Social Work Practice with Parents of Estranged Adult Kids

9:00am to 12:00pm EST

LIVE WEBINAR

Presenter: Keli Rugenstein, LCSW, LMFT, PhD

NASW-NYS Members: $30

NASW Other Chapter Member: $60

Non-Members: $75

NASW-NYS Student and Transitional Members: FREE

This workshop is approved for 3.0 continuing education credit hours for licensed social workers, licensed mental health counselors, licensed marriage and family therapists and licensed psychologists

Workshop Description
Estrangement of parents by their adult children is an emerging phenomenon in North America and Western Europe. Many adult children are making the decision to sever or severely curtail communication with their aging parents. The available research suggests that about 12%, or one out of every eight parent-adult child relationships is estranged, meaning that there are at least five million estranged parents in the United States. Estranged parents generally exhibit trauma symptoms including depressed mood, elevated anxiety levels, exaggerated startle response, insomnia, poor concentration, unhealthy coping mechanisms, relational disruptions, medical issues, and crises of meaning. Unaddressed, parental trauma makes it extremely difficult for a parent to make healthy decisions relative to their estranged child. In some cases, daily functioning is impaired. Clinicians may frame this situation in some of the current general myths that have emerged about parental estrangement. This workshop addresses assessment, myths, contributing factors, impacts, implications for treatment, and the stages of estrangement. 

Learning Objectives

After the completion of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Assess for parental estrangement
• Identify the myths of parental estrangement
• Describe the factors that contribute to parental estrangement
• Identify the emotional, physical, mental, social, financial, and spiritual impacts of parental estrangement
• Identify the stages of estrangement and interventions appropriate to each stage

This workshop is approved for 3.0 continuing education credit hours.

NASW-NYS is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers (Provider ID #0014), licensed mental health counselors (Provider ID #MHC-0053), licensed marriage and family therapists (Provider ID #MFT-0037) and licensed psychologists (Provider ID #PSY-0088).

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Presenter:

Keli Rugenstein, LCSW, LMFT, PhD. 

Dr. Keli Rugenstein and a psychotherapist and a marriage and family therapist. She has worked with estranged family members for over 20 years and bases her work in her training in Bowen Family Systems Theory. Keli is the codirector of PEAK, Parents of Estranged Adult Parents and works with parents who have been estranged by their adult children. The work with these parents is targeted at recovery from the trauma. Her book, Relationsnip, was released in September 2022 and is written for parents who want to work intentionally toward recovery.