Jennifer Berton, PhD, LICSW, CADC-II
In-person
Friday, May 10, 2024 – New Date
9 am – 3:30 pm
5 CECs

Registration Fee: $125
UConn SSW Alumni and Current Field Instructors receive a 10% discount

Classroom location, directions and parking details will be included in your email confirmation

What questions do you ask your clients that get at the information you need? What language do you use? How do you take into account a client’s culture in the questions that you ask? How do you address silence, or an unwillingness to participate in the interview? How do you refocus a client or deescalate his or her aggression? What questions can you ask to get at specific symptoms and how do you adjust your query in session as needed? While many trainings examine symptoms, psychopathology, and existing diagnostic assessment tools, this seminar has the actual clinical interview at its focus. We will explore how to gather the information you need for diagnosis and treatment planning, and hone your clinical interviewing skills.

This seminar will teach participants how to utilize interviewing techniques that meet the needs of the clients they serve, which strengthens both the individual client’s treatment experience and the profession as a whole. The topic connects to diversity in allowing participants to attend to the diverse background of their clients in the specific questions that are utilized, as well as specific ideas in how to ask the questions, (e.g. language, non-verbal communication, vocal tone). It connects to ethics because attendees will learn how to ensure their clinical interviewing adheres to the strictest of ethical principles. It connects to advocacy because the better the clinical interview, the better treatment the clients will receive; treatment the clients deserve and need to build a healthy life.

This seminar will enable you to:

• gather all the needed questions to conduct a solid clinical interview
• learn the components of motivational interviewing
• explore how to direct and redirect the path of the clinical interview
• practice clinical interviewing skills; identify strengths and challenges

Jennifer Berton, PhD, LICSW, CADC-II
In-person Seminar
Friday, April 12, 2024
9:00 am – 3:30 pm
5 CECs

Registration Fee: $125
UConn SSW Alumni and Current Field Instructors receive a 10% discount

Classroom location, driving directions and parking details will be included in your email confirmation

The 5th edition of the DSM brings with it some of the most significant changes between editions. In addition to changes in the disorders themselves and how they are grouped, the diagnostic system has been revamped. Are you prepared to incorporate the changes into your practice and to diagnose your clients accurately? This workshop will identify the changes introduced in the new DSM, comparing editions IV and V, and identifying the changes most likely to affect your individual practice, using many case examples as practice. This training is appropriate for all diagnosing clinicians, and for those who want to better understand the diagnostic process.​

Learning Objectives

• understand the major philosophical changes to the diagnostic process in the DSM 5
• learn the categorical and disorder changes and additions introduced in the DSM-5
• compare diagnoses in the DSM-IV and DSM-5 using the same clinical vignettes
• examine the assessment tools published with the DSM-5
• practice diagnosis using the DSM-5 through numerous clinical vignettes

Jennifer Berton, PhD, LICSW, CADC-II
In-person
Friday, April 5, 2024
9 am – 3:30 pm
5 CECs

Registration Fee: $125
UConn SSW Alumni and Current Field Instructors receive a 10% discount

Classroom location, directions and parking details will be included in your email confirmation

Although a large component of the daily work of social workers is to diagnose psychiatric illnesses, there is little education on how to do that well. There is a wealth of knowledge about each disorder, but there is a lack of training on what questions to ask a client in order to properly develop a thorough and accurate diagnosis. This seminar teaches how to differentially diagnose using specific questions and provides decision trees that clinicians can use in clinical sessions. Clinical diagnosis may seem safe from cultural, political, and social influence, but in fact, it is often guided by these forces. Whether a condition is considered a disorder is based in social and political context, and certainly, what questions we ask in the psychiatric interview is culturally influenced. If one were to examine diagnostic material across decades, the fluctuations in diagnostic material would be easy to detect and correlate with changes in cultural, social, and political climates. This seminar topic connects to diversity in allowing for individuality in diagnosis and attending to the diverse background of each client as a part of the diagnosis process.

The goal of this in-person seminar is to help the clinician improve the diagnostic skills they use in their daily practice. Decision trees given in the DSM are updated and expanded to better serve the clinician. Participants will receive handouts of decision trees to take with them.

