Full Course Description

Neuroscience for Everyday Practice: Connect Brain Science with Clinical Strategies for Emotional Regulation, Stress, Depression, Anxiety, Trauma, ADHD, and Chronic Pain

Scientific research on the human brain’s connection to our mental and physical well-being continues to astound. While dazzling pictures and scientific lingo certainly impress, mental health clinicians are faced with a pressing problem. How do I connect the power of neuroscience to my everyday work with clients facing stress, anxiety, emotional dysregulation, trauma, chronic pain, and other issues?

As a neuropsychologist, Robert Rosenbaum, Ph.D., has spent his career working with the brain-behavior relationship. His expertise in the principles of neuroscience, functional neuroanatomy, and diagnostics give him a unique insight into the correlation between mental health disorders, therapeutic approaches, and what happens in the brain itself.

This integrative recording will show you how to fundamentally transform your practice by linking complicated science to practical and accessible clinical techniques you can use every day!

Key benefits of watching:

Neuroscientific explanations that change the way clients feel about themselves and motivate them to engage in the deeper work that needs to be done.
Innovative ways to integrate research findings with easy-to-implement clinical interventions based on mindfulness, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and somatic approaches.
Regulate emotions with techniques informed by a neurobiological understanding of how they’re made.
Control impulsivity and improve attention with techniques that act on the brain’s executive control function.
Effective mind-body approaches to manage chronic pain.

Discover how incorporating neuroscience into your therapy can rejuvenate your practice and provide the spark you need to change clients’ perceptions and improve their lives!

Program Information

Objectives

Promote engagement in treatment with explanations that make neuroscientific research and principles accessible for clients.
Articulate how mindfulness skills that impact the neurological processes involved in stress can be incorporated into therapy.
Implement an approach that addresses the symptoms of anxiety with clinical techniques focused on activating the parasympathetic nerve system.
Communicate how an understanding of the neuropsychology of attention and executive control can inform your choice of therapeutic intervention to address attentional difficulties.
Analyze the clinical implications of memory malleability in the treatment of trauma.
Evaluate research on the mind-body connection to chronic pain perception, and explicate how this information can be used in clinical practice.

Outline

Manage Destructive Emotions With Effective Brain-Based Approaches

Embodied cognition and how emotions are made
- Multimodal processing of emotions
- Valence and Arousal: Dimensional Models of Emotion
Depression and anxiety
- The neural interrelationships of depression and anxiety
- Behavior is biology: treating dysphoric affects with physical interventions
Mindfulness and breathing exercises to regulate emotion
Cognitive restructuring and goal building

Stress in a Fast-Paced World: Therapeutic Strategies Informed by Biological Time and Brain Clocks

Biological time vs. clock time
Multiple brain clocks and circadian rhythms
Mindfulness, compassion, and time
- Rushing vs. relishing
- Cultivate “presence” with clients

ADHD, Inattention, Hyperactivity, and Impulsivity: The Biology of Attention and Brain-centric Interventions

The brain’s attention networks
Varieties of attention – assessment and utilization
Executive control of attention
Impulsivity and the brain’s reward pathway
Mindfulness awareness
Improve attention with strengths-based approaches

Trauma: Clinical Techniques Informed by the Science of Memory

Memory as an active reconstruction
Techniques to calm the traumatized brain
- Mindfulness
- Imagery
- Somatic approaches
Malleability of memory: implications for treating trauma

Rewire the Brain to Ease Chronic Pain

Multiple pathways – ascending and descending
Pain intensity vs. pain distress
Counter catastrophizing
Mind-body interventions for pain
- Guided imagery
- Qi gong
- Yoga

Target Audience

Counselors, Psychotherapists, Psychologists, Social Workers, Addiction Counselors, Marriage & Family Therapists, Nurses, Case Managers Therapists, Other Mental Health Professionals

Copyright : 05/10/2018

Addiction and Recovery Update 2020: The Latest Clinical Takeaways from Neuroscience Research

Research in neuroscience provides an evidence-based and comprehensive understanding of addiction that fits well with the experiences of people needing, seeking, and in recovery. There are several insightful and well-articulated arguments challenging the disease conceptualization of addiction, but two important areas of research – epigenetics and psychoneuroimmunology – greatly advance awareness of how environmental stress creates vulnerability to addiction.

This lecture reviews the most up-to-date science of addiction, the current arguments for and against addiction’s conceptualization as a disease, and how the principles of recovery management counter the pathophysiology of addiction and improve a recovering person’s chances of achieving long-term recovery.

