Training Overview:

This is a 9-hour training intensive consisting of three 3-hour consequential webinars designed to provide mental health professionals with an advanced, practice-oriented introduction to Neuroscience-informed Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (nCBT) for working with adolescent clients. Building upon contemporary neuroscience, cognitive-behavioral therapy, affective neuroscience, interpersonal neurobiology, and translational psychotherapy research, participants learn a structured framework for understanding how automatic bottom-up processes (Wave1) and conscious top-down processes (Wave2) interact to influence emotional regulation, cognition, behavior, and therapeutic change. 

Across three sequential sessions, participants progress from understanding the neurobiology of threat and stress, to conducting neuroscience-informed assessment and neuroeducation, to implementing interventions that strengthen physiological regulation, self-awareness, adaptive meaning-making, and self-compassion. Throughout the intensive, emphasis is placed on translating complex neuroscience into language that adolescent clients can readily understand while avoiding reductionistic or deterministic explanations. 

The intensive is highly experiential. Participants practice neuroscience psychoeducation, case conceptualization, collaborative treatment planning, in-session observation of physiological responding, Wave1 interventions that reduce dysregulation, and Wave2 interventions that facilitate adaptive appraisal and integration. Case discussions, demonstrations, guided reflection, role plays, and consultation activities are woven throughout the training to promote immediate transfer of learning into clinical practice.

Special attention is given to culturally affirming practice, recognizing that many activating experiences are chronic and embedded within sociocultural contexts such as discrimination, oppression, migration, trauma, and adversity. Participants examine how neuroeducation can be adapted across developmental stages, cultures, and practice settings while maintaining scientific accuracy and therapeutic humility.

By the conclusion of the workshop, participants will possess a comprehensive understanding of the Attend–Build–Connect treatment framework and will be prepared to integrate neuroscience-informed concepts and interventions into routine psychotherapy with greater confidence, flexibility, and clinical intentionality.

Meet your Speaker:

Thom Field, PhD, is a licensed mental health counselor in the U.S. He keeps an active client load while serving as Professor in the Department of Counseling, Adult, and Higher Education at Oregon State University. He is a pioneer in neuroscience-informed counseling. He has co-authored and co-edited books on neuroscience-informed counseling and published scholarly papers on the topic. With years of experience and expertise in neuroscience-informed counseling and adolescent counseling, Dr. Field will provide an engaging, informative, and interactive experience for all participants.

Practice homepage: https://www.thomfield.com/