CEUs / Continuing Education for MFTs & LCSWs

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2009 TBD. Last year. March 13-16, 2008. PSYCHOTHERAPY NETWORKER ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM: Wasington, D.C. www.psychotherapynetworker.org

"THE CLINICAL APPLICATIONS OF MINDFULNESS: Therapy as a Contemplative Practice" Two-Part Clinical Intensive

Presenter: Jerome J. Front, MFT
Knowing how to connect deeply with clients is the core of therapy, but this isn't a skill you can learn, much less "practice," by reading a book, attending a lecture, or even learning a particular clinical method. These days, many therapists are discovering (and neuroscience is demonstrating) that mindfulness meditation helps them cultivate the relational skills essential to good therapy—awareness, compassion, inner attunement, patience, and empathy. In this combination experiential and discussion-based workshop intended for those new to mindfulness and experienced meditators, the presenter will show how to bring a contemplative vision to psychotherapy work and approach the therapeutic relationship as a form of "deep practice" of meditation. Through the experiential part of the workshop, participants will be able to identify and define more precisely their immediate subjective experience, evaluating their inner process of inquiry with curiosity and self-acceptance. You'll leave the workshop having discovered ways of applying meditation-based skills in the therapeutic relationship. Contact: www.psychotherapynetworker.org for registration info.

Held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, D.C.

Presenter Bio: Jerome Front, M.F.T., is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist with a private-practice in Studio City. (Lic #: 30359) He is an experienced leader of innovative retreats and workshops for more than 15 years and teaches meditation. He was also a staff counselor at the Medical Center of North Hollywood. Jerome is a provider of Continuing Education for MFTs & LCSWs and for over 7 years has been a year-round Adjunct Faculty member in The Graduate School of Clinical Psychology at Pepperdine University. In 2000, he developed and annually teaches the first Graduate Psychology course (non-seminar) in the country towards Degree Credit called: "Mindfulness and Psychotherapy," and is a workshop leader at the renowned Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA. See: www.Esalen.org, for information on the upcoming CEU Weekend Retreat on May 16, 17 & 18, 2008, called: "The Eating, Food and Body/Self" Retreat. For more information on Jerome, please see the "About Us" section of our website.

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NOVEMBER 23, 2008. SUNDAY. NOON till 4:00pm in Studio City. (818) 760-7725
(4Hrs. CEUs for MFTs & LCSWs) Los Angeles area workshop

"CULTIVATING MEANING IN THE MIDST OF LOSS:
Using Grief and Sadness to Deepen Purpose and Well-being"

Presenters: Julie Brams-Prudeaux, MFT, and Jerome J. Front, MFT
There are so many types of losses in the human experience -- death, separation from family and friends, divorce, broken dreams and failing health, as well as those losses that are known only in the privacy of your heart. This workshop will focus on these often painful but powerfully transformative periods of life. Held in mindful awareness and acceptance, aspects of loss can yield gifts of growth and deep healing. Methods: By exploring personal grief you'll learn to identify and use the often hidden, positive aspects within grief, loss and sadness to deepen your emotional and spiritual development in daily life. Experiential exercises, guided meditations, metaphor and art-process will also be used. This also a Public Workshop - Anyone is welcome to attend.**

Presenter Bios: Julie Brams-Prudeaux, LMFT is a licensed therapist with a private practice in Encino and Sherman Oaks and a certified bereavement counselor. Over the past seven years she has worked both individually and in groups with people facing loss. She created and facilitated grief support groups and healing circles around the issue of death and dying at WeSPARK in Studio City. Her current project is a series of mindfulness-oriented workshops called: "Opening the Gift of Loss." Presenter Bio: Jerome Front, MFT (see above workshops)

COST:
-$69.00 Early Discount BEFORE NOV. 21st.

-$59.00 Interns & Students: Early Discount BEFORE NOV.21st.
-$79.00 Regular Fee for any registrations AFTER NOV.21st.

