Dec
15
5:00 PM17:00

Your Practice Brochure

How to Write, Tailor, or Update your Practice Brochure to Enhance Your Therapy and Protect Your Clients and Yourself

No matter what you call it (“Welcome to my practice,” “How I like to work with clients.” “What to expect in therapy,” etc.) your practice brochure is the foundational document of your practice. This class will help you optimize it and tailor it to your way of working.

Your patient brochure should be more than just some basic information about your practice. Why?

- It is a powerful way to socialize clients to your models, methods, expectations, and values. The more closely client and therapist are aligned in these the more successful the therapy.

- It builds the alliance because clarity leads to trust and trust to depth. By proactively addressing dozens of issues it demonstrates both your expertise and your openness.  We all know that the alliance is the  largest factor in therapy outcomes. 

- It can raise the complex legal, interpersonal, and clinically crucial issues around confidentiality. This lays the groundwork and narrows the focus for better discussions of the specifics. 

- By addressing so many issues it prevents misunderstandings, disappointments, and errors of memory. These often arise around the practical issues of payment, meeting and cancelations, and record making and keeping. 

By doing these tasks your brochure can improve your therapy processes, better your outcomes, lower your anxiety, and protect you from false allegations and complaints that are so distressing. 

In this class you will decide if what you are using needs some upgrading or tailoring, tightening up or expansion, or updating to match your current practices. 

- You will receive a Checklist of Essential Elements, explanations of why these are of concern or raise risks and we will discuss many variations of the elements with the pros/cons of these options.

- Please your current brochure to edzuckerman@mac.com upon registration, so he can prepare for your needs.

Register HERE: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/3ehb9n6

View Event →

Nov
16
1:00 PM13:00

Overcoming Human Trafficking & Gender Based Violence: Focus on Uganda

Human trafficking and gender-based violence continue to impact citizens worldwide. This is particularly true in Uganda and other regions that have infrastructure and resource limitations. This session will explain human trafficking and gender-based violence, in particular as they are manifest in Uganda. Ongoing, collaborative community-based initiatives to address these issues will be described. Particular attention will be given to psychological interventions that local providers are trained in, and the way these are made culturally appropriate.

Details and Registration HERE.

View Event →
Aug
17
1:00 PM13:00

Gestalt Theory and Application to Working with Dreams

Learn the core aspects of Gestalt theory and its application working with dreams from a Gestalt perspective.

Dr. Thomas Petrone is a 1983 graduate of the Gestalt Institute of New England-Pittsburgh Program and has participated in advanced Gestalt training since 1985. Following completion of his role as the program administrator and faculty member of the G.I.N.E.-Pittsburgh Gestalt Therapy Training Program for Professionals, Tom created the Gestalt Institute of Pittsburgh in 2008.

Dr. Petrone is a Pennsylvania Licensed Psychologist, and is the President and Clinical Director of the Psychological and Counseling Center, Inc. where he has provided psychotherapy, consultation and training for the past 30 years.

The program is free, but non-GPPA members must pay $25 for their 3 CEs. This payment is done at the end of the training.

Register: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/nubt42m

View Event →
Aug
14
6:00 PM18:00

A.I. in your Tele-Psych Practice - 3 CEs (PsyPACT Credits!)

This online, virtual training is designed to qualify for the mandatory 3 CEs on Technology and Psychology as required for PsyPACT. This will be highly interactive! We will present various professional and clinical vignettes, and people will practice using various AI tools to solve them. Register by clicking HERE.

GPPA Members: Free
Non-GPPA Members: $65

View Event →
Jul
21
1:00 PM13:00

Translating Psychological Skill into Corporate Consulting (3 CEs)

Led by Rex Gatto, Ph.D.

Workplaces today confront their employees with the pressures of producing quality work, adapting to change, performing job responsibilities with heavy workloads, juggling work life needs, and hiring the right people. They need your help! Learn how to support businesses in this work (and all while avoiding the trappings of you have to bill insurance companies!)

