The Intensive Family Mirror Seminar with an Emphasis on Family Relationships and Trauma: A Six Month Seminar

Pamela Parkinson, Ph.D., LCSW

**This is a six-month long training and attendance is expected for all scheduled sessions from 4-7pm. The sessions will be held on the following Thursdays: 12/2/21, 12/9/21, 12/16/21, 1/13/22, 1/20/22, 1/27/22, 2/3/22, 2/10/22, 2/17/22, 2/24/22, 3/3/22, 3/10/22, 3/17/22, 3/24/22, 3/31/22, 4/7/22, 4/14/22, 4/21/22, 4/28/22, 5/5/22, 5/12/22, 5/19/22, 5/26/22.

Training Description

This training teaches how to understand family relationships in a way that will allow us to support our system-involved youth/families using a strength-based lens with the PITH (Pain in the Heart) Questions. Our focus is on traumatic attachment ruptures that our kids in the continuum of care, and their families, have experienced. Learn how so help our youth by better understanding structural and attachment-based family theories so we can better help our system involved youth who have experienced multiple serious traumas in their lives. We will explore the link between past trauma, current feelings about the past trauma, and the fear of what might happen in the future. Since our kids are acting out these traumas in their behavioral symptoms, it is important to be able to understand these from their perspective so that we can more easily respond to the healing necessary to increase positive outcomes.

Learning Objectives

• List and describe the PITH questions and how they reflect systemic concepts including emotional boundaries, triangulation and, of course, trauma.
• Demonstrate the ability to facilitate family communication in a way that increases attachment and promotes relational healing for kids in our systems of care.
• Discuss specific scenarios via case presentation utilizing family trees and timelines of traumatic events in order to better understand ineffective family relational patterns and the interaction of stressors and developmental issues in a family’s life.

Agenda 

Week 1 (12/2/21)

4:00-4:10pm Sign In and welcome

4:10-5:00pm Discussion of what it means to step out of our comfort zones on behalf of families.

5:00-5:15pm  Brainstorm the benefits of live observation.

5:15-5:30pm  BREAK (CEUs will not be offered during this time)

5:30-6:00pm Small group work to Identify the 4 PITH Questions from the prerequisite training on family work.

6:00-7:00pm  Genogram practice and assignment of family readings.

Week 2 (12/9/21)

4:00-4:10pm  Sign In and welcome

4:10-4:30pm  Exercises to develop cohesion in the group including assignments to look more deeply at our own biases and our own family dynamics so that these don’t interfere with our support of our system-involved youth/families.

4:30-5:30pm  Discussion of family readings.

5:30-5:45pm  BREAK (CEUs will not be offered during this time)

5:45-7:00pm  Continued group cohesion exercise.

Week 3 (12/16/21)

4:00-4:10pm Sign In and welcome

4:10-4:30pm  Reconvene and review.

4:30-5:30pm Exercises to continue developing cohesion and reading review.

5:30-5:45pm  Break (CEUs will not be offered during this time)

5:45-7:00pm  Case presentation and application of the PITH Questions.

Week 4 (1/13/22)

4:00-4:10pm  Sign In and welcome

4:10-4:30pm  Questions and Answers session regarding PITH.

4:30-5:30pm Sharing of facilitative questions to bring the family trauma into the room.

5:30-5:45pm  BREAK (CEUs will not be offered during this time)

5:45-7:00pm Practice with equipment in preparation for first Zoom mirror consultation with a live family starting on Jan. 27th.

Week 5 (1/20/22)

4:00-4:10pm  Sign In and welcome

4:10-4:30pm  Questions and Answers session regarding PITH.

4:30-5:30pm Sharing of facilitative questions to bring the family trauma into the room.

5:30-5:45pm  BREAK (CEUs will not be offered during this time)

5:45-7:00pm Discussion and identification of each person’s own target learning goals in this training. Assignment of live mirror dates and continued discussion of family readings.

Weeks 6-8 (1/27/22, 2/3/22, 2/10/22-No CEUs will be offered for these dates)

4:00-4:30pm  Sign In and brief genogram and time line presentation of the family in our continuum of care who is coming in for the strength-based mirror consultation today.

4:30-5:30pm  Observation via the one-way Zoom mirror of the family meeting that is occurring.

5:30-6:00pm  Strength-based reflection team feedback for the family while they get to “watch us” through the Zoom one-way mirror.

6:00-6:30pm  Family response to the feedback and suggested “tasks” for the family to try over the next week if they are willing to.

6:30-7:00pm  Family leaves and team debriefs the dynamics of what occurred and why!

Week 9 (2/17/22) 

4:00-4:10pm  Sign In and welcome

4:10-4:30pm  Debrief the “live” family mirror observations.

4:30-5:30pm  Practice scenarios with families, how to identify a sample Healing Heart Mind Video (HHMV).

5:30-5:45pm BREAK (CEUs will not be offered during this time)

5:45-7:00pm  Practice in role play how to ask the kinds of facilitative questions that will allow our healing to actually safely be able to come into the room.

