2025 workshop reference guide
Pre-Conference Workshops
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1 | 001: At a Crossroads: Ethical and Legal Challenges for Faith-based Mental Health Professionals
Summary: This pre-conference session reviews some of the key ethical and legal challenges facing faith-based mental professionals, including psychologists, other licensed mental health professionals, as well as pastoral counselors and coaches. Faith-based mental...
10 | 010: The Effects of Christian Faith on the Brain, Cognitive Functioning, and Brain Disease
Summary: There is a connection between religious faith, cognitive functioning, and brain health, specifically in the context of faith-based mental and medical care. Psychologists, licensed mental health professionals, medical professionals, and ministry leaders will...
11 | 011: Deconstructing Negative Self Talk: Practical Tools to Escape a Toxic Mindset
Summary: Positive psychology has brought awareness to the importance of the client’s mindset, which can be in a negative space, marked by negative thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, or a positive space with hopeful thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. In this workshop,...
12 | 012: Pornography, Sextortion, and Broken Relationships: Taking Back the Power Over One’s Body and Desires
Summary: Sexual compulsivity, including pornography usage and infidelity, continues to bring devastation to individuals, couples, and families. The statistics are tragically high regarding the impact of the trauma of all types of sexual betrayal. The field of Partner...
13 | 013: Healing for the Brain and Soul: Neuro-based Coaching Strategies for Post-traumatic Growth
Today, people seek coaching, sometimes after counseling, to help heal and grow after difficult losses and traumatic experiences. As coaches, it is essential to analyze the meaning of neuroplasticity, resilience, and neuro-based coaching and capitalize on the wealth of...
14 | 014: Building Resiliency and Mental Toughness in Today’s Generation: Battling through the Pressure to Perform and Perfectionism in Everyday Life
Building resiliency and mental toughness in today’s generation is crucial, given the pressures young people face in an increasingly complex world. Sport and performance psychology play a key role in fostering these qualities. Research highlights that mental...
14 | 014: Building Resiliency and Mental Toughness in Today’s Generation: Battling through the Pressure to Perform and Perfectionism in Everyday Life
Summary: Building resiliency and mental toughness in today’s generation is crucial, given the pressures young people face in an increasingly complex world. Sport and performance psychology play a key role in fostering these qualities. Research highlights that mental...
15 | 015: Chronically Stressed and Highly Visible Relationships: Building and Protecting Intimacy and Connection in Marriage
Summary: This workshop equips those who work with couples facing chronic stress and public visibility with practical tools for protecting and deepening their marital intimacy. Participants will explore how chronic stress affects relationship dynamics, specifically...
16 | 016: Treatment Resistant Depression, Neurobiology, and Lasting Change: The Road Map to Newfound Joy and Living
Summary: According to research, up to one-third of patients with depression fail to experience lasting wellness despite the usage of medication, such as antidepressant treatment. An exploration of recent studies now describes depression not as a monolithic disorder...
17 | 017: Christian Superhero Therapy with Traumatized Youth and Young Adults: Speaking Their Language to Help Clients Engage in the Process
Summary: When trauma crashes into the life of a child or teenager, their sense of safety, freedom, and even faith can be shaken to its core. Commonly used adult-focused mental health approaches may not be effective in reaching this younger client’s core fears. Dr....
18 | 018: Anorexia, Bulimia, and Disordered Eating: Trends, Myths, and Evidence-based Solutions
Summary: This workshop offers a comprehensive overview of eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and other forms of disordered eating. Psychologists and mental health coaches will explore the latest trends in prevalence, diagnosis, and...
19 | 019: Race-based Trauma, Generational Trauma, and Diversity: Clinical and Ethical Responses
Summary: This panel discussion workshop explores the pervasive impact of race-based and generational trauma on mental health, social well-being, and community dynamics. It provides a foundational understanding of race-based trauma, examining how historical and...
