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• Your Brain On Drugs: Homeostasis, Neurochemistry, and Healing from Addiction

  • When
    04/14/2023
  •  
    11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
  • Location
    Children’s Services Council. 2300 High Ridge Rd Boynton Beach Fl. 33426

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  Your Brain On Drugs:  Homeostasis, Neurochemistry, and Healing from Addiction

  Judith Grisel, Ph.D.

  Regular use of any psychoactive drug causes the opposite effect. Chronic stimulants result in lethargy, sedatives lead to anxiety, and euphoriants guarantee misery. These consequences are so predictable because they follow directly from fundamental features of the nervous system, namely, its capacity to recognize, predict, and adapt to change. We will apply Solomon and Corbit’s Opponent Process Theory (1974) to understand the neural and behavioral changes wrought by chronic exposure to cannabinoids and narcotics and discuss how such adaptation during periods of rapid brain development results in lasting changes in brain structure and function that pave the way for future addictions.

  Among the many studies conducted by Dr. Grisel, is a 2018 set of findings on the neuroscience of addiction pointing out genetic risks of addiction, especially in women. Gender and the biology of the brain may make some women more likely to reach for a drink when they feel stressed out, and more likely to become dependent on alcohol. It was funded by the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse and published in the journal Addiction Biology. 

  This finding, the outcome of a three-year neuroscience study by Bucknell Professor Judith Grisel, could improve the screening and diagnosis of alcoholism and other addictions. It also adds to the mounting body of evidence about fundamental differences between the brains of men and women — differences that Grisel notes were ignored for decades, leaving a deep gender gap in medical research that persists today.

  Learning Objectives

  1. Understand how abused drugs coopt normal brain circuits to mark meaningful events
  2. Recognize that repeated exposure to these signals produces adaptation in the brain, as any routine perturbation leads to neural compensation in the form of an “opponent process” aimed at maintaining homeostasis
  3. Tie opponent processes to the hallmarks of addiction: tolerance, dependence, and craving
  4. Know how endogenous opiate pathways are exploited by recreational users and how natural antiopiate mechanisms undermine an addict’s efforts to get high
  5. Appreciate how the specific actions of delta-9-THC in the bring about subjective effects, as well as the profound neural adaptations to counteract these outcomes
  6. Connect robust brain plasticity in adolescents to an enhanced risk for addiction

  2.0 General CEU Hours

  Judith Grisel, Ph.D.,

  Judith Grisel, Ph.D., is an internationally recognized behavioral neuroscientist and a professor of psychology at Bucknell University with expertise in pharmacology and genetics whose research focuses on determining the root causes of drug addiction. A current focus of her laboratory is to understand the role of endogenous opiate neurotransmission in different trajectories of alcohol abuse in men and women. Professor Grisel recently published Never Enough: The Neuroscience and Experience of Addiction, a New York Times bestseller.

   Proudly Sponsored by:
  

  
  

  John Davis, President
  

  
  

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• Disaster Proof: 7 Mistakes That Could Cost You Your License

  • When
    05/19/2023
  •  
    11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
  • Location
    Henley learning Center 933 45th St., West Palm Beach, 33407 FL

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  Disaster Proof: 7 Mistakes That Could Cost You Your License

  Dr. Denny Cecil-Van Den Heuvel, LMHC, LMFT

  The State of Florida is crystal clear on professional licensing for therapists.  We must stay within the guidelines outlined by FL Law 491 or risk disciplinary action by the board. The costs can be steep. It is not unusual for a well-meaning clinician to have his/her license suspended or even lose it. This workshop is a review of seven critical topics that all mental health clinicians must remember to stay within the laws and rules of this profession. Information from actual cases brought before past board meetings will be reviewed concerning broken laws and rules as well as penalties, costs, and possible remedies. Laws and rules coincide with ethical and professional boundaries mental health professionals are required to uphold. Dr. Van Den Heuvel is currently a member of the Florida 491 Board and sits in the review of all types of disciplinary cases regularly.
  

