About Your Speaker

David L. Gates, Ph.D., LMFT, CSADC is an individual/marital/family therapist with 40 years of experience in the fields of family therapy, addiction, domestic violence, and mediation. He graduated from Northcentral University in 2014 with a doctorate in Psychology. He previously graduated from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in 1977 with a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology. He completed the two year postgraduate family therapy training program at the Family Institute in 1983 as well as the two year supervisor of family therapist training program in 1994. He is a licensed marital and family therapist; an Approved Supervisor and Clinical member of the American Association for Marital and Family Therapy; certified as a supervisor alcohol and other drug abuse counselor.

Marital Counselling

Marriage breakups are at an all time high in Singapore. What has happened to the stabilising unit that marriage was to provide and be? Enormous pressures both from society and in individual perception. The fallout is sad and not to be encouraged as a sign of modern times. Help must come.

About Your Speaker

David L. Gates, Ph.D., LMFT, CSADC is an individual/marital/family therapist with 40 years of experience in the fields of family therapy, addiction, domestic violence, and mediation. He graduated from Northcentral University in 2014 with a doctorate in Psychology. He previously graduated from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in 1977 with a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology. He completed the two year postgraduate family therapy training program at the Family Institute in 1983 as well as the two year supervisor of family therapist training program in 1994. He is a licensed marital and family therapist; an Approved Supervisor and Clinical member of the American Association for Marital and Family Therapy; certified as a supervisor alcohol and other drug abuse counselor.

Family Therapy

Families are the crucial foundation to a heathy society. Sociologists and politicians know this. But healthy families are under tremendous pressure  in our current times. With families disintegrating fast, children are in danger of a lost or broken childhood. We need therapy to hold the family unit together.

About Your Speaker

Mr. Vik is a well sought after local trainer with over 16 years experience in training and teaching Motivational Interviewing for participants from the healthcare, social service, enforcement and the academic fields. He has also been in the counselling field for 19 years, spending 3 years in the social service industry and 16 years in the addictions and healthcare field. He has an academic background in both counselling and psychology, teaching at the Singapore University of Social Sciences for over 12 years. He is an executive committee member with the Association of Professionals Specialising in Addictions Counselling, a board member for the Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association and a council member for the National Council Against Drug Abuse. He is currently doing a workgroup project with the Ministry of Health looking at using Motivational Interviewing to work with individuals who have diabetes or pre-diabetes and teaching healthcare educators to better engage patients within hospitals and polyclinics.

Who Is This Training For?

This module is particularly recommended for new staff (who have little to no exposure to motivational enhancement therapy) who wish to integrate the essence of MI in their regular therapeutic interactions with their identified clients. At the end of the basic MI training, participants will be able to understand, integrate and apply MI theories and techniques in the daily work setting.

Course Brief

This workshop aims to provide motivational interviewing (MI) training to achieve the following objectives:

• Understand the History of MI and it’s intended use
• Address key principles and basic techniques for Social Care Professionals without prior training in basic MI
• Enable the application of MI techniques in working with their specific clients/patients
• Health Care and Social Care Professionals having confidence in using MI on a regular and consistent basis
• Understanding how MI overlaps with other therapeutic methods
• Appreciate how MI principles and techniques can be incorporated into participants daily work

The workshop will consist of basic MI training focusing on topics like:

• An introduction to Motivational Interviewing and incorporating in daily work
• An overview of the basic techniques and strategies commonly utilized within the premise of MI, the spirit of MI as a style and a way of being
• An overview of the principles of MI and ways to elicit change talk
• Exploring how MI started and which group it targets (Pre-contemplators and & Contemplators)
• Challenges in bringing about behavioural changes via the trans-theoretical model (often perceived as a prelude to motivational interviewing and created by Prochaska & Diclementi)