Provide psychological services to businesses looking to identify skill levels and to hire the most qualified people. We will review assessments frequently desired by HR directors, and the details of working with corporations.

Register: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/5h53hjs

View Event →
Jul
17
6:30 PM18:30

GPPA Summer Hangout

Enjoy the charming conversation of your psychologist colleagues while sipping on an iced tea and enjoying the sunset sparkle in the Allegheny River. If we're lucky, the boat house DJ will drop some funky beats and we'll even shake a tail feather!

Please register to let us know you're coming, but otherwise this event is free. Your GPPA membership covers the costs of ample appetizers and a drink (or two!)

Location: Baja Bar & Grill, 1366 Old Freeport Rd, Pittsburgh, PA 15238

Date and time: Wed, Jul 17, 2024 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM

Organizer: Dan Warner PhD MSCP, (570) 258-5915, gppapittsburgh@gmail.com

Register Here

View Event →
Jun
18
12:00 PM12:00

The Psychology of Freedom

Dr. Amy Alexander leads a Zoom-CE seminar in honor of Juneteenth. She will review the psychological journey of enslaved Black Americans from Emancipation to Juneteenth to contemporary life to freedom. The psychological aspects of freedom go far beyond the laws or current interpretations of human liberty. It’s more complex than freedom in the physical realm. It’s a freedom most white people take for granted; one unincumbered by systemic collective cultural trauma.

https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/xvt62bx

View Event →
Apr
21
5:00 PM17:00

Self Care with a View - 3 CEs

Live the message of Self Care.!

We psychologists dedicate our lives to supporting others through their struggles. We mustn’t neglect our own well-being in the process! This interactive workshop led by GPPA's Deb Gilman & Rachel Battaglia provides practical self-care tools for cultivating resilience, self-compassion, and mindfulness in our personal and professional lives.

This is held in a private room at the gorgeous Monterey Bay Restaurant overlooking the Point. Expect great food, service and valet parking. Limited Space! So this is for GPPA members (and their +1s) only!

Register here:
https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/z5jmatr/lp/6197529e-0aa9-4ef3-b646-a52db269b04c


View Event →
Mar
9
1:00 PM13:00

Psych Assessment in YOUR Practice! (3 CEs)

Hear from a panel of experts the ins-&-outs of helping our community access needed expertise in testing and assessment of all kinds. Our goal is to encourage psychologists to pick up some assessment time in their schedule. Come learn about common referral sources, the work involved, the training, and the pay.

Panel Moderator: Sam Shachner PhD. Featuring Tad Gorske, PhD, Ara Schmitt, PhD, & Melissa Sutcliffe, PhD. Food and Drink will be served!

View Event →
Nov
10
12:00 PM12:00

The Magic of the Clubhouse (2 CEs)

Come visit and learn about the Sally and Howard Levin Clubhouse. This is a consumer-run psychiatric rehabilitation center located in Squirrel Hill. Presentation will include an educational representation, as well as a tour of the facility and a view of it in action. Lunch will be served!

CEs are $25 for 2 CEs.

Registration: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/vp5qwxn

View Event →
Oct
13
to Oct 14

44th Pittsburgh Family Systems Conference and Symposium

Working with Emotional Cutoff and Distance: A Challenge in Applying Family Systems Theory

Register here: https://www.wpfc.net/event/annual-fall-conference/

Friday, October 13, 2023 – 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM
Saturday, October 14, 2023 – 9:00AM – 4:30 PM

Hybrid Format – Available both in person* and online** via Zoom. All registrants will have access to a video recording of the conference.

  • **Online registrants will be emailed information to connect to the conference on the morning of each day at 7:00AM, and participants are asked to connect fifteen minutes before conference start time. Participants are strongly encouraged to become familiar with the use of ZOOM technology before the meeting.

