Commitment to Change – Overcoming Errors in Thinking (4 hours)
This 4-hour course leads counselors and addictions and criminal justice professionals to practical, concrete ways to become aware of addict and offender thinking and its consequences. Interacting with convicted felons in a state correctional facility, Dr. Stanton E. Samenow, PhD, skillfully allows these men and women to take center stage and become the heart of this dynamic course. Thinking errors are revealed in vivid and dramatic encounters between inmates.
Goals / Objectives
– To introduce and explore the concept of thinking errors
– To support and/or complement counselors’ increased awareness and understanding of the errors in thinking commonly demonstrated by addicts and offenders
– To provide vivid information and insights about thinking errors
– To demonstrate ways to address thinking errors in a program for change
Your Course Instructor:
Stanton E. Samenow, Ph.D.
Dr. Samenow received his B.A. (cum laude) from Yale University in 1963 and his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Michigan in 1968. Thereafter, he joined the Program for the Investigation of Criminal Behavior at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington, D.C., and became clinical research psychologist for the program.
With the late Dr. Samuel Yochelson, he participated in the longest in-depth clinical research-treatment study of offenders that has been conducted in North America. In 1978, Dr. Samenow entered the private practice of clinical psychology in Alexandria, Virginia. His specialty has continued to be the evaluation and treatment of juvenile and adult offenders. Dr. Samenow has delivered lectures, training seminars, and workshops in 48 states, Canada, and England, to a variety of professional groups including mental health, law enforcement, corrections, education, social services, and the judiciary.
He has served as a consultant and expert witness for a variety of courts and agencies, including the FBI, Federal Bureau of Prisons, and the U.S. Office of Probation. In 1980, he was appointed by President Reagan to the Law Enforcement Task Force and in1982 to the President’s Task Force on Victims of Crime. In 1987, President Reagan appointed him as a Conferee to the White House Conference on a Drug-Free America. Dr. Samenow has authored numerous articles for professional publications and appeared frequently on national radio and television broadcasts, including 60 Minutes, The Phil Donahue Show, Good Morning America, The CBS Morning News, the Today Show and The Larry King Show.