Program Information

Outline

I. Addiction: a disorder of reward learning, decision-making and self-awareness

Definitions of Addiction
- The American Society of Addiction Medicine’s Definition of Addiction
- The DSM-5 Symptomology of Addiction (Substance Use Disorder)
The Five Current, Leading Neuroscientific Explanations of Addiction
- Genetic Vulnerability (Blum)
- Incentive-Sensitization (Robinson and Berridge)
- Pathology of Memory and Learning (Kalivas)
- Stress-induced Allostasis (Koob and LeMoal)
- Pathology of Motivation and Choice (Volkow, Goldstein)
The Debate about Addiction’s Definition as a Disease

II. Recent Advances in the Pathophysiology of Addiction

Epigenetics: a new understanding of heritability of addiction & recovery
- The Overkalix Study and transgenerational trauma transmission
- Nicotine primes cocaine use (Kandel and Kandel)
Psychoneuroimmunology: the Gut-Brain-Immune Loop
- Inflammation and Psychiatric Disorders
- The Role of Microglia in brain disease and repair
Implications for the Disease Argument

III. Recovery Management: a Safety-based approach to sobriety

Altering Health Disparities by Improving the Social Determinants of Health
Professional Health Programs: What Makes a Good Aftercare Plan
- Treatment and “Recovery Literacy”
- Recovery Management Check-Ups
  - Active Linkage to Recovery-Oriented System of Care (ROSC)
- Recovery Residences
- Peer-based Sobriety Support (Kelly, Kaskutas)
- Relapse Safety Planning
- Urine Drug Testing (Monitoring)
- Vocational Rehabilitation and The Collegiate Recovery Movement
- Addiction Medicine Specialists
- How Recovery Management informs Medication-Assisted Treatment
- “Hedonic Rehabilitation”

Target Audience

Counselors
Social Workers
Psychologists
Addiction Counselors
Therapists
Marriage & Family Therapists
Nurses
Case Managers
Other Mental Health Professionals

Objectives

Appraise the latest neuroscientific explanations of substance use disorder pathophysiology and interpret Substance Use Disorder symptomology in light of this research.
Investigate and analyze the arguments for and against the conceptualization of addiction as a brain disease.
Analyze elements and evaluate examples of Recovery Management, post-treatment support/aftercare, and Recovery-Oriented Systems of Care.
Utilize the principles of Safety Culture and Chronic Disease Management to solve common problems in early sobriety

Copyright : 09/09/2020

Treat Anxiety, Depression & Related Disorders

Early in my career, I recognized a disconnect between neuroscience research and popular treatment strategies. While depression and anxiety are clearly rooted in altered brain function, most clinicians were not taught about specific neural circuits and neurotransmitters that contribute to these disorders. As a result, treating mood and anxiety disorders were often incomplete – many solutions uncovered by research were overlooked and strategies relied heavily on medication without any changes in a client’s action, activity and environment. There had to be a better way to treat these clients and improve outcomes!

Today, I know that using proven cognitive-behavioral interventions like Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), and Behavioral Activation Therapy (BAT) in conjunction with exercise, social support and positive habits yields powerful therapeutic effects. Expanding your tool kit of brain-based interventions allows you to accommodate your clients’ different challenges. And, when your clients understand that what feels “wrong” is actually the activity and chemistry of particular brain circuits, it improves treatment buy in and compliance.

Watch this must attend conference and I will show you how to put the power of neuroscience to work for you and your clients:

Utilize brain-based cognitive therapies like ACT, MBCT, and BAT for mood and anxiety disorders
Apply new techniques informed by the latest neuroscience research to improve treatment outcomes
Discover how simple interventions modulate the activity and chemistry of key brain regions
Learn how to teach clients about their brain

Are you ready to expand your treatment tool box with the latest in neuroscience techniques?

Let me help you take your practice to the next level. Your satisfaction is guaranteed.

See you there,

Dr. Alex Korb

Program Information

Objectives

Analyze findings from neuroscientific research exploring the connection between key brain regions, neurotransmitters, and mental health.
Analyze how understanding neurobiological processes can help clinicians establish realistic goals with clients and engage them in therapy.
Analyze the role of the amygdala in stress and anxiety and communicate how labeling feelings and mindful awareness of emotions can be used to manage symptoms.
Determine how habits relate to stress and connect this information to cognitive behavioral approaches that intervene in habit loops and reduce stress related symptoms.
Use neuroscience informed explanations of mental health disorders in discussions with clients to shift how they feel about their pathology.
Assess the latest scientific research on gratitude and characterize the potential benefits and research limitations found in these studies.

