October 14 - 16, 2016

Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital Toronto, Ontario

The Ontario Society of Adlerian Psychology is an affiliate of the North American Society of Adlerian Psychology (NASAP).

Promoting Wellness and Mental Health Saturday Workshop Descriptions

OntarioSocietyofAdlerianPsychology6thAnnualConference

www.adlerontario.ca

Workshop Session A: 10:45am-12:00pm A1: Speaking Up - Taking Adler to the World Through Effective Presentations Kevin E. O’Connor, CSP Description: Adlerians are often called upon to teach and influence groups who may be unfamiliar with the principles and uses of Adlerian psychology. How well we present, our comfort level and connection with the audience, and the techniques we use to influence are vital in delivering the Adlerian message: more need to hear from us and the better we are the more will engage with Adler. In this presentation we will examine some of the advanced principles of excellent presentations and presenters. These principles include: how to become an audience-centric presenter; how and when to use media, humor, and audience interaction; how to quickly create community in a learning environment; how to present, facilitate, and moderate a group or panel discussion; handling difficult questions and difficult questioners; tips, tricks, and techniques to make your next presentations better and better. Type of Presentation: Lecturette-Demonstration-Discussion-Interaction Educational/Learning Objectives: (1) Know their audience in a unique way so as to be a most effective presenter and (2) Understand the difference between knowing your stuff and presenting it effectively.

A2: The Role of Anger and Its Effect on the Family in an Adlerian Context Kathy Matay, M.A. Student and Marina Bluvshtein, Ph.D. Description: Please join us in exploring anger in an Adlerian context. Participants will take a brief ‘Anger Quiz’ and consider some common myths about anger. We will discuss anger as a secondary emotion and talk about the primary emotions that underlie anger. We will examine factors that contribute to anger, patterns of anger, and situations that commonly induce anger in order to reduce frequency and intensity of occurrence. We will share and discuss several tools and strategies for modulating anger that we, as practitioners, can pass along to our clients who are parents to help them serve as positive role models for their families and to help them teach their children to modulate their own big emotions. We will try on the ‘Red Cape of Anger’ and explore other metaphors for anger to reinforce the premise that anger is a secondary emotion. Before we conclude, we will consider the role of anger in the formation of an individual’s Lifestyle and consider these questions: Whey do we get angry with the people we love the most? What happens in our bodies and in our brains when we experience anger? How do we distinguish ‘useful’ anger from ‘useless’ anger? And finally, with respect to anger, how can we encourage positive movement in ourselves and others? Type of Presentation: Interactive presentation with experiential elements Educational/Learning Objectives: (1) To offer insights into anger and it’s role in the family in order to help clients, parents and others increase the level of peace and cooperation in their homes; and (2) to consider anger in an Adlerian context

A3: Transforming Four Universal Addictions Using the Four Mores Catherine Reid Day, M.A. Description: In this session Catherine Reid Day, who teaches Adlerian practice with CEU Partners and Adler Graduate School, will discuss this new Adlerian tool, the Four Mores© and its application in communities where addiction patterns stop people from living full and purposeful lives. We will discuss the four negative patterns identified by cultural anthropologist Angeles Arrien and present the four complimentary practices that contribute to people finding self acceptance and moving to a place of resonance and significance. We’ll demonstrate ways clients using the model increase their performance, deepen their connection to others and become more of who they are so they can be in greater service to others and the community. Presenter Day will share an overview of new research on the universal addictions and show paths that lead people to see more, be more, live more and give more. Using a case we'll apply The Four Mores© to a client situation. The over arching question the tool seeks to explore is: what are we here for? The model offers a pathway to transforming life’s challenges and life tasks including: Finding meaning and purpose, addressing suffering and limitations, healing isolation and transforming through death (of the old self into the new self and death of the body and transformation of the life as legacy). Type of Presentation: Experiential Seminar Educational/Learning Objectives: (1) Introduction to the Four Universal Addictions and their relationship to the Adlerian tool 'The Four Mores©' and ways to use them with clients, and (2) Experience the tool to create movement in the client using the antidotes to the addictions.

