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The Atlas Institute is offering a two-part training on prolonged exposure (PE) therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to licensed/registered service providers (and their trainees) working in mental health who care for Veterans or Veteran Families in Canada. The cost for this training is covered by the Atlas Institute for eligible service providers who register and are approved (see details in Training fees).

This two-part training includes:

  • Part 1: Workshop on PE for PTSD (4 days)
  • Part 2: Regular group consultations with an expert in PE (12 weeks; more info)

Continue reading to learn more about the workshop, including how to register!

Monday, February 26, 2024 - Thursday, February 29, 2024
9 a.m.–5 p.m., Mountain time
Virtual
English
No cost
For service providers

Registration for this workshop is now full and the waitlist is closed. The waitlist form closed at 8 p.m. (Eastern Time) on February 16, 2024.

About prolonged exposure therapy (PE)

Prolonged exposure (PE) therapy is an evidence-based therapy that is recommended as a first-line treatment for PTSD in international treatment guidelines, such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Guideline (2018) and the American Psychological Association (APA) Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Treatment of PTSD (2017).

For more information about PE, please visit the website for the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine.

You can also visit our webpage developed for Veterans and their Families wanting to learn more about PE and what to expect during treatment.

Training fees

The Atlas Institute is covering the cost of the PE for PTSD workshop for approved registrants. There will be no cost to participants, subject to eligibility.

While we are covering the cost of the training, participants are required to purchase a copy of the PE therapist guide (available for purchase through Oxford University Press and other retailers).

Prolonged Exposure Therapy for PTSD: Emotional Processing of Traumatic Experiences
Second Edition
By Edna B. Foa, Elizabeth A. Hembree, Barbara Olasov Rothbaum and Sheila A.M. Rauch
ISBN 978-0-19-092693-9

Registration

Registration for this workshop is now full and the waitlist is closed. The waitlist form closed at 8 p.m. (Eastern Time) on February 16, 2024.

This opportunity is offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

Registration for the group consultations will open after the workshop is complete. Visit the event page for more information on group consultations.

Workshop details

This workshop is endorsed by the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety (CTSA) at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. This four-day training is part of the certification process as a PE provider.

If you are selected to participate, you can expect to attend four days of training for eight hours each day.

Dates: February 26–29, 2024
Time: 9 a.m.–5 p.m., Mountain time
Delivery: Online via Zoom for Healthcare
Language: English

Participants must agree to the following terms and conditions prior to the workshop:

  1. You will inform the training organizers immediately if you no longer plan to attend the workshop. Failure to do so may affect eligibility for future trainings offered through the Atlas Institute.
  2. Your video camera will remain on during the entire workshop.
  3. No more than two hours of the four-day workshop can be missed.
  4. You are expected to maintain the professional environment for the workshop (e.g. ensure caregiving arrangements are in place for children).
  5. You will be present for the breakout sessions at the times outlined in the agenda.
  6. You will receive your certificate from the CTSA upon completion of the workshop evaluation.

In this workshop, you can expect to:

  1. Describe the diagnosis and psychopathology of PTSD
  2. Discuss emotional processing theory as it relates to PE for PTSD
  3. Discuss empirically supported, psychotherapeutic treatments for chronic PTSD and the comparative efficacy of these treatment approaches
  4. Explain how clients can be helped to emotionally engage in and process traumatic memories, with the aim of reducing trauma-related symptoms and difficulties
  5. Implement psychoeducational treatment components of PE for PTSD
  6. Construct an in-vivo exposure hierarchy that includes a range of situations that safely and effectively promote learning while expanding the client’s world
  7. Implement in-vivo exposure to safe but avoided trauma reminders with clients
  8. Help clients choose an appropriate index trauma on which to focus in PE for PTSD
  9. Conduct imaginal exposure to memories of traumatic events
  10. Choose hot spots with clients and implement hot spots procedures in imaginal exposure
  11. Identify and address avoidance in PE sessions
  12. Identify and address over- and under-engagement in imaginal exposure

This workshop will be delivered via Zoom for Healthcare. You will receive an invitation with instructions prior to the workshop.

