
Contributed by Mary Jo Barrett
28 Results
The Ethical Dilemmas in Today’s Therapy: Clarifying Boundaries
The ethical rules for therapists used to be straightforward and unambiguous: no gifts, no dual relationships, and no out-of-session contact. But with the ease of virtual connection and the many ways in which the current tumult of politics and societal foment makes its way in therapy and challenges our boundaries, shifts in our profession’s norms have introduced new questions about professional boundaries. In this recording, you’ll explore:
The impact of these times on therapists, and how fatigue and dysregulation affects ethical decision-making
How to establish norms for transparency and client empowerment
The do’s and don’ts of therapist self-disclosure, and
How to handle ever-shifting online and social media boundaries with clients
Best methods for dealing with ethical decisions when considering virtual vs in-person support
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The Challenge of Treating Complex PTSD: What to do When Things Get Messy and Uncomfortable
When working with trauma cases do you often see clients go into flight, fight, and/or freeze? Do they yell at you, insult you, or leave the session? Are there times you find yourself angry at your clients or just downright don’t like them? Do you recognize your own flight, fight, and/or freeze response? Welcome to the messy, often confusing world of trauma treatment. In this workshop, you’ll explore practical in-session techniques as well as a framework to help you recognize what’s happening when things heat up and get intense.
Focus on how to assess the client’s motivation, stage of change, and preferred mode of learning and how to build a therapeutic collaboration around it
Explore the importance of therapist transparency and how to empower clients by making the therapy process as safe and explicit as possible
Learn how to explore intra-family violence or include additional family members in your sessions
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Treating Trauma and Complex PTSD
When working with trauma cases do you see clients go into flight, fight, and/or freeze? Do they yell at you, insult you, or leave the session? Are there times you find yourself getting angry at your clients? Do you recognize your own flight, fight, and/or freeze response? Welcome to the messy, often confusing world of trauma treatment. In this workshop, you’ll explore practical in-session techniques as well as a framework to help you recognize what’s happening when things heat up and get intense. You’ll discover how to:
Assess the client’s motivation, stage of change, and preferred mode of learning
Effectively build a therapeutic collaboration around each client’s individual needs
Understand the importance of therapist transparency and empower clients by making the therapy process as safe and explicit as possible
Explore intrafamily violence and include additional family members in your sessions
Read More
The Essentials of Effective Trauma Treatment: How to Go Beyond Technique
When it comes to working with complex developmental trauma, it seems like therapists can’t get enough tools for their tool bag. And yet what determines effectiveness in this challenging arena of practice are crucial dimensions of the therapeutic relationship that go beyond any technical intervention. In this workshop, we’ll explore what trauma clients themselves say about the key elements in their own experience of healing. You’ll focus on:
Recognizing the client’s natural change cycle and how to organize therapy around it
Procedures for creating a secure, safe attachment, including a transparent and overt collaborative contract
How to emphasize clients’ resources rather than becoming preoccupied with pathology
How to assess the client’s resources and your own to create an effective treatment plan
Read More
Treating Trauma and Complex PTSD
When working with trauma cases do you see clients go into flight, fight, and/or freeze? Do they yell at you, insult you, or leave the session? Are there times you find yourself getting angry at your clients? Do you recognize your own flight, fight, and/or freeze response? Welcome to the messy, often confusing world of trauma treatment. In this workshop, you’ll explore practical in-session techniques as well as a framework to help you recognize what’s happening when things heat up and get intense. You’ll discover how to:
Assess the client’s motivation, stage of change, and preferred mode of learning
Effectively build a therapeutic collaboration around each client’s individual needs
Understand the importance of therapist transparency and empower clients by making the therapy process as safe and explicit as possible
Explore intrafamily violence and include additional family members in your sessions
Read More
The Essentials of Effective Trauma Treatment: How to Go Beyond Technique
When it comes to working with complex developmental trauma, it seems like therapists can’t get enough tools for their tool bag. And yet what determines effectiveness in this challenging arena of practice are crucial dimensions of the therapeutic relationship that go beyond any technical intervention. In this workshop, we’ll explore what trauma clients themselves say about the key elements in their own experience of healing. You’ll focus on:
Recognizing the client’s natural change cycle and how to organize therapy around it
Procedures for creating a secure, safe attachment, including a transparent and overt collaborative contract
How to emphasize clients’ resources rather than becoming preoccupied with pathology
How to assess the client’s resources and your own to create an effective treatment plan
Read More
The Challenge of Treating Complex PTSD: What to do When Things Get Messy and Uncomfortable
When working with trauma cases do you often see clients go into flight, fight, and/or freeze? Do they yell at you, insult you, or leave the session? Are there times you find yourself angry at your clients or just downright don’t like them? Do you recognize your own flight, fight, and/or freeze response? Welcome to the messy, often confusing world of trauma treatment. In this workshop, you’ll explore practical in-session techniques as well as a framework to help you recognize what’s happening when things heat up and get intense.
Focus on how to assess the client’s motivation, stage of change, and preferred mode of learning and how to build a therapeutic collaboration around it
Explore the importance of therapist transparency and how to empower clients by making the therapy process as safe and explicit as possible
Learn how to explore intra-family violence or include additional family members in your sessions
Read More
Reflections on Rich
Friends Celebrate His Life and Legacy

Mary Jo Barrett
Mary Jo Barrett, MSW, is the founder and director of Contextual Change and coauthor of Treating Complex Trauma: A Relational Blueprint for Collaboration and Change and The Systemic Treatment of Incest.