Clients are already using AI for emotional support, as a sounding board between sessions, sometimes as a stand-in for therapy itself. Most clinicians have no framework for asking about it, let alone assessing whether it's helping or hindering their practice. This session moves the conversation from whether clients are using AI to how, and what that means for clinical practice. Dr. Charmain Jackman will cover current research on client use of generative AI for mental health support, how to build AI use into intake and assessment, and how to distinguish normative use from use that warrants clinical attention, using a harm-reduction lens rather than an abstinence one. We will explore AI tools that offer creative ways of integrating AI in your sessions with clients. Clinicians will leave with concrete intake questions, a working framework for evaluating client AI use, and language for raising the topic in session.

In this 3-hr webinar, Dr. David Jobes will highlight key evidence-based approached for effective assessment, management, and treatment of suicidal risk with an appreciation of ethical issues and risk management. The presentation will explore some of the relevant history that shapes contemporary clinical suicidology as well as key models that shape our understanding of suicidality. The primary focus will be on clinical approaches to screening and assessment, interventions for acute stabilization, and treatments of what makes a patient suicidal based on randomized controlled trials. Finally, various ethical considerations and how to decrease exposure to malpractice liability will be discussed.

Clients rarely present to psychotherapy saying, “I think I have a traumatic brain injury.” More often, they describe brain fog, slowed thinking, poor concentration, emotional reactivity, fatigue, sleep disruption, anxiety, depression, or difficulty functioning at work, school, or home. Dr. Rebecca Steele will help psychologists recognize when these common mental health complaints may warrant closer attention to concussion or TBI history, especially when symptoms persist, fluctuate, or do not fully respond to standard psychological intervention. Attendees will review post-concussion symptom patterns, key history questions, differential considerations, and practical indicators for referral, assessment, psychoeducation, and interdisciplinary care. Emphasis will be placed on helping psychologists reduce misattribution, identify clinically relevant brain injury factors, and develop more accurate formulations for clients presenting with cognitive and emotional concerns.

Outcomes following spine surgery vary widely, and a substantial proportion of patients continue to experience persistent postoperative pain, functional limitations, and reduced quality of life following surgical intervention. Psychological factors—including depression, pain catastrophizing, and baseline disability—are among the most consistent predictors of poorer postoperative outcomes and persistent spinal pain syndrome following surgery. Despite growing evidence supporting psychosocial risk assessment, systematic psychological screening remains inconsistently implemented across many spine programs. This article presents a practical psychological risk stratification framework integrating three brief and widely validated instruments: the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). Together, these measures assess cognitive, emotional, and functional domains associated with surgical outcomes. The article reviews current evidence regarding psychosocial predictors of postoperative outcomes, outlines clinically informed risk thresholds, and describes behavioral health intervention pathways for low-, moderate-, and high-risk patients. Multidisciplinary implementation strategies, psychological treatment approaches, and mental health equity considerations relevant to integrated spine care are also discussed. Integrating psychosocial screening into multidisciplinary spine surgery pathways may improve patient preparation, guide behavioral health referrals, enhance postoperative rehabilitation engagement, and support more individualized perioperative care.

Chronic pain is highly prevalent among older adults and contributes to disability, psychological distress, social isolation, and increased healthcare utilization. Older adults remain vulnerable to underassessment and undertreatment due to diagnostic complexity, comorbidity burden, polypharmacy, and limited access to behavioral health services. This article provides an applied overview of evidence-based assessment and intervention strategies for chronic pain among older adults within health service psychology settings. Using a clinical vignette to frame common presentation patterns, key diagnostic considerations and best practices in biopsychosocial pain assessment are reviewed, alongside integrated behavioral interventions such as CBT for chronic pain, ACT, mindfulness-based approaches, behavioral activation, and graded activity pacing. Clinical and ethical challenges—including autonomy/beneficence balance, opioid-related risk, and access inequities—are discussed. Practical recommendations for interdisciplinary collaboration and outcome monitoring are offered to support functional restoration and quality of life in later adulthood.

Adolescents experiencing mental health concerns often encounter barriers to engagement and access, including language differences, stigma, and system fragmentation. This article presents a clinical model for addressing these challenges through a multilevel ecological approach that integrates assessment, relational engagement, family involvement, and system coordination. A clinical vignette illustrates how developmentally responsive strategies, including the structured inclusion of supervised non-clinical providers, can enhance engagement and extend service capacity. Emphasis is placed on culturally and linguistically appropriate care, particularly for families navigating barriers to access. Practice considerations highlight the importance of integrating clinical services with workforce and community-based supports to improve continuity of care and reduce disparities in youth mental health outcomes.

Neuropsychological assessment plays a critical role in contemporary healthcare by integrating objective test performance, psychiatric factors, and functional outcomes into a unified clinical formulation. This function is especially vital in rural settings, where limited specialty access, fragmented referral pathways, and diagnostic delays are common. Using a clinical vignette of a 67-year-old rural patient with suspected neurodegenerative decline, this paper highlights complexities such as mixed medical and psychiatric contributors, performance validity concerns, caregiver burden, and restricted follow-up care. We outline how structured case formulation, diathesis–stress conceptualization, culturally responsive communication, and interdisciplinary collaboration can reduce diagnostic ambiguity while avoiding premature etiological conclusions. Emphasis is placed on assessment as an intervention in resource-limited systems, where neuropsychological evaluation can serve as a central organizing point, translating complex clinical data into actionable recommendations for patients, families, and providers.

Contemplative practices such as mindfulness, compassion meditation, breath awareness, yoga nidra, and embodied presence are increasingly used in psychotherapy to support emotional regulation, attentional flexibility, and self-awareness. Dr. Sally Nazari will review current neuroscience related to contemplative practice, including its relevance to stress physiology, emotion regulation, interoception, and therapeutic presence. Participants will explore how contemplative practices can be ethically and clinically integrated into psychotherapy while remaining responsive to client culture, trauma history, readiness, and individual meaning systems. The presentation will also address clinical cautions, including spiritual bypassing, dissociation, overactivation, and the importance of pacing practices according to nervous system capacity. Through research-informed discussion and applied examples, clinicians will learn practical ways to use contemplative approaches to support psychological flexibility, embodied regulation, and whole-person care.

Canadian Register Webinar: This 2-hr workshop examines many aspects of being a successful private practitioner. Topics covered include a self-evaluation to see if you want to be in private practice, marketing and advertising to build a client base, how to transition into private practice, ethical considerations of working in a private practice, self-care and practical business and insurance aspects of your practice. This session is *not* offered for CE.

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming the norm for clinical psychologists. Despite expansion, literature has highlighted variable preparation among practitioners for the use of AI in clinical services, creating potential issues for an ethical, legal, safe, and evidence-informed practice. This 3-hr webinar is designed to provide clinical psychologists with an introductory discussion of AI use, ethics, and legal considerations. Uses, benefits, limitations, competencies, and ethical/legal logistics (e.g., informed consent) will be outlined.