Please ensure that you have a stable Internet connection (broadband wired or wireless — 3G or 4G/LTE), speakers and microphone (built-in or USB plug-in or wireless Bluetooth). To ensure connectivity, please ensure your Zoom App is up-to-date. If you have an older version of Zoom, it may not be compatible. You can download the latest version here.

Update: The maximum capacity for the workshop has increased to 40 participants (previously 30). This will not impact the format or delivery of the workshop.

The Centre for Posttraumatic Stress & Anxiety Treatment, Ltd. (David Paul, PhD) is approved by the Canadian Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. The Centre for Posttraumatic Stress & Anxiety Treatment, Ltd. (David Paul, PhD) maintains responsibility for the program. For other licensed professionals, please check with your licensing board to determine acceptability of CPA Continuing Education (CE) credits for this learning activity.

Completion of the entire Four-Day Prolonged Exposure Therapy Workshop will earn participants 25 CE credits. Credit for partial completion is not available. CE certificates will be provided to eligible participants on their completion of a workshop evaluation.

For this workshop, you will receive a certificate from the CTSA. Your certificate will become available to you after you have completed the workshop evaluation.

This four-day intensive workshop in PE conducted by CTSA certified trainers is part of the certification process as a PE provider. For more information on becoming a certified PE provider, please visit the CTSA website.

Note: The CPA’s approval of an individual, group, or organization as a CE Sponsor or Provider is restricted to the activities described in the approved application or annual report form. The CPA’s approval does not extend to any other CE activity the Sponsor or Provider might offer. In granting its approval, the CPA assumes no legal or financial obligations to Sponsors, Providers, or to those individuals who might participate in a Sponsor or Provider’s CE activities or programs. Further, responsibility for the content, provision, and delivery of any CE activity approved by the CPA remains that of the CE Sponsor or Provider. The CPA disclaims all legal liability associated with the content, provision, and delivery of the approved CE activity.

All times are listed in Mountain time.

Day 1 — February 26, 2024

8:45–9 a.m. Sign-in
9 a.m. –12:30 p.m. PE therapy for PTSD

  • Diagnosis and epidemiology of PTSD
  • Emotional processing theory
  • Efficacy and effectiveness

(break as needed, approximately 10–10:15 a.m.)

12:30–1:30 p.m. Lunch break
1:30–3:15 p.m. Overview of PE therapy

  • Assessment of trauma-related symptoms prior to and during treatment
  • Preparation for PE therapy

Description of PE/overview of sessions 1–10

3:15–3:30 p.m. Break
3:30–5 p.m. PE therapy program

  • Session 1: How to present the PE program to clients
  • Establishing therapeutic alliance

Day 2 — February 27, 2024

8:45–9 a.m. Sign-in
9–10 a.m. Break into pairs to practise delivery of treatment overview/rationale
10–10:45 a.m. Session 1: Trauma interview and breathing retraining

Session 2: Psychoeducation

10:45–11 a.m. Break
11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Session 2: In vivo exposure

  • Rationale for in vivo exposure
  • Use of Subjective Units of Distress (SUDs) scale
  • Construction of in vivo hierarchy
  • Safety guidelines for in vivo exposure
  • Assignment of in vivo homework
12:30–1:30 p.m. Lunch break
1:30–2:30 p.m. Break into pairs to practise rationale and procedure for in vivo exposure and hierarchy construction
2:30–3:15 p.m. Session 3: Imaginal exposure I

  • Rationale for imaginal exposure
3:15–3:30 p.m. Break
3:30–5 p.m. Session 3: Imaginal exposure II

  • Rationale for imaginal exposure (continued)
  • Procedure for imaginal exposure

Day 3 — February 28, 2024

8:45–9 a.m. Sign-in
9–10 a.m. Session 3: Imaginal exposure III

  • Processing
  • Anger, guilt and shame
10–11 a.m. Break into pairs to practise delivery of imaginal exposure rationale and procedure
11–11:15 a.m. Break
11:15 a.m.–12 p.m. Sessions 4 and 5: Therapist self-care
12–12:30 p.m. Session 6-9: Hot spots procedure for imaginal exposure
12:30–1:30 p.m. Lunch break
1:30–2:15 p.m. Session 6–9: Hot spots procedure for imaginal exposure (continued)
2:15–2:45 p.m. Session 10: Final session

