AFF Clinician Training

Welcome to Arkansas Families First! We’ve created this page to give you easy access to resources to help you feel comfortable here at AFF. Check out our library of courses, books and articles. Please feel free to recommend other resources as well. We’d love to keep this page growing!

Counseling

OUR PHILOSOPHY

We see clinician training as a way to give back to the profession we love! It allows seasoned clinicians to mentor, teach, and guide the development of upcoming experts. Our supervisors see clinicians in training as following a developmental pathway toward becoming their best selves, as clinicians, researchers, and leaders in the field. Supervision includes a combination of didactic teaching, collaborative treatment and assessment, processing and exploration, role play, supervised practice, and observation. Our goal is for trainees to receive the best possible training in working with children, teens, and families, in an atmosphere of support and professionalism.

AFF SUPERVISORS

Frequently Asked Questions

Individual supervision is held weekly and when we have enough trainees to hold group supervision, we like to include it weekly as well. You may also feel free to consult with various clinicians during lunch or casually during office hours.

AFF has multiple part-time clinicians who expect to office share. We often have vacant offices available too. There is no sign-up. It’s just first come first serve. Please be mindful of other trainees needing to use the office too.

You can access AFF’s email through any gmail.com login. Our emails, GDrive, Calendar, Notes, and Google Meet are encrypted, but patient emails accounts may not be encrypted. So be mindful of sending Personal Health Information (PHI) through email. 

Login.practicesuite.com

Since we are a group practice, most clinicians at AFF contract with us and thus work for themselves. We have a very flexible work environment that is dependent on everyone respecting each other professionally and personally. We do not have dress codes or cell phone rules or bans on political discussions, but we expect everyone to dress, speak and act like professionals. Attire is business casual, generally speaking.

Adam Benton, PhD

abenton@arfamiliesfirst.com

Janelle von Storch, LPC

Jvonstorch@arfamiliesfirst.com

Christina Christie, LCSW, ABD

CChristie@arfamiliesfirst.com

Tiffany Wierzbicki, PhD

TWierzbicki@arfamiliesfirst.com

Sarah Root, PhD

Sroot@arfamiliesfirst.com

GETTING STARTED CHECKLIST

  • Email Set-up

  • Practice Suite Set Up

  • WIFI

  • Voicemail

  • Available Offices

  • Google Drive Folders, Resources

  • Bio, Pic, & CV For Website

  • Copier / Printer

  • Mailbox

  • Scheduling Clients

Things you should know…

HIPAA Compliance

  • Do not discuss clinical case info online or on social media

  • Obtain proper releases and consent forms

  • Only transport patient records in containers that seal

  • Do not discuss cases outside of the office

  • When in doubt, protect your patients’ privacy and information.

Progress Notes

  • Documentation should always include date, time, attendees, procedures, patient response, diagnoses, and CPT code.

  • Briefly describe procedures/interventions used

  • Complete documentation during or immediately after each encounter

Cybersecurity

  • Use complex passwords (Upper and lower case, symbols, numbers, random, etc) on all devices, and update them regularly.

  • Only use secure wifi connections. When in public, Hot Spot from your phone.

  • Turn on password requirements for all devices: phone, tablets, computers, etc.

  • Use two-step verification whenever possible, and all AFF accounts, such as email, Ring Central, etc.

  • Keep your devices and antivirus up-to-date and scanned regularly for Malware and Viruses.

Before Your First Client Checklist

Documentation

  • Diagnostic Evaluation / Intake Forms

  • Limits to confidentiality

  • Treatment Planning

  • Progress Notes

Clinical Focus

  • Establishing Rapport

  • Assess level of severity and safety risks

  • Building trust through active listening, curiosity, and a warm, validating approach. 

  • Provide hope and expectations for growth, work, and change.

  • Balancing interpersonal warmth with knowledgeable professionalism

  • Acknowledge the obvious and make differences, insecurities, emotions okay to discuss

Creating Norms

  • Work and growth

  • Boundaries around topics, time, and space.

