Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy Training in 2012

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
The workshop covers all the "Required Core Training Content" necessary to enter the practicum to become a Certified Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy therapist. The use of SKYPE, independent study, and consultations will allow remote participants to fulfill the requirements to become Certified Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy therapists.

The workshop uses a combination of SKYPE sessions, group discussion, independent study, and case presentations. Attachment-focused family therapy workbook, is the course text.

Early deprivation, neglect, abuse, significant early health problems and hospitalizations, repeated moves, or more than one year in an orphanage can create attachment problems that require specialized treatment. Traditional forms of therapy are ineffective with attachment-disordered children. This workshop will provide the therapist and other professionals with an opportunity to learn and practice effective treatment methods for trauma-attachment disordered children.

Participants are encouraged to present videotapes of sessions.

Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy is an evidence-based, effective, and empirically validated treatment that is grounded in current thinking and research on the etiology and treatment of Complex Trauma or Developmental Trauma Disorder and disorders of attachment. Treatment is primarily experiential and there is an important teaching element as well. Teaching parents about attachment-facilitating parenting methods and the importance of attunement and responsive, sensitive parenting is essential. Direct work with the parents regarding their own family or origin issues is another component of treatment. Finally, intensive emotional work with the child in a manner consistent with sound treatment principles is vital.

The workshop is led by Dr. Arthur Becker-Weidman, who is a certified Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapist, Certified Consultant, and Certified Trainer by the Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy Institute.

CENTER FOR FAMILY DEVELOPMENT
The Center For Family Development is an internationally recognized treatment and training center specializing in helping adopted and foster families with trauma and attachment disordered children. The Center is a registered agency with the Association for Treatment and Training in the Attachment of Children.


Arthur Becker-Weidman, CSW-R Ph.D. received his doctorate in Human Development from the University of Maryland, Institute for Child Study. He achieved Diplomate status from the American Board of Psychological Specialties in Child Psychology and Forensic Psychology. He is a Vice-President, clinical, with the Association for the Treatment and Training in the Attachment of Children and President of the Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy Institute. Art is an adjunct Clinical Professor at SUNY at Buffalo. He has published over a dozen scholarly papers and regularly presents at international and national conferences. Art consults with psychologists, social workers, marriage and family therapists and several child treatment agencies, school districts, departments of social services, and governments in the United States, Canada, Finland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Singapore, & Australia.

EVIDENCE-BASIS FOR TREATMENT
* Becker-Weidman, A., (2006) “Treatment for Children with Trauma-Attachment Disorders: Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy,” Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal. Vol. 23(2), 147-171.
* Becker-Weidman, A., (2006) “Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy: A multi-year Follow-up,” in, New Developments In Child Abuse Research, Stanley M. Sturt, Ph.D. (Ed.) Nova Science Publishers, NY, pp. 43 – 61.
* Becker-Weidman, A., (2007). “Treatment For Children with Reactive Attachment Disorder: Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy,” http://www.center4familydevelop.com/research.pdf
* Becker-Weidman, A., & Hughes, D., (2008) “Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy: An evidence-based treatment for children with complex trauma and disorders of attachment,” Child & Adolescent Social Work, 13, pp.329-337.
* Craven, P., & Lee, R., (2006) Therapeutic Interventions for Foster Children: A Systematic Research Synthesis, Research on Social Work Practice, 16(3):287-304.


TRAINING OUTLINE
2012
Center For Family Development
5820 Main Street, suite 406
Williamsville, NY 14221

SCHEDULE
A Six-month 56-hour Master Class.
10:00 am– 5:00 pm, 1/20/12, 2/17, 3.16, 4/20, 5/18, 6/21. Dates subject to change based on participant requests, 2012 holidays, and group agreement. Limited to eight.

