The World Confederation of CBT (WCCBT) invites you to join a Free Live Webinar presented by the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) Wednesday September 17, 2025 

 A Practical Guide to Integrating Evidence-Based, Non-Specialist Delivered, Psychological Interventions into existing Services across the Globe: An Introduction to W.H.O.’s Psychological Interventions Implementation Manual

 Presented by: Dr. Ken Carswell

 Mental Health Specialist 

Department of Mental Health, Brain Health, and Substance Use

 World Health Organization (W.H.O.) 

Moderator: Dr. Lata McGinn 

 President, World Confederation of CBT (WCCBT) 

Free Registration 

 Wednesday, September 17, 2025 

4:00 PM- 5:00 PM Eastern 

 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM Central 

 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM Mountain 

 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM Pacific

10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Hawaii

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM Alaska

Abstract:

The World Health Organization (W.H.O.) plays a vital role in addressing various mental health challenges globally, in particular, by using task-sharing approaches, where trained and supervised non-specialists deliver evidence-based interventions.  

Evidence-based psychological interventions are an important part of health, social, protection and education services and can help increase access to effective mental health treatments and progression towards universal health coverage.

This presentation will provide an introduction to the WHO’s Psychological Interventions Implementation Manual and provide examples of how interventions have been implemented in different settings. The Psychological Interventions Implementation Manual supports delivery of evidence-based non-specialist delivered, interventions, is open access and is designed for use in a range of settings. The manual provides managers and others responsible for planning and delivering services with practical guidance on how to implement manualized, non-specialist delivered, psychological interventions for adults, adolescents and children. It covers the five key implementation steps: make an implementation plan; adapt for context; prepare the workforce; identify, assess and support potential beneficiaries; and monitor and evaluate the service.

Presenter Biography:

Dr. Ken Carswell has a background in clinical psychology in the UK and is a Mental Health Specialist with the W.H.O. Department of Mental Health, Brain Health and Substance Use in Geneva. He is the departmental focal point for innovation, digital mental health and scalable psychological interventions.

He has been centrally involved in the development, testing, and implementation of WHO scalable psychological interventions for populations affected by adversity. These include Self-Help Plus, a multi-media stress management course and Step-by-Step, an online self-help intervention for depression, which is available as a free service across Lebanon. Most recently he has led the development of a guided self-help chatbot for adolescents and youth called STARS, which is currently being tested in randomised controlled trials in Jordan and Lithuania. 

About the Moderator:

Dr. Lata McGinn, President of WCCBT, will make introductory comments and introduce Speaker(s) and will monitor and moderate Q&A.

Recommended Readings:

1. The WHO psychological intervention implementation. Manual: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240087149

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The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies incurs significant administrative cost related to your registration before a webinar.  Therefore, there are no refunds for live webinars. If you unable to attend a webinar, we will provide you with the recorded version after the live presentation. If you wish to cancel or request to transfer your webinar registration to another webinar please email your request to membership@abct.org. 

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For more information, contact:

Rachel Greeman, ABCT Web Manager
212-647-1890
rgreeman@abct.org

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Thursday, September 18th, 2025

1:00 PM- 2:30 PM Eastern/ 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM Central/ 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM Mountain/ 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM Pacific/ 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM Alaska/8:00 AM - 9:30 AM Hawaii

1.5 CE Credits Awarded

Free to Attend

Abstract:

Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT; Cohen et al., 2017) is a well-established treatment for children with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other trauma-related mental health problems. Unlike most CBTs developed for children, in TF-CBT, caregivers have their own sessions, parallel to what their children are learning. Specifically, caregivers attend sessions on psychoeducation, parent training, relaxation, affect regulation, and cognitive processing (Phase 1). They are then prepared by the clinician to hear their children’s trauma narration (which the child has developed through gradual exposure) and participate in family sessions for narration sharing, in vivo mastery, and safety planning (Phase 2).

Despite the fact that work with caregivers makes up 50% of TF-CBT, we know little about the impact of TF-CBT on caregivers and how caregiver functioning may influence child outcomes. This is a problem because approximately 90% of caregivers in TF-CBT are trauma survivors and 87% of those caregivers have at least one PTSD symptom (Paul & Brown, 2025). This work is critical to promoting efficient therapies that treat multiple types of symptoms and multiple people at once. Additionally, caregivers knowing that TF-CBT will help them may improve rates of engagement and retention.

Thus, to honor the work of Dr. Mary Cover Jones, the mother of behavior therapy and a groundbreaking scientist, we will present emerging research on caregiver responses to TF-CBT and their influence children’s outcomes. Dr. Tohar Scheininger will present a phase-based analysis of caregiver symptom change in TF-CBT. Dr. Komal Sharma-Patel will examine whether level of harsh discipline at pre-treatment moderates change in children's PTSD over the course of treatment. Katherine Kraemer will explore perceived parental support in relation to children's resilience during TF-CBT. Lastly, Emilie Paul will examine caregiver symptoms at baseline and changes in parent-child relationship quality in response to TF-CBT. Dr. Esther Deblinger, co-developer of TF-CBT and expert in child-parent relationships, will discuss the findings in the context of extant research.