THE BIG PICTURE: WORKING WITH CHILDREN & FAMILIES

TIPS FOR WORKING WITH CHILDREN

Big Ideas

From birth to old age, humans are constantly developing, adapting, and changing to fit our environmental demands and our needs. When working with children, it helps to keep the development stages a needs in mind. Doing so will help you interpret each child’s behavior more accurately and will help you educate parents on how they can help meet a child’s needs.

Working with children and families requires that providers stay up-to-date on the evolving science of child development and child psychology, in addition to cultural and social trends that impact the lives of our patient families. In addition, patients present with an array of belief systems, medical conditions, and a variety of other factors that require providers to keep themselves well informed.

Our patients’ experience of the world, life, and even their own families are largely influenced by the culture around them. Savvy clinicians stay informed, curious, and open to understanding new cultures and new ways of relating to and seeing our patients’ authentic, lived experience of the world.

Children look to their parents to help identify danger and for guidance in understanding and interpreting events in the world. Parents are often symbols of security and safety, but sometimes traumatic events, parents’ mental health struggles, chronic stress, poverty, prejudice, and many other factors influence the quality and stability of parent-child relationships. In working with children, we are almost always working to strengthen parent-child bonds.

Consider the bigger picture(s), and how a child’s specific struggles fit into the larger context of their lives…. The family system; cultural context;  developmental stages; the impact of other family members, parents, siblings; and the impact on academic learning, relationship building, etc.

Many research studies point to the therapeutic alliance as a factor that continues to have a large impact, even larger than the type of treatment utilized by the counselor. Establishing a strong alliance is key to building trust and successful implementation of any intervention with children and their parents.

Think out of the box! One of the best parts of working with kids is that it challenges you to be creative, not just in your interventions, but also in the way you explain and relay concepts, the way you teach new skills, and the way you help parents see old behaviors in new ways.

Therapy should never be cookie cutter. All people, families, and stories are different and deserve to be heard. One difficulty for developing counselors is learning to recognize familiar patterns when working with patients, but that also means recognizing when patient families don’t fit the patterns and formulations that worked well with previous patient families.  Getting in touch with the individual experience of patient struggles helps ensure we don’t overapply patterns but instead we look at each case like its new.

Counseling is often a collaborative process where we identify and accept patients’ experiences, and in combination with our own knowledge-base and personal experience, we collaborate with patient families in making lasting life changes.

Counseling is a journey for most patients and families. It’s a journey that we often take with them, but not as the main player or hero in the story, Counselors are more knowledgeable guides. It’s not our story, but we can help them along the way as they create their own story.

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CHILD TREATMENT SHOULD KEEP DEVELOPMENT IN FOCUS

CDC

DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES

Normal growth and development

A child’s growth and development can be divided into four periods:

  • Infancy
  • Preschool years
  • Middle childhood years
  • Adolescence

See the CDC for more information.

Read More

Preschool Years

The normal social and physical development of children ages 3 to 6 years old includes many milestones.

Read More

Elementary Age

School-age child development describes the expected physical, emotional, and mental abilities of children ages 6 to 12.

Read More

Adolescent Years

The development of children ages 12 through 18 years old should include expected physical and mental milestones.

Read More

ENGAGING PARENTS

  1. TFCBT Parenting Skills and Engaging Families
  2. Mary-McKay-Parent-Engagement-Presentation

Parenting Books

  1. The Defiant Child, By Russell Barkley
  2. The Kazdin Method, By Alan Kazdin
  3. 123 Magic by Thomas Phalen
  4. The Explosive Child By Ross Greene
  5. Parenting the Strong-Willed Child, By Forehand and Long
  6. Parenting with Love and Logic
  7. Love Your Kids on Purpose, by Danny Silk
  8. Smart Discipline by Larry Cohen
  9. Conscious Discipline Curriculum.

Parenting Skills & Support

  1.  TFCBT Parenting Skills and Engaging Families 
  2. CDC Parent Training Videos
  3. Center for Effective Parenting: 

    What works with parent training?  Parent_Training_Meta-analysis

Integral Concepts When Working With Youth

Family Work

  • Emotion Regulation

  • Parental Alignment

  • Cohesion

  • Adaptability

  • Parenting Beliefs

  • Cagiver(s) Marriage

  • Sibling Relations

Behavior Management Interventions

  • Tell, Show, Help

  • Clear Verbal Instruction

  • Setting Limits

  • Adaptability

  • Behavior Plans & Point Systems

  • Accurate Expectations

  • Positive Reinforcementment

  • Social Coaching

Understanding Executive Functioning

  • Emotion Regulation

  • Planning and Organizing

  • Self-initiation

  • Inhibition

  • Forgetfulness

  • Attentional Control

UNDERSTANDING TRAUMATIC STRESS

ACES Study

About the CDC-Kaiser ACE Study

The CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study is one of the largest investigations of childhood abuse and neglect and household challenges and later-life health and well-being.

