(This is a LIVE VIRTUAL event. Access to a recording will not be available.)

Presented by

Dr. Margaret O'Hara, PhD, LMHC, LPCC, NCC

This course introduces a wellness-supported experiential method for advancing in-person group counseling during the working phase of treatment. Designed for mental health counselors, the training emphasizes ethical integration of wellness-oriented experiential methods with theoretically grounded, evidence-based models consistent with DSM-5-TR criteria. Participants will examine clinical rationales for using wellness-supported experiential methods and strategies for integrating them with other therapeutic approaches. Legal and ethical considerations including informed consent, scope of practice, and evaluation and consultation with medical providers will be included. Application is illustrated through a case example of individuals meeting DSM-5-TR criteria for a substance use disorder, demonstrating how wellness-supported experiential methods used in group counseling can enhance therapeutic alliance, client engagement, and goal attainment.

Learning Objectives
As a result of attending this course, learners will be able to:

1. Identify at least two reasons to use a wellness-supported experiential approach in the working phase of in-person group counseling.
2. Describe strategies for integrating wellness-supported experiential methods with theoretically grounded, evidence-based treatment approaches.
3. Apply a wellness-supported experiential method to facilitate therapeutic progress and counseling goal attainment in group counseling using a case scenario of individuals meeting DSM-5-TR criteria for a substance use disorder.

About Dr. O'Hara

Dr. Margaret A. O'Hara is a National Certified Counselor (NCC) working in the counseling profession for over thirty years, as a counselor, supervisor, consultant and educator. She earned her PhD at Oregon State University and continues her affiliation with OSU's CACREP-accredited program, developing and teaching bachelors', masters' and doctoral-level students. Dr. O'Hara teaches masters' and doctoral-level courses in the psychology department at the California Institute for Human Sciences and is beginning her ninth year teaching masters-level students online in the Department of Applied Psychology at New York University. She has worked as course designer and instructor for University of California San Diego. She holds counselor licenses in New York (LMHC), California (LPCC), and Alaska (LPC) and has a private practice in San Diego. She is board certified as a Telemental Health Provider (BC-TMH), working online with clients in these states. Dr. O'Hara is a Master Addiction Counselor, credentialed in New York as an alcohol and substance abuse counselor (CASAC) since 1991. She has served as a DWI Screening and Assessment Provider through New York's Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS). Dr. O'Hara is a Certified Experiential Therapist II. In addition to experiential methods, she uses a variety of approaches including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Wellness Models, and Motivational Interviewing techniques. She is experienced in the following settings: a psychiatric hospital, inpatient and outpatient treatment programs, community college, and university programs. Additionally, she is a certified school counselor in New York and California with thirteen years' experience in primary and secondary schools. She is active in professional counseling associations. In New York she was on the Executive Board of the East End Counseling Association (EECA) for seven years, serving several roles including the presidential sequence. She was named regional Counselor of the Year by EECA in 2006. On the state level, she served as the Division President of the Association of Specialists in Group Work for the New York Counseling Association. She completed four years on the Executive Board of the California Association of Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors (CALPCC), having served as President-Elect, President, and Immediate Past President. She is serving her twelfth year on CALPCC's Ethics Committee, which she chaired for two years. She has been designated an Expert Consultant and Subject Matter Expert for CA LPCC examinations with California's licensing board, the Bureau of Behavioral Sciences. Her interest in counseling began as a recipient of counseling when, as a teen, her parents died young. With a family history of mental health issues, she was determined to break the chain. Over decades of work in the field her passion is as strong as ever!