Outline

Understand the Key Brain Regions and Chemicals Involved

Prefrontal cortex, limbic system, striatum
Neurotransmitters: serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, oxytocin, etc.
How it all fits together

Key Principles From Proven Cognitive-Behavioral Interventions

Behavioral Activation Therapy (BAT)
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)

Utilize the Benefits of Exercise

Benefits on serotonin and dopamine systems, as well as stress reductions
Intensity and frequency of exercise required
How simply being outdoors can help

Minding the Amygdala: Mindful Awareness of Emotions

Labeling feelings to reduce amygdala activity
Making the most of ACT to reduce stress

Set Goals, Make Decisions, and Top-Down Regulation of Brain Activity

The impact of goal-setting on lower-level processing
Choice, decisions and happiness
The importance of intention and voluntary choices
Simple strategies for applying BAT

Low-Tech Biofeedback

The mind-body connection, meditation and MBCT
Understanding heart-rate variability
The power of breathing
How postural changes, muscle tension and facial expressions can affect mood

How the Brain Encodes Habits and How to Change Them

The distinction between impulses and routines
Cognitive and emotional habits
The relationship between habits and stress
Cognitive-behavioral approaches to changing habits

Social Solutions

The impact of social support on the brain’s stress response
The power of physical touch
Why social interactions are rewarding
How social support can improve the efficacy of medication

The Power of Gratitude

The impact of gratitude on key neural circuits
How to operationalize gratitude in order to implement it in daily life

Make the Most of Sleep

How sleep affects mood
Key changes in sleep hygiene that improve sleep quality

The Limitations of Neuroscientific Research

fMRI imaging
Things to consider regarding animal studies
Simple explanations for complicated processes

Target Audience

Psychologists
Social Workers
Licensed Counselors
Marriage and Family Therapists
Nurses
Nurse Practitioners
Psychotherapists
Addiction Counselors
Occupational Therapists

Copyright : 01/26/2021

Affective Neuroscience for Clinicians: Emotion-based Strategies for the Treatment of Trauma, Anxiety, and Depression

When it comes to working with emotions in therapy, few interventions deal with the emotion itself and how to respond to it.

Instead, we teach our patients to manage and regulate them…and, in the process, we hope they go away.

But, often, the emotions don’t go away.

Why? Because the modalities you know and practice treat the symptoms and not the cause!

We need a new way to think about psychopathology and this is it!

I’ve devoted my career to affective neuroscience research and emotion-based therapies. And, along the way, helped thousands of patients with their emotional struggles.

YOU CAN easily and effectively help your clients create deep, lasting change by giving them the power to access and accept difficult emotions that come at unexpected times.

Spend this day with me and I guarantee that you will walk away with research proven strategies and tactics that help your patients overcome their emotional challenges and move through trauma, anxiety, and depression.

If you see patients with PTSD, trauma, anger, fear, guilt, shame, abandonment and compulsion issues – this is a must see seminar!

Purchase today and I will see you in the webcast!

Lee Stevens, Ph.D.

Program Information

Objectives

Determine which patients would benefit from affect reconsolidation and how to maximize successful outcomes.
Utilize emotion in psychotherapy through techniques involving emotion-based mindfulness, self-validation, self-compassion, and emotional regulation skills
Develop patient’s skills to recognize when their feelings are germane to the current situation and when they may be a result of past experience(s).
Employ principles of affective neuroscience to inform treatment strategies for working with emotion in psychotherapy.
Demonstrate strategies to increase and decrease emotion and recognize when to apply each strategy.
Distinguish between the wanting and liking neural systems as they relate to treatment for a patient with compulsive behaviors.

Outline

Using Affect and Emotion in Therapy

Affect reconsolidation as a universal mechanism
When to implement affect reconsolidation
Creating the optimal conditions in therapy
Risks and Limitations

Affective Neuroscience Principles

Key brain regions for emotions
Impact of specific emotions on brain cortex
Emotion as a central problem in psychopathology
Strategic use of emotion in therapy

The goals of emotion-based psychotherapy

Building safety and trust with your patients
Addressing internal and external relationships to emotion
Achieving the optimal level of arousal
Changing the relationship with memory and emotion
Seeing emotions as a useful tool in therapy

Affective Neuroscience 4-Step Therapeutic Model

Emotional Awareness/Mindfulness
Validation of emotions
Self-Compassion & Empathy
Utilizing emotion

The Affect Reconsolidation Toolbox

Mindfulness for recognizing emotions and where they come from
Emotional validation techniques
Techniques for optimal arousal of emotions
Gestalt techniques for increasing emotion
Somatic techniques for up and down regulation
Cognitive based techniques to stop reinforcement of negative feelings

Therapeutic Goals When Targeting Specific Emotions

Anger – boundaries and consequences, forgiveness
Sadness – unresolved grief, primary/ secondary emotions
Fear – managing fear responses, controlling behavior
Desire – regulating reward systems, increasing self-control
Disgust – self-acceptance
Jealousy/Envy – comparisons to others, self-judgement

