AFTNC Events

Upcoming AFTNC Events

“A Glimpse at Integrative Couple Therapy: Two Models Find a Common Path” with Terence Patterson, EdD, ABPP and Jerrold Lee Shapiro, Ph.D.

Beginning with the premise that couple therapy is a specialized skill that requires advanced training and supervision, this presentation will be in interview and Q & A formats, designed to address the common foundations of effective therapy for contemporary issues from a diverse, integrative perspective. Although the presenters begin with different theoretical models (existential and cognitive-behavioral), they indicate that these perspectives are not antithetical and that a complementary synthesis can be achieved by understanding a couple’s diversity, world views, uniqueness, and shared purpose. However, although an integration of apparently divergent theoretical orientations can be blended, techniques and levels of intervention will differ. Using systems perspectives and a parallel process approach, opportunities for accommodating intra-couple differences are modelled with a goal of developing deeper appreciation between partners.

Terence Patterson, EdD, ABPP has been a tenured Professor and Director of the PsyD program in clinical psychology at the University of San Francisco.  He is a licensed psychologist and is Board certified in Family Psychology with the American Board of Professional Psychology and an APA Fellow. In addition to family psychology, he specializes in ethical issues, couple therapy, behavioral health, and theoretical orientation in psychotherapy. Dr. Patterson was President of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association in 2001, and President of the Association for Family Therapy of Northern California in 2007-08. 

Jerrold Lee Shapiro, Ph.D. is a professor of counseling psychology at Santa Clara University. He is a graduate of Boston Latin School, Colby College, Northwestern University, and the University of Waterloo. A licensed Clinical Psychologist and Fellow of the American Psychological Association, Dr. Shapiro has won awards for his teaching, scholarship and writing. He has written more than 15 books on family, psychology, counseling, fatherhood and life transitions, including Real World Couple Therapy with Dr. Patterson. 

• Date: Thursday, January 28, 2021
• Time: 1pm – 3:30pm
• Location: Online via Zoom (link will be sent when you RSVP)
• 2 CEUs Available: Free for members / $25 for non-members
• RSVP to drkeith@drkeithsutton.com

“Using ACE to Inform Your Work with Individuals, Couples, and Families” with Debra Milinsky, MSW, LCSW

The ACE study gives us significant information on how adverse childhood events effect our psychological well being, and especially our relationships with family members. Using the ACE information, we can guide our individual, couple, and family work to treat trauma and relationship difficulties.  This discussion will focus on practical interventions guided by the ACE of your clients.

• Date: Sunday, April 11th, 2021
• Time: 12pm – 2pm
• Location: Online via Zoom (link will be sent when you RSVP)
• RSVP to drkeith@drkeithsutton.com

Recent AFTNC Events

“AFTNC Annual Conference 2020 with Scott Sells – Treating the Traumatized Child: A Family Systems Approach”

This is the first book that addresses trauma treatment for child and adolescents using a Family Systems Trauma (FST) model which goes beyond individual therapy to include the child and their entire family. Co-written by a renowned family therapist who created the Parenting with Love and Limits® model, it delivers a research-based , step-by-step approach that incorporates the child’s immediate family along with their extended family to treat the traumatized child or adolescent.

Using a “stress chart,” the child or adolescent’s trauma symptoms are quickly identified. This strategy guides therapists in accurately diagnosing root causes of the child’s trauma and culminates in the creation of co-created “wound playbooks” to heal trauma in both the child as well as other family members. Additional helpful features include extensive case examples, a menu of trauma techniques, wound playbook examples, evaluation forms, client handouts, and other practical tools to provide the therapist with a complete guide to implementing this approach.

• Date: October 10th, 2020
• Time: 9am – 4pm
• Location: Online via Zoom
• Click here to register!

“Annual Teacher’s Meeting”

This annual meeting is an opportunity for Family Therapy and Couples Therapy teachers to gather and share syllabi, discuss approaches to teaching family therapy, and discuss videos and other teaching aids used in teaching couples and family therapy.

“Utilizing the Family in Helping Children and Adolescents Overcome Anxiety” with W. Keith Sutton, Psy.D.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has been found to be effective in treating various types of anxiety in children and parents.  Research has found that if you do not work with the parents’ anxiety, if they have it, there is a much higher likelihood that there will be a relapse. Research supports the importance of including parents in the child and family anxiety assessment as well as in the CBT treatment to ensure greater success for the child and to also prevent a possible relapse.