The original ACE Study was conducted at Kaiser Permanente from 1995 to 1997 with two waves of data collection. Over 17,000 Health Maintenance Organization members from Southern California receiving physical exams completed confidential surveys regarding their childhood experiences and current health status and behaviors.

More detailed information about the study can be found in the links below or in the article, “Relationship of Childhood Abuse and Household Dysfunction to Many of the Leading Causes of Death in Adultsexternal icon,”.

ACES Study PDF

CHILD & TEEN TREATMENT

Common Factors

Common Factors in Counseling

How important are the common factors in psychotherapy? An update

Bruce E Wampold
2015 Oct; 14(3): 270–277.
Published online 2015 Sep 25. doi: 10.1002/wps.20238

Stages of Change

Stages of Changes

Counseling Over Time

Counseling

Continuum of Child & Adolescent Mental Health Care

Continuum of Outpatient Evidence-based Treatments

Diagnosis & Assessments

  • Diagnostic Evaluation

  • Structured Interviews

  • Objective, Normative Assessment

Supportive Therapy

  • Building Rapport

  • Psycho-education

  • Emotional and Cognitive Processing

  • Resources

Brief Therapy

  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

  • Behavioral Parent Training

  • Parent Child Interaction Therapy

  • Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

  • Skill Building

  • Solution Focused, Time Limited

  • EMDR

  • Cognitive Processing Therapy

Extended Therapy

  • Dialectical Behavior Therapy

  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

  • Emotionally Focused Therapy

  • Internal Family Systems

  • Child Parent Psychotherapy

CHILD & TEEN EVALUATION

Evaluation Types

The initial intake session in counseling serves as a Diagnostic Evaluation for patients and their families. Gathering the necessary background information an d symptom presentation is key to thorough diagnostic evaluation. For the majority of patients, this is all the is needed, especially when brief objective assessments are utilized to increase the accuracy of diagnoses.

A psychological evaluation includes a detailed interview followed by a series of objective, standardized assessments to obtain normative information about such traits as personality, intelligence, memory, and mental health symptoms. They are typical for the purposes of diagnostic clarification.

A Developmental Evaluation includes a detailed interview with caregivers and children, followed by a series of objective, standardized assessments to obtain normative information about child development in areas such as cognitive, motor, language, social, and important independent living skills.

An Educational Evaluation includes a detailed interview followed by a series of objective, standardized assessments to obtain normative information about such traits as intelligence, academic skills, and knowledge, as well as learning disorders like dyslexia or dysgraphia.

An Adoption Evaluation includes a detailed interview followed by a series of objective, standardized assessments to obtain normative information about such traits as personality, intelligence, parenting beliefs, and mental health symptoms that impact an individual’s capacity to parent.

Career Testing includes a detailed interview followed by a series of objective, standardized assessments match individuals with career options that are an ideal fit for their particular interests, personality, and skillset.

Custody Evaluations include detailed interviews and extensive medical record reviews of both caregivers in question. The evaluator uses objective, standardized assessments to obtain normative information to make recommendations on child custody to local court systems.

Parenting Capacity Evaluations uses objective testing and interviews to obtain normative information to determine if an individual has the capacity to perform the duties of a healthy, “good enough” parent.

Capacity to Stand Trial Evaluations uses objective testing and interviews to obtain normative information to determine if an individual has the capacity to understand and participate in their own trial.

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Brief Assessments

A comprehensive set of rating scales and forms, BASC-3 helps you understand the behaviors and emotions of children and adolescents.

See File Drawer for Assessment Protocols

The SDQ is a mental health screening inventory with lots of empirical support.

