The following are the workshops from the School of Social Work’s eighth year of the Clinical Lecture Series, where area practitioners, students, and faculty learn together from esteemed and innovative clinicians. The CLS offers monthly lectures enhance the clinical curriculum for students and offer continuing education for graduates and practitioners. It also aims to foster and strengthen relationships among clinically-oriented students and the wider clinical community. Selection of topics and speakers come from participant feedback.

All events took place in the Tate-Turner-Kuralt Auditorium of the School of Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill located at 325 Pittsboro Street, and met on Mondays from 12 noon to 2:00 pm.

Schedule of Events

1. Monday, September 17, 2012 – How mindfulness and compassion can free you from anxiety, fear, and panic, presented by Jeffrey Brantley, MD  || SLIDES || printable Handout 

Link to video

Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent of all psychiatric conditions—the DSM IV includes ten distinct anxiety disorders, in addition to anxiety “not otherwise specified.” In this workshop, Jeff Brantley will discuss the physiological and cognitive dimensions of the experience of anxiety, and illustrate how mindfulness — nonjudging, present-moment-centered awareness — can be practiced and applied to the experience of anxiety to help reduce its impact and promote greater resiliency and happiness. Brantley describes the importance of approaching mindfulness, as more than a method or technique to be used in therapy, but as a way of living, grounded in daily practice. Workshop participants are invited to apply and deepen specific mindfulness practices, rooted in kindness and compassion, in their work with individuals and with themselves. These include practicing acceptance during mindfulness mediation and feeling safe while opening up to fearful and anxious feelings.

Bio: Jeffrey Brantley, MD, DFAPA, Director of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program at Duke Integrative Medicine, which he helped found in 1998, and Consulting Associate in Duke Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, has trained and practiced psychiatry both in community mental health and in private practice. He has been practicing mindfulness for 30 years, and began teaching mindfulness meditation to health professionals and others in 1990. He has participated in intensive meditation retreats, practicing with a variety of teachers, including Joan Halifax, Thich Nhat Hanh, Larry Rosenberg, Christina Feldman, and members of the Amaravati Buddhist monastic community. He has also completed the professional training for Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction offered by Jon Kabat-Zinn and Saki Santorelli. He is author of best-selling books on applying mindfulness to life, including the “Five Good Minutes” series, and Daily Meditations for Calming Your Anxious Mind.

2. Monday, October 15, 2012 – The use of religious CBT with people with chronic health problems, presented by Harold Koenig, MD   || SLIDES || printable Handouts

link to more materials

People struggling with physical illnesses are more prone to depression; and depression exacerbates health problems by altering people’s perception of symptoms, their ability to cope, and their physiological vulnerability (including immune and endocrine changes). In this workshop, Harold Koenig will address the complex interrelationships between chronic illness and depression, and the role spirituality can play in therapeutic treatment, given its widespread use as a coping strategy in times of adversity. Drawing from his research on the integration of religious resources and therapeutic practice, Dr. Koenig will describe cognitive-behavioral therapy that incorporates Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist approaches to treat depression that co-occurs with chronic illness.

Bio: Harold G. Koenig, MD is a practicing psychiatrist, Director of the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health, and Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center. He is also Distinguished Adjunct Professor at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Dr. Koenig is considered one of the world’s top experts on religion and health, with nearly 400 scientific peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on mental health, geriatrics, and religion, and 40 books in print or in preparation. He has given invited testimony to both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives on the role of religion in public health. His work has received many accolades, the most recent being the 2012 Oskar Pfister Award from the American Psychiatric Association.

3. Monday, November 5, 2012 – Self-harm behaviors in adolescents and adults, presented by Jill Compton, PhD and Prue Cuper, PhD  || SLIDES || printable Handouts 

link to video

Intentional self-harm behavior is common among adolescents with emotional regulation difficulties and individuals diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Self-harm behaviors have been referred to by many names in the literature, including self-injury, parasuicidal behavior, and self-mutilation, and involve deliberate destruction of body tissue without suicidal intent. Self-harm behaviors are challenging to evaluate, understand, and treat and are among the most distressing clinical problems faced by family members and clinicians. This workshop will address the evaluation and treatment of self-harm behavior in individual and family therapy. Participants will learn about the common functions of self-harm, factors that maintain these behaviors, and intervention strategies.

Bio: Jill S. Compton, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Behavioral Interventions Program in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Compton has worked extensively with multi-problem adolescents and adults. She has a particular interest in expanding dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) to couple and family problems, and has conducted research investigating family interventions for borderline personality disorder and major depression. Dr. Compton has also worked to apply DBT principles in education contexts, including development of programs in high school and residency training settings.

Bio: Prudence F. Cuper, Ph.D. is a Postdoctoral Associate at Duke University Medical Center. A graduate of Duke University’s clinical psychology program, Dr. Cuper has been involved in research investigating applications of DBT and the dissemination of DBT, as well as studies on emotion regulation and treatments for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Her interest in DBT and her appreciation for empirically supported treatments stem from her employment at Behavioral Tech Research, where she worked as a grants and projects manager before embarking on a career as a psychologist. Dr. Cuper has led numerous DBT skills groups for adults and adolescents, and enjoys the lively discussions and multiple perspectives these groups offer.

