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CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF AGING & CLINICAL APPLICATIONS (CSACA)


FACULTY

PROGRAM INFORMATION

APPLICATIONS


DESCRIPTION

The Washington School of Psychiatry’s Center for the Study of Aging & Clinical Applications (CSACA) offers six conferences held virtually on Sundays to help professionals stay current in their work with aging adults and their families.

These conferences will provide important knowledge and skills to better serve the aging adult population in a wide range of settings. This longest life stage and its phases requires specialized training.

The conferences offer interactive, didactic and experiential learning based on theory and research. Content areas include clinical person-centered approaches such as individual, couples, family psychotherapy, group and expressive psychotherapy. Conference topics give attention to distinguishing manifestations of normal aging from systemic illness, caregiving and attachment styles in care partnerships, socioeconomic factors bearing on responses to changing needs imposed by aging, as well as end-of-life preparedness and decision-making. Topics for six all-day, virtual Sunday conferences for the 2024 – 2026 include:

ALL CONFERENCES WILL BE HELD ON SUNDAYS.

TOTAL CEUs/CMEs for the series/CMEs: 36.0

TOTAL CEUs/CMEs for an individual conference: 6.0

  • Psychodynamic & Expressive Psychotherapy with Older Adults [6.0 CEUs]
    • Date: October 27, 2024

    • Conference Chair: Tybe Diamond

  • Relevance of Attachment Style to the Process of Aging [6.0 CEUs]
    • Date: January 12, 2025

    • Conference Chair: Glory Dierker

  • Ageism: Identifying and Challenging Stereotypes and Biases [6.0 CEUs]
    • Date: May 4, 2025
    • Conference Chair: TBD

  • The Critical Role of Place in the Aging Adult Process [6.0 CEUs]
    • Date: October 19, 2025

    • Conference Chair: Annemare Russell and George Saiger

  • Care Partnerships in Aging [6.0 CEUs]
    • Date: January 18, 2026

    • Conference Co-Chairs: Judith Peres and Yara Moustafa 

  • Living with Chronic Conditions & Serious Illness: The Role of Palliative Care [6.0 CEUs]
    • Date: May 17, 2026

    • Conference Chair: Judith Peres and Yara Moustafa

Psychotherapeutic techniques for communicating effectively in difficult situations are woven throughout the conferences and case discussion.

Participation in the conferences is open to professionals who are interested in increasing their knowledge and skills in working with aging adults and increasing their awareness and understanding developmental tasks associated with this stage of development, ages 55 – elderly. Previous work serving aging adults is not a pre-requisite.

There are two options for participation:

  • You can apply to the Certificate Program wherein participants attend the entire cycle of six conferences over 2 years and belong to the same small group throughout all six conferences. In addition, weekly individual or small group consultation from September - May is required during each semester of the 2-semester year. Consultation fees are additional to tuition and are $75.00 for an individual session of 45 min. and $50.00 for a 3-person, small group session of 75 min. Individuals choosing the Certificate Program option will be given a list of faculty members who provide case consultation. Individuals in the certificate program will have a consultant weekly for each semester. The first semester is from September 2024 to mid-January 2025 with a faculty consultant. The second semester is from mid-January through May 2026 with a different faculty consultant. A participant can choose whomever they wish from this list of faculty consultants for each semester. 

    Participants who attend all six conferences over the 2-year cycle , along with weekly consultation, receive a New Washington School of Psychiatry Certificate upon graduation from the program.

    • You can register for individual conferences, attending each on a per conference basis and being assigned to a unique small group for that event. Throughout the two-year period, you can register for multiple conferences of your choice as they are announced.

    The content of each conference content includes didactic, experiential, expressive components and case discussion.

    All conferences are held virtually on Zoom. You will receive a Zoom link for the conference 2 days before the conference and, again, 1 day before the conference begins.

    Click here to register for the Center for the Study of Aging & Clinical Applications (CSACA) Training Program.

