Child Abuse: Assessment and Reporting 2024

Child Abuse: Assessment and Reporting 2024 is organized by Association for Advanced Training in the Behavioral Sciences (AATBS) and will be held from Sep 16 - 23, 2024.

Course Description: 
Almost all mental health professionals, regardless of their work settings, will at some point in their career encounter child abuse or neglect situations. By law, mental health professionals are mandated to report suspected child abuse and neglect. There is a wide range of issues pertaining to child abuse/neglect intervention, which includes identification, assessment, reporting, and treatment. For these reasons, it is critical that mental health professionals be informed about the principles and strategies helpful in these areas. This CE course covers historical perspectives, an overview, four types of child abuse, therapist's responses (including reporting, assessment, and therapy), and issues of countertransference.

This course meets the initial license requirements for marriage and family therapists, clinical social workers, and professional clinical counselors, and the first-time renewal requirements for educational psychologists, for 7 hours of training in child abuse assessment and reporting. Per Section 28 of the CA Business and Professions Code, this course includes “the assessment and method of reporting of sexual assault, neglect, severe neglect, general neglect, willful cruelty or unjustifiable punishment, corporal punishment or injury, and abuse in out-of-home care. This training also includes physical and behavioral indicators of abuse, crisis counseling techniques, community resources, rights and responsibilities of reporting, consequences of failure to report, caring for the child’s needs after a report is made, sensitivity to previously abused children and adults, and implications and methods of treatment for children and adults.”

Learning Objectives:

• Identify and clinically assess for the four types of child abuse: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and neglect.
• Identify at least three appropriate methods and skills for counseling children and their families in cases of child abuse and neglect.
• Identify at least three legal and ethical considerations with regard to mandated reporting duties for suspected child abuse and neglect.
• List at least three considerations pertaining to treatment issues and specialized interventions for specific intrapersonal, interpersonal, and developmental issues associated with child abuse.
• List two counter transferential reactions with cases of child abuse and how to obtain appropriate professional guidance and support.

Course Agenda:
Weekend 2-day course:
Day 1:

9:00 – 10:00 am Historical Perspectives and Overview

10:00 – 11:00 am Definitions and Types of Child Abuse and Neglect

11:00 – 12:30 pm Assessment and Reporting

Day 2:

9:00 – 10:00 am Methods for Treatment and Counseling

10:00 – 11:00 am Legal and Ethical Considerations

11:00 – 12:00 pm Treatment Issues and Specialized Intervention

12:00 – 12:30 pm Counter Transferential Reactions

Weekday 2-day course:
Day 1:

5:00 – 6:00 pm Historical Perspectives and Overview

6:00 – 7:00 pm Definitions and Types of Child Abuse and Neglect

7:00 – 8:30 pm Assessment and Reporting

Day 2:

5:00 – 6:00 pm Methods for Treatment and Counseling

6:00 – 7:00 pm Legal and Ethical Considerations

7:00 – 8:00 pm Treatment Issues and Specialized Intervention

8:00 – 8:30 pm Counter Transferential Reactions