Continuing Education

The Department of Psychology at Murray State University has been an approved provider of Continuing Education courses for licensed psychologists and other mental health clinicians since 2011. We offer a broad range of speakers and topics that include not only clinical practice issues but also recent research findings in other basic and applied areas of psychology. We are committed to offering the Murray State Department of Psychology as a resource to practitioners in the area by

• bringing them together regularly as a learning community to discuss emerging issues and best practices and other board-required topics (e.g., suicide assessment and prevention, domestic violence);
• introducing them to other providers to help create an informal consultation network regarding ethical issues and complicated cases; and
• offering free and low cost CE courses to local practitioners and students.

2023-24 Continuing Education Events

September 22, 2023

Mental Health Practice in Rural/Underserved Setting: Strategies for the Generalist Practitioner
Treating Trauma: An Overview of Exposure-Based Approaches

Michael Bordieri, Ph.D.

Located in the Barkley Room of the Curris Center

Exposure to traumatic events is an unfortunate reality for most Americans, with almost 90% of adults and 60% of children and adolescents reporting exposure to at least one traumatic experience in their lifetime (Finkelhor et al., 2015; Kilpatrick et al., 2013). While most individuals who experience trauma eventually return to their baseline psychological functioning, some individuals develop severe psychological difficulties, including Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This one-day workshop will focus on exposure-based treatments for adults and adolescents with PTSD, with an emphasis on specific techniques that can be used to address core PTSD symptoms and related functional impairments. The workshop will begin with a review of strategies to identify clients in need of trauma interventions and an overview of the psychological mechanisms that maintain PTSD. Considerable time will then be spent discussing and modeling core evidence-based trauma interventions, with an emphasis on Prolonged Exposure therapy techniques. The workshop will conclude with consideration and discussion of common challenges encountered in trauma work, including client, clinician, and structural barriers to successful trauma treatments.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify common clinical indicators of PTSD and describe a strategy for identifying clients who will likely benefit from trauma focused interventions.
• Identify the role that avoidance (negative reinforcement) plays in maintaining trauma symptoms.
• Describe clinical interventions to prepare clients for trauma specific techniques.
• Describe in vivo exposure strategies to trauma cues, including developing exposure hierarchies and monitoring progress.  
• Describe imaginal exposure strategies to trauma memories, including identifying an index trauma and encouraging appropriate vividness and engagement with the trauma memory.
• Describe processing of trauma with an emphasis on emotional and cognitive processing techniques.
• Discuss common client, clinician, and structural barriers to successful trauma treatment.

 

Register for the workshop

Request parking permit

 

Workshop Agenda

Parking for Continuing Education events

Those attending Continuing Education events need to register for a parking permit in order to park on campus. You may register for a visitor permit by calling MSU Parking Services at 270.809.4812 and providing your license plate number and email address. Parking permits are electronic and linked to the license plate number on your vehicle, no paper tag needed.

Murray State University Department of Psychology is approved by the Kentucky Board of Examiners of Psychology (KBEP) to sponsor continuing education for credential holders. MSU Dept. of Psychology maintains responsibility for this program and its content. KBEP Board Approval Number 202209H