Sex, Divorce, & Death: Taboo Topics in Therapy Conference
Therapists are trained to hold space for life’s most complex emotions, yet certain topics remain shrouded in discomfort—even within the therapy room. Sex, Divorce, & Death: Taboo Topics in Therapy is a bold, thought-provoking conference designed to challenge the unspoken rules of clinical practice. From navigating high-conflict divorce to working with suicidal ideation beyond risk assessment to confronting the realities of death and dying, we’re diving deep into the conversations many clinicians hesitate to have. Join us as we break the silence, rethink traditional approaches, and gain the tools to support clients through life’s most stigmatized struggles.
Speakers include:
Death & Dying in Therapy - Meri-Ellen Morgans, LICSW
Death is a universal human experience, yet it often remains one of the most emotionally charged and clinically complex topics in therapy. This training invites mental health professionals to deepen their capacity to support clients facing terminal illness, end-of-life transitions, or existential concerns about mortality.
Objectives:
1. Describe common emotional, psychological, and existential experiences of clients facing terminal illness or end-of-life, and distinguish these from clinical depression or pathological grief.
2. Demonstrate therapeutic approaches for supporting clients who are dying, including meaning-making interventions, legacy work, and navigating anticipatory grief.
3. Identify ethical considerations and countertransference issues that may arise when working with terminally ill clients, and apply strategies to maintain therapeutic presence and professional boundaries.
Suicidality in Therapy - Emily Siegel, LICSW
Working with suicidal clients is one of the most challenging—and often isolating—experiences in clinical practice. This training moves beyond basic risk assessment and safety planning to explore the deeper emotional and relational roots of suicidality.
Objectives:
1. Differentiate between active and passive suicidal ideation, and assess how each presents in clinical practice, including language cues, behavioral patterns, and risk factors.
2. Apply trauma-informed and relational approaches to explore the underlying drivers of suicidality, including chronic emotional pain, attachment disruptions, shame, and perceived burdensomeness.
3. Develop and implement therapeutic interventions that move beyond standard safety planning, including collaborative risk management, narrative techniques, and building protective factors that foster meaning and connection.
Coercion is NOT Consent - Cindi Miller, LMHC
This training helps clinicians untangle the nuanced differences between consent and coercion, with particular attention to how emotional manipulation, people-pleasing, and fear of conflict can mask dynamics of entitlement and pressure. Participants will explore how to help clients identify their own boundaries, communicate them clearly, and challenge patterns rooted in past trauma, shame, or social conditioning.
Objectives:
1. Differentiate between consent and coercion in sexual encounters, including how cultural narratives around “nice” or “good” partners can obscure patterns of pressure and entitlement.
2. Apply trauma-informed, client-centered communication strategies to help clients identify, articulate, and uphold their boundaries in partnerships and situationships.
3. Support clients in reclaiming their right to sexual agency and pleasure, using empowerment-based frameworks that affirm their needs, desires, and limits as central to healthy, consensual relationships.
Psychology of Divorce - Candace Morey, LMHC
Divorce is never just a legal process—it’s a layered experience that can unravel a person’s identity, stability, and sense of belonging. In this training, clinicians will gain a comprehensive framework for understanding the psychological dimensions of divorce and how to support clients navigating its many complexities.
Objectives:
1. Differentiate between the emotional, financial, familial, and logistical dimensions of divorce and analyze how each contributes to psychological distress and treatment needs in therapy.
2. Identify and describe the various legal processes of divorce (e.g., litigation, mediation, collaborative divorce, pro se filings), and evaluate how each process influences client stress levels, therapeutic goals, and family dynamics.
3. Develop clinically appropriate interventions to support clients navigating divorce, tailored to the specific type(s) of divorce they are experiencing and the legal context of their case.
Early Bird registration fee is $125 (register by 7/1/2025)
The registration fee after 7/1/2025 is $149
Continuing Education Credit Available: 5 NBCC credit hours | (ASWB CEs pending)
413 Theraworks, LLC. has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7398. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. 413 Theraworks, LLC. is solely responsible for all aspects of the program.
