Professional Development

Paula D. Atkinson is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker, working as a psychotherapist in private practice. She has been working for years with those who suffer from disordered eating, food obsession, exercise compulsion and body image issues. She treats clients with a weight neutral, anti-diet approach. Paula proudly identifies as a body justice activist, teaching courses on the myths of the U.S.’s measures of health, our culture’s thin idealism, and the oppression of large bodies to mental health professionals and as a professor at George Washington University. Paula is a Health At Every Size registered practitioner, a member of The International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals, the National Association of Social Workers and the Association of Social Work Boards. The purpose of this training is to provide a brief history into the origins of diet culture and thin idealism and how therapists can help clients re-write their narrative surrounding toxic beauty standards defined by today’s society.

Dr. Antoine Crosby is a licensed Clinical Psychologist in Washington, D.C. Dr. Crosby’s clinical experience and passion involves working with ethnic, sexual orientation, and gender minorities across the lifespan, individuals living with HIV/AIDS and other chronic illnesses, substance use, and other marginalized groups. Currently, Dr. Crosby provides individual and couples psychotherapy through his private practice, Affirmative Spaces. His research and clinical specialty areas include LGBTQ+ mental health, African American Psychology, HIV/AIDS, and working with other marginalized groups.

Research suggests that Black Men Who Have Sex with Other Men (BMSM) experience increased levels of depression, anxiety, social isolation, and substance misuse relative to the general population (Arnold et al., 2014; Fields et al., 2015; Jackson et al., 2020). These reported increases have been attributed to the unique distress this population experiences due to the intersection of their racial/ethnic and sexual orientation identities. The purpose of this training is to explore the complexities present within this intersection, identify how it impacts social, emotional, and behavioral functioning, and gain insight to treatment approaches that may be useful when working with this population. Throughout this interactive learning experience, participants will have the opportunity to discuss case scenarios, identify relevant terminology, and reflect on their work when collaborating with this population.

Dr. Rebeca Gonzalez-Scherman is a New York City based clinical psychologist. She has been in private practice since 2001. In addition to her practice, Dr. Gonzalez-Scherman consults for La Clinica Hispana at Yale Medical School in New Haven, CT. She addresses issues of race, ethnicity, gender, and identity through the lens of trauma. She holds the position of Chair-Elect for the Center for Advanced Studies in Trauma and Dissociation (for the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation) and also is on the faculty. She teaches mental health professionals nationally and internationally on the subject of complex trauma and dissociative disorders.

Dr. Gonzalez-Scherman supervises both licensed psychologists and graduate-level interns on issues of complex trauma and on relational trauma, complexities of transference-countertransference configurations, enactments, and the use of psychoanalytic concepts to deepen the work of psychotherapy. Dr.Gonzalez-Scherman believes strongly in the integration of skills-based training/symptoms management with the profound work within the interpersonal field. Following relational psychoanalytic concepts, she adheres to a two-person psychology in understanding and utilizing what happens in the treatment relationship to further the work and create meaningful change for patients (and often for the clinician as well). Most recently, her area of interest is in the use of what she calls therapeutic courage in the consulting room.

During the two one-hour meetings with Clarity Therapy NYC clinicians, we will together explore areas of traumatic experience ranging from what is typically considered “Big T” trauma (PTSD, Complex PTSD) to what is more often considered relational trauma. Patients will typically present with one and/or both kinds of experiences in their lives. From this lens, relational trauma is a fact of living and one we must contend with in the consulting room. We will focus our attention on developing a deeper understanding of the effects of trauma on an individual, their sense of self, and their sense of safety in relationships to others and in the world. This complexity often leaves clients/patients and therapists in a quandary because the act of being in a relationship is fraught with ‘pitfalls’ (which are actually enactments) requiring courage on the part of our patients and often requiring the use of therapeutic courage ourselves.

Dr. Alex Crockett is a non binary and queer licensed psychologist practicing in Oakland, California. They are a dual diagnosis specialist in an addiction medicine clinic at Kaiser, and work extensively with trauma/PTSD, use disorders, severe dual diagnoses and gender related issues. They are the clinic champion for work in intimate partner violence, tobacco cessation, and LGBTQ issues, and participate in a psychedelic medicine group that discusses potential uses of psychedelics in aiding PTSD therapy.

Jory has been a student of IFS for over 10 years and has logged thousands of hours with a wide variety of patient populations. As an assistant trainer for the Center for Self Leadership (CSL), the IFS organization founded by IFS creator Richard Schwartz, PhD, Jory presents IFS workshops around the country and abroad.

In this PESI-Certified Continuing Ed training, clinicians received a comprehensive view into the evolution of the model by Dr. Richard Schwartz. Therapists learned IFS concepts, techniques, and treatment interventions, as well as how to apply practical interventions to one's current clinical practice.