In his work with children and adolescents, Dr. Sutton utilizes the family as a resource to help children and adolescents band together to defy anxiety, and not let it ruin their fun and connections.  He will discuss how he conceptualizes anxiety disorders and explains this to families in order to reorganize the family system in order to overcome the anxiety.  He will discuss helping children and adolescents to externalize anxiety, learn skills to over come it, and how to teach these skills to parents and siblings, which enables family members to help continuing to reinforce changes and new behaviors outside of the therapy session.  Additionally, he’ll explain how to change the process within the family to help anxiety lose its stronghold and not let it bully the family anymore, changing it from a monster to an annoying bird chirping in their ears.

Dr. Sutton is the director of the Bay Area Center for Anxiety (www.BayAreaAnxiety.com) and integrates Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Structural-Strategic Family Therapy, Emotionally Focused Family Therapy, and Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing when helping families overcome anxiety.  He has done trainings at Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT) at the REBT Institute in New York with Albert Ellis, PhD, Cognitive Therapy at the Beck Institute in Philadelphia with Judith & T. Aaron Beck, Ph.D., in Exposure with Response Prevention with Edna Foa, PhD at the University fo Pennsylvania, in Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) with Robyn Walser, PhD, in EMDR with Laurel Parnel, PhD, is a certified Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT) and did a training with Sue Johnson, PhD and Scott Wooley, PhD, trained with Michael White, PhD in Narrative Therapy and was supervised by Jim Sparks, PhD, with Insoo Kim-Berg in Solution Focused Therapy, did a training with Olga Hervis, PhD in Brief-Strategic Family Therapy (BSFT), was part of the Strategic Family Therapy team at the Mental Research Institute in Palo Alto, and with Guy Diamond, PhD in Attachment Based Family Therapy (ABFT).  Dr. Sutton also has completed a training of Lynn Lyons, PhD to become a certified Clinical Anxiety Treatment Professional – Child & Adolescent (CCATP-CA).  Dr. Sutton provides therapy in San Francisco and Corte Madera, CA, directs and teaches at the Institute for the Advancement of Psychotherapy (www.sfiap.com), and supervises and directs Bay Area Community Counseling (www.sf-bacc.org).  He is also the past President of the Association of Family Therapists of Northern California (AFTNC), and current President Elect for the AFTNC.

• Date: August 25th, 2020
• Time: 7pm – 9pm
• Location: Online via Zoom (link will be sent when you RSVP)
• 2 CEUs Available: Free for members / $25 for non-members
• RSVP to drkeith@drkeithsutton.com

“AFTNC Membership Meeting: Family & Couples Therapy In the Time of COVID-19″

The AFTNC membership will be getting together virtually to discuss family and couples therapy in the time of COVID-19.  We will talk about challenges of seeing clients during the shelter in place, what we’ve learned, and share successes and struggles.  We’ll discuss how COVID-19 is affecting couples and families, as well as ways that therapists have found to engage with children, adolescents, families, and couples.  We’ll share resources about doing family and couples therapy during this time, as well as resources for best practices, safety, and ways to keep abreast of the latest facts, science, and recommendations regarding COVID-19.  Come join us remotely via Zoom on June 25th at 7pm!

• Date: Thursday, June 25th, 2020
• Time: 7pm – 9pm
• Location: Online via Zoom (link will be sent when you RSVP)
• RSVP to drkeith@drkeithsutton.com

“Helping Parents Navigate a Child’s Gender Transition Across the Lifespan” with Shawn V. Giammattei, Ph.D.

Much of the work with trans youth focuses on the experience of the child and often leaves parents on their own to work through their feelings. We know that family support is one of the most important factors in the mental and physical health, as well as academic outcomes for trans youth. Fostering resilience in these families starts with understanding the experiences and developmental processes of parents/caregivers when their transgender or gender expansive child transitions. Creating an environment where parents can navigate their own process, while also helping a trans child can be complex and difficult for clinicians, especially when parents/caregivers are not affirming of their child’s gender.

This presentation will cover the developmental process that parents/caregivers of trans youth must navigate in becoming gender affirming, some basic issues they deal with and the challenges they may or may not face due to social contexts; key concerns in dealing with outside systems (school, church, extended family, community, insurance, etc.) as well as decision-making around social and medical interventions. We will also discuss some key interventions that help support and build resilience for these families, while considering the social contexts that can make this complicated, especially in the face of natural disasters, pandemics, sheltering, telehealth, civil unrest, and ongoing institutional racism.