Affect Reconsolidation in the Treatment of Trauma

Creating curiosity about our emotional responses
Differentiating between past and present emotions
Work with secondary emotions first
Affect Reconsolidation for primary traumatic feelings

Target Audience

Counselors
Psychotherapists
Psychologists
Social Workers
Addiction Counselors
Occupational Therapists
Occupational Therapy Assistants
Marriage & Family Therapists
Case Managers
Therapists
Nurses
Other Mental Health Professionals

Neuroscience for Clinicians: Brain Change for Stress, Anxiety, Trauma, Moods and Substance Abuse

Neuroscience has given us incredible insights into the workings of the brain and its connection to our mental health. Recent research reveals that neuroplasticity takes place all through life, so you can offer hope for real change no matter how long your client has suffered.

This seminar will connect complicated science with your clinical practice, and transform how you view and work with traumatized, stressed, addicted, anxious and depressed clients!

Discover how and where neuroplasticity occurs, and ways to use it therapeutically. Participate in enjoyable learning experiences that provide you with the clear principles and background you need for utilizing neuroscience in your work. Draw on multiple modalities to overcome resistance, activate creative responses, and turn problems into potentials. Add new dimensions to each therapy session and initiate change using top-down, bottom-up, and horizontal methods that can be creatively individualized.

Leave this seminar feeling confident in bringing the latest findings from neuroscience into your treatments!

Program Information

Objectives

Communicate how an understanding of neuroscientific research and neurological processes can help mental health professionals improve clinical outcomes.
Determine the interrelationship of depression and anxiety and communicate how this information can be used in relation to treatment planning.
Employ psychoeducation techniques that improve engagement in therapy by making neuroscience and neurobiology understandable for clients.
Analyze how neural pathways regulating stress and reward are related to mental health disorders, and connect this information to your utilization of therapeutic interventions to reduce stress and manage addiction.
Evaluate the relationship between memory malleability and trauma and communicate how this information can be utilized therapeutically to help clients cope with traumatic memories.
Investigate how mindfulness and meditation impact the nervous system and articulate how mindfulness interventions can be used in your treatment plans for depression.

Outline

Tour through the Brain: What clinicians need to know from neurons to structures, to pathways, to networks

Feel your neurons activate
See brain structures in 3-D
Experience how the brain processes top-down, bottom-up, and horizontal
Actively engage your brain structures for change
Work with implicit and explicit memories
Learn how to rebalance key pathways with your interventions:
- Pain Pathway
- Reward Pathway
- Fear-Stress Pathway

Nervous System Networks and the Social Brain: We are wired for attunement

Default Mode (DMN) and Task Mode Networks (TMN)
Healing attachment
Activate mirror neurons bottom-up

Neuroplasticity and Neurogenesis: How the brain can change

Three timeframes for change
Neuroplasticity at the synapse
How to foster neuroplasticity in clients
Neuroplasticity in action: Exercise your brain!

Practice the Interventions for Healing: Bottom-up, top-down, and horizontal

Sensory Awareness
Meditation and Mindfulness
Body Work
Unconscious and the DMN
Experience and activate the direct Mind-Body link

Integrate the Brain into Treatments

Stress
- How stress alters the nervous system
- Calm the stress/fear pathway
- Develop alert/relaxed attention for better coping
Trauma
- Develop security through self-soothing methods
- Foster confidence with yoga body positioning
- Extinguish traumatic memories
- Reconsolidate implicit memories
Anxiety
- The anxious brain reaction
- Work top down/bottom up/horizontally
- Calm the limbic system bottom up with movement
- Soothe the insula through meditative sensory awareness
- Deconstruct sensations mindfully
- Balance the nervous system
Substance Abuse
- Brain areas involved in addictions
- Rewire the reward pathway
- Detach form pleasure and pain
- Activate the parietal lobes for sensory relaxation and enjoyment
- Develop prefrontal connections for better judgment
Depression
- The depressed brain pattern
- Activate an under-activated nervous system with yoga postures and energy meditations
- Regulate the limbic system by activating links to prefrontal cortex and cingulate gyrus with mindfulness turned outward
- Practice the 4-step method to overcome negative self-suggestions
- Unify real and ideal
- Foster joyful relationship through mirror neurons
- Develop compassion and gratitude

6 Principles for Incorporating the Brain into your Therapy

Target Audience

Counselors
Psychotherapists
Psychologists
Social Workers
Addiction Counselors
Occupational Therapists
Occupational Therapy Assistants
Marriage & Family Therapists
Physicians
Case Managers
Therapists
Nurses
Other Mental Health Professionals