Weeks 10-12 (2/24/22, 3/3/22, 3/10/22-No CEUs will be offered for these dates)

4:00-4:30pm Sign In and brief genogram and time line presentation of the family who is coming in for the strength-based mirror consultation today.

4:30-5:30pm Observation via the one-way mirror of the family in attendance.

5:30-6:00pm Strength-based reflection team feedback for the family while they get to “watch us” through the one way mirror.

6:00-6:30pm Family response to the feedback and suggested “tasks” for the family to try over the next week if they are willing to.

6:30-7:00pm  Family leaves and team debriefs the dynamics of what occurred and why!

Week 13 (3/17/22)

4:00-4:10pm Sign In and welcome

4:10-4:30pm  Debrief the “live” family mirror observations.

4:30-5:30pm Consolidate our learning through Questions & Ansers and small group discussion. What are you noticing about your own target goals? How are you doing on these?

5:30-5:45pm BREAK (CEUs will not be offered during this time)

5:45-7:00pm  View video recordings of family meetings and discuss them.

Weeks 14-16 (3/24/21, 3/31/22, 4/7/22-No CEUs will be offered for these dates):

4:00-4:30pm  Sign In and brief genogram and time line presentation of the family who is coming in for the strength-based mirror consultation today.

4:30-5:30pm  Observation via the one-way mirror of the family meeting that is occurring.

5:30-6:00pm  Strength-based reflection team feedback for the family while they get to “watch us” through the one way mirror.

6:00-6:30pm  Family response to the feedback and suggested “tasks” for the family to try over the next week if they are willing to.

6:30-7:00pm  Family leaves and team debriefs the dynamics of what occurred and why!

Week 17 (4/14/22)

4:00-4:10pm  Sign In and welcome

4:10-4:30pm Family of Origin Sculpting Introduction

4:30-5:30pm Participant shares with a family tree information about their own family of origin.

5:30-5:45pm  BREAK (CEUs will not be offered during this time)

5:45-7:00pm  We enact the family sculpting from an empathic and strength based perspective in order to give the participant more insight into their own family relationships so that they can be more aware of their own “stuff” and how that might impact their work with their clients.

Weeks 18-20 (4/21/22, 4/28/22, 5/5/22-No CEUs will be offered for these dates)

4:00-4:30pm Sign In and brief genogram and time line presentation of the family who is coming in for the strength-based mirror consultation today.

4:30-5:30pm Observation via the one-way mirror of the family in attendance.

5:30-6:00pm  Strength-based reflection team feedback for the family while they get to “watch us” through the one way mirror.

6:00-6:30pm Family response to the feedback and suggested “tasks” for the family to try over the next week if they are willing to.

6:30-7:00pm Family leaves and team debriefs the dynamics of what occurred and why!

Week 21 (5/12/22)

4:00-4:10pm  Sign In and welcome

4:10-4:30pm  Debrief the “live” family mirror observations.

4:30-5:30pm  More viewing of family sessions on video.

5:30-5:45pm  BREAK (CEUs will not be offered during this time)

5:45-7:00pm  More practice on using the facilitative questions to help families discuss the pain that is interfering with healthy attachment and positive outcomes.

Week 22 (5/19/22-No CEUs will be offered for this date)

4:00-4:30pm Sign In and brief genogram and time line presentation of the family who is coming in for the strength-based mirror consultation today.

4:30-5:30pm Observation via the one-way mirror of the family meeting that is occurring.

5:30-6:00pm  Strength-based reflection team feedback for the family while they get to “watch us” through the one way mirror.

6:00-6:30pm Family response to the feedback and suggested “tasks” for the family to try over the next week if they are willing to.

6:30-7:00pm  Family leaves and team debriefs the dynamics of what occurred and why!

Week 23 (5/26/22)

4:00-4:10pm Sign In and welcome

4:10-4:30pm Debrief the “live” family mirror observations.

4:30-5:30pm Sharing of ending exercises to help us say “good-bye” to each other after having done such an intensive mirror training for 6 months!

5:30-5:45pm BREAK (CEUs will not be offered during this time)

5:45-7:00pm  Review of what each person’s goals were for this training and reflection on what they have learned and what their next set of goals will be for continued professional development in the area of child/family work

Meet Our Trainer

Pamela Parkinson, PhD, LCSW, is a clinical psychologist and clinical social worker, whose specialty area is working with youth and their families being served by our continuums of care with an emphasis on the importance of family engagement and the healing of traumatic attachment ruptures. Dr. Parkinson is also a certified Partners for Change Outcome Management Systems (PCOMS) evidence-based practice trainer. She currently works as a child/family consultant to Community Based Organizations (CBO’s) in the Bay Area and Pamela has worked in level 14 residential, Non-Public Schools (NPS), hospitals, and a variety of community-based settings including outpatient clinics, schools, diversion, kinship, etc.

This course meets the qualifications for (27.5) CEUs BBS CEUs for LCSWs, LMFTs, LPCCs, and LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences & is provided by Fred Finch Youth Center, CAMFT Provider #045295.