Shawn V. Giammattei, PhD is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Northern CA specializing in couple and family therapy with people across the lifespan, with a particular focus on transgender and gender expansive youth and their families, as well as couples where one or more partners are trans. He is a researcher, educator, international speaker, and a professor teaching online graduate and post-graduate courses in LGBT psychology, family systems, and distance learning. He is the founder/director of the Gender Health Training Institute and past coordinator of training for the Rockway Institute.  He is an active member of Mind the Gap, the mental health group affiliated with the Child and Adolescent Gender Clinic at UCSF Beniof, a GEI SOC7 Certified Member and Mentor for the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, holds leadership/board positions in AFTNC and the American Family Therapy Academy, and is the author of several articles and book chapters on gender, sexuality, and family work.

• Date: July 20th, 2020
• Time: 7pm – 9pm
• Location: Online via Zoom (link will be sent when you RSVP)
• For Info: drkeith@drkeithsutton.com
• 2 CEUs Available: Free for members / $25 for non-members 
• RSVP to Zoom Meeting Registration

“AFTNC Membership Meeting: Discussing the Murder of George Floyd & Social Upheaval”

On May 25th, George Floyd was brutally murdered by a police officer while other police officers stood by.  The video sent shockwaves around the country, which was already ripe with frustration from the ongoing systemic racism and police brutality, further exacerbated by months of sheltering at home and the impact of losing jobs, and trying to find ways to make ends meet.   Many came out to protest and make it be known that Black Lives Matter!  As therapists we are affected, our clients are affected, and our communities are affected.  We have put together this time to discuss our experience personally, clinically, and with our clients around the terrible crime that was committed and the overwhelming response of the nation and the world.  It is important that both people of color, as well as allies stand together to let it be known that the continued oppression and killing of black people will no longer be tolerated.  We invite you to join us on Tuesday, June 16th from 7-9pm to discuss with fellow AFTNC members to process our feelings during this historic moment.

• Date:  Tuesday, June 16th, 2020
• Time: 7pm – 9pm
• Location: Online via Zoom (link will be sent when you RSVP)
• RSVP to drkeith@drkeithsutton.com

“Youth Suicide Risk Management: Risk Assessment, Safety Planning, and Family Engagement” with Guy Diamond, PhD

*This is a co-sponsored event in conjunction with The Institute for the Advancement of Psychotherapy, Bay Area Community Counseling, and Newport Academy.

This workshop directly relates to the clinical work of all mental health professionals. It provides an introduction to state of the art, empirically supported clinical strategies to help mental health professionals and others who come in contact with suicidal youth manage crises related to suicidal thoughts and behaviors as well as engage families in treatment.

The workshop will cover understanding suicide risk, safety planning, and how to successfully engage parents and youth.

Guy Diamond, PhD is the developer of Attachment Based Family Therapy. His model, Attachment Based Family Therapy (ABFT) is the only evidence based family therapy model for suicidal youth available. Since teens and young adults are most at risk for suicide of any other age group, it is central that psychologists learn how to work with family members to prevent possible death. Individual approaches to suicidal youth do not provide that training.

• Date: February 29, 2020
• Time: 10 am to 5 pm
• Location: Google Community Space, 188 The Embarcadero, SF 94105
• Price: $150 licensed professionals ($75 student/prelicensed)
• CE: $25 (free for AFTNC members)
• 10% Discount for groups of 4 or more – email info@sfiap.com
• RSVP: Click HERE to RSVP to this event!

Careers in Family Therapy

A Panel of Family Therapists in Various Employment Settings.

• Date: Saturday, September 28th
• Time: 1 pm – 3 pm
• Location: The Wright Institute, 2728 Durant Ave, ROOM 109, Berkeley, CA 94704
• RSVP to drkeith@drkeithsutton.com

Annual Membership Meeting

We write to invite you to our Annual Membership Meeting to be held on Friday, September 20th at 7 pm in Berkeley. This is an open meeting to introduce our newly elected AFTNC Council (**BE SURE TO VOTE**), and offers an opportunity to visit, network and get to know each other. We encourage you to invite colleagues working with couples and families who would be interested in joining AFTNC.

• Date: Friday, September 20th, 2019
• Time: 7 pm – 9:30 pm
• Location: Easton Hall Conference Center at the Church of the Divinity School of the Pacific, 2451 Ridge Road, Berkeley, CA 94709 (Visit their website here.)
• RSVP HERE!

“Annual Teacher’s Meeting”

This annual meeting is an opportunity for Family Therapy and Couples Therapy teachers to gather and share syllabi, discuss approaches to teaching family therapy, and discuss videos and other teaching aids used in teaching couples and family therapy.

