Getting Unconscious Conflict to Work For, Rather than Against, Us: The Therapeutic Effects of Unconscious Exposure - Paul Siegel, PhD (Recorded)

A longstanding clinical conviction is that people with anxiety disorders must directly confront their feared object or situation in order to reduce fear of it. This dogma is the basis of exposure therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapies. Challenging this belief, Dr. Siegel and his collaborators have repeatedly shown that repeated, unconscious exposure to phobic stimuliwhat they term very brief exposure (VBE)reduces avoidance and self-reported fear of a live tarantula in highly spider-phobic persons. VBE is based on both the neuroscience of fear and psychoanalytic theory, specifically Freud’s (1932) proposal that “inside of every phobic, there is a counter-phobic”: phobic people are actually unconsciously conflicted about their fears. Dr. Siegel presents a series of randomized controlled tests (RCTs) of VBE, including RCTs conducted during fMRI scanning and psychophysiological monitoring, which provide a window into the dynamic mechanisms of unconscious exposure. He also presents current and future research directions, which include using VBE to treat combat-related, post-traumatic stress disorder in recent US combat veterans, and to reduce phobia-based, COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.

Target Audience

Target Audience

______ Introductory                __XX___ Intermediate                  ______ Advanced

Learning Objectives

  1. Demonstrate knowledge of the therapeutic effects of unconscious exposure on Specific Phobia.
  2. Discuss the underlying neurobiological mechanisms of phobic fear and of unconscious exposure
  3. Describe a novel research design in which a controlled trial of a behavioral treatment occurs during brain imaging.
Course summary
Available credit: 
  • 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™

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    ACCME - As a Jointly Accredited Organization, The Austen Riggs Center, Inc. designates this learning activity for a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

  • 1.00 APA

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    As a Jointly Accredited Organization, The Austen Riggs Center, Inc. designates this learning activity for 1.00 continuing education credit(s) (CE) for psychology. Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP Office maintains responsibility for the content of the programs.

    Austen Riggs Center, Inc. is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0115.

  • 1.00 ASWB-ACE

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    As a Jointly Accredited Organization, The Austen Riggs Center is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organization, not individual courses, are approved under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. Austen Riggs Center maintains responsibility for this. Social workers completing this Enduring course will receive 1.00 continuing education credit(s).

  • 1.00 Contact Hours/ Participation
    A certificate of attendance for all Learners.
Course opens: 
11/08/2022
Course expires: 
11/08/2025
Rating: 
0

Paul Siegel, PhD, is professor of psychology at Purchase College/SUNY and research associate professor of psychiatry at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California (USC). A clinical psychologist and expert in unconscious processes in psychopathology, Dr. Siegel is the co-creator of very brief exposure (VBE), an experimental technique for unconsciously reducing fear symptoms in people with anxiety disorders. For the past 17 years, he has developed VBE to study its effects on various dimensions of anxiety disorders in his psychology laboratory at Purchase College/SUNY, and in the brain imaging lab at the Saban Research Institute of USC. Dr. Siegel has received two research grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, a NARSAD Young Investigator Award, many research grants from private organizations, and has published widely in high-impact scientific journals. He has received two SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching and for Excellence in Research, which recognize distinguished SUNY faculty in these areas.

Austen Riggs Center Inc. confirms that Paul Siegel, PhD, nor anyone involved in the planning of the CME event, has disclosed a potential conflict of interest. 

The views and opinions expressed in this presentation are those of the presenter(s) and do not necessarily represent the official policy or position of the Austen Riggs Center. 

General CME/CE Information  

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Accreditation    

(Physicians, Psychologists, Social Work and Nursing)

The Austen Riggs Center designates this online education webinar for a maximum of (see specific event) AMA PRA Category1 Credit(s) ™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.    

The Austen Riggs Center Inc. is accredited by the Massachusetts Medical Society to provide continuing medical education for physicians.   

The Austen Riggs Center’s policy on disclosure, in keeping with requirements of the Massachusetts Medical Society, requires continuing education planners and speakers to disclose any relevant financial interest or other relationship with commercial entities that could pose a potential conflict of interest in the presentation of this educational activity. The Austen Riggs Center Continuing Medical Education Committee has established policies for identifying and resolving all conflicts of interest prior to this educational activity. The Austen Riggs Center accepts no commercial support of any kind to support our CME/CE activity.   

 The Austen Riggs Center Inc. also designates this online education webinar for (see specific event) continuing education credit(s) (CE) for psychology.   

Austen Riggs Center, Inc. is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0115. 

The Austen Riggs Center Inc. is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Austen Riggs Center maintains responsibility for the program and its content. For additional information about this program, please call the Erikson Institute Education Coordinator, at 413.931.5230.   

The Austen Riggs Center Inc., #1344, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. Austen Riggs Center maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider Approval Period: 02/02/2020-2/2/2023. Social workers completing this online education webinar will receive (see specific event) continuing education credits.    

For a listing of jurisdictions that accept ACE, please visit www.aswb.org/ace/ace-jurisdiction-map/.   

Attention NY and NJ Social Workers  

The Austen Riggs Center Inc. is approved as a provider for social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) www.aswb.org, through the Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. As of January 2021, ACE is accepted in 48 jurisdictions. This does not include the states of New York and New Jersey. Check your state licensing board for further information. For a listing of jurisdictions that accept ACE, please visit www.aswb.org/ace/ace-jurisdiction-map/ or check with your state guild and licensing entities.

Available Credit

  • 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™

    ICPE Logo

    ACCME - As a Jointly Accredited Organization, The Austen Riggs Center, Inc. designates this learning activity for a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

  • 1.00 APA

    APA Logo

    As a Jointly Accredited Organization, The Austen Riggs Center, Inc. designates this learning activity for 1.00 continuing education credit(s) (CE) for psychology. Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP Office maintains responsibility for the content of the programs.

    Austen Riggs Center, Inc. is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0115.

  • 1.00 ASWB-ACE

    ASWB Logo

    As a Jointly Accredited Organization, The Austen Riggs Center is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organization, not individual courses, are approved under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. Austen Riggs Center maintains responsibility for this. Social workers completing this Enduring course will receive 1.00 continuing education credit(s).

  • 1.00 Contact Hours/ Participation
    A certificate of attendance for all Learners.
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