USING STORIES AND CHILDREN'S THERAPY BOOKS

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4.5 Continuing Education Credits are provided as a recorded session if you pass the post-test following the course video content. The certificate of completion will be emailed to you within 10 minutes after passing the post-test.

Content Areas:

Counseling Theory/Practice and the Counseling Relationship

Human Growth and Development

Social and Cultural Foundations

Wellness and Prevention

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This course will review information on using therapy books in clinical practice with families, youths, and children. Further, research and clinical experience on using written stories and therapy books will be reviewed. Skills are practiced on how to teach caregivers to use therapy books and “family story time” to process adverse stressors in an engaging and meaningful way. Considerations are given to different formats such telehealth or in-person work.

Families face considerable and unique challenges such as addiction, domestic violence, trauma, grief, community violence, and economic struggles. Unique challenges require tailored interventions that children’s therapy books can offer to meet the needs of the family and children.

Because of this, areas of focus will include the “Do and Don’t” of using therapy books, how to teach caregivers to use therapy books with their families, understanding risks, and going through a piece of example sessions using a therapy book with a child in three different one-on-one sessions. Books on caregiver addiction, grief, and building self-confidence are used as the examples. Clinical interventions and strategies for using written stories are discussed.

The course creator, Leo DeBroeck, is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and certified in Washington State, USA as a Child Mental Health Specialist that has written many award winning therapy books and short stories for families and children.

Workshop attendees can expect to:

• Objective 1) Learner will be able to identify what a way to measure that the intervention is successful.

• Objective 2) Learner will be able to identify one way research has found using stories and therapy books can be helpful to clients.

• Objective 3) Learner will be able to identify one thing to avoid with clients when using stories and therapy books.

• Objective 4) Learner will be able to identify how to select and use a book at an appropriate engagement and maturity level for the client.

• Objective 5) Learner will be able to identify how to teach caregivers how to use stories in a healing way.

• Objective 6) Learner will be able to identify risks of using stories and children’s therapy books.

• Objective 7) Learner will be able to identify ways to be able to use story effectively in a one-on-one therapy session and adapt it to the client’s specific needs.

• Objective 8) Learner will be able to identify how to effectively process story endings and use Socratic questioning with clients.

Outline:

1) Introductions and Disclaimers

2) Definitions

     a. Ethical Considerations

     b. Cultural Considerations

     c. Risks

     d. Measurement tools

3) Do’s and Don’ts

     a. Time management

         i. Using the entire session

         ii. Questions

         iii. Distractions and processing moments

         iv. Rushing stories

         v. Skipping pages

     b. Engagement

         i. Maturity appropriate

         ii. Levels of focus

         iii. Leaving stories “lying around”

         iv. That story vs. My story

             1. Avoiding trickery

             2. Finding similarities and differences

     c. Therapy books vs kids’ books

        i. Showing not telling

        ii. Setting time aside

            1. Resistance

            2. Interruptions

        iii. Decompression stories after

    d. Ending stories

        i. Unclear endings

        ii. Questions throughout or at end

4) How to teach caregivers

     a. Underlying message

        i. Avoid compartmentalizing

        ii. Using to open conversation

            1. Keep the conversation going

            2. As children mature so do questions

    b. Addressing Fear

       i. Processing anxieties

       ii. Using coping skills

       iii. Caregivers needing support

5) Risk factors

    a. Types of risk

       i. What could go wrong

       ii. Weighing pros and cons

    b. Research findings

6) Example story

    a. Caregiver addiction

    b. Grief

    c. Confidence

7) Conclusion

   a. The takeaway

   b. References

   c. Further readings

Other Course Information: Partial credit/partial attendance is not allowed for this course.

If you have any questions about this course or would like to request accommodations, you can contact us If a participant or potential participant would like to express a concern about the CounselorsChoiceAward.com or a continuing education program provided by CounselorsChoiceAward.com, the individual may email Leo.DeBroeck@CounselorsChoiceAward.com. Although we do not guarantee a particular outcome, we will consider the complaint, make any necessary decisions, and respond as soon as possible. If you have any questions regarding a refund, you can view our policy page and legal notices found at the bottom of this webpage or you can contact us

INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION

National Provider Number (NPI): 1417308024

Washington State License Number: LH60827185

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Leo DeBroeck, MS, LMHC, CMHS, MHP is Child Mental Health Specialist and Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Washington State. He is CBT Plus certified through the University of Washington and Harborview Sexual Assault and Traumatic Stress Center. He has worked full-time at a community health center as a Mental Health therapist with a team of other Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists. he has previous experience working with children and adolescents at an intensive inpatient program in Spokane, Washington for several years. He has completed his Masters of Science in clinical psychology with his thesis on factors in suicide. He has published scientific research on young adults related to suicidality. He writes and has published children's therapy books for use in counseling settings. These are published on Amazon, for use in therapy settings addressing grief, addiction, neglect, abuse, self-confidence and others. He is the president and founded an LLC called Counselor's Choice Award that reviews counseling products and therapeutic tools. This also offers Continuing Education Courses. He has taught Continuing Education courses throughout the United States of America, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. He has worked in several different levels of care for mental health treatment including long-term inpatient care, WISe wraparound intensive services, school-based therapy services, and outpatient clinical settings.