Child Version

Parent Version, ages 4-10

Parent Version, ages 11-18

The screen for childhood anxiety-related disorders is a brief assessment of anxiety of several types of anxiety in children ages 7 to 17. You can access this survey on our website and it’s self-scored.

Click here to access the assessment.

The Mood and Feelings Questionnaire is a brief parent and self-report measure of depression in children and teens.

Mood And Feelings Questionnaire, Parent Version, Long-Form

Mood And Feelings Questionnaire, Child Version, Long-Form

The pediatric symptom checklist is a brief parent-report instrument that assesses a broad range of mental health struggles. It’s great for an initial screening tool and for measuring outcomes over time.

Pediatric Symptom Checklist

The Vanderbilt ADHD parent rating scales our parent-teacher report instruments to assess symptoms associated with ADHD, ADD, anxiety and conduct problems. It’s a well-respected measure that is used extensively across the country because of its simplicity and ease of use.

Vanderbilt ADHD Parent Rating Scale

Vanderbilt ADHD Teacher Rating Scale

Caregiver Report (child 3-6yrs)
Caregiver Report (child 3-6yrs) – Spanish
Caregiver Report (child 7-17yrs)
Caregiver Report (child 7-17yrs) – Spanish
 
CATS Self-Report 7-17yrs
CATS Self-Report 7-17yrs Spanish

The trust event survey for children and adolescents is a checklist of Trumatic events experienced by some children across the world. There’s no scoring involved it’s just a checklist of traumatic events.
Trauma Events Survey For Children & Adolescents

Trauma Events Survey For Caregivers

The Disruptive Behavior Disorder scale assesses Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Conduct Disorder, and ADHD symptoms in children and teens.

Disruptive Behavior Disorder Scale

PARENTING VIDEOS

Positive Reinforcement

Using Time Out

Discipline & Consequences

Communication

Giving Directions

Creating Structure and Rules

Educational / Academic

Individualized Educ. Plans (IEPs)

504 PLANS

Trainee Competencies

CompetenciesEvidence-Based TxGroup TopicsExperiencesClient Problems
Rapport BuildingTrauma-Focused CBTUnderstanding InsuranceDiagnostic EvalAnxiety
Diagnostic AssessmentCoping Cat for AnxietyID Abuse & NeglectPre-school ChildDepression
Treatment PlanningParent-Child Itxn TherapyTransferenceSchool-Aged ChildADHD
DocumentationChild-Parent PsychotherapyParent CollaborationTeen TherapyAutism
Understanding InsuranceCognitive Processing TherapyTeam TreatmentFamily TherapyDisruptive Behavior
CBT InterventionsDialectical Behavior TherapyMedicationsGroup TherapyOCD
Outcome AssessmentBehavioral Parent TrainingMedicaidBrief AssessmentsPhobias
Professional LettersCBT for Depression, OCD, etc.DHSProgram DevelopmentSelective Mutism
Working with StaffSS DisabilityMedia InterviewsLGBTQ
Local ResourcesReferring outBloggingEating Disorders
EIPs and 504 PlansYour Ideal ClientLR CPC TourSubstance Abuse
TerminationCreating a nicheConway CAC TourTraumatic Stress
Suicide AssessmentPersistent Mental IllnessBehavior PlansAdaptive Delays
Safety PlanningPrivate PracticeParenting SupportAnger Problems
Child Abuse ReportingTeam Consultation
Managing RiskSchool Consultation
Medical Consult
Crisis Management
Risk Assessment

About Us

Arkansas Families First is a multidisciplinary behavioral health care group that offers a variety of health services for children, teens and families in Central Arkansas. Our group of independently practicing providers strive to provide the best, most comprehensive care that modern psychology, psychiatry, counseling, and other disciplines have to offer.

Mission

Arkansas Families First is devoted to unlocking the full potential of children and families. We utilize the latest research and the most skilled providers in the service of improving people’s lives. We strive to empower parents and to integrate multiple disciplines in the building of strong families and healthy children.

Our Promise

We take a strengths-based approach utilizing the latest evidence-based treatments and include parents in all aspects of treatment and assessment. We’ll find the service and the provider that best fits your family. With our growing list of clinicians, if you are not satisfied with your provider or services will help you make the necessary changes.