Advanced Common Therapist Mistakes and The Ethics of Owning Them

This workshop, an advanced version of the original Common Therapist Mistakes workshop, is designed to enhance your professional growth in the field of therapy. It's important to note that participants do not have to haveattended the first workshop to benefit from this advanced version.

This workshop will focus on common mistakes therapists make, when and why we are most likely to make them, and strategies to avoid them. Our ethics and our own personal values require us to do no harm. However, several studies have found that 5-20% of people in psychotherapy experience adverse effects and 15-40% don't get better. Additionally, patients surveyed tend to view adverse effects as more harmful than do their therapists.

So, what factors might interfere with our good intentions and skills? All therapists are human, and we all make mistakes. We sometimes give advice when it's not necessary or when we find ourselves in power struggles with our clients. When our clients get stuck, we might feel inadequate or label them as unmotivated.

In this interactive workshop, participants will have the opportunity to explore their own personality characteristicsand narratives, which make them vulnerable to making common mistakes. For example, if we ourselves struggle with perfectionism, we may have difficulty receiving feedback from our clients. Since these are common mistakes, specific strategies apply and will be practiced. Participants will begiven the opportunity to increase insight through experiential learning, such as journaling and imaginal practice, all in the comfort of your own environment.

Reducing common mistakes enables us to increasecompliance with ethical codes regarding maintaining competence, monitoring outcomes, respecting clients' self- determination, and avoiding harm. Finally, recognizing the universality of these mistakes enables us to use humor and even poke fun at ourselves a bit.

Note: There will be some review for those who attended the first workshop, but more emphasis will be placed onmistakes related to therapist characteristics, agenda, and practice of the recommended strategies.

Highlights

• Advanced exploration of common therapist mistakes, why they occur, and evidence-based strategies to prevent them while strengthening ethical practice
• Interactive exercises for increasing self-awareness around personal traits and narratives that contribute to clinicalmissteps, such as perfectionism or control dynamics
• Practical tools for reducing harm, enhancing client outcomes, and maintaining ethical competence through reflection, feedback, and experiential learning
• Emphasis on professional growth through insight, humor, and humility to foster resilience and authenticity in therapeuticwork Upgrade consent, boundaries, and documentation with small changes that matter.
• Turn mistakes into repair opportunities that strengthen alliance.

Target Audience: Psychologists, Counselors, Social Workers, Marriage & Family Therapists, Psychotherapists, Other Mental Health Professionals