About the 2023 Pittsburgh Family Systems Conference and Symposium

Since its inception in 1979 by Paulina McCullough MSW, WPFC’s annual fall conference and symposium has provided a forum for lay and professional persons to present their ideas and efforts to apply family systems theory.  Continuing a multi-year theme of challenges in applying Bowen theory, this year’s conference focuses on the intriguing concept of emotional cutoff.  Keynote presentations addressing this concept will start off each day and be followed by talks on various aspects of cutoff and related topics in family systems theory. Lively panel discussions among the speakers and Q & A sessions for both in-person and online participants will round out the two-day event.

An optional, informal reception will conclude the day on Friday, featuring light refreshments and the opportunity to socialize with in-person presenters, fellow attendees, and WPFC faculty and board.


Conference Theme

Murray Bowen M.D. described his concept of emotional cutoff in 1975 as a process between generations of a family, varying in intensity with the degree of unresolved emotional attachment between young adults and their parents.  For the younger generation, getting geographical or emotional distance from their parents may seem to promise relief from the felt intensity of parental pressure or conflict. 

In fact, distance can be useful in assuring safety and navigating challenging situations between the generations and in a variety of other relationships.  However, relationship distance and cutoff can also result in long-term declines in the effectiveness of families and social groups.   Avoided conflicts can remain unaddressed and unresolved, and systems can become less flexible and innovative in addressing future challenges.  The stress and anxiety of an original conflict can be sustained in normalized distant relationships, long after the original triggering issues are forgotten.

This conference will explore emotional cutoff from diverse perspectives including its relationship to transgenderism, clinical case studies featuring cutoff, personal observations of family cutoff and efforts to bridge it, and the benefits of extended family connections, to name a few.


Keynote Presenter

WPFC is pleased to announce Priscilla Friesen LICSW as the conference keynote speaker.  Ms. Friesen wrote the seminal article, “Emotional Cutoff and the Brain,” which was published in Peter Titelman’s book, Emotional Cutoff, in 2003.

Ms. Friesen first encountered Bowen family systems theory in 1976 while in graduate school at the University of Kansas. Once kindled, her interest compelled her to move to Washington DC and begin her 45 years’ professional association with Bowen theory and the Bowen Center for Study of the Family.  

In her decades of teaching and clinical work, Ms. Friesen has pursued a fascination with how the brain, mind, and relationships operate in synchrony.  Her two presentations at this conference will reflect this enduring interest:

  • Emotional Cutoff Redux: An Update on Emotional Cutoff and the Brain will review research and experience since Friesen’s 2003 article on the relationship of brain physiology and the functioning of individuals in systems marked by varying degrees of emotional connection and cutoff.

  • Emotional Cutoff and the Process of Aging and Death will explore the relationship of emotional cutoff to the course of aging and death in a family system.

View Event →
Oct
13
12:00 PM12:00

Ethically Choosing a Secrets Policy in Couples Therapy

Featuring Elizabeth Polinsky.

Please Learn more and register here: https://pgheft.org/event-5338257

After this workshop:

  1. Participants will be able to describe the four types of secrets policies for couple therapy.

  2. Participants will identify ethical principles related to secrets policies for couple therapy.

  3. Participants will compare and contrast the ethics of the four types of secrets policies for couple therapy.

  4. Participants will choose a secrets policy in alignment with their professional ethical code.

About Liz:
Elizabeth "Liz" Polinsky, LCSW, LMFT is a Certified Emotionally Focused (EFT) Marriage Counselor and EFT Supervisor Candidate. She has spent the last 4 years working almost exclusively with couples in her private practice, Elizabeth Polinsky Counseling. When not providing therapy or training postgraduate therapists in EFT, she enjoys swing dancing with her husband, making homemade wine, and hosting The Communicate & Connect Podcast for Military Relationships. You can learn more about Liz at 
www.ElizabethPolinskyCounseling.com

View Event →
Sep
30
10:30 AM10:30

Exercises for Therapist Back Pain (Self Care Series!)

