NJAMFT

Healthy Families, Healthy Choices 2015 

1. Couples Counseling with Victims/Survivors of Domestic Violence and Their Partners:Is This Ever Appropriate?
2. Couples Counseling with Victims/Survivors of Domestic Violence and Their Partners: Is This Ever Appropriate?
   
3. Theraputic Aspects of Divorce Mediation

About Our Plenary Speaker

Elijah Nealy, Ph.D., M.Div, LCSW: An openly identified transgender man, Dr. Nealy has worked extensively with LGBT adolescents and adults in both pastoral and social service capacities. He received his PhD from Hunter College/City University of New York, his MSSW from Columbia University, and an M. Div. from Union Theological Seminary. Dr. Nealy teaches full time at Columbia University School of Social Work and maintains a clinical practice in Manhattan and Westchester County, New York.

Elijah Nealy brings extensive experience in working with LGBTQ concerns, addictions, couples and family therapy, mental health and issues of spirituality in clinical practice. For 12 years he worked at the LGBT Community Center in New York City, initially as Director of their adolescent and adult mental health programs and then as Deputy Executive Director. 

Ordained with Metropolitan Community Churches, Dr. Nealy has served as a local church pastor in New Jersey and as Regional Coordinator for MCC congregations in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. He is the proud father of three amazing young people.

Afternoon Workshop Descriptions and Presenters:

1. Couples Counseling with Victims/Survivors of Domestic Violence and Their Partners: Is this ever appropriate?

If you ask this question of most domestic violence professionals, the answer is no. Couples counseling is at least partially based on the belief that both partners are coming into therapy on an even footing. This is not the case if domestic violence is present. Domestic violence is a pattern of controlling and coercive behavior where one partner is exerting power and control over the other through abusive tactics. Providing marriage or couples counseling may place the victim/survivor into danger. This workshop will provide information about the dynamics of domestic violence and how a therapist might recognize if domestic violence is present in a relationship. We will also discuss the pros and cons of continuing to provide couples counseling under such circumstances as well as how and when to make a referral.

Presenter: Lisa Smith MS, DVS. Coordinator of Domestic Violence Services in the Office for Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

2. Sandtray-Worldplay: An Introduction

This workshop will provide an introduction to SandTray-WorldPlay therapy, an expressive arts therapy developed by Gisela Schubach de Domenico, PhD, of Oakland, California. In STWP, natural and man-made miniatures, depicting a myriad of symbols and archetypes, are placed in a large blue-bottomed sand tray to become a field of conscious expression for the psyche. Within this newly created "world" - various aspects of our lives can be made manifest: body image issues; messages from our families of origins, ancestral and archetypal themes, different forms of desire, obsession, internal conflicts and trauma. Old wounds are consciously and creatively re-experienced, while reparative and novel experiences emerge spontaneously in a process which leads to growth, healing, and transformation. Guided by the psyche’s inner sense of knowing and wisdom, the STWP process moves clients from being powerless victims of experience and socio-cultural dictates, to becoming empowered creators of a new lived reality.

Presenter: Lalita Salins M.A., LMFT was one of the founding associates of the Centre for Treatment of Sexual Abuse and Childhood Trauma in Ottawa, Ontario. She is also an AASECT Certified Sex Therapist.

3. Therapeutic Aspects of Mediation

Mediation has grown tremendously within the past ten years as a preferred alternative to litigation for families going through divorce. Although mediators wear very different hats than those of therapists, it is important to understand the therapeutic aspects and value of mediation for divorce cases in the pre, mid and post-divorce phases. The workshop covers empowerment issues, teaching of conflict resolution skills for parents through mediation and various other therapeutic aspects of mediation.

Presenter: Michelle Rozen Ph.D, specializes in conflict management and in divorce and family mediation. Rozen hold a doctoral degree in Conflict Analysis and Resolution and a Masters degree in Marriage and Family Therapy

To see prices and to register quickly, safely and easily online, either by credit card or mail in check, click on the button below. Better hurry though, the Early Bird Discount ends in a few weeks! If you have any questions, you may contact our conference chair, Amisha Desai MPS, LMFT, at: amidip11@gmail.com

Register Now! To download the brochure and regisgter manually, click here: NJAMFT Healthy Families, Healthy Choices 2015