Using lecture, discussion, and simulated clinical interviews, this seminar will enable you to:

• learn the art of diagnosis
• gather specific questions that will aid you in obtaining the most accurate diagnosis with each client
• practice the clinical interview, asking learned questions to aid in differential diagnosis
• obtain decision tree handouts of each disorder group to use in the clinical interview

Solandy Forte, PhD, LCSW, BCBA-D

Dr. Forte is an approved ACE provider and is authorized by the Behavioral Analyst Certification Board (BACB) to provide Learning CE events for BCBA and BCaBA certificants.

Monday, March 25, 2024
11 am – 1 pm

2 CECs

Registration Fee: $50
10% discount for UConn SSW Alumni and Current SSW Field Instructors

Link will be emailed when your registration is complete.

In this webinar the presenter will review the most effective antecedent and management strategies that are support by evidence to deal with challenging behavior. Discussions will be had regarding barriers that may prevent treatment teams from carrying out what “on paper” looks like a good plan. Establishing training objectives, timelines, and methods will be reviewed to promote treatment fidelity. If external resources are needed how treatment teams advocate for support will make a difference in the execution of a comprehensive plan for complex cases.

Participants will learn to:

• identify evidence-based interventions
• learn how to establish data tracking systems
• set up treatment fidelity checks

Solandy Forte, PhD, LCSW, BCBA-D

Dr. Forte is an approved ACE provider and is authorized by the Behavioral Analyst Certification Board (BACB) to provide Learning CE events for BCBA and BCaBA certificants.

Monday, March 4, 2024
11 am – 1 pm

2 CECs

Registration Fee: $50
10% discount for UConn SSW Alumni and Current SSW Field Instructors

Link will be emailed when your registration is complete.

Gathering the most relevant information from your clinical interview is critical. Information gathered will help to determine your steps when conducting a Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA). We will discuss the importance of setting events and how they contribute to understanding behavior function. There are structured and semi-structured tools that can be used to guide clinicians through the interview process. The pros and cons of each will be reviewed.

Participants will learn to:

• define and identify setting events
• use a semi-structured assessment tool
• define the purpose of a clinical interview

Solandy Forte, PhD, LCSW, BCBA-D

Dr. Forte is an approved ACE provider and is authorized by the Behavioral Analyst Certification Board (BACB) to provide Learning CE events for BCBA and BCaBA certificants.

Mon, March 11, 2024
11 am – 1 pm

2 CECs

Registration Fee: $50
10% discount for UConn SSW Alumni and Current SSW Field Instructors

Link will be emailed when your registration is complete.

The clinical interview will help to structure when and how you will conduct your direct observations. Identifying the most useful data collection method(s) for your particular assessment case can be a bit overwhelming particularly if time is not on your side. Choosing the appropriate data collection method is critical in order to capture data in real-time that is representative of what is occurring most of the time when you most likely are not present. It is important not to rely on just one data collection method or capturing one dimension of behavior. The observer must rely on multiple data sources.

Participants will learn to:

• use the information they have gathered from clinical interviews to identify the most appropriate settings/times to observe
• identify what dimensions or type of data must be collected
• collect Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence data

Solandy Forte, PhD, LCSW, BCBA-D

Dr. Forte is an approved ACE provider and is authorized by the Behavioral Analyst Certification Board (BACB) to provide Learning CE events for BCBA and BCaBA certificants.

Monday, March 18, 2024
11 am – 1 pm

2 CECs

Registration Fee: $50
10% discount for UConn SSW Alumni and Current SSW Field Instructors

Link will be emailed when your registration is complete.

Data. Data. And more data. It all must be analyzed and analyzed well. The clinician must take every single piece of data collected and interpret it in order to confidently identify the function(s) of behavior. The information gathered through the collection data may or may not support your original hypothesis but will definitely inform treatment. You have gathered the information you need to make treatment recommendations, now learn how to put it all together.

Participants will learn to:

• interpret data collected
• identify functions of behavior
• formulate function-based recommendations