MEND - 1 - Intro and Clarify

David Hawkins

Program Description:

This 2.5-hour CE program, co-sponsored by The Steve Frankel Group and The MEND Project, is a part of a training curriculum for identifying and responding to emotional abuse, the common thread among all forms of relational abuse, and double abuse and identifying unconscious biases that contribute to original and double abuse dynamics. Program 1 covers 2 chapters of a 7-session comprehensive curriculum, which is designed for individuals and organizations who are responding to reported abuse, such as licensed therapists, counselors, educators, faith leaders, and other responders). This introductory practical program will begin to equip you to recognize psychological abuse in clear and defining ways that provide a pathway to healing.

MEND Founder, Annette Oltmans – a high-demand speaker, educator, writer, qualitative researcher, empathic advocate, and survivor - will teach about covert emotional abuse and Double Abuse®.  Annette Oltmans’ determination to fully understand what was happening within her own marriage catapulted her into several years of intense research, therapy, writing and healing. Her research and personal experience with abuse and her search for qualified therapists, informed pastors, and physicians who were qualified to identify the abuse and diagnose her CPTSD led her to founding MEND.

Co-Presenter David Hawkins, Ph.D., MSW is a clinical psychologist who has brought healing and restoration to thousands of marriages and individuals since he began his work in 1976.  He is CEO/Founder of Marriage Recovery Center and the Clinical Director of Pacific Psychological Associates, a consortium of private practitioners. He specializes in developing programming and counseling strategies for helping couples in severe conflict due to narcissistic and emotional abuse. He is a certified sex offender treatment provider, domestic violence treatment provider, and board-certified forensic examiner. He is author of over 30 books, most recently, Why Marriage Counseling Fails. Dr. Hawkins will address queries and content specific aspects per postdoctoral education and training.

This training covers two program topics: Introduction and Clarify

Introduction:  This session opens the discussion about emotional abuse and double abuse, focusing on the types of cultural and personal biases that contribute to, foster, and sustain psychological abuse and double abuse. Participants will identify cultural and personal unconscious biases inadvertently preventing them from providing the therapeutic care victims need in order to heal.      

Clarify: Topics included are identifying covert and overt forms of psychological abuse, including a comprehensive list of terms and definitions of covert emotional abuse, identifying and understanding the nature of abuse, clarifying signs of abuse: The Foundation for Healing, Addressing Common Myths About Domestic Violence in LGBTQ+ population, Two Reasons Victims Remain Silent (Stigma and Double Abuse), Power and Control Wheel, and The MEND Project Founder’s Personal Experience with Covert Emotional Abuse, Spiritual Abuse and Double Abuse®.

Goals and Objectives:

At the conclusion of this program, participants will be able to:

  1. Describe psychological abuse and aspects of overt and covert emotional abuse and provide behavioral examples utilizing a comprehensive list of terms and definitions presented in the curriculum. 
  2. Identify unconscious biases within oneself or the community that can affect therapeutic objectives and client outcomes. Explain biases preventing clients' ability to recognize the abuse they are enduring or causing.
  3. Describe what is meant by “double abuse.”
  4. Describe what it means to live in “Separate Realities.”
  5. Demonstrate a deeper understanding of the emotional, physical and sexual violence represented by the Power and Control Wheel.

CE Approval Information

The Steve Frankel Group, LLC is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for Psychologists.  This course is also approved by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) for its licentiates' CE license renewal requirements. 

The Steve Frankel Group, LLC maintains responsibility for this program and its content.  This course meets the qualifications for 2.5 hours of CE credit for Psychologists, MFTs, LCSWs, and LPCCs.

Registration Information

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Course Price: $95

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