Presenter Biographies:

Elissa Brown, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology and Executive Director of the Child HELP (Heal, Empower, Learn, Prevent) Partnership at St. John’s University.  Her primary clinical and research interests include the prevention and treatment of child trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder.  She is the Director of a Category II site of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and a certified trainer of Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy.  

Esther Deblinger, Ph.D., is the Founding Co-Director of the Child Abuse Research Education and Service (CARES) Institute and a Professor of Psychiatry at Rowan University in Stratford, New Jersey, USA. Dr. Deblinger’s research on the impact and treatment of childhood trauma has been funded by the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, the National Institute of Mental Health as well as other organizations. 

Katherine Kraemer, M.A., Katherine is currently a second-year student in the clinical psychology Ph.D. program at St. John’s University in New York, NY. There, she is a member of Child HELP Partnership where she works with families who have experienced trauma, and she also researches treatment-outcomes pertaining to Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. Katherine is passionate about promoting resilience among children and families. 

Emilie Paul, M.A., is a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology Program at St. John’s University, currently completing her pre-doctoral internship at the Brattleboro Retreat. Her research interests focus on the impact of trauma exposure on family functioning and the treatment of co-occurring substance use and trauma-related disorders. She is particularly passionate about expanding access to evidence-based trauma therapies across the lifespan.

Tohar Scheininger, Ph.D., earned her PhD in Clinical Psychology from St. John’s University in Queens, NY. Her research focused on the impact of children’s trauma-specific treatment on caregivers’ own symptomatology. As a clinical research scientist, Dr. Scheininger has worked in diverse settings, including community clinics, hospitals, and many others. She currently provides comprehensive assessments and delivers evidence-based therapies to individuals across the lifespan.

Komal Sharma-Patel, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at George Washington School of Medicine. Dr. Sharma-Patel is a Clinical Psychologist at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington DC, overseeing the Mood and Trauma program and part of the comprehensive outpatient Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) program for teens and their caregivers. She also is a trainer for TF-CBT and AF-CBT.

About the Moderator:

Anne Marie Albano, Ph.D., ABPP, CUCARD, is the Columbia University Clinic for Anxiety and Related Disorders (CUCARD) Professor of Medical Psychology in Psychiatry and Director of the NYP Center for Youth Mental Health. She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Mississippi. Dr. Albano is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA), Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT), Founding Fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy, and is Board Certified in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. 

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this workshop, the learner will be able to:
1. Discuss the impact of TF-CBT on caregivers who participate.
2. Describe how the parent-child relationship improves over the course of treatment and affects child resilience.
3. Demonstrate how Dr. Mary Cover Jones’ work continues in the current generation of female clinical researchers.

Recommended Readings:

• Brown, E. J., Cohen, J., & Mannarino, A. (2020).  Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: The role of caregivers.  Journal of Affective Disorders, 27, 39-45.
• Brumley, L. D., Pollio, E., Cooper, B., Steer, R. A., & Deblinger, E. (2021). Caregiver satisfaction and perceptions of Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-021-00372-y
• Deblinger, E., Pollio, E., Runyon, M. K., & Steer, R. (2017). Improvements in personal resiliency among youth who have completed Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral therapy: A preliminary examination. Child Abuse & Neglect 65, 132-139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2016.12.014
• Happer, K., Brown, E. J., & Sharma-Patel, K. (2017). Children’s resilience and trauma-specific cognitive behavioral therapy: Comparing resilience as an outcome, a trait, and a process. Child Abuse & Neglect, 73, 30–41. http://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.09.021
• Martin, C. G., Everett, Y., Skowron, E. A., & Zalewski, M. (2019). The role of caregiver psychopathology in the treatment of childhood trauma with Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: A systematic review. Clinical child and family psychology review, 22(3), 273–289.

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All attendees will receive a certificate of completion when the course requirements are satisfied.

The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies incurs significant administrative cost related to your registration before a webinar.  Therefore, there are no refunds for live webinars. If you unable to attend a webinar, we will provide you with the recorded version after the live presentation (which is still eligible for CE credit). If you wish to cancel or request to transfer your webinar registration to another webinar please email your request to membership@abct.org. 

ABCT is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. ABCT maintains responsibility for this program and its content

The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 5797. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs

The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies is recognized by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences for Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) to offer continuing education as Provider #4600

Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT), is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0124

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For more information, contact:

Rachel Greeman, ABCT Web Manager
212-647-1890 ext. 208
rgreeman@abct.org

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