OUTLINE
* Patterns of attachment
* Engaging and working with parents
* Intersubjectivity & use of self in practice
* Experiential components of training
* Components of Practice
* Phases of Treatment
* Differential use of components of
* Practice in different phases of
treatment
* Treatment with different populations and
circumstances
* Experiential components of training
* Consultation

Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy is an evidence-based, effective, and empirically validated treatment. Two follow-up studies with control groups found clinically and statistically significant reductions in symptoms of attachment disorder, aggression, anti-social behavior, thought disorders, attention problems, mood, and social relationship dysfunction. Over 80% of the children treated had previously been in treatment on three or more occasions, without any noticeable improvement. Treatment averaged 23 sessions over approximately ten months. (Arthur Becker-Weidman, Ph.D., Child & Adolescent Social Work, vol. 23, pp.137-171, 2006)
SUGGESTED READING
You will find the following list of books helpful. It is strongly recommended that you read the first book before the workshop begins. This will ensure that everyone has a solid foundation of common knowledge.

1. Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy: Essential Methods & Practices, Arthur Becker-Weidman, Ph.D., Rowman, Lanham, MD, 2010.
2. The Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy Casebook, Arthur Becker-Weidman, Rowman: Lanham, MD, 2011.
3. Creating Capacity for Attachment, Eds., Arthur Becker-Weidman, Ph.D., Deborah Shell, MA, LCMHC, Wood ‘N’ Barnes, 2005/2008.
4. Attachment Parenting, Ed., Arthur Becker-Weidman & Deborah Shell, Rowman: Lanham, MD, 2010.
5. Attachment-Focused Family Therapy. Daniel Hughes, Norton, 2007.
6. Attachment-Focused Family Therapy Workbook, D. Hughes, Norton: NY, 2011.
7. Handbook of Attachment: Theory, Research, and Clinical Applications. Edited by Jude Cassidy and Phillip Shaver. The Guilford Press, 2008.
8. Building the Bonds of Attachment. 2nd. Ed. Daniel Hughes, Ph.D., 2006
9. Attachment Across the Life Cycle. Edited by Colin Murray Parkes, Joan Stevenson-Hinde, and Peter Marris. Routledge, 1991.
10. A Secure Base. John Bowlby, Basic Books, NY, 1988.
11. John Bowlby & Attachment Theory. Jeremy Holmes, Routledge, NY, 1993.

PURPOSE OF WORKSHOP
This workshop is for therapists who want to learn how to treat trauma-attachment disordered children. Participants will learn effective therapy principals for helping traumatized children. Participants will learn:
1. Initial work to determine parent readiness.
2. The components of Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy and the phases of treatment.
3. The differential use of components in different phases of treatment.
4. Effective therapeutic techniques to use with traumatized and attachment disordered children and their families.
5. Effective parenting principals.
Participants will have the opportunity to view videotapes of actual therapy sessions with traumatized children that demonstrate therapeutic principals and present their own video tapes or cases.

Emotional neglect can be defined as 'emotional unresponsiveness, unavailability and neglect characterised by a lack of interaction between parent and child.' It has been linked to children developing more mental-health problems but most research so far has been based on adults' memories of their childhood not how children feel at the time. A team of researchers from the University of Glasgow and the Medical Research Council in Glasgow studied 1,694 children. The children filled out a questionnaire called the Parental Bonding Instrument at 11 to assess their relationship with their parents and then had a computerhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifised psychiatric interview at 15 to assess any mental-health problems. 3% of the children perceived their parents as almost always emotionally neglectful and controlling and this group had more than twice the risk of developing mental-health problems at 15.

Young, Robert, Lennie, Susan and Minnis, Helen - Children’s perceptions of parental emotional

neglect and control and psychopathology Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2011.02390.x

See Center for Family Development for information about Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy, an evidence-based, effective, and empirically validated treatment. Also see the Center's facebook page.

Theory of Mind and Attachment

Theory of Mind (ToM) can be defined as the ability to work out what other people are thinking and how this might affect their behavior. In most children ToM shows a significant advance between the ages of three and five. However, the development of ToM is severely delayed in children with autism. In addition, children who have experienced significant trauma and have disorders of attachment also show limited ToM. Several studies have shown that having brothers and sisters can improve children's ToM and researchers from the University of Queensland in Australia studied sixty children with autism to see if this was the case for them too. The researchers measured the children's ToM, executive functioning, verbal mental age and autism symptoms and compared this to the number of siblings the children had and where they fitted into the sequence. The researchers found that the children with older siblings actually had a weaker ToM, perhaps because their older brothers and sisters helped them to interpret other people's actions and stopped them from developing their own skills. Having younger siblings led to a weak improvement in ToM but this was not significant once mental age and autism symptoms were taken into account.