Therapists put a great strain on their backs. This can result in significant back pain and even nerve damage. Lynsey Arch is a certified Pilates instructor, and will demonstrate some basic exercises any therapist can do at home. We will both strengthen our core and stave off pain. (Yes, this is interactive, so wear sweats!)

We will also get some fresh juice, and practice a focusing/mindfulness walk through Allegheny North Park ... all in service of grounding ourselves, and providing our clients the best care we can muster.

Questions: gppapittsburgh@gmail.com

3 CEs - https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/9cgrh7a


View Event →
Sep
20
7:00 PM19:00

Developing Effective Safety and Lethal Means Plans for Suicidal Patients

Led By Sam Knapp, Ed.D. ABPP

Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the United States and perhaps the most frequent crisis encountered by psychologists. One of the first goals when treating suicidal patients is to reduce the likelihood that they will attempt suicide. Fortunately, researchers and clinicians have developed safety-plan-type interventions, including lethal means counseling which can substantially reduce the likelihood of a suicide attempt. This workshop will describe the steps in safety plans and how psychologists can present those plans in a manner likely presented to increase their success.

Please Register HERE: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIkd-6pqT4uHNa2JA4IOoCKOtu2WbNFzx8Q

View Event →
Sep
15
9:00 AM09:00

Assembling and Deepening Emotion Toward Enactments/Encounters in EFT

Hone in your skills to access, organize, and deepen core emotional experience in order to shape

enactments with your couples and individual clients! In this workshop we will learn to identify,

follow, and unpack emotional handles to assemble core affect so that we can choreograph organic

enactments in stage 1 and 2 of EFCT and EFIT.

To register: https://pgheft.org/event-5322108

Email: EFTPittsburgh@Gmail.com

View Event →
Aug
23
6:00 PM18:00

End of Summer Networking Social!

We will be gathering at the beautiful Narcisi Winery & Beer Garden to enjoy music and comradery. This is a chance to catch up with other psychologists, as well as learn GPPA’s plans for the fall. GPPA will provide some finger foods and drinks (including non-alcoholic!), you just need to provide your wonderful self!

This is the musician who will be playing: Andrew Bicsey.

Here is details on the Narcisi Winery and how to get there.
NARCISI WINERY, 4578 GIBSONIA ROAD, GIBSONIA, PA 15044, UNITED STATES. 724 - 444 - 4744

As a side note we are trying to do more events not in Pittsburgh, so that we can truly call ourselves the psychology association of “Greater Pittsburgh.” If you have other places outside of Pittsburgh you think would be good to meet, please let us know!

(Registration information will be coming later!)

View Event →
Aug
5
2:00 PM14:00

Combating Clinician Burnout through the lens of ACT

There is an increasing need to support psychologists as the demand for psychological services is steadily rising. In response to a 2022 APA survey, 38% of psychologists surveyed report that they are working more than they did before the pandemic, and 45% of them report feeling burnt out. This workshop will identify the causes of clinician burnout, use of the Maslach Burnout Inventory to detect clinician burnout, and then will apply the six targets of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help reduce clinician burnout. Participants will engage in self-reflection, value identification, and mindfulness exercises during the presentation.

Those interested in registering should email gppapittsburgh@gmail.com.

View Event →
Aug
1
7:00 PM19:00

Zoom CE: Working with Alexithymia

People with fewer words for the emotions (alexithymia) they feel or sense in others are at a disadvantage in understanding themselves and relating to others. Our culture socializes people differently in regard to emotions and this can lead to conflicts. Many people want to meet their partners' emotional needs but do not fully understand the other, not because they themselves are less emotional, or lack empathy, or are genetically or hormonally different, but because they lack the verbal tools to relate more fully. After a discussion of the nature of emotions and their expression, we will practice using emotion wheels and other tools to expand our emotional vocabulary. We will explore emotion words in other languages, some not translatable, neologisms for complex emotions, and emojis’ meanings. Warning: Some discussion will include exploration of the uses of the F-word and words for excrement because they illustrate the issues so well.

