Events

Stress, Motivation, Self-Care, and Joy

Presented by David S. Prescott,  LCSW, LICSW & Janet DiGiorgio-Miller, Ph.D.

Friday, December 5, 2025 @ 9am – 12pm

(Networking begins at 8:30am)

3 APA Psychology CE’s Available

This workshop focuses on the impact of stress and the importance of self-care in our profession. Together, we’ll reflect on the results of an April 2023 survey that assessed the stress level and coping strategies of professionals working in the field of sexual harm. Building on these shared experiences, we’ll then discuss a 2025 survey that examined what stresses and motivates sex offense treatment professionals in the workplace.

The workshop places these findings into the context of other recent research on stress and anxiety and offers ideas for practical, accessible activities that people can use routinely in their work and with their clients. Most importantly, we’ll explore ways to find joy, meaning, and purpose in our work, even when our workplace is stressful.

The session concludes by celebrating the strength of community, encouraging us all to build connections and create places of belonging within our field.

Learning Objectives

As a result of attending this workshop, participants will be better able to:

1. Describe trends self-care activities, including those that can be shared with clients.
2. Discuss recent trends in stressors and motivators in the helping professions.
3. Create plans for establishing communities of connection that can provide support in the current era.

David S. Prescott, LCSW, LICSW

A mental health practitioner of over 40 years, David Prescott is the Director of the Safer Society Continuing Education Center. Mr. Prescott is the author and editor of 28 books in the areas of understanding and improving services to at-risk clients. Mr. Prescott is the recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Contribution Award from the Association for the Treatment and Prevention of Sexual Abuse (ATSA), the 2018 recipient of the National Adolescent Perpetration Network’s C. Henry Kempe Lifetime Achievement award, and the 2022 recipient of the Fay Honey Knopp Award from the New York State Alliance for the Prevention of Sexual Abuse and New York State ATSA. He also served as ATSA President in 2008-09.

Mr. Prescott currently trains and lectures around the world. His published work has been translated into Japanese, Korean, German, French, Polish, Dutch, and other languages. He has served on the editorial boards of four scholarly journals. He has been the co-author of the monthly NEARI and MASOC newsletters since 2007, which are read by several thousand professionals who work with adolescents who have sexually abused. Since 2011, he has served as Co-Blogger for ATSA’s Sexual Abuse blog, which has been read over 1,000,000 times and has been rated among the top blogs in the world on the topic.

Minor-Attracted People: Fostering Compassion and Competence Across Professional Disciplines

Presented by Nadav Antebi-Gruszka (Nadav Antebi), PhD, LMHC, LPC

This 5-hour workshop equips professionals across diverse fields with the knowledge and tools to work compassionately and competently with minor-attracted people (MAPs). Participants will explore the multidimensional nature of attraction to minors, examine the unique mental health needs and challenges faced by MAPs, and analyze how stigma and bias shape clinical and systemic responses. Through lecture, discussion, and case-based learning, attendees will learn about strategies to address bias and apply best practices in various professional settings.

The content of this workshop is clinical in nature because it focuses on improving participants’ competence, awareness, and applied skills when working with an underprivileged and marginalized client population—minor-attracted people (MAPs)—within professional and therapeutic contexts. The training directly addresses the assessment, conceptualization, and intervention strategies relevant to clinical practice, as well as bias mitigation and the development of affirming therapeutic care.

Participants will learn to:

• Identify and understand the unique mental health needs and stressors experienced by MAP clients.
• Apply evidence-based best practice guidelines for supporting MAPs, including mandated reporting considerations, addressing stigma-related distress, and fostering resilience.
• Recognize and address countertransference and bias that may arise in clinical work to enhance treatment effectiveness.
• Integrate these competencies into psychotherapeutic, counseling, and assessment settings in line with professional standards.

While the workshop also includes content designed to enhance broader professional understanding and advocacy, the majority of the training focuses on direct clinical application of principles in therapy and mental health settings.

• Understanding the multidimensional nature of attraction to minors – Theoretical and diagnostic framing of MAP attraction patterns as they relate to clinical conceptualization (1.0 hour, Clinical)
• Mental health needs and challenges of MAPs – Assessment of MAP clients’ mental health profiles, coping strategies, and comorbidities (1.0 hour, Clinical)
• Sources of bias and stigma toward MAPs – Exploration of social and clinician bias and the ethical implications for treatment (0.5 hour, Clinical)
• Strategies to mitigate bias in practice – Evidence-based methods for addressing clinician bias and strengthening the therapeutic alliance (1 hour, Clinical)
• Applying best practice guidelines (case study) – Interactive case-based application of assessment, treatment planning, and support techniques (1.0 hour, Clinical)
• Clinical advocacy, language, and interdisciplinary collaboration – Application of advocacy and affirming language within treatment, supervision, and interdisciplinary clinical practice (0.5 hour, Clinical)

Course Objectives:

1. Explain the multidimensional nature of attraction to minors
2. List at least three unique mental health needs and challenges of MAPs
3. Identify two common sources of bias or stigma toward MAPs
4. Describe at least one strategy professionals can use to mitigate bias in their practice
5. Apply at least four best practice guidelines in working with MAPs (using a case study)

Curriculum Vitae – Nadav Antebi-Gruszka

Presented by Alexander Rodrigues