Course Description

Feelings of self-sovereignty are an important part of growing up. Taking risks, trying new things, exploring relationships, or engaging in protest are ordinary ways of exploring self-sovereignty.  These experiences can be especially vital for LGBTQIA+ people learning who they are.  For young people struggling to meet the demands of maturation, foiled attempts at sovereign experiences can result in a ruthless refusal to meet expectations, or a collapse into hopelessness and dread. Unaddressed, new sovereign experiences pursued in these anxious and depressed states can begin to undermine the efforts of healthier, interdependent adulthood, and further challenge relationships with others. Sometimes this is called failure to launch. By elaborating on Saketopoulou’s (2023) definition of a sovereign experience: a brief and intimate experience with one’s self where identity, power, and politics are rejected for  the purpose of finding the limits of what one knows about themselves, clinicians can gain more empathy and understanding of these frustrations.Through discussion and vignettes, this course will support affirmative clinicians to identify and celebrate attempts at sovereign experiences in emerging adulthood, explore effective ways to intervene when necessary, and work with clients in the journey of growing up. 

 

Learning Objectives

1. Describe how sovereign experiences can impact young adulthood
2. Identify 2 potential outcomes of failed attempts at self-sovereignty
3. Name 2 interventions affirmative clinicians can engage with to support feelings of self-sovereignty and interdependence

About the Presenter 

Melissa Dellens, MA, LMFT (she/they) works with teens and young adults with intersectional identities with Out Couch Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, and is the Chief Operations Officer with the Affirmative Couch. They offer their understanding of collective trauma, community stressors, and political advocacy through publications and education. Melissa earned their Master of Arts in Psychology from Antioch University Los Angeles with an emphasis in Applied Community Psychology. They have completed the one year Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Certificate at the Los Angeles Institute and Society for Psychoanalytic Studies (LAISPS) and Level 1 of the Trauma Resiliency Model. Melissa is an affiliate member ofLAISPS, and is active in the institute’s Diversity Affairs Committee.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

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$39 for licensed clinicians

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Licensed therapists who work in nonprofits price is $35 (Enter code grownupNP at checkout)

Student/unlicensed price is  $29 (Enter code grownupPL at checkout)

This course is included in the annual and lifetime memberships.

Annual Membership

Lifetime Membership

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Additional Information

Instruction Level

This course is meant for an advanced audience, and assumes fundamentals of affirmative therapy. 

Who should Attend

Psychologists, counselors, and marriage and family therapists and social workers.

Format

Live, virtual presentation with the opportunity for interaction with the presenter. This course will be available as a recorded homestudy approximately two weeks after the event.

Zoom Link

You will receive a reminder email to register for your Zoom link after signing up for the course.

If you do not receive this email within 24 hours, please contact us.

Completion Requirements

Live Event

• To get CE credit for the live event, you need to be present for the entire course.
• You will be asked to sign in and out in the chat box in order to track attendance during breaks.
• We will email you your certificate of attendance within 48 hours of the course.
• This presentation will be recorded and available as a homestudy approximately two weeks after the live event.
• Your active participation will contribute and enhance the learning of participants that complete the recorded homestudy version.

Home Study

• You will need to take the post-test with at least a 80% score in order to receive your certificate for a home study course.

Financial Support

The Affirmative Couch pays course presenters for their teaching. There is no other financial support for this course.

Conflict of Interest

There is no reported conflict of interest or outside commercial support for this course.

Contact Information

For any inquiries related to subject matter, problem resolution, corrections, grievances, or anything else, please contact us.

Accommodations

The Affirmative Couch will work to accommodate reasonable accommodations requests. Requests can be emailed with “accommodation request” in the subject line. Requests will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

 

$39.00

Refusing Adulthood: Working with LGBTQIA+ Youth quantity

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