THURSDAY – JULY 27, 2023

Placemaking From the Inside-Out

Reflecting on the Impact of Knowledge of Personal and Public History on Self-Identity and Wellness
Tonya M. Matthews, Ph.D.
July 27, 2023 – 9:00am – 10:15am
This session explores how constructs of self-identity are created and supported by alignment of personal and public history, and potentially damaged by misalignment. The discussion introduces how the skills of “informal learning” in spaces like museums can be powerful self-empowerment tools in defining and reinforcing sense of self. Attention is given to the benefits of using the power of institutional reflections of diverse cultures to counter the challenge of creating healthy self-identity for individuals and communities with historically repressed identities and histories.
(See our CE page for listing of all our approving credentialing bodies.)

Objectives

• Provide usable definitions of informal learning, institutional cultural reflection, and placemaking
• Explore the impact of informal learning as self-empowerment tool
• Explore the impact of knowledge of history and ancestry in defining self-identity within modern contexts
• Discuss impact and tension of public history vs. personal history in creating sense of personal place

Reflections on Life’s Challenges, Sobriety, Loss, and Self-care

A Candid Conversation with Anne Lamott
Anne Lamott
July 27, 2023 – 10:30am – 11:45am

Bestselling author Anne Lamott will share her candid thoughts on life’s challenges and how we all might come to face them courageously. Anne writes and speaks about subjects that begin with capital letters: Alcoholism, Motherhood, Jesus. But armed with self-effacing humor – she is laugh-out loud funny – and ruthless honesty, Lamott converts her subjects into enchantment. Actually, she writes about what most of us don’t like to think about. She wrote her first novel for her father, the writer Kenneth Lamott, when he was diagnosed with brain cancer. She has said that the book was “a present to someone I loved who was going to die.” In all her novels, she writes about loss – loss of loved ones and loss of personal control. She doesn’t try to sugar-coat the sadness, frustration and disappointment, but tells her stories with honesty, compassion and a pureness of voice. As she says, “I have a lot of hope and a lot of faith and I struggle to communicate that.” Anne Lamott does communicate her faith; in her books and in person, she lifts, comforts, and inspires, all the while keeping us laughing.

Emotion and the Secret Life of the Brain

Lisa Feldman Barrett, Ph.D.
July 27, 2023 – 1:45pm – 2:45pm
“The 2023 Lowcountry Mental Health Conference has been approved by NBCC for NBCC credit. Sessions approved for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Mental Health HEROES is solely responsible for all aspects of the program. NBCC Approval No. SP-4216.”
(See our CE page for listing of all our approving credentialing bodies.)

This keynote address will describe recent scientific discoveries about the nature of emotion whose conclusions seem to defy common sense. We’ll explore a radically new scientific understanding of what emotions are and how they work, supported by evidence from psychology, neuroscience and evolutionary biology. Emotions are not built into your brain from birth, but are built by your brain, as needed. You are an architect of your experience.

Objectives

• The learner will better understand the brain basis of emotion and its relation to mental health
• The learner will understand the role of the body in constructing emotions and all mental phenomena and will be able to apply this knowledge towards a treatment approach
• The learner will be able to understand the concept of the predictive brain, its implications for brain-based disorders, and utilize this knowledge as they assess the clients they work with

Rethinking Anxiety and Depression

Case Conceptualizations and Clinical Interventions in Today’s World
Jonathan Sperry, Ph.D., LCSW
July 27, 2023 – 3:00pm – 4:00pm
“The 2023 Lowcountry Mental Health Conference has been approved by NBCC for NBCC credit. Sessions approved for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Mental Health HEROES is solely responsible for all aspects of the program. NBCC Approval No. SP-4216.”
(See our CE page for listing of all our approving credentialing bodies.)

Anxiety and Depression are the most frequent diagnoses among individuals seeking mental health services. As therapists, we are often challenged to identify effective therapeutic techniques to create healthy change with our clients. This talk will review an integrated-holistic approach to understanding and treating anxiety and depression, particularly by understanding the purposefulness of our client’s symptoms.

This workshop will stimulate your thinking around anxiety and depression and will introduce you to effective interventions that can shift your client’s relationship with anxiety and/or depression. The workshop introduce you to four strategies that can be effectively integrated into your work with clients.