    FACULTY

    CO-CHAIRS


    Rob Bamberger, MSW graduated from the Social Work program at George Mason University. He also holds a B.A. and M.A. in History from UCLA. He leads and co-facilitates caregiver support groups at IONA Senior Services, and co-leads a therapy group comprised of individuals in their 70s and 80s discussing issues facing Aging Adults. He’s a member of the Institute of Contemporary Psychotherapy & Psychoanalysis [ICP&P], the Mid-Atlantic Group Psychotherapy Society [MAGPS], and was himself a student of the Aging and Clinical Applications Program before being invited to serve on its Steering Committee. Saturday evenings, you will find him hosting the long-running program, Hot Jazz Saturday Night, which airs live on public radio affiliate WAMU (88.5 FM).


    Margo Silberstein, EdD is a Psychologist practicing in Washington. D.C. for 40 + years. A graduate of the National Group Psychotherapy Institute at WSP (2002) and the Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy program (2007), Margo served as faculty in ISTDP ( 2011- 2022 ) and is a certified Trainer and Supervisor through the International Experiential Dynamic Therapy Association. A Psychodramatist trained in the 1970s at St Elizabeths Hospital she has directed psychodrama services with community members across the life span. A longtime Steering Committee and faculty member of the Center for the Study of Aging and Clinical Applications, she has promoted a focus on experiential expressive arts therapies as essential best practices for working with and deepening our understanding of this stage of life


    FACULTY & STEERING COMMITTEE


    Jane Brewster, MSW is a psychotherapist in private practice in Old Town Alexandria. She specializes in working with older adults in individual and family psychotherapy and is on the faculty of the New Washington School of Psychiatry in the Study of Aging and Clinical Applications. She served as a consultant/clinician to staff and residents of Paul Spring Retirement Community in Alexandria and to members of Mt Vernon at Home, the aging-in-place village membership organization serving south Alexandria. She has provided consultation and supervision to psychotherapists on working with older adults in psychotherapy, and to psychotherapy externs in the psychotherapy training program for The Women’s Center in Vienna, Virginia. She has served as an adjunct faculty member at George Mason’s School of Social Work and has taught multiple personal growth workshops. In 2020, she completed the Washington School of Psychiatry program in the Study of Aging and Clinical Applications. In 2013, she completed George Mason University’s multidisciplinary program in Gerontology. She received her undergraduate degree from George Washington University, summa cum laude, and her MSW from the Catholic University of America.


    Glory Dierker, PhD a clinical psychologist has been the Executive Director and a Psychotherapist at the Family Center of Falls Church, Virginia since 1989. She has worked in social service in Northern Virginia since the 1970s. Her work has centered around individual attachment styles impact on family relationships. Understanding an individual’s working model of attachment throughout the life span facilitates enhancing connections between people at all stages of development. Dr Dierker’s focus on the relationships of the aging population and their care partners lends to developing strategies for family members, of all ages, to work together to enhance the care of elder family members.


    Linda Geurkink, PhD is a licensed psychologist and psychoanalyst in private practice in Washington, DC seeing adults, children and couples in psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. She also provides supervision. She is a graduate of the Washington Baltimore Center for Psychoanalysis where she is on the faculty. She is a member of the Steering Committee of the Aging Program at the New Washington School of Psychiatry.  She worked as a school psychologist and consultant to Head Start. She received her PhD from the University of Maryland.  She is a member of American Psychology Association, American Psychoanalytic Association and AKRI.


    YarMoustafa, MD, PhD is a clinician, an educator and a researcher. Her primary areas of interest are Psychopharmacology, Neuroscience, Addiction, Palliative Care and Aging. She completed her residency training at Saint Elizabeths Hospital/Department of Behavioral Health in DC, then her fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Medicine at Mayo Clinic in Florida. She was also awarded a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the Louisiana State University Health Sciences.  She is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She also has additional Board certifications in Hospice and Palliative Medicine and Addiction Medicine. She worked as a psychiatrist and acore faculty member at St. Elizabeths Hospital, as well as a consult liaison psychiatrist at the Mayo Clinic. Dr. Moustafa is currently the Psychiatric Residency Site Director at Lake Correctional Institution in Florida, Associate Program Director of Corrections at the Orlando VA residency program, and Core Faculty at the Bay Pines VA residency program.


