Advanced TF-CBT Training

This 7-hour FREE virtual advanced training for therapists who previously completed Introductory TF-CBT training is designed to both broaden and deepen clinical skills in the application of TF-CBT to support model fidelity and enhance treatment outcomes. Specialized content will include the advanced application of Trauma Narration and Cognitive Processing to meet children’s unique developmental and behavioral needs and to facilitate positive caregiver treatment engagement. In addition, participants will learn advanced skills for navigating the systemic and therapeutic complexities of utilizing TF-CBT with youth and caregivers involved in the child welfare system.

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) is an evidence-based treatment designed to treat posttraumatic stress and related emotional and behavioral difficulties in children and adolescents.

This training is intended for therapists who have completed a live Introductory TF-CBT training with a nationally approved TF-CBT trainer and are actively implementing the model in their therapeutic work.

6 Social Work CEUs 

Trainers:
Susan Schmidt, Ph.D. & Michael Gomez, Ph.D.

Trainer Bios:

Susan Schmidt, Ph.D. is a licensed counseling psychologist, Chief Psychologist for the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs, and former faculty member through the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences – Center on Child Abuse and Neglect. Dr. Schmidt has served since 2007 as a national trainer in Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. She and OUHSC professor, Dr. Dolores Subia Bigfoot, collaborated in the development of “Honoring Children – Mending the Circle”, an advanced application of the TF-CBT treatment model for American Indian and Alaska Native youth and families. During her OUHSC tenure, Dr. Schmidt launched and directed Oklahoma TF-CBT, which provides clinical care and professional training in child trauma assessment and TF-CBT treatment. Additionally, she has been integrally involved in the design and dissemination of the Problematic Sexual Behavior – Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Treatment Program for Adolescents. Dr. Schmidt is a national trainer in the evidence-supported model of professional well-being, Components for Enhancing Career Experience and Reducing Traumatization (CE-CERT), authored by Dr. Brian Miller.

Michael Gomez, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in trauma and its impact across diverse populations and settings. He previously served as clinical faculty at Bradley Hospital, a teaching hospital for the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University, where he received the Henrietta L. Leonard Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Dr. Gomez has also held adjunct faculty appointments at Texas Tech University’s Department of Psychological Sciences, the College of Education, and the TTUHSC School of Nursing. Earlier in his career, he served on faculty at the Center on Child Abuse and Neglect/Child Study Center within the Department of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics at the OU Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City. He is the former director of the Adversity and Resilience Community Center (ARCC) and the Center for Superheroes, a child trauma behavioral health clinic in West Texas. Dr. Gomez’s work focuses on trauma in its many forms, including child abuse and neglect, disaster impact, human trafficking, refugee and immigration experiences, and provider burnout. A co-founder of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network’s Trauma and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Workgroup, he has also contributed to international trauma initiatives, including work with the World Health Organization supporting children affected by the HIV epidemic in Eswatini.

Sharpening Your Trauma Narration Skills: Maximizing Therapeutic Effectiveness in Trauma Narration Set Up and Implementation with Youth Across the Age Spectrum

Participants will:

• Learn varying methods for structuring the Trauma Narrative to meet youth developmental needs and individual interests.
• Learn options for incorporating thematic narratives into the Trauma Narrative process.
• Learn creative methods for supporting youth emotional regulation and managing avoidance behaviors during Trauma Narration.
• Learn key elements for maximizing therapeutic effectiveness in the engagement of caregivers in the Trauma Narration process. 

Sharpening Your Cognitive Processing Skills: Creative Ideas for Structuring and Facilitating Cognitive Processing with Youth Across the Age Spectrum

Participants will:

• Learn creative methods for structuring Cognitive Processing to meet youth developmental needs and individual interests.
• Learn to incorporate complex trauma themes into cognitive processing when beneficial for youth.
• Learn skills for preparation of youth and caregivers for conjoint sharing after completion of cognitive processing.

Navigating Opportunities and Challenges in TF-CBT Implementation with Children and families involved in the Child Welfare System

Participants will:

• Learn considerations for timing of TF-CBT implementation with Child Welfare involved children and families.
• Learn options for maximizing TF-CBT effectiveness with youth and families navigating the child welfare system.
• Learn important considerations in establishing and maintaining appropriate professional boundaries with Child Welfare and the Courts related to TF-CBT implementation.

Ethical Challenges and Critical Therapeutic Decisions in Engaging and Integrating Birth and Foster Parents into TF-CBT

Participants will:

• Learn considerations for timing and level of TF-CBT engagement of birth and foster parents for children in foster care.

This training brought to you through a partnership with the State of New Mexico’s Children, Youth, and Families Department and Health Care Authority, Behavioral Health Services Division.