Parenting is tough. Most parents come across challenging behaviors on a daily basis and struggle with handling them.

The Whole Brain Child: Understand your child’s mind to connect, communicate, and respond effectively to all types of behavior
with Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D.

Dr. Bryson will teach parents the latest science on Child and Teen Brain Development and how understanding their brain helps us be the parents they need us to be.
Her approach will provide practical tools to navigate discipline with confidence while fostering the healthy development of our children’s brains, equipping them with essential critical thinking and emotion-regulating skills.

Presenter’s Bio:
Dr. Tina Payne Bryson is the co-author (with Dan Siegel) of two New York Times bestsellers — THE WHOLE-BRAIN CHILD (Random House 2011), and NO-DRAMA DISCIPLINE (Random House 2014). THE WHOLE-BRAIN CHILD has now sold over a million copies.

Tina is a psychotherapist and the Founder/Executive Director of The Center for Connection, a multidisciplinary clinical practice, and of The Play Strong Institute, a center devoted to the study, research, and practice of play therapy through a neurodevelopment lens.

Dr. Bryson keynotes conferences and conducts workshops for kids, parents, educators, clinicians, and industry leaders all over the world, and she makes frequent media appearances A graduate of Baylor University, she earned her LCSW and Ph.D. from the University of Southern California.

About this event
Ever find yourself reacting to behavior situations in the classroom that keep repeating themselves?
Join The Wellness Institute for a unique and valuable professional development opportunity on August 21st with world-renowned educator Rick Lavoie on classroom management.
Learn how to shift from a reactive to a proactive approach to behavior in the classroom.
This seminar will explore the reasons that many traditional behavior strategies do not work and will offer alternative strategies designed to prevent misbehavior, build a positive classroom environment and develop intrinsic motivation and self-esteem in the students.

Richard Lavoie, M.A., M.ED. Bio:
Rick Lavoie served as an administrator of residential programs for children with special needs for 30 years. He holds three degrees in Special Education and holds two Honorary Doctorates in Education from the University of Massachusetts (2003) and Mitchell College (CT – 2007). He has served as a visiting lecturer at numerous universities including Syracuse, Harvard, Manhattanville College, University of Alabama, University of Melbourne and Georgetown. His numerous national television appearances include The TODAY Show, CBS Morning Show, Good Morning America, ABC Evening News, and Walt Disney Presents.He has served as a consultant on Learning Disabilities to several agencies and organizations including Public Broadcasting Service, New York Times, National Center for Learning Disabilities, USA Today, Girl Scouts of America, Child Magazine, INSTRUCTOR Magazine and National Public Radio.

In 2009, Rick was the recipient of the Learning Disabilities Associations of America’s Samuel Kirk Award.

He has delivered his message to over 500,000 parents and professionals throughout North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong. He has the distinction of having delivered Keynote Addresses for all three of the major special needs advocacy organizations in the United States.

Rick is the author of the book “It’s So Much Work to Be Your Friend: Helping the Child with Learning Disabilities Find Social Success (Touchstone/ Simon and Schuster, 2005). Rick provides specific strategies for parents, teachers, and caregivers about how to assist a child in making and keeping friends. The Library Journal praised the book as “a breakthrough.”

Rick and his wife, Janet have three grown children and live in Boston.

The Spirituality and Wellness Summit will unite the broader Southern California community around the use of evidence-based spiritual practices to facilitate wellness and recovery. Attendees will learn about the latest research on the impact of spirituality on wellness and recovery, hear from practitioners who have successfully incorporated spiritual practices into treatment plans, and listen to the inspiring stories of individuals who discovered spirituality on their journey to wellness. Additionally, participants will explore how to implement spiritual practices into their daily routine with tools that will help them reach a more meaningful and less stressful life.

More information here →

Are you feeling overwhelmed by final exams?
Join us for a conversation with high school student Zach and phycologist Dr. Casey Skvorc. Gain valuable tips and tactics to overcome anxiety and reframe your mental wellness.

Presenters:

Zach Gottlieb
@TalkWithZach
Leads a Gen Z movement and community with a worldwide following, enabling teens to have real conversations about mental health.

&

Dr. Casey Skvorc
National Institue of Health
Helps CIA intelligence officers and virologists handle stress in high-stakes environments.

About this event
The Wellness Institute, BEWell , and The Blue Dove Foundation invite you to
Voices of Resilience: Finding Hope and Strength in the Face of Mental Health Challenges.

Join us on May 17, 2023 7:30 p.m. EDT/4:30 p.m. PDT to hear the moving stories of a state representative, a rabbi, and an educator whose families faced mental health and/or substance use challenges with strength and resilience.

What supported them through their ordeal? What sources of support did they turn to? How did they and their children heal and grow?

