Use of Structural Family Therapy to Address Anger & Aggression

12:45 pm: Registration Opens

1:15 pm: Training Begins (see description below)

4:30 pm: Training Ends

Have you ever used a family therapy approach to “decrease” anger and aggression only to feel like you and the family were fanning the flames or making the problem even worse? You are not alone! In this training participants will learn how to use structural family therapy assessment and restructuring skills to address these problems. Learning to assess patterns of family interaction will allow you to develop a different “frame” than the family uses to understand and address these intense emotions and behaviors. Restructuring skills, including tracking, blocking, and highlighting, will help you influence the family to accept this new frame and gradually shift into healthier ways of interacting. You will learn to use these skills through discussion, role plays and review of actual family therapy session content. This training is for intermediate and advanced audiences and Foundations of Family Therapy is a recommended prerequisite.

Level: Intermediate/Advanced

Learning Objectives

After attending this course, participants will be able to:

• Describe how reframing can be used during sessions so that members can better tolerate discusion
• Name two types of boundary problems often associated with angry and aggressive behaviors
• Describe how to set the statge to use blocking effectively with highly emotional family members

Course Outline

1:15 pm: Intro and brief demonstration of an angry family interaction

1:30 pm: Anger and aggression and its purpose in a family

1:50 pm: Intervening with an enmeshed family as it relates to anger and agrression

2:30 pm: Use of tracking and refrmaing to support healthy self-expression in families

3:15 pm: Break

3:30 pm: Skills to support and encourage healthy leadership in the family

4:15 pm: Summary and questions

Carl Fornoff, LCPC is the Associate Administrator of Villa Maria Behavioral Health as well as a therapist in private practice. Carl has worked in the behavioral health field over 35 years developing community based programs including school based mental health, therapeutic after school programs, Brief Strategic Family Therapy and PCIT. He has used Structural Family Therapy to support various family challenges including separation and divorce, anxiety and depression, "failure to launch" and delinquent behaviors.

Julia Tilghman, LCSW-C, is a Clinic Supervisor as well as 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 CBT+ and Parent Child Interaction Therapy. 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 February 27, 2026 or when space is full, whichever comes first. Refunds may be requested via the Eventbrite platform until February 27, 2026; 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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