

Perhaps the most critical problem facing our discipline today is the lack of understanding of why some individuals do not benefit fully from treatment. Indeed, we have no reliable predictors of treatment outcome for people presenting for psychological treatment. This accords with evidence from recent meta-analyses indicating that approximately half of patients in treatment studies do not achieve clinical remission. Neuroscience offers a set of tools that may help solve this problem.

The developmental transition from adolescence to early adulthood is characterized as a time of uncertainty and instability but also of optimism and growth (see Arnett, 2004). For youth suffering with an anxiety disorder, this period can be fraught with impairments in meeting everyday tasks, resulting in a failure to achieve independent functioning. CBT and medication are effective treatments for anxiety in adolescents and children (Walkup, et al., 2008), however, long-term remission through the transition to adulthood is not maintained for nearly half of effectively treated youth (Ginsburg et al., 2014). Missing from our studies of clinical treatments has been a focus not just on anxiety management in the present, but on assisting youth and families in understanding and meeting the tasks of development. Central also, to treatment, is for youth to take on the challenges of anxiety and daily living with appropriate parental guidance and support.

Recent widely publicized incidents of police brutality targeting Black people have helped to expose the depth and breadth of racism in our society. As a result, considerable attention has been placed across our academic institutions and organizations in the past few months on providing guidance and facilitating dialogue around the impacts of racism on clinical practice, teaching curricula, research pursuits, and professional/hiring patterns within our field. However, it is crucial we recognize that the occurrence of racism within our society, and our field, has been ever-present for Black and brown individuals for decades preceding the more recent media attention on these issues. Further, there is growing recognition that simply not being overtly racist is neither acceptable nor sufficient to achieve equity, but many people are not aware of the many opportunities they have to actively promote equity and inclusion in their work as mental health professionals.

Achieving effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy across a diversity of patients continues to be a foremost concern of clinicians and clinical researchers alike. Further, therapeutic alliance appears to be an important feature in supporting favorable outcomes from evidence-based treatments. Yet, there remains a scarcity of empirical data testing specific features that most readily facilitate effective collaboration in a multi-cultural therapy relationship.

Military veterans and service members currently serving are seeking community mental health in greater numbers than ever before. Yet, many community providers lack awareness and understanding of military culture, and may not feel competent to adequately assess their problems and needs. This webinar provides a basic overview of military culture, to include examination of its explicit and implicit elements, how to interact with military veterans and service members, as well as a review of key assessment areas, techniques, and strategies.

College students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) often display significant deficits in their academic and psychosocial functioning. Such impairments place students with ADHD at increased risk for future negative outcomes during their post-college adult years. Thus, it is critically important for this population to have ready access to evidence-based treatment while attending college. This presentation will begin by providing an overview of what is known about the impact of ADHD on the educational, emotional, social, and personal functioning of college students. Next, a conceptual framework for understanding the mechanisms underlying these outcomes will be presented. This will be followed by a brief review of currently available treatment options for this population. The remainder of this presentation will focus on a recently developed intervention known as ACCESS – Accessing Campus Connections and Empowering Student Success - to illustrate how cognitive-behavioral therapy strategies can be used to address the multiple treatment needs of college students with ADHD. This discussion of ACCESS will begin by addressing its conceptual underpinnings, its programmatic development and refinement, and the evidence in support of its efficacy derived from an initial open clinical trial and a recently completed multi-site randomized controlled trial. This will be followed by a detailed description of its therapeutic components, along with recommendations for how to implement ACCESS in various campus and off-campus settings.

Human trafficking (HT) is a violation of human rights and a significant global health problem that may span various ages, genders, ethnic groups, socioeconomic groups and exploitation experiences (Chisolm-Straker & Stoklosa, 2017; Kiss et al., 2015; Shandro et al., 2016). Due to the invisible nature of trafficking, the lack of a central database to track cases, the low rate of disclosure, and the under-recognition and criminalization by authorities, the true prevalence of HT across the globe is unknown (Stransky & Finkelhor, 2012). Sexual trauma and psychological aggression are core experiences of women who are victims of sex trafficking (Menon et al., 2020). Yet many barriers to help-seeking may exist for this population of trauma survivors.