Dates: 4 Thursdays monthly in 2026; March 26, April 23, May 21, June 25
Location: Live on Zoom (synchronous)
Times: 1:30 to 4:45 pm Eastern (Find the time for your location)
Instructor: Mary Jo Barrett, MSW
Credits: 12 CEs
Intrafamilial Abuse Intensive: Ameliorating Impacts of Incest and Sexual Abuse by Known Offenders
The impacts on body, mind, heart and soul of those impacted by sexual abuse in the family context are significant. It is critically important for mental health providers to be skilled in working with individuals, couples, and families whose lives have been impacted by sexual boundary violations by known offenders.
Mary Jo Barrett has spent her career working with and writing about complex trauma. Her expertise is in helping people who have been impacted by family violence. She developed the Collaborative Change Model, grounded in family systems and trauma theory. Mary Jo will teach participants from her decades of practical experience doing home based work and community work as well as in private practice.
Intrafamilial abuse can deeply affect children and their families, well beyond childhood. Cycles of shame, stigma, and isolation reverberate across the family and relational system long impacting the life of victims, perpetrators and bystanders. This short course provides clinicians with knowledge and tools to recognize, assess, and treat the complexities of intrafamilial abuse, including its emotional and psychological impacts. Participants will explore how emotional incest and parentification affect children’s development. They will learn culturally responsive approaches. By deepening their understanding and skills, clinicians will be better prepared to support individuals, couples and families in healing, resilience-building, and navigating disclosure with sensitivity and cultural awareness.
This learning is relevant for our “trauma” clients who are impacted by intrafamilial sexual abuse including people who have been violated by trusted others including coaches, family friends, and clergy. Mary Jo will discuss the differences between incest and other forms of relational harm including physical and emotional abuse. You will learn how to provide treatment enlightened by
understanding the nuances of this complex developmental trauma. This includes: interventions for the crisis of discovery and disclosure as well as later phases of treatment; understanding how clients’ being related to or emotionally close to a perpetrator impacts the therapeutic relationship; learning about the dynamics of sibling sexual abuse; specific treatment interventions for family
therapy when the sexual abuse is current between family members; methods for family of origin work when our clients are adults. In addition to didactic teaching and case examples, Mary Jo will show videos of her work to help us learn granularly.
Statement of need: Even though intrafamilial sexual abuse is common, most therapists lack training to address the resulting complex trauma in individual and relational work. When safety and trust in family and other intimate relationships have been ruptured from sexual abuse within the family it requires the clinician to hold a moral ethical stance related to enhancing the personal
accountability of caretakers. Simultaneously working with those who have been victimized and those who have crossed significant boundaries and done harm requires highly nuanced clinical skills that you will learn. Understanding how relational bonds persist despite abusive will be critically important to supporting emotional growth and healing that minimizes the impact of these boundary violations.
Mary Jo Barrett, MSW
Mary Jo Barrett, MSW, is the Founder and Director of The Center for Contextual Change, located in MetroChicago. CCC is a clinical Training Center specializing in The Collaborative Stage Model-a component phase model working with individuals, families, and groups. Mary Jo was previously a long-time adjunct faculty member of the University of Chicago, School of Social Service Administration, the Family Institute of Northwestern University and The Chicago Center for Family Health. She holds a master’s degree in social work from the University of Illinois Jane Addams School of Social Work.
Ms. Barrett is a nationally prominent expert in the treatment of trauma and traumatic violence in the family and in our communities. Her model is a collaborative, resilience-oriented approach which helps families create healing plans that can provide lasting change. Mary Jo also works extensively with helping therapists prevent Compassion Fatigue and heal from Vicarious Traumatization. She is a leading authority on family violence, including the physical and sexual abuse of children, neglect, incest, and spouse abuse, as well as neighborhood gun violence and has been working on these issues in since 1974.
Ms. Barrett has co-authored a new book Treating Complex Trauma: A Relational Blueprint for Collaboration and Change with Linda Stone Fish (2023). Ms. Barrett has co-authored two books with Dr. Terry Trepper: Treating Incest: A Multiple Systems Perspective (2014) and The Systemic Treatment of Incest: A Therapeutic Handbook (1989). She is working on two handbooks: Systemic Treatment of Trauma and Interpersonal Violence and a handbook addressing compassion fatigue. Her other publications focus on systemic and feminist treatment of women, adult survivors of sexual abuse and trauma, eating disorders, couples therapy and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Ms. Barrett provides consultations, workshops, and courses both nationally and internationally to families, lawyers, psychotherapists, social service providers, staff of residential treatment facilities and staff of governmental agencies.
Schedule: Eastern Time
Learning: 1:30 pm- 3:15 pm
Break 3:15 pm- 3:30 pm
Learning: 3:30 pm-4:45 pm
Learning Objectives, Participants will:
1- Define moment to moment in session strategies relevant to working with intrafamilial sexual abuse
2- List several dynamics that contribute to the expression of incest in a family
3- Explain a vulnerability/resource model of assessment
4- Describe how to apply the Collaborative Change Model of Trauma Treatment to intrafamilial sexual abuse
5- Identify a minimum of two ways to practice therapist self-awareness and self-regulation in working with intrafamilial sexual abuse
Target Audience
This learning event is designed for helping professionals including, but not limited to, social workers, mental health counselors, and marriage & family therapists. People who attend from professions other than those for whom we are approved for CEs may check their local Board of License Registration to see if these CEs will apply.
Cost
- Individual Registration: Regular Rate—$350; Early Bird Rate: $310
- Early Registration Deadline: February 26, 2026
- NEAFAST Member Rate: 15% off. Use NEAFAST as the promo code during registration.
- Our EQUITY rate for BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ clinicians is 25% off. Use the promo code EQUITY.
- 12 CEs will be available at an additional cost of $40 for social workers, mental health counselors, marriage & family therapists and anyone else who determines their board will accept our CEs.
Additional Information
Participants MUST attend 100% of the program to earn the 12 CEs approved for eligible professions.
CE certificates will be downloadable within three days the course ending after participants complete the online evaluation.
- Therapy Training Boston is approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6707 for Mental Health Counselors. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Therapy Training Boston is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR CEs FOR MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELORS -
This activity has been submitted to NEAFAST for LMFT CEs LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR CEs FOR MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPISTS
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Application for social work continuing education credits has been submitted. Please contact us for the status of social work CE accreditation. LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR CEs FOR SOCIAL WORKERS
- Check with your state board to determine whether our approved CEUs meet the criteria for your license
Read detailed information about CEs here.
No refunds are available for late cancellations. If participants cancel 30 days or more prior to the start of the event, they may apply the fee to a future program. Workshops may be cancelled by Therapy Training Boston if minimum enrollment requirements are not met or in the case of other unexpected circumstances. If this occurs, a full refund will be provided.