Register HERE

(https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIudu2hqTgiHtQzH13BjYYnMiY9ZvcKRM0c)

View Event →
Jul
13
7:00 PM19:00

Zoom CE: When I'm Sorry Isn't Enough

Every relationship comes with expectations and when these are violated the resulting disappointment, anger, blame, and guilt threaten the continuation of the relationship. Repair of these ruptures requires negotiation, readjustment of expectations and rebuilding of trust. Really good apologies (with all seven components) lessen the hurt, improve trust, and support forgiveness, all necessary for rebuilding the damaged relationship.

Most apologies lack several of the seven core components. This program will describe and explain each element of a complete and satisfactory apology. Each will be examined and practiced until clear enough to be recalled and implemented when actually needed. Many of the failures seen in “non-apologies” will be presented to deepen the understanding of the components. Specific resistances to offering some components are to be expected and will be explored and addressed.

We will look at “non-apologies” offered by public figures, after their crimes have become public, to better understand the core elements and we will practice defective apologies with humor. We will not address forgiving as it is well covered in hundreds of books and classes.

Taught be Ed Zuckerman, Ph.D.

This is an interactive, online Zoom CE event. It provides 2 CEs. (Free for GPPA members, $25 for non-members) Register HERE

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUldOGtpj8pH9dqEYosal0Gm_0XQgt_lAro:

View Event →
Jun
14
12:00 PM12:00

GPPA Juneteenth Event!

In honor of Juneteenth, GPPA will host a lunch time Zoom CE, featuring Curtis Thorpe and Keisha Jimmerson. Thorpe has worked across Pennsylvania in various mental health positions including in prisons, community mental health, and faith based situations. Jimmerson is the Associate Dean of Students for Diversity at Seton Hill. They will present on topics relevant to black mental health, with attention to informing professionals on what to consider when working with clients of color. Register HERE

(https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcrcOupqjgoHdzSVTvDZrdviAg1NBWLIIXx)

Attendance is free. CEs are free for GPPA members, $25 for non-members.

View Event →
May
24
5:00 PM17:00

GPPA Spring Networking Social - 2023

Come on down after work! We’ll have food and beverages. We’ll spend some time discussing GPPA planning for the summer, including CE planning, getting our newsletter back up, and getting up a list-serve. It’s totally worth it to get in your car, and come spend some time with psychologist colleagues who ‘Get it!’

View Event →
Apr
21
12:00 PM12:00

HB-1000: Prescribing Psychology in Pennsylvania

Come learn about the legislation recently proposed by Pittsburgh's own Dan Frankel (Squirrel Hill) that gives psychologists a path to prescribing psychotropics in their practice. The course is co-taught by Dan Warner Ph.D. who co-wrote PPA's white paper on the topic (click here), and Krista Boyer, Psy.D., who is a leading advocate on psychology prescribing. Both are currently pursuing their Masters of Science in Clinical Psychopharmacology (MSCP) from Fairleigh Dickinson University. They will explain the proposed legislation, its training requirements, and the value this would bring to Pennsylvania's strapped mental health system.

The presentation is free for all attendees. 1 CE is free for GPPA members, $25 for non-members.

Please register here:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcucu6hrzguGN0qyMOAqRTXCySKDpmRy9Is

View Event →
Jan
29
1:00 PM13:00

GPPA Board Meeting

  • Saturday, January 29, 2022

  • 1:00 PM 2:00 PM

All Board Meetings are open to GPPA members who would like to speak or present information to the board. Please email gppapittsburgh@gmail.com if you plan to attend a board meeting and we will send you the Zoom info. Thank you!

View Event →