NEAFAST In-Home Therapy Conference 2023: Supporting Mental Health Professionals in Community-Based Settings

Friday, April 14, 2023, 8:30am-4:30pm ET
6 CEs | Live on Zoom
Facilitators: Jeremiah Gibson, LMFT; Donna Harris-Richards, LICSW, CST; Jessie Lane, LMFT
Target Audience: Emerging professionals in the field of therapy

The In-Home Therapy Conference is a one day, 6 CE conference that combines components of systemic therapy practice with the practical application of family and relational therapy tools to in-home and community-based therapy settings. This conference will provide education and training in efforts to improve the quality of care delivered to clients, support the professional development of emerging therapists, and increase the use of systemic therapy amongst providers of in-home therapy services. This year's keynote presentation will address the distinctions between family therapy centered around working with relational dynamics and family structure, and family therapy centered around individual therapy with multiple people in the family system. This will be followed by six workshops, from which participants will select two to attend, addressing the use of systemic therapy in community-based and in-home settings. 

The keynote presentation is designed to provide an introduction to family therapy where practitioners are encouraged to work with relational dynamics and family structure, ultimately so that family members can use their own communication strategies to solve problems in ways that aligns most appropriately with their values. Each workshop session contains two goals. The first goal is to provide practical tools to improve outcomes when delivering therapy services in community-based and in-home settings. The second goal is to increase participant ability to utilize a systemic therapy approach in their clinical work and throughout their professional development. Each participant will have the opportunity to engage in two workshops as shown in the schedule below. The conference will close with a panel discussion hosted by the workshop presenters on working with families in family therapy. 

Despite the risk of assumed knowledge, the foundational nature of the conference is also one of the greatest strengths. Seldom are new clinicians provided with the basic building blocks needed to engage productively in the therapeutic settings they are most likely to be employed in upon exiting their graduate programs. This conference will provide new clinicians with critical information they can immediately apply to their work within in-home and community-based therapy settings. Additionally, we hypothesize that focusing on foundational work will create a space in which new clinicians feel able to ask questions, vocalize their concerns about their work, and engage in vulnerable conversations about their profession without feeling judged by others who may have more expertise, thus creating a richer learning experience for participants.

At the conclusion of this program, participants will be better able to:

1. Name three techniques for engaging with the relational dynamics within the family structure.
2. Identify three strategies for developing clinical self-awareness, assessing bias and blind spots, and exploring values and beliefs and how they might impact the therapy provided to clients.
3. Describe three strategies to help families collaboratively navigate processes of grief and transition at multiple stages of the developmental process, including early childhood and adolescence.
4. Identify multiple theoretical/practical approaches to practicing family therapy in the homes of clients.
5. Apply three methods for engaging family members who are not typically invited into the family therapy process, including fathers, grandparents, and important outside relatives.

Schedule (all times in ET):
8:30-8:45am: Introduction
8:45-10AM: Working with Relationships in Family Therapy Part 1 — Donna Harris Richards (she/her), Jessie Lane (they/them), and Jeremiah Gibson (he/him)
10-10:15am: Break
10:15am-12:15pm: Course 1
      1) In-Home Service Delivery with the LGBTQ Population — Joy Lochelt (she/her/they/them) and Andi Brown (he/his)     
      2) Introduction to Ecosystemic Structural Family Therapy — Caitlin Pierce (she/her)
      3) Multicultural Supervision — Jessica Holmes (she/her)

12:15-1:15pm: Lunch
1:15-3:15pm: Course 2
      1) The Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood (DC:0-5): An Overview for Relational Health Professionals — Aditi Subramaniam (she/her) and Cassandra Carroll (she/her)
      2) Supporting Children and Youth’s Grief and Loss Expectations — Maureen Patterson-Fede (she/her)
      3) Working with Fathers in Family Therapy — Jeremiah Gibson (he/him)

