2026 Spring Registration Brochure

APRIL 14, 2026 10:45 AM - 11:45 AM 6 NJAMHAA's Spring Conference 2026 COURSE DESCRIPTION: Traditional substance use treatment often stresses avoiding “people, places, and things,” yet many clients relapse because real life inevitably brings triggers and difficult emotions. This session introduces an Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)-informed framework that shifts treatment from avoidance to planned, trauma-sensitive exposure and response prevention. The presenter will review research showing shared mechanisms—compulsivity, negative reinforcement, and experiential avoidance—across obsessive- compulsive disorder (OCD), behavioral addictions, and substance use disorders, positioning addiction as an “addictive compulsion loop” that parallels OCD. They will then explore how exposure-based treatments, long considered gold-standard care for OCD and widely used in eating disorder treatment, can guide innovation in both inpatient and outpatient addiction treatment settings. Participants will learn how ERP and inhibitory learning principles can be adapted into safe, structured exposure hierarchies targeting cravings, high-risk situations, and emotionally charged cues to increase distress tolerance and reduce substance-based coping. Case examples and practical tools will demonstrate how ERP-consistent strategies can be integrated into existing group and individual protocols, alongside acceptance- and values-based approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. LEARNING OBJECTIVES: At the end of this session, attendees will be able to: 1. Describe the shared mechanisms of compulsivity, negative reinforcement, and experiential avoidance in OCD, behavioral addictions, and substance use disorders. 2. Explain how exposure-based and ERP-informed treatments used for OCD and eating disorders can be adapted to reduce emotional and situational avoidance in substance use care. 3. Identify three ERP-informed, trauma-sensitive exposure strategies for inpatient and outpatient substance use treatment to build distress tolerance and lower relapse risk. TARGET AUDIENCE: Clinical Social Workers, Counselors, Psychologists, Nurses, and Program Leaders AUDIENCE TARGET LEVELS: Intermediate and Advanced SESSION 1.1: From Avoidance to Exposure: Integrating Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) Principles into Substance Use Treatment Katherine Grey, LPC, LCADC, CCS, ACS Executive Clinical Director Forge Health New Jersey S P E A K E R Morning Session NUMBER AND TYPE OF CREDITS 1.0 Clinical CE From Avoidance to Exposure: Integrating Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) Principles into Substance Use Treatment, Course #6607 is approved by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB). Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program to be offered by the New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies (NJAMHAA) as an individual course. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE course approval period: 1/30/2026 - 1/30/2028. Social workers completing this course will receive 1 cical continuing education credit. ............................................................................ This course is approved by the NJ Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies (NJAMHAA), as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits. NAADAC Provider #87719, NJAMHAA is responsible for all aspects of the programming.