Learn from MacKenzie

Clinical Issues in Consensual Nonmonogamy, BDSM, and Kink (2-6 hours): Working with clients with unconventional intimate practices. Includes definitions, assessment, case conceptualization, common clinical issues, and interventions. Longer trainers can include a panel of speakers, additional discussion, and additional opportunities to practice. This training can be split into one training on CNM and one on BDSM and kink to allow for additional depth.

Clinical Issues in Psychopharmacology (2-6 hours): Working with clients taking or considering psychotropic medication. Includes definitions, key concepts, clinical issues, and personal reflection. 2-hour trainings include a review of four common pharmaceutical interventions for mental health challenges (second generation antipsychotics (SGAs), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), benzodiazepines, and stimulants). Training can be lengthened to include virtually any topic related to psychopharmacology.

Co-Occurring Disorders (3 hours): Working with clients experiencing both substance use and mental health challenges. Includes diagnosis information for substance use disorders, assessment, and interventions.

Clinical Risk Assessment (3 hours): Assessing and intervening with clients who may be a danger to themselves or others. Includes risk factors for suicide and homicide and safety/self care planning.

Crisis De-Escalation Basics (3 hours): Preventing and managing blowups in clinical or community settings. Includes channels of communication, risks and precursors for violence, and de-escalating interventions to support staff in managing their own responses to client behaviors.

Treatment Planning (3 hours): How to co-create therapeutic goals with clients based on the client's stage of change. Includes stages of treatment and MediCal-informed instructions for writing treatment plans. Can include specific group discussions of different therapeutic orientations, which is particularly useful to MA-level associates studying for clinical exam. With four years of experience providing feedback to clinicians on their MediCal documentation as a quality assurance auditor and program manager, MacKenzie can make sure your team has the support they need to write clawback-resistant paperwork.

Client-Centered Advocacy (90 minutes): A comprehensive review of advocacy work in community mental health and private practice settings. Includes journal break and group discussion to encourage self as therapist work and class discussion of case studies.

Subpoenas and Depositions (1 hour): A basic review of definitions, responding vs. asserting privilege, and how subpoenas differ from working with insurance or traditional records requests. Includes a subpoena pair exercise and the story of my deposition and court testimony on behalf of a client.

Motivational Interviewing Basics (3-6 hours): A primer on MI, usually split into two sections. The first covers spirit and style of MI, establishing rapport, and OARS (open ended questions, affirmations, reflections, summaries: the four basic MI skills) with many exercises to try out a variety of skills. The second section is usually for more experienced practitioners who have taken an MI class before who want to delve more into change talk and agenda-setting with clients, as well as discussing resistance and how to roll with it in the room.