2 | 002: PTSD and Complex Trauma: Differential Diagnosis and Evidence-based Treatment Models
Summary: Traumatic events can come in many different ways, and the impact of trauma can vary depending on its nature, timing, and the individual’s circumstances. This workshop will explore the distinctions between Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex PTSD...
20 | 020: Recovery Alive: New Science and Understanding of Addictions and Recovery
Summary: Amid the most devastating drug epidemic in history, developing a comprehensive, church-based, Christ-centered response for connecting to and treating individuals suffering from substance use disorders has never been more important! In this pre-conference...
21 | 021: Supporting Clients with ADHD Throughout the Lifespan
Summary: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) affects individuals across their lifespan, presenting unique challenges and opportunities for growth at every developmental stage. This session provides an in-depth exploration of “The World of the Client with...
22 | 022: Toxic Faith and Spiritual Abuse: A Mental Health Professional’s Guide to Working with Those Hurt by the Church
Summary: Most people think of extreme cults when they hear the words “spiritual abuse.” However, far too often, toxic faith messages find their way into mainstream faith-based communities and go unnamed. With more than 20 years of groundbreaking research and...
23 | 023: Gender Identity and Religious Faith in Clinical Practice
Summary: Helping people navigate diverse gender identities and gender identity questions is complex and often polarizing work. For families informed by conventionally religious faith, some approaches to care raise as many questions as answers. This pre-conference...
24 | 024: Father Wounds: Helping Those Hurt by Their Earthly Father Connect and Heal with Their Heavenly Father
Summary: Both men and women are profoundly affected by the example of their natural fathers or father figures, for good and bad, which influences multiple aspects of their lives, especially the spiritual dimension for faith-based clients. Processing earthly father...
25 | 025: Worship, Awe, and Dynamic Spiritual Freedom in Christian Mental Health
Summary: In the past two decades, psychologists have increasingly explored the emotion of awe, both theoretically (Keltner & Haidt, 2003) and empirically (Jiang et al., 2024). While definitions vary, awe is typically characterized by three core elements: the...
26 | 026: The Brain, Dragons, and Couples: The Neuroscience of Helping Relationships Navigate the Big Emotional Issues
Summary: This presentation explores how neuroscience can transform relationships by addressing deep emotional challenges. Drs. Sharon May and Daniel Amen explore the “12 Dragons from the Past”—emotional imprints that shape reactions and relational patterns—and provide...
27 | 027: Story-informed Trauma Therapy: An Evidence-based Comprehensive Approach to Trauma Recovery
Summary: Trauma is the “gateway” to various psychological, emotional, physiological, social, and relational sequelae, dysfunctions, and disorders. Trauma, in one form or another, is what brings most of our clients into therapy with licensed mental health professionals...
28 | 028: Abuse, Trauma, and the Emotionally Destructive Relationship
Summary: We have all heard the nursery rhyme, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” It is a lie. The Bible says that words harm people and that reckless words pierce like a sword. Current research agrees that emotional abuse can harm a...
29 | 029: Youth in the Trenches: The Endangered Potential of Adolescents and Young Adults: Multiple Addictions, Trauma, Disconnection, Toxic Shame, and Spiritual Emptiness
Summary: Since the 90s, young Millennials, Gen Z, and Generation Alpha have faced an unprecedented surge in severe mental illnesses, suicide, substance abuse, pornography, intensity-based sex, anorexia, and obesity. In this workshop, participants will consider the...
3 | 003: The Vulnerable Narcissist: Helping Clients Recognize and Survive These Toxic Relationships
Summary: A buzzword in mental health currently is narcissism, but this term has a more significant meaning. This workshop will bring clear information to psychologists, licensed mental health professionals, coaches, and ministry leaders regarding the definition,...
30 | 030: OCD and Religious Scrupulosity/Doubt: Game-changing Transdiagnostic Techniques for Difficult Issues
Summary: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a debilitating condition marked by persistent, intrusive thoughts or images that cause significant anxiety, often leading to compulsive behaviors or mental acts aimed at neutralizing the distress. One specific form of...