3:15-3:30pm: Break
3:30-4:30pm: Working with Relationships in Family Therapy Part 2 — Facilitator: Jessie Lane; Panelists: Joy Lochelt, Andi Brown, Caitlin Pierce, Jessica Holmes, Aditi Subramaniam, Cassandra Carroll Donna Harris-Richards, Maureen Patterson-Fede, and Jeremiah Gibson

The In-Home Therapy Conference includes the opportunity to learn from, network, and collaborate with other family and systemic therapists, and is incredibly affordable: $80 for Non-Members; $40 for Members; $20 for Student Members, with a generous donation from the Emily Mitchell Scholarship Fund. Organizations who register 5 or more participants get a $20 discount.

Become a NEAFAST Member here!

Register Here

Jeremiah Gibson, LMFT is the Executive Director of the New England Association for Family and Systemic Therapy (NEAFAST), a professional association dedicated to the expansion of quality training and education in family and relational therapy in Massachusetts. He is a certified sex therapist through the American Association for Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists (AASECT), and works with couples at the South Shore Sexual Health Center in Quincy, MA, where he is also on the faculty for their year-long training program for sex therapy. Jeremiah is a former clinical supervisor at South Bay Community Services in Dorchester, and has spoken in numerous contexts, including the Harvard Medical School, about the intersection of couples therapy, sexuality, and religion. He has advanced training in supervision through the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), and has collaborated with community health centers and advisory councils to improve the workforce standards for employees at agencies.

Donna Harris-Richards, LICSW, CST is a family and systemic therapist, a licensed independent clinical social worker and AASECT Certified Sex Therapist specializing in sexual health and intimacy, couples, relational and family therapy in private practice. Practicing since 2002, she currently runs a full-time solo private practice, Sex and Couples Therapy in New Bedford, MA utilizing a family systems approach. Donna is a former supervisor at Seven Hills Behavioral Health in New Bedford, MA for community programming serving populations coping with HIV/AIDS and substance use challenges. She also collaborated closely with Child and Family Services in New Bedford, MA and their IHT program, serving to support and strengthen families in South Coast communities. She serves on the board of NEAFAST and has published articles in the NASW Focus and NEJRSP (The New England Journal of Relational and Systemic Practice). Her growing podcast addresses the importance of sexual health, couple and relational health, family relational health and systems therapy, in her mission to help families thrive.

Jessie Lane, LMFT is a licensed marriage and family therapist from Southern Massachusetts. Jessie is a volunteer member of the New England Association for Family and Systemic Therapy (NEAFAST) Board of Directors and passionate about the proliferation of the use of systems theory as a framework for therapy. Jessie is a member of The World Professional Association for Transgender Health and is an advocate for access to quality medical and mental health care within LGBT communities. Jessie began her career working as an admissions coordinator and group facilitator within a partial hospital program, and moved to providing outpatient in-home therapy with a Massachusetts CBHI program. Jessie is currently the Clinical Lead within a small group practice on the South Shore of Massachusetts where she supports professional development, provides outpatient therapy to families, couples and children, and co-creates policies and procedures to increase treatment efficacy and clinician well-being.

This activity is pending certification by the New England Association for Family and Systemic Therapy (NEAFAST) on behalf of the Massachusetts Board of Registration of Allied Mental Health & Human Services Professions for LMFT professional continuing education.

This activity is pending certification by the National Association of Social Workers Massachusetts Chapter on behalf of the Massachusetts Board of Registration of Allied Mental Health & Human Services Professions for LICSW professional continuing education.

Please note: It is the participant’s responsibility to check with their individual state boards to verify CE requirements for their state.

This program is being offered independent of any commercial support or conflict of interest. Clinicians with any level of experience are welcome to participate.

Cancellation Policy: Please email us at [email protected] if you are unable to make it. We will give a full reimbursement for cancelations one month prior to the training.

Accessibility Statement: Participants will receive access to the Zoom link after signing up for the conference. Closed captioning can be provided through request.