4. Monday, January 14, 2013 – The ethical context of psychopharmacology: empowering therapists and clients, presented by Belinda Novik, MSCP, MD, PhD  || SLIDES || Handouts ||

Link to video

Problems of overprescribing psychotropic medication, off-label prescribing, direct-to-consumer advertising, and conflicts of interest involved in psychopharmacology are all hot topics in the media. In this workshop, Belinda Novik will shed light on the ethics involved with psychopharmacology by clarifying the relevant history, relationships among major players (including “Big Pharma”), and legislation, which have all contributed to the influence of drug companies in academic, research, and clinical practice. Dr. Novik will describe examples of ethical conflicts that arise with in this environment and the impact on consumers and prescribers. She will also provide guidelines to help clinicians ask relevant questions, empower themselves and their clients, and pursue resources for further inquiry.

Bio: Belinda R. Novik, MSCP, MD, Ph.D., P.C. began her career teaching residents at Duke in the Department of Community and Family Medicine. She developed and taught courses in interviewing skills, therapeutic communication, family dynamics, management of pain and the maintenance of comfort, and has been in private practice as a psychologist since 1982. She has supervised psychologists, social workers, and psychiatry residents. In the 1990s, she noticed something had changed – many of her clients were being medicated by their physicians, and often without adequate education about the medications, their effects, or side effects. Disturbed by this, Dr. Novik pursued further education, earning a master’s degree in clinical psychopharmacology (in 2004) and an MD (in 2008), enabling her to practice as a medical psychologist. She is an advocate of truly informed decision making and sees medication as one of many diverse therapeutic approaches.

5. Monday, February 11, 2013 – The multidimensional family tree: Best practices for working with members of step-families, presented by Anne Jones, MSW, PhD  || SLIDES || printable Handouts 

Link to video

Stepfamilies have become ubiquitous – currently, about one in three people in the U.S. are members of stepfamilies. Given the prevalence, all practitioners are likely to encounter members of stepfamilies in their work. In this workshop, participants will be encouraged to consider the relevance of stepfamily status in their practice with clients – regardless of whether their work has been with adults or children, or from an individual or family-oriented approach. The workshop will highlight relevant development and structural characteristics of stepfamilies, common dilemmas they face, as well as evidence-based practices for intervening with families and individual members.

Bio: Anne Jones, MSW, PhD is an associate clinical professor at the School of Social Work at UNC Chapel Hill where she teaches direct practice classes including Practice with Couples. Prior to this, she worked in clinical practice, for more than 20 years, with an emphasis on couple and family systems work. Dr. Jones’s current research agenda focuses on couple and family relationships, family formation, psycho-education and internet groups, and intervention research. She recently completed a five-year community intervention study aimed at strengthening couple relationships and parenting bonds among economically disadvantaged, unmarried, expectant couples in Durham, NC.

6. Monday, March 25, 2013 – Evidence-based clinical hypnosis for clients and ourselves, presented by Bob Dick, PhD  || SLIDES || printable Handouts 

Link to video

Hypnosis is a powerful evidence-based tool, not a treatment, to empower psychotherapy and medical treatment. Misunderstandings of this tool often prevail because a small minority of therapists or researchers has been trained in this modality. This workshop will demythologize hypnosis and demonstrate its use in reducing anxiety, strengthening therapeutic relationships, and enhancing insight, self-support, and positive outcomes. Strategies, techniques, and exercises will be offered to allow participants to experience, understand, and use hypnotic approaches within any model of non-hypnotic therapy.

Bio: Bob Dick, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist with more than four decades of experience in varied settings including community mental health centers, public and private schools, and medical and psychiatric hospitals. He is currently in private practice in Raleigh and Chapel Hill. Dr. Dick practices integrative therapy, which synthesizes hypnosis with Gestalt therapy, transactional analysis, in which he has received advanced training, as well as other approaches. His special interests are in hypnosis, mind-body issues, and group therapy, and the treatment of anxiety and mood disorders. He is an Approved Consultant with the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, has taught ASCH workshops, and is two-term past President of the NC Society of Clinical Hypnosis, which also awarded him Lifetime Membership. He has visited China to exchange experiences with colleagues and teach group therapy and hypnosis.

7. Monday, April 15, 2013 – Working effectively with hyper-arousal symptoms in individuals with PTSD, presented by Eric Elgoben, PhD  || SLIDES || printable Handouts 

Link to video

PTSD is a complex anxiety disorder that can occur in individuals who have experienced or witnessed trauma, with symptoms that include re-experiencing the trauma through flashbacks, dreams, or recurring thoughts; avoidance of reminders of their trauma, which can result in social and emotional withdrawal, despondency, and memory loss; and hyperarousal symptoms such as feeling “on edge,” becoming easily startled, suffering from insomnia, and experiencing angry outbursts. In this workshop, Eric Elbogen will share his research on combat veterans, which reveals processes linking experiences of anger and aggressiveness in combat veterans to PTSD hyperarousal symptoms. Participants will learn about assessing for risks as well as treatment strategies that are effective in this subgroup of PTSD sufferers.

Bio: Eric Elbogen, PhD, is an associate professor in the UNC Department of Psychiatry, with a background in both law and clinical psychology. His research and clinical work focus on violence risk assessment and veterans mental health. He is currently Principal Investigator on research projects funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, Department of Defense, and Department of Education studying the effects of PTSD, traumatic brain injury, and psychiatric disability on post-deployment adjustment among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. His clinical work includes psychological assessments at Central Regional Hospital and the UNC Forensic Psychiatry Program and Clinic.

Download CLS printable wall flier of all 2012-2013 events (pdf).

For previous years’ events:  2011-2012 ||  2010-2011 | |  2009-2010 ||  2008-2009 || 2007-2008 || 2006-2007 | | 2005-2006