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Tools to Strengthen Team Communication and Client Care: Mentalization in Practice

Session 3: Anxiety, Mentalization, and Thinking Together

Shelly Simpson, LCSW
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Information

Date & Time

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

  • Explain how anxiety can impact mentalization and contribute to challenges in client work and team dynamics.

  • Identify and apply the Thinking Together tool as a structured method for processing and problem-solving in a way that supports mentalization.

Educational Goal

The educational goal of this workshop is to increase understanding of the challenges caused by anxiety and how mentalization can help.

Description

Deepening our understanding of mentalization and its role in communication and team dynamics from Sessions 1 and 2, this session focuses on how anxiety affects our thinking and how this can disrupt our work with clients, while also contributing to increased stress within our teams and networks. We will introduce and explain the Thinking Together tool, which participants will practice in small groups. This structured, time-efficient approach offers a contained way to process challenges and problem-solve while supporting mentalization.

Target Audience

  • Addiction Professional
  • Counselor
  • Marriage & Family Therapist
  • Psychologist
  • Social Worker

Presenters

Shelly Simpson, LCSW
Shelly serves as the Director of AMBIT (Adaptive Mentalization Based Integrative Treatment) at Ellenhorn and was previously the Clinical Director of Ellenhorn Los Angeles. She oversees, supervises, and actively participates in AMBIT teams. Shelly has also contributed to the field, having authored a chapter on Ellenhorn's implementation of AMBIT in a Dutch publication titled "AMBIT in Practice," and takes part in the global AMBIT community. Before joining the Ellenhorn team, Shelly relocated from Houston, Texas, where she served as the Program Manager for the Pathfinder Community Integration Program at The Menninger Clinic. It was during her tenure at Menninger that Shelly developed a deep passion for learning, practicing and educating others about mentalization. Her clinical interests are particularly focused on addressing disruptions in attachment, mistrust, trauma, and interpersonal relationship struggles.

Financially Sponsored By

  • Ellenhorn
  • Accord