O'Brien, Karen, Slaughter, Virginia and Peterson, Candida C. - Sibling influences on theory of mind

development for children with ASD Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2011.02389.x

Caseworker Manual for Adoption Services

The New York State Office for Families and Children has a good Adoption Services Manual for Caseworkers at
New York State Office for Children

Becoming a Certified DDP therapist

The workshop covers all the "Required Core Training Content" necessary to enter the practicum to become a Certified Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy therapist. The use of SKYPE will allow remote participants to fulfill the requirements to become Certified Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy therapists. Participants may register for the full 56 hours or for Part A or Part B alone.

The workshop uses a combination of SKYPE workshop sessions, group discussion, independent study, and case presentations.
Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy is an evidence-based, effective, and empirically validated treatment that is grounded in current thinking and research on the etiology and treatment of Complex Trauma or Developmental Trauma Disorder and disorders of attachment. Treatment is primarily experiential and there is an important teaching element as well. Teaching parents about attachment-facilitating parenting methods and the importance of attunement and responsive, sensitive parenting is essential. Direct work with the parents regarding their own family or origin issues is another component of treatment. Finally, intensive emotional work with the child in a manner consistent with sound treatment principles is vital.

The workshop is led by Dr. Arthur Becker-Weidman, who is a certified Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapist, Certified Consultant, and Certified Trainer by the Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy Institute.

SCHEDULE
Starting dates and SKYPE sessions scheduled based on your availability and convenience. Assignments independent study occur at your pace.

A. 28 hour First half
* Patterns of attachment
* Engaging and working with parents
* Intersubjectivity & use of self in practice
* Experiential components of training
* Components of Practice
* Phases of Treatment
B. 28 hour Second half
* Differential use of components of
* Practice in different phases of
treatment
* Treatment with different populations and
circumstances
* Experiential components of training
* Consultation
Sections A & B cover all the required core training content for training to meet the DDPI requirements to apply for the Practicum to become a certified DDP therapist. Therapists may make application after completing section A.

Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy is an evidence-based, effective, and empirically validated treatment. Two follow-up studies with control groups found clinically and statistically significant reductions in symptoms of attachment disorder, aggression, anti-social behavior, thought disorders, attention problems, mood, and social relationship dysfunction. Over 80% of the children treated had previously been in treatment on three or more occasions, without any noticeable improvement. Treatment averaged 23 sessions over approximately ten months. (Arthur Becker-Weidman, Ph.D., Child & Adolescent Social Work, vol. 23, pp.137-171, 2006)

SUGGESTED READING
You will find the following list of books helpful. It is strongly recommended that you read the first two books before the workshop begins. This will ensure that everyone has a solid foundation of common knowledge.

1. Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy: Essential Methods & Practices, Arthur Becker-Weidman, Ph.D., Rowman, Lanham, MD, 2010.
2. The Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy Casebook, Arthur Becker-Weidman, Rowman: Lanham, MD, 2011.
3. Creating Capacity for Attachment, Eds., Arthur Becker-Weidman, Ph.D., Deborah Shell, MA, LCMHC, Wood ‘N’ Barnes, 2005/2008.
4. Attachment Parenting, Ed., Arthur Becker-Weidman & Deborah Shell, Rowman: Lanham, MD, 2010.
5. Attachment-Focused Family Therapy. Daniel Hughes, Norton, 2007.
6. Attachment-Focused Family Therapy Workbook, Norton: NY, 2011.
7. Handbook of Attachment: Theory, Research, and Clinical Applications. Edited by Jude Cassidy and Phillip Shaver. The Guilford Press, 2008.
8. Building the Bonds of Attachment. 2nd. Ed. Daniel Hughes, Ph.D., 2006
9. Attachment Across the Life Cycle. Edited by Colin Murray Parkes, Joan Stevenson-Hinde, and Peter Marris. Routledge, 1991.
10. A Secure Base. John Bowlby, Basic Books, NY, 1988.
11. John Bowlby & Attachment Theory. Jeremy Holmes, Routledge, NY, 1993.