DAY 1

• Brief History of MI, it’s intended purpose and the Founders Dr William Miller & Stephen Rollnick
• Bringing about behavioural changes, challenges and Introducing the trans-theoretical model
• Using the trans-theoretical model to assess for readiness to change/types of intervention ( Prochaska and Di clementi’s Model)
• An introduction to the concept of Motivational Interviewing and brief research findings on the efficacy of MI in a variety of settings
• video + discussion in small groups practicing behavioral change and activity + discussion on eliciting of behavioural change
• An overview of MI

DAY 2

• Effective versus non-effective physician video (on smoking cessation) + discussion
• The spirit of MI as a style and a way of being
• The principles of MI (DARES & OARS)
• Video on mandated client + discussion + identifying what principles were used in the video
• Simple and complex reflections used in MI (Double-sided, Amplified, Choice and Control, Agreement with a Twist)
• MI in individual session by (demo by trainer), discussion of the applicability of MI in their setting - limitations versus opportunities and bringing up case scenario’s that health care and social care professionals face
• Eliciting change talk + DARN C
• MI techniques summary and roadmap (OARS), (DARES), (SPIRIT of MI) and (DARN C). Putting it altogether, change plan contracts and closing

About Your Speaker

Mallika adds zest and ACT models of Choice Point and the Matrix Model created by Kevin Polk PhD and Benjamin Schoendorff MA - Plus Sessions of Mindfulness to make Experiencing ACT a 2-Day unforgettable experience! She is also the Founder and Director of The Conscious Zone. As a Mindfulness, Acceptance & Commitment Trainer (ACT) and certified Prosocial Matrix facilitator, she runs training sessions for corporate clients, and conducts school and public workshops on ACT with mindfulness techniques to reduce stress and boost resilience.

Course Brief

People in Singapore face many challenges, and in order for individuals to grow and develop in this volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world, we need to learn how to increase our well-being in order to thrive. Using a combination of formal and informal mindfulness practices, as well as Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) strategies, this course is designed to help you understand ACT in a practical and experiential way. Understanding our own values in the different domains of life can help us develop psychological flexibility and resilience, where our behaviours and actions can determine how we live.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, participants will have had the opportunity to learn the following:

• Understanding what determines psychological flexibility 
• Learning both informal and formal mindfulness practices
• Learn to deal with difficult emotions using practical strategies
• Choice Point for daily actions
• Identifying values in different domains
• The workability model
• ACT Matrix for Psychological Flexibility
• Understanding intrinsic motivation and how to apply that to different domains
• Incorporate increased positivity into our daily life
• Goal setting and making time for new positive behaviour changes

About Your Speaker

Navroop is a trauma informed person centric psychotherapist in private practice. She is a trained EMDR therapist, Certified Brainspotter, TRE ( Trauma release exercise) provider and SE (Somatic Experiencing) in training practitioner. She states it as a fact that everyone can heal and therefore she helps people get in touch with their own instinctual healing. Be it depression, anxiety, low self esteem, anger outbursts, addictions or relationship issues- she believes symptoms are not just mental illnesses but trauma responses, coping mechanisms and subconscious programming. To have sustained healing - the way forward is Trauma informed healing along with purpose driven coaching. Her approach to healing is holistic, with a combination of talk therapy and brain body modalities. Her clientele ranges from teenagers to adults. She is the founder and CEO of “Heal with Nav”. A passionate mental health advocate, she hosts series of webinars normalizing mental health struggles and destigmatizing need for therapy. She is part of many ongoing mental wellness initiatives in large organizations and NGO’s in Singapore, Australia and India.

Course Brief

Trauma, says trauma guru Mate Gabor is what happens within you, not what happens to you. So it’s the internal - the heart and emotions and memories that matter. Starting usually with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) e.g. war, family violence, victim of rape; a person’s journey to full blown trauma can be traced. Following Gabor, there is wisdom in trauma, in knowing what makes for healthy individuals, and how to sustain the wisdom within themselves.

Outline

• What is trauma in simple terms
• Why confront it or why you cannot push it away
• How does it show up?
• PTSD as a seedbed
• Recovering reality
• The long and winding road
• The wisdom of trauma