    Judy Peres, MSW is a clinical social worker and policy analyst in aging and palliative care.  She maintains a private clinical psychotherapy practice focusing on aging, transitions, palliative care and mind/body health.  She uses cognitive-behavioral and mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques to assist older persons and their families to cope with the vicissitudes of aging.  As an expert consultant on LTC (long term care) and palliative end-of-life care, she presents and consults with a host of entities and organizations.


    Annemarie Russell, EdD, MPH, MSW, CAGS (Gerontology), CASFT is a clinical gerontologist, public health professional, social work/psychotherapist/certified strategic family therapist and educator with many years of both domestic and international work experience providing executive leadership, program development and management, technical assistance and clinical functions to several bilateral, multilateral, and non-governmental organizations including USAID, USPHS, UNHCR, UNDP, Healthright International, The Gay Men’s Health Crisis, and Whitman Walker Clinic. She has served as a consultant, lecturer, and social work and public health field work proctor and supervisor at several universities including University of Khartoum, Columbia University, Howard University, George Washington University and George Mason University. She is a native New Yorker and daughter of an immigrant with a private practice in Alexandria, Virginia where she provides psychotherapeutic services to adults, particularly older persons residing in diverse settings and supervision to clinicians working with them. She is especially interested in expanding the public and private conversations about aging in our society, advocating for the unheard voices of older adults and exploring environmental gerontological issues. She has served as faculty with The Center for the Study of Aging and Clinical Applications (CSCSA) since 2016.


    George Saiger, MD is a geriatric psychiatrist who is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, with a special interest in group psychotherapy. Having completed the Group Psychotherapy Training Program of the Washington School of Psychiatry. He served on the faculty of that program for many years, and later in the School's Center on Aging and Its Clinical Applications, of which he was a founding chair. He maintained a clinical practice for almost five decades and worked in various health/medical settings.


    Tybe Diamond, MSW has been a psychotherapist for many decades. She has served on three clinical faculties at the old Washington School of Psychiatry and joined the old WSP in 1974. She enthusiastically continues to chair the program for the Study of Aging & Clinical Applications at the NewWSP. She also serves on the couple’s faculty of the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy & Psychoanalysis and has been a member of that faculty for 20 years. Ms. Diamond also founded Tybe Diamond & Associates in 1993,an organizational consulting firm focused on the dynamics of organizations and family businesses. Her focus is on leadership & staff issues, coaching, and transitions. Her private practice is in upper NW, Washington, DC where she offers individual, couples, family, and group psychotherapy.

    Estelle Berley, MSW, Emeritus

    Guest speakers will be invited to conferences and their names will appear in conference announcements.

    CPROGRAM INFORMATION

    CE/CME AWARD

    1 credit will be awarded for each conference hour. Generally, there are 6 credit hours in each one-day program.

    Click here for Accreditation Statement and AMEDCO Continuing Education Certification 

    TUITION

    There are two options for participation in the CSACA Training Program:

    1. Certificate Program participants register for the entire cycle of six conferences and belong to the same small process over two years. Full program participation requires an application and interview prior to acceptance. Click here to apply.
    2. Single Conference participants attend on a per conference basis and are assigned to a small group for that conference only. Registration for single conference participation will open 6 weeks prior to each weekend.
     Full Program Participants (all 6 conferences)  Fee 
     Regular Tuition   $1,080.00



    Click here to pay tuition.

    If you are thinking about attending but the cost is prohibitive, please contact Tybe Diamond, Program Chair. Reduced tuition/fees may be available.

      APPLICATIONS

      The CSACA Training Program is open to all licensed and unlicensed mental health professionals (e.g., social workers, psychologists, counselors, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, marriage & family therapists, coaches, gerontologists, administrators, care case managers and interested lay community members. Experience working with older adults is not a pre-requisite. All applicants to the CSACA Training Program will be interviewed prior to acceptance. Click here to apply.

      For more information about the 2-Year Training Program or individual conferences contact: Tybe Diamond, Chair; tybediamond@gmail.com or call 202.213.9871

      All applicants to the CSACA Training Program will be interviewed prior to acceptance. Click here to apply.

      Click here for the CSCSA Cancellation & Refund Policy.



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