  Learning Objectives:

  1. Identify and describe seven of the most critical Laws and Rules that form the foundation of clinical practice under FL Law 491
  2. Articulate the costs and penalties most commonly given for practice errors in three key results areas
  3. Describe common paths of remedy for licensed clinicians found to be in violation of laws governing
  4. Identify and describe the most overlooked violations as seen by the actual 491 Board since 2018.

  2.0 General CEU Hours

  Dr. Denny Cecil-Van Den Heuvel, LMHC, LMFT

  Dr. Denny Cecil-Van Den Heuvel (also known as Dr. Denny) received her Master of Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1991. She attained her license in North Carolina and continues to hold that license. She received her Ph.D. in Counselor Education with a minor in Psychology at North Carolina State University. During this time, Dr. Cecil-Van Den Heuvel also founded a state association, the Licensed Professional Counselors Association of North Carolina, along with her colleagues, and promoted legislative groundwork for Licensed Professional Counselors in the 1990s. Currently, this association has over seven hundred members and is under the umbrella of the American Mental Health Counselors Association.

  Dr. Denny, now in private practice, retired as the Director of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Master Program at South University in West Palm Beach, FL. Dr. Denny was hired to set up this Master’s Program in 2003 at South University where it has successfully graduated students and recently attained CACREP accreditation. Currently in her practice she specializes in the treatment of adolescents and their families from her long-term experience with this population. Dr. Denny also treats a broad range of issues and currently treats children, adolescents, couples, and families. She works with trauma often and is trained in EMDR.

  Dr. Denny is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and a Licensed Marriage and Family Counselor in the state of Florida. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor in North Carolina. Dr. Denny has served as President of the Mental Health Counseling Association of Palm Beach County for two years, President of the Florida Mental Health Association for one year, and President of the Licensed Professional Counselors Association of North Carolina for two years. She is currently a member of the 491 Licensure Board in the State of Florida. She also holds a membership with the American Counseling Association, the American Mental Health Counseling Association, Florida Mental Health Counseling Association, Mental Health Counseling Association of Palm Beach County, and the Mental Health Association of Palm Beach County.

   Proudly Sponsored by:
  

  
  

  John Davis, President
  

  
  

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• Binge Eating Disorder: Beyond the DSM-V

  • When
    06/09/2023
  •  
    11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
  • Location
    Children's Services Council of Palm Beach County 2300 High Ridge Road Boynton Beach, FL 33426

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  Binge Eating Disorder: Beyond the DSM-V

  Rachel Porter, PsyD

  Eating disorders are neurobiological disorders rooted in the brain causing medical and psychological issues. They are NOT a choice and not simply about control or weight management. They are affected by genetics, environment, and temperament. All play a role. Eating disorders are experienced by all genders, body sizes, and socio-economic statuses.

  The inclusion of Binge Eating Disorder in the DSM-V was a triumph worthy of celebration- and the diagnostic criteria are all too limited in their understanding of BED. In this presentation, we will discuss the multi-faceted and complicated experience of BED, the contributing factors for developing and maintaining BED, and a road map for recovery.
  

  Learning Objectives 

  1. Identify at least 3 aspects of BED left out of the DSM
  2. Identify at least 4 obstacles to identification and treatment of BED
  3. Identify multiple components of effective BED treatment.

  2.0 General CEU Hours

  Rachel Porter, PsyD

  Rachel Porter, PsyD, is an eating disorders professional living and working in Durham, NC. Dr. Porter has worked in the eating disorders field for over 15 years, all at higher levels of care. Dr. Porter is currently the Clinical Director over all of Carolina House’s clinical services. Dr. Porter is an anti-stigma advocate, a Health at Every Size provider, and committed to using her many privileges to support and provide compassionate and inclusive care. In her personal time, Dr. Porter enjoys spending time with her husband, friends, and cats, reading, and trying to see Hamilton: An American Musical as many times as humanly possible.

   Proudly Sponsored by:
  

  
  

  John Davis, President
  

  
  

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