PURPOSE OF WORKSHOP
This workshop is for therapists who want to learn how to treat trauma-attachment disordered children. Participants will learn effective therapy principals for helping traumatized children. Participants will learn:
1. Initial work to determine parent readiness.
2. The components of Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy and the phases of treatment.
3. The differential use of components in different phases of treatment.
4. Effective therapeutic techniques to use with traumatized and attachment disordered children and their families.
5. Effective parenting principals.
Participants will have the opportunity to view videotapes of actual therapy sessions with traumatized children that demonstrate therapeutic principals and present their own video tapes or cases.


REGISTRATION
NAME:
ADDRESS:

Degree:
DAY PHONE #: ( )
E-MAIL:
AGENCY NAME (if applicable):

A.: B.: BOTH:______
Fee is $500 (US$) for Sections A or B and $950 for both. A refund, minus a $95 administrative fee, will be given for cancellations. No refunds will be issued beginning course. A $150 deposit is required and full payment is due by the time you being.
$500 or $950 (U.S. $) fee enclosed.
OR
$150 deposit enclosed, balance due before starting.
Purchase Orders: include $25 fee. Payment in full must be received prior to starting training.

Registration fee includes workshop information packet, and Certificate of Attendance for 28 or 56 CEU’s.

To register send application form and check to:
CENTER FOR FAMILY DEVELOPMENT
5820 Main Street, Suite 406
Williamsville, NY, 14221
Website: www.Center4FamilyDevelop.com
E-mail: Aweidman@Concentric.net
Phone: 716-810-0790 Fax: 716-636-6243

Can Empathy be taught?

Empathy is an essential ingredient for good parenting, good treatment, and good psychotherapy. Empathy allows one to see the world through the eyes of the other, walk in that person's shoes, share emotions, and build common experiences. Intersubjectivity, share emotions, share attention, and complimentary intentions form a core of empathy. It is these shared experiences (when concordant) that can help form the bedrock of stable, secure, safe, and positive relationships.

Many people are aware of "mirror neurons" as a neurological component of empathy. Mirror neurons are activated when one observes another's actions and the same motor neurons in the observers brain are activated as the ones in the "doers" brain that are necessary to carry out the action. Mirror neurons are activated in the emotional centers of the brain when we observe another and share affect.

While all this interesting and informative, it is not prescriptive. The question is, "is there some way to teach or enhance empathy?" Well, it turns out there are a number of ways. One of the easiest, simplest, and best ways is simply to listen and listen carefully. This is one way to get into another's head, so to speak.

Traditional views of the communication process held that speech and listening happened in two different parts of the brain: Broca's area and Wernicke's area. Yet studies show that communication partners unconsciously change their grammar structure, their speaking rate, and even their body postures to that of their partner. One could say that their communication changes show empathy for each other; some call this establishing a common ground. Studies by Dr. Hasson at Princeton University and graduate student Lauren Silbert demonstate this. The study involved having Ms. Silbert talk about emotionally meaningful events, tell stories from her life, while in a functional MRI. Then subjects were put into the f-MRI and listened to the recorded stories.

The most attentive listeners' key brain regions "lit up" in a f-MRI before her words came out. This suggests that the subjects anticipated what Ms. Silbert was going to say; empathy.

So helping parents, professionals, and therapists listen more carefully, more fully, and more deeply will increase their empathic capabilities. Listening is a skill that can be taught, improved on, and mastered.

For more information see:
Center For Family Development

Useful books & DVD's are:

Attachment Parenting

Principles of Attachment Parenting

Creating Capacity for Attachment

Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy: Essential Practices & Methods

Introduction to Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy

Facebook page

The Center for Family Development now has a Facebook page.

Come and see it.