Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Introduction & Overview (3 CE credits)

May 1, 2015

Speaker: Dr. Chris Wemple

9:00 - 12:00

Registration begins at 8:30 AM

AND

Hijacking the Emotional Brain (3 CE credits)

Speaker: Dr. Karen Shanor

1:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Registration begins at 12:30 PM

Save the Date! 

The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, North Campus

1015 15th Street, NW, 4th Floor, Near Farragut North Metro Station & McPherson Square Metro Station

TCSPP students attend for FREE!

Parking available in the building until 10 PM

Accreditation provided through the South Carolina Psychology Association. (DCPA and SCPA co -sponsor these programs). South Carolina Psychological Association maintains responsibility for the program and its content.

ACT Introduction/Overview (3 hours)

In the three decades since its beginnings, Acceptance and Commitment therapy has become a widely applied approach with a rapidly growing base of empirical support.  

ACT is now considered an evidence based approach, with treatment protocols available for depression, anxiety, chronic pain, eating disorders, PTSD and others.  Moreover, because the model is based on universal processes of human language and cognition, it is also applicable in training, coaching and consultation.

ACT uniquely blends mindfulness, behavioral approaches, and a research-based theory of language and cognition to help move clients (and therapists) toward richer, fuller and more meaningful lives.  This presentation will use both didactic and experiential elements, to introduce you to the 6 processes that make up the ACT Psychological Flexibility Model.  It will also include information about how one can get additional training and start using it in their work.

Learning Objectives:

1.  Describe how "Psychological Flexibility" is defined in the ACT model, and identify it's three main elements.

2.  Define "Experiential Avoidance" and how it arises from normal and universal processes of language and cognition, as well as the role it plays in a variety of psychological disorders.

3.  Identify/describe how Mindfulness is applied in ACT, and which processes in the ACT model are direct applications of mindfulness.

For more info: Christopher Wemple, Ph.D.      cwemple@verizon.net

Christopher Wemple, Ph.D.

Christopher Wemple, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist working for the Montgomery County, MD Police Department’s Stress Management Team, where he provides counseling and consultation to department employees (sworn and civilian), and their family members. He has been applying Acceptance and Commitment Therapy/Training (ACT) in his work for a number of years, and has provided trainings in ACT for graduate and professional level audiences.  He is also a founding board member of the Mid-Atlantic chapter of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science

HIJACKING THE EMOTIONAL BRAIN

Our modern lifestyle is causing physical harm to our brains and consequential psychiatric and learning disorders including: Bipolar Disorder, Depression, 

Anxiety, ADD, ADHD, Memory Problems, and Dementia. This workshop will focus on the damage being done to the amygdala and hippocampal areas of the Emotional Brain, and what can be done to prevent such damage.

Important concepts such as “The Gaze”, “The 4 F’s”, “Putting on the Brakes: Defective ‘Stop’ Mechanisms”, “Circuitry Overdrive”, and “Brain Dysrhythmia” will be discussed.  And finally, specific recommendations will be given of how to prevent, minimize, and heal this unnecessary mental health epidemic. 

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify the amygdala and hippocampus and 2 of their main functions.

2. List at least 3 benefits of healthy emotions.

3. Explain in brief the chroological development of key areas in the emotional brain.

4. Define at least 2 concepts regarding the functioning and possible pathology within the emotional brain.

Karen Shanor, Ph.D.                    (202)291-6222; drkarenshanor@gmail.com

Clinical and Neuropsychologist in Private Practice; Georgetown University Adjunct 

Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience; Former White House Consultant

Karen Shanor, Ph.D.

     Dr. Karen Shanor is a clinical and neuropsychologist in private practice in Washington, D.C.  She received her B.A. and M.A. degrees in Psychology from Stanford University, continued in cross-cultural studies at Columbia University, and received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Alliant University where she worked with psychologist Carl Rogers and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl, author of the classic Man’s Search for Meaning. She completed a two year clinical internship at Mercy Hospital in San Diego and at Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino, California.

      Dr. Shanor teaches psychology and neuroscience at Georgetown University. She co-chaired the organizing committee for Georgetown University’s international conference on the “Brain and Communication”, and has served on a number of national advisory boards including her present advisory position on Discovery Channel’s Global Education Initiative.  A former White House consultant, Dr. Shanor was among ten psychologists chosen by the American Psychological Association for its Centennial Celebration lecture series at the Smithsonian.  She has also carried out a number of Smithsonian lecture series and day-long seminars including: “The Brain and Consciousness”, “The Dynamic Brain”, “Theories of Personality,” and “The Emotional Brain.”

      Her cross-cultural and mental health experience spans more than thirty years. After studying at Stanford in Italy, Dr. Shanor served in Somalia as a Peace Corps science teacher.  She then consulted as a Peace Corps psychologist all over the world, including three month on-site training programs in Somalia, Botswana, Mali, Ghana, and Peru.  As Washington Director of The Center for Human Resources Planning and Development, she created a national HEW-funded monograph on multi-cultural health care, and designed a cross-cultural teaching curriculum for UCLA.  In collaboration with psychiatrist Dr. Tran Minh Tung, Dr. Shanor developed and implemented a ground-breaking program funded by USAID in response to the mental trauma experienced by the “boat people” and other Indochinese refugees.  She continues to work with the National Institutes of Health in a variety of programs.

      She has written several bestsellers in the area of psychology, including The Emerging Mind, which was a NAPRA Book Award winner, and the basis for a four-part documentary.  A veteran of radio and television, she hosted a radio program for five years for NBC, worked for Mutual Broadcasting, was the resident psychologist for both “Good Morning Washington” and the nationally syndicated “Hour Magazine”, and hosted her own psychology show on the Hearst/ABC Cable Network.