• Date: Sunday, August 18th, 2019
• Time: 11:00 am – 1:00 pm
• Location: 3107 Fillmore St., Suite 301, San Francisco, CA

Having a “Conversation with Yourself” in Couples Therapy with Gloria Fraser, LCSW

A “conversation with yourself” is a psychodramatic technique which makes internal parental voices external so they can be examined and challenged. It is sad to see our patients perpetuating dysfunctional messages from childhood with their own internal voices. In her couples therapy, Gloria Fraser, LCSW uses this technique to help bring the internal conversation into the couples conversation, helping to increase individual awareness, as well as partner’s empathy and understanding.  The “conversation with yourself” provides a powerful tool for developing healthier and more positive internal messages for patients which promotes their growth.

Gloria Fraser, LCSW has her masters degree from Smith School for Social Work. Most influential in her current work was her experience at Bronx Municipal Hospital, Jacobi, where she was on the faculty of the Albert Einstein School of Medicine. In addition to psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy, she participated in groundbreaking work in brief therapy in the outpatient “walk-in“ clinic. She also developed her knowledge of family systems thinking at the “family studies section” during the developing field in the late 60s. Relocating to San Francisco, Gloria was the head of family therapy for the inpatient unit at Mount Zion hospital. As clinical consultant at Buckelew House, a residential treatment center for young adults, she ran multiple family groups using family sculpting inspired by Peggy Papp. She has been in private practice in San Francisco since 1974. She served as program chair and president of AFTNC- an antidote to the isolation of family systems thinkers. She enjoyed the extended contact with the pioneering family therapists at the fall conferences.

• Date: Sunday, April 14th, 2019
• Time: 4:00 pm
• Location: Fairfax; Please RSVP to drkeith@drkeithsutton.com for address
• Continuing Education Provided by Bay Area Family Therapy Training Associates (BAFTTA)

“#MeToo: Masculinity in the Age of Trump” with Roger Lake, MFT

The recent political events have encouraged discourse on male dominance and male vulnerability in ways that have not been seen in some time.  For clinicians working with men in couple and family therapy contexts, this talk will provide a framework for understanding unconscious features of male privilege and male vulnerability, and suggestions on how to create movement in therapy utilizing this moment in time as an opportunity.

Roger Lake, MFT specializes in men and masculinity in his couple and family therapy practice in San Francisco.  He has run men’s groups in San Francisco for 20 years, and is the past President of the AFTNC and member of AFTA.

• Date: Sunday, February 10th
• Time: 6:30 pm
• Location: RSVP to drkeith@drkeithsutton.com
• CE Info: 2 CEs, Cost: $30

“Annual Teacher’s Meeting”

AFTNC is reviving this annual meeting to provide an opportunity for Family Therapy and Couples Therapy teachers to gather and share syllabi, discuss approaches to teaching family therapy, and discuss videos and other teaching aids used in teaching couples and family therapy.

• Date: Saturday, January 5th, 2019
• Time: 11:00 am
• Location: 3107 Fillmore St., Suite 301, San Francisco, CA

“The Evolution of Family Therapy”

• Date:  Sunday July 29th, 2018
• Time: 2:00 – 4:30pm
• Location: Sports Basement, Community Room, 2727 Milvia, Berkeley, CA
• Continuing Education Provided by Bay Area Family Therapy Training Associates (BAFTTA)

Click through for details.

“The Business of Your Private Practice”

• Date:  Sunday June 3, 2018
• Time: 2:00-4:30pm
• Location: Sports Basement, 2727 Milvia St., Berkeley CA
• Continuing Education Provided by Bay Area Family Therapy Training Associates (BAFTTA)

Click through for details.

“Remembering Minuchin’s Structural Family Therapy”

• Date:  Saturday May 5, 2018
• Time: 2:00 – 4:30pm
• Location: East Bay Community Space, 507 55th St. (at Telegraph), Oakland, CA
• Continuing Education Provided by Bay Area Family Therapy Training Associates (BAFTTA)

Click through for details.

2018 Winter Membership Event

• Date:  March 10, 2018
• Time: 3:30 – 5:30pm
• Location: Berkeley Public Library, West Branch, 1125 University Ave. (at San Pablo), Berkeley, CA 94702

Click through for details.

AFTNC is reviving our tradition of regular trainings and consultation events in 2018.  Events will usually be FREE for members, with free or low-cost CEUs available.

• What kind of events would you like to see us do?
• Is there a local family therapist whom you’d like to see present, or a family therapy topic you’d like covered?
• Would you like to host a “round table” consultation meeting in your home or at your office?
• Would you like to get involved with the Events Committee?

Email us at events@aftnc.com with your ideas.