Objectives

• Learn an integrated model for conceptualizing anxiety and depression.
• Learn a step-by-step case conceptualization model that can be used to tailor psychotherapy treatment client’s specific needs and personality types.
• Understand and explain the purposefulness/function of anxiety and depression in various socio-cultural contexts.
• List four psychotherapy strategies that can be used to treat individuals experiencing various anxiety and depressive presentations.

Come As You Are

Exploring Desire, Sex, and Relationships with Our Clients
Emily Nagoski, Ph.D.
July 27, 2023 – 4:15pm – 5:30pm
“The 2023 Lowcountry Mental Health Conference has been approved by NBCC for NBCC credit. Sessions approved for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Mental Health HEROES is solely responsible for all aspects of the program. NBCC Approval No. SP-4216.”
(See our CE page for listing of all our approving credentialing bodies.)

What is it that people want when they want sex? Just as important, what is it that they don’t want when they don’t want sex? The answers to these two questions can transform an individual’s or couple’s understanding of where sex fits in their lives and what meaning pleasure has in their relationship. In this talk, I clarify the differences among spontaneous desire, which emerges in anticipation of pleasure, responsive desire, which emerges in response to pleasure, and what I call “magnificent desire,” as informed by the work of Peggy Kleinplatz’s team at the University of Ottawa. This talk is based on the revised and updated version (2021) of Come As You Are.

Objectives

• Differentiate between “responsive desire,” “spontaneous desire,” and “magnificent desire” and explain their relevance to differential desire in couples
• Identify the major components of Optimal Sexual Experiences (OSE)
• Explain at least two lessons from people who self-identify as having “extraordinary sex” for couples struggling with desire differential
• Describe the relationship between context and the perception of sensation as pleasurable

FRIDAY – JULY 28, 2023

Family Dynamics, Personal Connection, and Meaning Making

Empathy, Understanding, and Working with Our Clients within a Greater Social Framework.
Rev. Dr. Byron L. Benton
July 28, 2023 – 8:30am – 9:45am
“The 2023 Lowcountry Mental Health Conference has been approved by NBCC for NBCC credit. Sessions approved for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Mental Health HEROES is solely responsible for all aspects of the program. NBCC Approval No. SP-4216.”
(See our CE page for listing of all our approving credentialing bodies.)

This session explores biblical and clinical methods of understanding the importance of positive, intimate human interactions for healthy psychological, emotional, and spiritual well-being. The discussion aims to equip and empower participants to pursue and nurture cross-cultural healing and build a beloved community. Attention is given to addressing systemic transgenerational trauma and its impact on family systems.

Objectives

• Provide Biblical and clinical definitions for intimacy, community, peace, and family
• Explore the impact of systemic trauma and avenues for healing
• Discover how one becomes a peacemaker with self and others
• Define and discuss the importance of empathy within all human relationships

What Is Good Grief Support?

Traumatic Grief and Novel Approaches to Psychosocial Care
Joanne Cacciatore, Ph.D., MSW
July 28, 2023 – 10:00am – 11:00am
“The 2023 Lowcountry Mental Health Conference has been approved by NBCC for NBCC credit. Sessions approved for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Mental Health HEROES is solely responsible for all aspects of the program. NBCC Approval No. SP-4216.”
(See our CE page for listing of all our approving credentialing bodies.)

Bereavement has affected the globe in unprecedented ways, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic. Social support seems to enhance wellbeing and health in many populations. Conversely, poor social support and loneliness are a social determinant of poor health outcomes and can adversely affect physical, emotional, and mental well-being. Social support is especially important in traumatic grief. Yet, we know little about the actors and actions of good clinical and community support in bereavement. Indeed, the ways in which grieving individuals interpret and define social support is not well understood, and little is known about what specific behaviors are perceived as helpful. Using qualitative description and content analysis, this study assessed bereaved individuals’ satisfaction of social support in traumatic grief, using four categories of social support as a framework. Findings suggest inadequate satisfaction from professional, familial, and community support. Animals emerged with the most satisfactory ratings. Further, findings suggest that emotional support is the most desired type of support following traumatic loss. Implications for supporting bereaved individuals within and beyond the context of the COVID-19 pandemic are discussed.