This event will feature Representative Dafna Michaelson Jenet of The Colorado State House of Representatives.

This event is geared toward teens, parents/guardians, and youth-serving professionals.

This event is produced by The Wellness Institute, a division of the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI), BeWell of the Jewish Federations of North America and The Blue Dove Foundation.

About this event:
“Introduction to Attachment-Based Family Therapy.”
ABFT is a trust-based, emotion-focused psychotherapy model that aims to repair interpersonal ruptures and rebuild an emotionally protective, secure-based parent–child relationship.
Educational Objective:

Explain the theoretical foundation of Attachment-Based Family Therapy (ABFT) and discuss the purpose of the five ABFT treatment tasks.

Presenter’s Bio:
Guy S. Diamond, PhD, is professor emeritus of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and associate professor in the College of Nursing and Health Professionals at Drexel University, in the department of counseling and family therapy. He is the director of the Center for Family Intervention Science and a clinical trials researcher focusing on family therapy for youth suicide. He is the primary developer of Attachment-Based Family Therapy, developed and tested for treating youth depression and suicide.

Accreditation Statement:
The Wellness Institute is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. TWI maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

CE Credit: 1.5
This event is geared towards beginner, intermediate and advanced professionals.
Social Workers, LMFTs, and LPC/LMHCs in many states can satisfy their continuing education requirements at APA-approved sponsor’s events.
The Wellness Institute, the event planners, and the presenters receive no commercial support for this program.

About this event

Presenters’ Bios:

Aaron Weiner, PhD, is a licensed, board-certified psychologist and master addiction counselor. Dr.Weiner is a clinician, author, and frequent speaker on addiction treatment and issues.

Linda Richter, PhD researches the nature, scope, predictors and consequences of substance use and addiction, especially among young people. She leverages this research to help raise awareness among parents, educators, health professionals and policymakers about addiction science and best practices in substance use prevention and addiction care.

About this event

3rd Annual Summit
Suicide Safer in Clinical Practice
Incorporating Current Best Practices
A two-day training designed to strengthen confidence and competence in providing caring, evidence-based services to clients with suicide risk.

Tuesday, March 21 and Wednesday, March 22

Click here to see the full lineup of speakers, schedule and information.

About this event
You are your child’s first guide on emotion regulation skills.
Join us on March 16th with Dr. Alec Miller, the co-developer of DBT for Adolescents (DBT-A), to learn Emotion Regulation Skills through the DBT-A model.
Gain the essential tools from DBT-A needed to model and teach emotional intelligence, furthering your child’s ability to navigate complex emotions, build resilience, and succeed in what life sends their way.

What is DBT-A:
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy for Adolescence (DBT-A) includes the development of healthy coping skills, including Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotion Regulation, Interpersonal Effectiveness, and Walking the Middle Path.

About Dr. Alec Miller:
Dr. Alec Miller is a clinical psychologist, teacher, researcher, author, treatment developer and disseminator of evidence-based interventions to clinical settings, schools and organizations worldwide.

Dr. Miller is Co-Founder and Co-Director of Cognitive and Behavioral Consultants (CBC), a clinical, training, and research center based in White Plains and Manhattan. Dr. Miller is the President and Founding Board Member of the Access Psychology Foundation. He is a Certified Individual DBT Clinician and his DBT Programs at CBC are the first and only Certified DBT Programs in NY State as deemed by the DBT-Linehan Board of Certification.

Many parents worry that their kids or teens are addicted to their screens and distracted from real life.
Join us for Helping Youth Navigate Their Digital World with Dr. Devorah Heitner and Dr. Jonathan Singer.
Learn to hit the reset button on your family’s digital life creating a healthy balanced relationship with screen time.

More About This Event:
Dr. Heitner author of Screenwise: Helping Kids Thrive (and Survive) in Their Digital World will give over a realistic perspective on how to thoughtfully guide your kids in the digital age. Dr. Heitner is a proud parent of her teenage daughter and will teach parents the insight they need to feel empowered to show their children smart technology use.

Dr. Singer has extensively researched teenagers and the effect technology has on them, as well as the role of technology in the social work setting, and will share his evidence-based findings for best practices in parenting. Dr. Singer is a proud husband and parent of three children well versed in the academic as well as the practical side of parenting.

Presenters’ Bio:
Dr. Devorah Heitner earned her Ph.D. in social media and technology from Northwestern University and has taught at DePaul and Northwestern. Dr. Heitner is an international speaker appearing in the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and CNN Opinion.

Dr. Jonathan Singer is the author of over 85 publications, including the 2015 book Suicide in Schools: A practitioner’s guide to multilevel prevention, assessment, intervention, and postvention. Dr. Singer is the former president of the American Association of Suicidology, an esteemed professor at Loyola University Chicago, and the founder and host of the award-winning Social Work Podcast.