Workshop Session A: 10:45am-12:00pm A4: Goodness of Fit - Towards a Comprehensive Model Gwyneth Humphreys, M.Psy. Student and Adam Lodzinski, Ph.D. Description: Goodness of Fit has received little attention in Adlerian literature. Carlson, Watts, and Maniacci (2006), citing Mosak & Maniacci (1999), highlight it along with biology, degree of activity, and psychosocial dynamics as one of four factors leading to the development of the Life Style, defining Goodness of Fit as "...the degree to which the dynamics of the child match the dynamics of the caregivers and community". In this presentation we will explore a model of Goodness of Fit in the context of Adlerian theory, illustrating how our perception of the interplay between self and others can lead us to create a Life Style of Good Fit in childhood, thereby encouraging and better equipping us to find Good Fit in our Life Tasks. The model encompasses a discussion of Good Fit as the outcome of a balance between the individual self striving for superiority and the degree of social interest, as we seek competence, significance and community feeling and move towards our goal of belonging - of finding our place of ultimate Good Fit. Furthermore, the model explores the applicability of Goodness of Fit in helping clients recognize and move from situations of Bad Fit to Good, through an understanding of their Life Style and the dynamic required to enable them to balance self and social feeling. Implications for future research will also be presented. Type of Presentation: Lecture Educational/Learning Objectives: (1) Introduce participants to an Adlerian concept of Goodness of Fit, and (2) Become aware of the broad applicability of this concept in understanding client Life Style choices both positive and negative, and in helping them move from places of Bad Fit to Good.

A5: Reducing Anxiety in Your Children Doone Estey, M.A. Description: Anxiety in children is on the rise and at Parenting Network, we receive more and more requests for talks on the subject. Some of the causes we have found include the omnipresence of social media, increased competition in the schools and the heightened pace of life in general. What is a parent to do and how are they to help their child? Many parents contribute unknowingly to their child’s anxiety by taking over and projecting the message that the child is not capable of managing the situation. Our first line of defense is to say to parents: Teach your kids the skills to handle whatever comes their way. Train them to deal with situations as they arise and help them become adept problem solvers. Do not solve all the issues for them. Let your children experience challenge, failure, and disappointment. This is how they will learn to become resilient, independent and to feel capable. Our second strategy is to have parents let their kids know that they, the parents, are not perfect. Everybody makes mistakes, everybody has bad days and you can’t even ‘do your best’ all the time. Share the good and bad parts of your life. Your kids will learn and be grateful. Let your home be a safe place for mistakes and failures for everyone. Learn how to implement the strategies outlined above and also learn anxiety and stress management techniques. Have the chance to voice your views and concerns and to connect with other parents. Type of Presentation: Seminar Educational/Learning Objectives: (1) What parents can do to reduce anxiety in their children through parenting techniques, and (2) anxiety management techniques they can teach to and role model for their children.

Workshop Session B: 1:30pm-2:45pm B1: Extreme Parenting - Supporting Parents of Children with Autism (ASD) in Therapy Ruth Strunz, M.C. (In Progress) Description: In this workshop, Ruth will present the developmental foundations of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and explore how ASD changes the parent-child relationship. Common parental responses to a diagnosis of ASD will be described, and the use of Early Recollections in working with these responses will be spotlighted. Participants will learn why (and how!) to encourage parents of children with ASD to establish and maintain meaningful relationships with them, to recognize how their child with ASD learns, and how to adapt Adlerian parenting techniques to make them accessible to families changed by ASD. Type of Presentation: Seminar/workshop Educational/Learning Objectives: (1)To educate professionals about the core deficits of ASD and how they affect the parent-child relationship, and (2) To empower professionals to confidently provide therapy and psycho-education to parents of children with ASD.