  • Reassessing SUDs, relapse prevention, post-treatment planning
2:45–3:15 p.m. Factors that impair effective emotional engagement in exposure: Avoidance

  • Reluctance to do exposure, avoidance of homework, missing therapy sessions
3:15–3:30 p.m. Break
3:30–5 p.m. Factors that impair effective emotional engagement in exposure: Avoidance (continued)

Day 4 — February 29, 2024

8:45–9 a.m. Sign-in
8:45–10:30 a.m. Factors that impair effective emotional engagement in exposure: Under-engagement
10:30–10:45 a.m. Break
10:45 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Factors that impair effective emotional engagement in exposure: Over-engagement
12:30–1:30 p.m. Lunch break
1:30–2:15 p.m. Special issues: Maintaining focus on PTSD, homework compliance
2:15–3 p.m. Review of treatment/forms
3–3:15 p.m. Break
3:15–4 p.m. Discussion period and Q&A

About the trainers

Dr. David Paul is a Registered Psychologist and Co-Director of the Centre for Posttraumatic Stress & Anxiety Treatment in Edmonton, Alta. He previously worked as Clinical Coordinator at the Veterans Affairs Canada Operational Stress Injury Clinic in Edmonton from 2009 to 2012, and as a Clinical Psychologist with the Department of National Defence between 2013 and 2018. Dr. Paul’s primary clinical focus is the treatment of PTSD using empirically validated cognitive behavioural therapies. He is certified as a PE Therapist, Consultant and Trainer by the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine.

Eligibility requirements

This training is intended for licensed/registered service providers working in mental health who care for Veterans or Veteran Families in Canada. Trainees working under a licensed/registered service provider in Canada are also eligible to apply.

Because of the advanced nature of this workshop and the limited enrolment, participants should have prior experience treating survivors of trauma. It is not intended for those with a general interest. Previous training and experience with cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) is strongly recommended.

To be eligible, you must:

  1. Provide care to Veterans or Veteran Families (Veterans from the Canadian Armed Forces and former Royal Canadian Mounted Police [RCMP] members).
    • You must have a Veteran in your current caseload.
    • The insurance provider your client uses is not a determining factor for eligibility (e.g. Veterans can use their own private insurance or insurance through Veterans Affairs Canada).
    • Service providers who only care for active military or RCMP members are not eligible. Clients that are transitioning out of the military but are still currently an active member do not count towards the Veteran eligibility requirement.
  2. Be a licensed/registered service provider or a trainee under a licensed/registered service provider working in mental health. For example: counsellor; marriage and Family therapist; nurse practitioner; occupational therapist; physician; psychiatrist; psychologist; psychotherapist; registered nurse; registered psychiatric nurse; social worker. If you do not see yourself in this list, please contact us to see if you’re eligible.
    • Your licence must include psychotherapy in your scope of practice.
    • Please note that regulatory bodies differ in each province and territory and the scope of practice for each profession may vary as a result.
  3. Be currently living and providing care in Canada.
  4. Be able to participate in the workshop in English.

We encourage applications from members of groups with historical and/or current barriers to equity. The Atlas Institute is attentive to the diversity of our network and invites you to self-identify during registration if you wish. Responses from applicants who self-identify during the registration process will only be shared with training organizers at the Atlas Institute. Groups include:

  • First Nations, Métis and Inuit Peoples, and all other Indigenous Peoples
  • Persons with visible and/or invisible (physical and/or mental) disabilities
  • Member of a group(s) that commonly experience discrimination due to race, ancestry, colour, religion and/or spiritual beliefs, or place of origin
  • Persons who identify as women
  • Persons of marginalized sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions

The Atlas Institute is committed to providing an accessible environment for participants attending trainings. Part of this commitment includes offering supports such as American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters or captionists during the training.