Objectives

• Explore the empirical framework for House’s four types of social support in the context of grief.
• Describe and define the effects of grief and traumatic grief
• Understand and define various aspects of restorative spaces and ecologically based therapeutic communities.

Psychedelics as a Means to Treat Mental Health

Innovative Treatments and Promising Outcomes
Matthew W. Johnson, Ph.D.
July 28, 2023 – 11:15am – 12:15pm
“The 2023 Lowcountry Mental Health Conference has been approved by NBCC for NBCC credit. Sessions approved for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Mental Health HEROES is solely responsible for all aspects of the program. NBCC Approval No. SP-4216.”
(See our CE page for listing of all our approving credentialing bodies.)

An empirical body of empirical research has emerged over the last couple of decades suggesting that the 5-HT2A receptor agonist classic psychedelic compound psilocybin results in positive long term outcomes in both healthy participants and in individuals with psychiatric disorders. This research has been conducted under conditions of substantial preparation, and interpersonal support. Findings have suggested that under such conditions psilocybin leads to increased personality openness in healthy participants, decreased depression and anxiety in cancer patients, and increased biologically-confirmed quit rates in treatment-resistant tobacco cigarette smokers. These findings are consistent with the notion that psychedelic therapy is best thought of as medication-assisted behavioral or psychological therapy, wherein the drug increases behavioral plasticity, providing an experience that can influence future behavior. A vision will be presented suggesting that psychedelics may be leveraged in the treatment of a variety of nominally distinct psychiatric disorders.

Objectives

• Identify two psychiatric disorders for which psilocybin is being studied as a potential therapeutic.
• Identify two risk factors that require mitigation in clinical research with high doses of psilocybin or other classic psychedelic compounds.
• Identify two “classic psychedelic” compounds.

Loving Someone With SUD Without Losing Yourself

Empowering Our Clients Who Face the Unique Challenges of Addiction in the Family
Karen Perlmutter, LISW-CP
July 28, 2023 – 2:00pm – 3:00pm
“The 2023 Lowcountry Mental Health Conference has been approved by NBCC for NBCC credit. Sessions approved for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Mental Health HEROES is solely responsible for all aspects of the program. NBCC Approval No. SP-4216.”
(See our CE page for listing of all our approving credentialing bodies.)

In this session we will look at the emotional and practical struggles that our clients may be facing if they have a loved one with Substance Use Disorder (SUD). Through stories and conceptual visuals, we will discuss the ways in which addiction’s ripple effect can erode the wellness of not only substance using individuals, but those that love them. Our clients that face a loved one’s SUD will need our understanding—but also clinical
tools that empower them to regulate their emotions through crisis, maintain their own healthy values and identity, communicate effectively with their loved one, set boundaries when necessary, and identify support systems to help them remain grounded.

Objectives

• Participants will gain an understanding of the impact that SUD can have on surrounding loved ones
• Participants will develop talking points to communicate more effectively about what their clients may be facing in regard to their loved one’s SUD
• Participants will expand their knowledge of both concepts and tools they can share to help empower these clients

Trauma and the Healing Power of the Creative Process

Telisha Williams, M.S. & Wild Ponies Band
July 28, 2023 – 3:15pm – 4:15pm
“The 2023 Lowcountry Mental Health Conference has been approved by NBCC for NBCC credit. Sessions approved for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Mental Health HEROES is solely responsible for all aspects of the program. NBCC Approval No. SP-4216.”
(See our CE page for listing of all our approving credentialing bodies.)

Through a combination of music and presentation, Telisha and Doug Williams of Wild Ponies demonstrate that healing through songwriting is not only possible, but also beautiful. The power is in the process.

Songwriting and other forms of creativity allow access to strength and resilience that are not always available in traditional therapeutic approaches. The freedom to create provides insight to connections between trauma and the emotional response. Experience the deeply connected and transformative power of music and song.

Objectives

• Attendees will learn how the creative process helps with healing and recovery.
• Attendees will identify the attributes and experiences the creative process offers that serves as a source for resilience and strength.
• Attendees will apply insights and approaches from the session to their clients by helping to facilitate and nurture the creative process in those they serve.