Workshop Session B: 1:30pm-2:45pm B2: Adlerian Formulations in Depression, Anxiety and Comorbid Disorders Patricia Post, Psy.D. and Gregory R. Anderson, Ph.D. Description: Early in the 20th century, Adler presented his ideas and theories on various mental health disorders, including depression and anxiety. While Adler's formulations are widely known and utilized, we are now in a position to validate his life's work with empirical evidence in an evidence based approach. This evidence based approach can assure the future of Adlerian psychology in clinical and counseling psychology. Using data obtained from 610 individuals tested on-line with our mental health test we address the findings on these disorders and their comorbidities, While the instrument is still in validity studies, we wi present interesting findings on depression, anxiety and comorbid conditions. Another purpose of the session is to inform mental health practitioners of the characteristics and behaviors that are important to explore early in the clinical interview (i.e. discouragement) and examine comorbid client findings, not only for treatment but also for use in future referrals to psychiatrists and other mental health providers. We believe that differential diagnosis using these Adlerian findings can be most useful in planning accurate and thorough treatment. Lastly, the session will explore case studies from mental health diagnostic testing to treatment planning. Attendees will be involved in discussing the case studies and using that information in case planning. The authors wish to impart the idea that Adler's theories can hold in today's clinical setting, however, it is the clinician's role to thoroughly examine all aspects of client symptoms and plan a concise treatment to realize progress, recovery and client self-understanding. Type of Presentation: Lecture/Discussion Educational/Learning Objectives: (1) Present findings from our research to move Adlerian psychology to an evidence based model for depression, anxiety and related comorbidities, and (2) To demonstrate the use of empirically supported Adlerian approaches in the diagnosis and treatment of individuals with depression, anxiety and comorbid disorders.

B3: Perfectly Imperfect - The Impact of Perfectionism on Performance Cydney Lebovitz, M.Psy. Description: Highly competitive athletes, top performing artists, and aspiring corporate professionals all have one thing in common: an overarching, compulsive need to get it perfect, whatever their “it” may be. In this seminar, research by Hewitt and Flett provides a foundational understanding of perfectionistic traits while Adlerian concepts supply the theoretical framework from which our discussion is based. The relationship between intrinsic motivation and self-oriented perfectionism is compared with the relationship between extrinsic motivation and socially prescribed perfectionism, as the positive and negative attributes of perfectionism are considered in the performance domains of sport, music and professionalism. Adler said that striving for perfection is unhealthy and this concept is applied to current discoveries that suggest that perfectionistic challenges can result in the form of stress, anxiety and burnout. Heightened stress, often so prevalent in performers, contains neurological, cognitive, affective and physiological elements. Understanding the relationship between these elements is essential to the performer in achieving mastery of their craft. The concepts of optimal performance arousal and emotional regulation will be explained and cognitive and physiological tools contemplated for positively managing performance related stress and anxiety. Encouraging involvement, participants of this seminar will be invited to reflect on their own personal level and style of perfectionism by engaging in group exercises and discussion. Type of Presentation: Seminar/Workshop Educational/Learning Objectives: (1) Understanding what perfectionist traits are and how they can negatively impact performance, and (2) Relating these theoretical concepts to ourselves, reflecting on our own personal levels of perfectionism and how we can manage them effectively.

Workshop Session B: 1:30pm-2:45pm B4: Intergenerational Patterns Marion Balla, M.S.W. Description: This course investigates the relationship between family myths, values, and current life problems. Through the use of genograms, we will explore belief systems and how these are connected to the degree of satisfaction of the Adlerian Life Tasks. This didactic and experiential workshop aims to help participants identify issues that block them from satisfying life tasks and to develop creative ways to moving forward with vigor and zest. Type of Presentation: Experiential Workshop Educational/Learning Objectives: (1) Participants will develop their understanding of the complex interplay among intergenerational relationships, values, and beliefs within families, and (2) Participants will explore messages related to the five life tasks from an intergenerational perspective.

B5: Coaching Through Stories - Applying Early Recollections to Leader Success Catherine Reid Day, M.A. Description: Using a case study from an actual client, we will review the principles of coaching and ways to introduce early recollections into the coaching process. We’ll discuss ways to advance the client and their goals by uncovering core patters and metaphors that may be both sticking places and sources for striving and aspiration and goal direction. After reviewing the case, participants will learn about ways to apply this technique in their coaching relationships. We’ll end with questions and discussion. Type of Presentation: Demonstration Educational/Learning Objectives: (1) How to connect early recollection work in a coaching process and the ways it reveals mistaken beliefs and creates movement and goal directedness, and (2) To use a case study to discover the way stories reveal patterns of belonging, significance and ways to move.