Foundations of Family Therapy Part I

This in-person training is designed to improve clinicians’ ability to engage hard to reach, emotionally strained caregivers into the family therapy process. Specific family therapy skills will be applied to common family challenges so that clinicians can gain understanding of why families do what they do, and what can be done about it.

8:30 am: Registration Opens

9 :00 am: Training Begins (see description below)

12:15 pm: Training Ends

Providing effective treatment for children and adolescents is fraught with challenges, the greatest of which might be to involve and engage families, and to intervene with family members in the room. In this family therapy training you will enhance your ability to listen for change talk and use engagement and joining skills. These concepts and some practical tips on how to actually contact and reach families will help you get families to attend and to remain involved.

Understanding the context that a behavior or symptom occurs in and the function it serves will allow you to have a deeper understand of families and individuals. You will also acquire beginning understanding of family boundaries and hierarchy that help answer the questions like “why does this problem persist” and “who in the family has power and influence to sanction or make changes.” Specific intervention skills including joining, reframing and highlighting will be discussed and applied by the audience to a specific challenge a therapist faces.

This training is for therapists who want to understand and work with families better, but it is likely to enhance your ability to understand and intervene with individuals as well. The training is a prerequisite for trainings titled “Advanced Practice in Family Therapy.”

Level: Beginner

Learning Objectives

After attending this course, participants will be able to:

• Identify 3 or more strategies that will increase a parent's likelihood to attend family therapy.
• Identify the hierarchy in a family and identify joining stategies that would be successful with specific family structures.
• Apply use of enactments, highlighting, and reframing to family interactions and therapy sessions.

Course Outline

9:00 am: Challenges of Family Therapy and Why Do It?

9:15 am: Getting Families Involved

9:50 am: Structural Family Skill Development

10:45 am: Break

10:50 am: Understanding Families as Systems

11:15 am: Introcution to "process" and boundaries

11:40 am: Application of skills and concepts to Drena's Dilemma

Carl Fornoff, LCPC, is an Associate Administrator at Villa Maria Behavioral Health/Catholic Charities. Throughout his 30 years serving youth and families he has implemented and directed various types of programs for children and families including partial hospitalization, behavioral health clinics, respite services, therapeutic after school programs and school-based mental health services. Carl has led the implementation of several evidence-based practices including Brief Strategic Family Therapy, Parent Child Interaction Therapy, and CBT+ and is particularly interested in the development of partnerships, leadership strategies and implementation tools that lead to sustained, high quality services. Carl has a private practice in Towson, MD focused on adolescents, adults and families and is the father of 5 adult children.

Julia Tilghman, LCSW-C, is a family and school-based therapist in Lansdowne, MD for Catholic Charities where she has worked since 2013. Prior to this employment she worked in Treatment Foster Care. She graduated with her Social Work degree from Smith College in 2011. Julia was trained in Brief Strategic Family Therapy in 2013 by the University of Miami and continues to use a family focused framework in treatment. Julia is also trained in CBT+. Julia enjoys going to the playground with her husband and 2 young children.

This course is provided free to current Catholic Charities of Baltimore employees and for a fee to non-employees. Registration and additional information, including cost is available via Eventbrite. Registration closes at 11:59 pm on July 8, 2025 or when space is full, whichever comes first. Refunds may be requested via the Eventbrite platform until July 8, 2025; after that date no refund will be given. Please contact Johanna Miller at am1pbGxlciB8IGNjLW1kICEgb3Jn with any questions, concerns, or requests for special accommodations.

Course Completion & CE Info

Course completion requirements: Participants must attend the entire course and complete a course evaluation to earn CE credit. Certificates of completion will be e-mailed within 10 business days.

This course qualifies for 3 contact hours. See below for specific course approvals.

Course Concerns

Any concerns related to this program, including those related to content, reimbursement, or CEU certificates should be submitted in writing via email to Robin Parsons at cnBhcnNvbnMgfCBjYy1tZCAhIG9yZw==. A response will be provided within 15 days. If the response is found to be unacceptable, the concern will be considered a grievance and submitted to the Director of Compliance and Risk Management for review and response within 30 days from the time the grievance was identified.

Associated Catholic Charities is authorized by the Board of Social Work Examiners in Maryland to sponsor social work continuing education learning activities and maintains full responsibility for this program. This training qualifies for3 hours in Category 1 continuing education units.

Catholic Charities of Baltimore (Associated Catholic Charities)

2300B Dulaney Valley Road

Timonium, MD 21093

6 67-600-2000

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