31 | 031: Restoring the Moral Compass: Therapeutic Strategies for Alleviating Moral Injury in Christian Clients
Summary: There is growing interest in moral injury, defined as the internal emotional turmoil experienced when moral values are transgressed. First identified among active-duty military and veterans following combat operations, moral injury is now recognized in first...
32 | 032: For Such a Time as This: A Dynamic Christian Approach to Counseling and Psychotherapy
Summary: This pre-conference workshop will cover a dynamic Christian approach to counseling and psychotherapy for Christian clients (Tan, 2022a, 2022b) as spiritually integrated psychotherapy (Pargament, 2007). It will include: 1) A Christian perspective on human...
33 | 033: Preparing for Trauma Work: Specific Tools to Improve Emotion Regulation and Attachment Security
Summary: Trauma work has become an increasingly important aspect of mental health services, but utilizing the correct techniques to foster emotional regulation and attachment security needs to be a focus for psychologists and licensed mental health professionals. This...
34 | 034: Promoting Health, Spiritual Strength, and Well-being to Flourish in Stressful Times
Summary: This pre-conference workshop will explore the biblical and scientific foundations of human flourishing and faith-based, scientifically proven best practices that can be practically applied with clients for increased whole-person well-being, even in...
35 | 035: Meditative Healing Prayer: Uniting Spiritual Truths and Neuroplasticity
Summary: Psychospiritual healing integrates psychological and spiritual elements. It is important to comprehend a client’s relationship with the spiritual realm, employ appropriate faith-based techniques, and implement actionable spiritual interventions to help...
36 | 036: Rewiring the Brain: Understanding Food Addiction and Promoting Healthier Eating Habits
Summary: Addictive eating can feel like bondage for clients who struggle with cravings, food obsession, and compulsive eating, leaving them with a sense that their brains have been hijacked. This workshop will provide psychologists, licensed mental health...
37 | 037: Teen Loneliness, Loss, and Suicide: Healing a Lost Generation
Summary: Our culture has progressively changed over the past several decades, and though it has affected the broader population, teenagers have been affected the most. Loneliness is the most significant indicator of this impact, with teenagers and young adults being...
38 | 038: Confessional Communities: A Novel Model for Neuropsychiatric and Spiritual Transformation
Summary: We long for our patients to have access to supportive contexts that maximize the potential for transformation. Toward this end, individual psychotherapy therapeutic alliances, utilizing any number of interpersonal neurobiologically effective interventions,...
39 | 039: PTSD, Suicidality, and Reintegration: Serving Today’s Warriors When War Comes Home
Summary: Military training builds soldiers to face any situation, endure any hardship, overcome any threat, and defeat the enemy with endurance and persistence. This requires operating as a team, unlearning civilian social behaviors, and forsaking personal gain toward...
4 | 004: Neurotheology: The Presence, Process, Provision, and Power of God in Therapy
Summary: The mental health field recognizes that spirituality has become an area of value and could be incorporated as a multicultural competency requirement within their practice. Understanding how to better address and engage with Christian clients in biblical...
40 | 040: Bridging the Divide: Navigating Familial Estrangement
Summary: Family estrangement is a complex and often painful issue that affects many individuals and families. In this session, licensed mental health professionals, coaches, and ministry leaders will explore the multifaceted nature of estrangement, including its...
41 | 041: Internal Family Systems Therapy Anchored in Faith: How to Develop Healthy Boundaries for Your Soul
Summary: Painful burdens can hold clients back from building the lives they want to live. This experiential workshop is designed for psychologists and licensed mental health professionals working with Christian clients, offering practical guidance on integrating key...
41 | Internal Family Systems Therapy Anchored in Faith: How to Develop Healthy Boundaries for Your Soul
Summary: Painful burdens can hold clients back from building the lives they want to live. This experiential workshop is designed for psychologists and licensed mental health professionals working with Christian clients, offering practical guidance on integrating key...
