Six Strategies for Improving Your Client Engagement Skills

Presenter: David S. Prescott

Studies have found that the therapeutic alliance is among the most important elements of treatment. Indeed, virtually all models and techniques of treatment are predicated on having a solid working alliance. However, some established forms of bias (such as self-assessment bias and the illusion of explanatory depth) can interfere with the development of a solid therapeutic alliance. This workshop focuses on six critical areas of building a therapeutic alliance. It discusses what we know about the “therapeutic factors” of all treatment models and explores a range of implicit biases that can interfere with the development of the alliance. The workshop considers elements of trauma-informed care that are specific to populations of people who have abused others. It also discusses the formation of “approach goals”. Finally, there is an overview of what is known about intrinsic motivation, and a brief overview of motivational interviewing.

A mental health practitioner of over 40 years, David Prescott is the Director of the Safer Society Continuing Education Center. He is the author and editor of nearly 30 books in the areas of understanding and improving services to at-risk clients. He is best known for his work in the areas of understanding, assessing, and treating sexual violence and trauma. Mr. Prescott is the recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Contribution award from the Association for the Treatment and Prevention of Sexual Abuse (ATSA), the 2018 recipient of the National Adolescent Perpetration Network’s C. Henry Kempe Lifetime Achievement award, and the 2022 recipient of the Fay Honey Knopp Award from the New York State Alliance for the Prevention of Sexual Abuse and New York State ATSA. He also served as ATSA President in 2008-09. Mr. Prescott currently trains and lectures around the world. His published work has been translated into Japanese, Korean, German, French, Polish, Dutch, and other languages. He has served on the editorial boards of four scholarly journals. He was co-blogger for Sexual Abuse, which has been read well over a million times, and has co-authored the monthly MASOC Newsletter, which reviews research, since 2007.

This workshop is FREE .

There is a $25.00 Charge for CEUs:

 Psychological Services, Inc. will offer Continuing Education Units.

The American Psychological Association approves Psychological Assessment, Inc. (PAI) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. PAI maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

April 6th from 10-12:00 PST