PCB 11th Annual Conference 2010
"The Future by Design - Embracing the Possibilities"

 

TRAININGS

Monday, April 19
 

Afternoon Trainings
1:30-4:30 p.m.
Soda Break and Viewing Exhibits at 2:45 p.m.

Chronic Suiciders: A Co-Occurring Disorder Challenge
Tony Salvatore, MA

“Chronic suiciders” are individuals who use frequent expressions of suicidal ideation and intent as a coping and control strategy.  Threats are typically tied to contingent demands such as getting into rehab or being hospitalized.  These individuals are often seen as manipulative and at low risk.  Nonetheless they possess many serious risk factors and weakening protective factors and may demonstrate growing suicide risk.  Chronic suicidality and parasuicidality is frequently encountered among those with substance abuse disorders and especially in individuals with co-occurring personality disorder and other mental illness.  It may also involve individuals who make repeated low-lethality attempts and those known as “suicide addicts” who engage in suicidal behaviors as a manifestation of an addictive disorder.  The safety and stabilization interventions employed with acutely suicidal persons do not seem effective with those showing some form of chronic suicidality.  Alternative risk screening, assessment and treatment methods are reviewed for use in COD settings. 

Family Systems Dynamic of Substance Abuse
Pornthip Chalungsooth, Ed.D., CAC Diplomate

This workshop will introduce participants to family systems, family counseling and the importance of working with the family unit. Some basic interventions, strategies and techniques of family counseling will be discussed. Case studies will be used to demonstrate certain counseling strategies and techniques.  The SAMHSA TIP 39, "Substance Abuse Treatment and Family Therapy" publication will be used during this workshop.  Participants will be encouraged to share particular problems they have encountered in providing family therapy.  Feedback will be provided by instructor and the other participants.

If You Took Two of Them, Call Me in the Morning
Bruce Bowen, MA, MDiv., LPC, CAC Diplomate, Greg Krausz, MA, LPC, CAC Diplomate & Kathie Simpson, RN, BSN, CARN

How often have we heard our doctor tell us, “take two aspirin and call me in the morning.”  Unfortunately, many health care professionals, particularly doctors, nurses, and pharmacists find themselves in the difficult situation of being addicted to alcohol or other drugs.  The mystique and aura of respect we give to our medical providers places them on a pedestal and make their admission of addiction very difficult.  Getting the proper treatment is all the more difficult due to the social stigma they can experience.  Yet, due to their high stress, easy access, and special knowledge of medications, they are at very high risk of developing addiction problems.  This workshop will address the dynamics that make addiction that much more difficult for health care professionals to address.  Special programs run by the state that are designed to assist professionals to recover from their addiction will be introduced as well as the process of identifying and referring clients to these programs.  The necessary steps to become a provider within these programs will also be discussed.

Prescription and OTC Drug Abuse
Max Furek, MA, CAC

This workshop is intended as an introductory/intermediate presentation with a special focus on updated statistics and education-prevention strategies.  It will review abused prescription and OTC drugs and their unique characteristics.

Participants will be able to: describe at least two common over-the-counter products that are often abused; identify three methods of diversion associated with drugs such as Oxycontin and Vicodan; restate two reasons why prescription drug abuse with senior citizens often goes unrecognized; restate three strategies for preventing household prescription drug abuse; and discuss the differences between the oxycodone and oxycodone hydrochloride categories of pain killers.

The Dynamic Duo: Effective Strategies for Managing the Offender/Addict in Drug & Alcohol Treatment Settings
Stephen Devlin, LCSW, LPC, CAC Diplomate, CCS, CCDP Diplomate

It is no secret that by the time most addicts end up in the criminal justice system they have failed treatment many times.  Could it be the treatment itself is causing the problem and not the person?  In this workshop, we will explore effective strategies for managing and treating the offender/addict.  Additionally, we will focus on identifying similarities and differences between the symptoms of addiction and Anti-Social Personality Disorder.  Criminal behavior is often dismissed as a symptom of an addiction and therefore never gets addressed in some treatment settings.  Due to the difficulty of differentiating criminal behaviors from symptoms of addiction, evaluation and assessment, is critical to the management, treatment, and outcome of the offender/addict.  In this workshop, we will discuss assessment and evaluation methods that have proven to be successful in separating criminality from addiction. We will look at screening instruments specifically designed to assess risk and assist with the planning of treatment for the criminal/addict.  We will discuss treatment methods that are commonly used and some that are contraindicated with the criminal/addict population.  Contrary to what doesn’t work, we will talk about what does work, which is evidence-based practice.  Lastly, the workshop will conclude with an overview of a cognitive/behavioral treatment model that includes utilizing pro-social supports.

Welcome Reception – Mark Lundholm, recovery humor speaker/presenter, sponsored by Gateway Rehabilitation Center, Aliquippa, PA
5:00-6:00 p.m.
Light Refreshments and Punch
View exhibits and network

Clean and sober since 1988, Mark Lundholm is a former criminal, mental patient, homeless wino, resident in a halfway house who started poking fun at the insanity his life had become. This process continued and gained momentum, and in a short time an incredibly talented and energetic entertainer emerged. Beginning with a successful standup comedy career through 50 states and 10 foreign countries, this comic’s “drank there, used that” style of humor is now so much more than a comedy show and beyond a typical theater presentation. The performance given by Mark Lundholm is a thought provoking journey through a man’s decline and his subsequent ascension. Mark details his battles with addiction in a clever manner that is sometimes shocking, often heartwarming, and unceasingly honest. This is a fast paced PG rated show that never fails to leave audiences thinking differently about themselves and their loved ones. The critics have been very favorably impressed. The New York Times said, “Mr. Lundholm’s acerbic powers of observation are quite dark and funny”, and The Chicago Sun-Times reported, “Lundholm is a terrific performer—aggressive, funny and charming.”  

Lundholm has had his own Showtime Comedy Special, appeared on A&E, Comedy Central and written and starred in three one-man shows. The most notable is a fiercely funny and severely dysfunctional stage play about chances and choices called “Addicted…a comedy of substance.” After playing an extended run off-Broadway and receiving great reviews from The Post, The New York Times and The Associated Press, “Addicted” was voted into the top position as the most highly recommended show in New York City by The Wall Street Journal’s Zagat Theater Survey. 

Mark has lectured, presented and appeared at over 400 professionals’ conferences and has NEVER been rated less than excellent!  Mark says “half of that is the humor, half of that is the hope, the other half is something I just love to do!”  No mathematics major, Mark Lundholm is the only speaker of his kind in this industry or in this country. Mark is also the creator of the revolutionary DVD series “Humor in Treatment”, a three DVD box set available for professionals to use as a tool for healing and education. See the website www.funnyrecovery.com for more details. 

Mark currently resides in San Jose, California with his wife, Julee, and young son, Grayson. Mark is the president and CEO of Mark Lundholm Enterprise, Inc. He is the most sought after recovery humor speaker/presenter in this country. He still performs over 300 shows or presentations per year. Asked how he maintains such a heavy calendar of work he answers humbly: “God has graced each of us with certain skills. With the amount of humor I have been blessed to create, how could I NOT work that much?! This is the job I have because it is the work I was born to do. Why would I stop?!”

Dinner on your own

For more information, contact PCB at 717.540.4455 or info@pacertboard.org.