Earn 3 CEUs!*
Liam O’Sullivan is a psychotherapy student at Saint Mary’s working towards LPCC pre-licensure, with a focus on existential-humanistic counseling for people experiencing loss. He recently emigrated from the UK, where he worked as a mental health and palliative care nurse in settings including community HIV services and hospice care, as well as co-authoring qualitative healthcare research. He has served diverse groups since 2006 including majority Bangladeshi and Black British inner-city hospital populations, immigrants to the Twin Cities, and the LGBT+ community. Outside of his studies, he enjoys the Minnesota Orchestra, national parks, and pulpy werewolf novels.
Tamara is a passionate advocate for older adults and their families. In her private practice she sees adult individuals, couples, families, and groups. Her work focuses on maintaining quality of life in the face of health challenges, wellbeing while caregiving, and support throughout grief and loss. Tamara is an adjunct professor at Saint Mary's, a board-approved clinical supervisor in MN and WI, and she engages in collaborative research on topics related to aging, grief, illness, caregiving, and dementia with researchers around the U.S. She enjoys working on her 100 year old house, snuggling her wienerdog, and camping in her teardrop camper.
Description
Chronic illness is almost universal in older adults, with over 80% of people over 65 in the US affected by one condition, and over 60% by multiple. In an aging worldwide population with increasing incidence of chronic difficulties, caregiving is becoming more complex, and increasingly an occupation of individuals and families. Chronic illness itself has both evident and unseen impacts on wellbeing: both for the person who experiences it, and their families, who in turn must decide how to respond to these life transitions, care burdens, and their own reactions. Family therapists are therefore well placed to support caregivers and help alleviate these broad impacts, using theoretical models that recognize the psychosocial dynamics of caregiving beyond the biomedical impact on the individual experiencing illness.
This webinar is led by a licensed marriage and family therapist specializing in the care of older adults and their loved ones experiencing chronic and terminal illness, and a former mental health and palliative care nurse turned student psychotherapist, bringing decades of clinical experience across two continents to bear on this topic.
Attendees will be informed on the climate of chronic illness care, the nature of common and serious long-term conditions, and their various physical, social, psychological and spiritual impacts on the individual. Myths, preconceptions, and unseen difficulties of caregivers will be highlighted, delving into caregiver stressors and consequences.
The evidence base and literature regarding chronic illness caregiving in a multicultural context will be examined, to inform the use of therapeutic models of family and couples therapy with caregivers. The role of the family therapist will be addressed, including common therapeutic themes, scope of practice, and practical issues.
Complex ethical and therapeutic scenarios based on the trainers’ clinical experiences will be explored along with trainees, assisting in grounding effective pluralistic approaches and interventions. Finally, attendees will have the chance to ask their own burning questions and receive pointers for further learning.
Objectives:
1. Understand the implications of the increasing prevalence of chronic illness for therapists
2. Explore typical difficulties faced by people with chronic illness and its various impacts on families and caregivers
3. Become aware of the evidence base and models of family therapy related to chronic illness and caregiver stress
4. Describe practical applications of family therapy for clinical work with caregivers
5. Address ethical issues, multicultural needs, and interpersonal elements in working with clients impacted by chronic illness
* This CE activity offered by Minnesota Association of Marriage and Family is approved by the Minnesota Board of Social Work as an approved CE Provider (approval valid through July 25, 2026).
This CE activity is pending CE approval with Minnesota Board of Behavioral Health and Board of Marriage and Family Therapy.
