Crashing Out-Using Third Wave CBT’s in the Treatment of Mood and Substance Use Disorders in Adolescents and Young Adults

registration deadline 10/30/2026

TRAINER:

Bill Brown is an owner and Clinical Director at Confluence Behavioral Health in Thetford, VT and Burlington, VT.  He has worked with young adults, adolescents and their families for over twenty years in clinical and coaching capacities. As a leader, Bill is driven to nurture the enthusiasm and focus of his staff to consistently accomplish shared goals, creating a culture of engagement and purpose. His work focuses on building strong teams that bring quality services and transformational experiences to the clients and families we serve. As a clinician, Bill works at the intersection of a relational and behavioral approach, finding avenues toward change through skills, trust, and a shared commitment to growth.

DESCRIPTION:

This presentation explores the role of skills in fostering effective relational dynamics within mental health treatment. Often perceived as tools for symptom management or behavioral change, skills, in a relational context, emerge as both the observable surface and the profound substance of therapeutic connection.

Skill development is not simply a mechanistic intervention, but rather a deeply relational process. On the surface, skills provide concrete strategies for clients to navigate distress, improve communication, and regulate emotions. These techniques offer a common language and a shared focus, facilitating initial engagement and building a sense of collaborative effort between client and therapist.

However, the substance of skills lies in their capacity to strengthen the therapeutic relationship. Exploring skills involves empathy, validation, and a shared commitment to growth. Through this process, clients learn not only what to do, but also how to relate, how to trust, and how to co-create solutions within a supportive interpersonal context. The therapist’s ability to skillfully deliver interventions, adapt to client needs, and maintain a non-judgmental stance becomes a living demonstration of relational principles.

This presentation will explore how seemingly technical skills are imbued with relational meaning. We will discuss how the development of skills can enhance self-efficacy, foster secure attachment, and ultimately empower clients to build healthier relationships beyond the therapeutic setting. Focus will be placed on treating mood and substance use disorders as well as tech overuse. By recognizing skills as both the outward manifestation and the internal scaffolding of relational healing, clinicians can deepen their practice and optimize treatment outcomes.

AGENDA:

9:00 am – 10:30 am

• Welcome & Introductions
• Overview of Training
• Gen Z – Cultural and Developmental Factors
• The Mental Health Crisis in Young People
• Exercise: Exploring Generations – Cultural Impact on Mental Health

Break 10:30 am – 10:45 am.

10:45 am – 12:00 pm

• Relational and Behavioral Approaches: Undoing the Dichotomy
• Overview of 3rd Wave CBTs
• Exercise: Process-oriented CBT

Lunch: 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm

Afternoon: 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm

• Postformal Thinking: Developing Adult Cognition through 3rd Wave CBTs
• Exploring Trauma: Gen Z and the impact of adversity
• Exercise: Thinking Postformally

Break 2:30 pm– 2:45 pm

2:45 pm – 4:20 pm

• Using 3rd Wave CBTs to address Gen Z Challenges
• The Search for Meaning
• Developing a Sense of Mattering
• Building Connection

Adjourn: 4:30 pm

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

Participants in this presentation will be able to: 

Articulate the dual nature of skills in mental health treatment, distinguishing between their “surface” function (symptom management, behavioral change) and their “substance” (embodying and strengthening the therapeutic relationship).

Identify how the therapeutic process of teaching and practicing skills inherently involves and reinforces relational principles such as empathy, validation, boundaries, and collaborative problem-solving.

Explain the broader impact of skill development on client well-being, including enhanced self-efficacy, secure attachment, and the ability to form healthier relationships outside of therapy.