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May 1-4, 2008. CAMFT ANNUAL CONFERENCE: Los Angeles, CA www.camft.org

"“CULTIVATING MINDFULNESS: Is It Clinically Essential for Therapists To Meditate?”
All-Day Retreat Format

Presenter: Jerome J. Front, MFT
This workshop challenges therapists to consider whether their clinical work can benefit from having their own mindfulness meditation practice. Reading the latest literature and attending seminars about mindful research form an essential conceptual foundation for those interested in this rapidly growing field. However, neither of these activities are likely to cultivate mindfulness in the therapist. The first-hand experience of mindful practice is the most direct and primary path that one can regularly choose in order to become mindful. It is the meditation itself that reveals the deepest elements in the relationship between mindfulness and clinical work. Clinical competency with mindfulness as well as therapist integration grow out of a therapist’s own process of meditation and dialogue. In a training-retreat format, this unique workshop will provide the often-missing experiential “lab” portion of clinical training. While the necessary basics of mindfulness theory and current research will be covered to clinically contextualize the meditation, this workshop will provide a wide variety of intensive, experiential mindfulness meditations. From this first-hand knowing, therapists can construct an informed decision regarding the clinical value of having their own meditation practice. Contact: www.camft.org for registration info.

Held at The Marriot / Los Angeles Airport, Los Angeles, CA.

Presenter Bio: Jerome Front, MFT (see above workshops) For more information on Jerome, please see the "About Us" section of our website.
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July 20, 2008. SUNDAY. 12 Noon - 4:00pm, in Studio City. (818) 760-7725
(4Hrs. CEUs for MFTs & LCSWs) Los Angeles area workshop (818) 760-7725

MINDFULNESS-BASED RELATIONSHIP WORKSHOP:
Improving Intimacy & Understanding by Weaving Together Heart & Mind

Presenter: Jerome J. Front, MFT
Includes Step-By-Step Techniques You will be able to apply immediately to improve your work with couples as well as your own relationships! So much has been written about improving relationships that is easy to get lost in it all. This workshop presents the latest relationship research and mind-body innovations that can bring healing into the heart of relationships. The focus is on a deep systems perspective that weaves together the elements of mind, body, emotions and spirit. Topics: Meditative Awareness in Reducing Emotional Reactivity; "What went wrong? and "What works"; Deepening "Expressive" & "Receptive" Skills; Relationship as "Deep Practice" & More. Methods: Experiential Practicing, Role-Plays, Lecture / Conceptualizing & Discussion. This also a Public Workshop - Anyone is welcome to attend. Individuals welcome as well.**

Presenter Bio: Jerome Front, MFT (see above workshops)

COST:
-$69.00 Early Discount BEFORE JULY 13th, 2008.
-$59.00 Interns & Students: Early Discount BEFORE JULY 13th, 2008.
-$79.00 for any registrations AFTER JULY 13th, 2008.

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Date TBA, in Studio City. (818) 760-7725
(4 Hrs. CEUs for MFTs & LCSWs)

"MINDFULNESS & THE WRITING PROCESS:
Awakening Creativity, Awareness and Presence"

Presenters: Jerome J. Front, MFT, and Bruce Singer
This experiential workshop will give participants opportunities to practice writing and meditating as interrelated processes. Participants will utilize mindfulness meditation and other sensory activities to cultivate immediacy, awareness and presence. Writing processes, exercises and journaling will be used to transfer these qualities into forms of writing and speaking from you authentic voice. Topics include: Locating your Authentic Voice; Speaking and Listening with Immediacy and Presence in Class Discussion; Creating Dialogues; Mind-Body Integration; Dreaming-the Dream-Forward, Enhancing Creativity; Image-Making & More! This also a Public Workshop - Anyone -- writers and NON-writers alike are welcome to attend.**

Presenter Bios: Jerome J. Front, MFT (see above workshop)
Bruce F. Singer is an award-winning screenwriter whose credits include numerous movies and television shows for Lifetime, ABC, HBO, Showtime, Hallmark, CBS, Disney and NBC. He has lectured extensively on screenwriting and has also been guest faculty at the American Film Institute. Introduced to meditation in 1978, Bruce has studied mindfulness with Jerome Front since 2003. Bruce has specialized in teaching mindfulness at a substance abuse treatment center and has published a featured article on "A Mindful Recovery" in the journal: "Addiction Professional".

COST:
-$69.00 Licensed Providers:
-$59.00 Interns & Students:
-$79.00 Regular Fee:
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**All workshops meet the Requirements of The Board of Behavior Science (BBS) for Mandatory Continuing Education for MFTs, LCSWs and BBS Registered Interns and Trainees in California. (CA PCE#596)