42 | 042: Blaming the Brain Too Little or Too Much? Distinguishing Physical and Spiritual Causes
Summary: Faith-based clients often believe that they have been constructed with both spiritual substance (soul or spirit) and physical substance (body and brain). Most traditional theological systems identify the person as at least a duality, sometimes a trichotomy....
43 | 043: The Integrated Self: Healthy Emotions and Whole-person Spirituality
Summary: According to the Christian worldview, many Christian clients believe Jesus’s proclamation, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10, NKJV). However, many Christian clients struggle to fully experience this...
44 | 044: Assessment and Treatment of Grief, Trauma, and Suicide: Research-based Keys for Recovery
Summary: New research and ongoing advances in the treatment of trauma and studies of effective interventions for grief and suicidal behavior are bringing novel treatment modalities at a rapid pace. However, it can be challenging for licensed mental health...
45 | 045: Navigating the Chaos: Strategies to Use with Family Members Who Have Borderline or Narcissistic Traits
Summary: Despite repetitive attempts to set reasonable boundaries, foster understanding, and encourage empathy, family members with borderline or narcissistic personality disorder traits often fail to comply, perpetuating a frustrating and upsetting cycle. This...
46 | 046: Get Certified in the SYMBIS Assessment and NEW 5 Love Languages Assessment
Summary: Ministry leaders and coaches want the very best for the couples in their care and a system that makes it personal, profound, and easy. Say hello to the SYMBIS Assessment. Helping couples—whether engaged or married for decades—just got easier and more...
47 | 047: Soul Care Rhythms for Clients to Decrease Burnout and Increase Joy
Summary: Burnout is an increasingly important issue, especially among Christian clients in caregiving, leadership, and ministry roles. They report feeling physically, emotionally, and spiritually drained. Licensed mental health professionals and ministry leaders can...
48 | 048: EMDR, Nature, and Christian Faith
Summary: In this three-hour advanced EMDR class, the principles and theories of faith-based, nature-informed therapy are interwoven with Phases 1 and 2 of EMDR. In Phase 1 of EMDR, the client’s history of traumatizing and adaptive experiences in nature is gathered:...
49 | 049: Advances in Forgiveness Interventions in Mental Health
Summary: This workshop explores key forgiveness intervention models, summarizing their shared principles and mental health outcomes. Psychologists, licensed mental health professionals, and ministry leaders will be equipped to apply or adapt these models to one’s own...
5 | 005: Family Bonds and Binds: Using Play Therapy with Challenging Family Systems
Summary: There is an importance of family therapy being systemic in nature; children are often left out of this process. Family play therapy levels the playing field for all family members, and children are honored when treated as equal members of the system,...
50 | 050: Eyes Wide Open: Seeing and Addressing Spiritual Warfare in Your Life, Context, and Ministry
Summary: Some Christian clients believe in the biblical understanding of root spirits, described as underlying spiritual influences that manifest in harmful thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. This workshop explores the 14 root spirits mentioned in Scripture and their...
6 | 006: Evidence-based Treatments to Rewire the Anxious Brain
Summary: Anxiety and prolonged stress are increasingly prevalent, impacting the mental health of millions. However, neuroscience has shown that the brain can be retrained to manage and reduce anxiety effectively. This workshop explores the neurobiological...
7 | 007: The Death Grip of Shame Across the Lifespan: Breakthrough Identity and Freedom Strategies Anchored in Relationships
Summary: The pervasive presence of shame in today’s culture has made it a more prevalent issue in mental health. According to a Judeo-Christian worldview, originating in the Fall (Genesis 3), shame has become a tool of the enemy. When not processed through a...
8 | 008: Mental Health Coach 2.0: Expanding Your Influence and Effectiveness
Summary: This workshop is designed to help mental health coaches build or improve their practices in church and community settings. The presenter will guide participants through practical skills for reaching and supporting more people, especially those who might not...