Improving Focus, Motivation and Stress Response: Utilising New Research in Epigenetics and the Neuroendocrine System
You tell a client with no energy to get some sleep, eat properly, move their body and see people. Every one of those is what the stress system needs in order to reset. Every one of them is also what a dysregulated stress system has already taken off the table. The client hears a list of things they have failed at before, and they are not wrong to hear it that way.
The correction Leo DeBroeck builds this day around is that stress is not a volume level you turn down. It is a dial, and what matters clinically is whether the dial still moves. PTSD shows reduced activity in the stress system, not because there is less stress, but because the system is stuck at one end and nothing is bringing it back. That shifts the target of treatment away from less activation and towards a feedback loop that works.
Six hours, and he assumes you would rather see the evidence than be handed the conclusion. The session works through the hypothalamus, the anterior pituitary and the adrenal cortex, the negative feedback loop and the ways it fails, what brain imaging can and cannot support, the physical costs of a system stuck on, and epigenetics: how sustained stress changes which genes are read without changing the genes themselves. It closes with a worked case study and the psychoeducation handouts he uses with adults and with children.
You’ll walk away with
- The correction that changes your treatment target: what matters is whether a client’s stress system still moves, not whether it reads high or low
- Psychoeducation on the HPA axis you can deliver in plain words and in pictures, with different versions for adults and for children
- An explanation for why advice about sleep, food, movement and socialising lands so badly, and a way to sequence it that a client can actually start on
- A working sense of what brain imaging research can and cannot support, so you can tell a solid finding from an overreach when a client brings you an article
- The physical costs of a stress system stuck on, which reaches clients who take physical symptoms more seriously than emotional ones
- An account of epigenetics that shows how sustained stress changes which genes are read, without changing the genes
- A grounded answer to “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”, and why the evidence points the other way
- The avoidance cycle drawn so a client can see for themselves why getting away from the thing strengthens the fear instead of settling it
- Analogies that hold up under pressure in session, including the smoke alarm, the wound left unclean, the beach fire that burns underground and the mansion with the tarp roof
- A clear view of why a stuck stress system makes trauma processing impossible, and what has to be in place before you start it
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CPD Information For Mental Health Professionals
Enjoy complete flexibility with 100% self-paced learning you can access anytime, anywhere, and on any device. This course is included with your Tatra Training membership, along with every other course in the library.
Course Duration: 6 learning hours
Certificate and CPD hours: On completion you’ll receive a Certificate of Completion to support your CPD records. Your certificates are yours to keep.
Assessment: Complete a short quiz at the end (80% pass mark), which you can resit as many times as needed.
Revisit Anytime: Come back to the course as often as you like while your membership is active, whenever you want a refresher for practice.
CPD Eligibility: This program may be suitable for CPD for professionals such as:
- Psychologists
- Counsellors and Psychotherapists
- Social Workers
- Community Workers
- Mental Health Nurses
- General Practitioners (GPs)
- Occupational Therapists
CPD requirements vary between professional bodies, so please check with your association or credentialing body to confirm you can claim CPD hours/OPD points for this program and what evidence they require.
Course Content
Meet Your Instructor
Children and adolescents experiencing suicidal ideation, complex trauma, and severe behavioral challenges - and the practitioners who work with them - can need more than generic therapeutic approaches to navigate these high-risk situations successfully. Leo DeBroeck has dedicated his career to developing practical, evidence-based interventions for the most vulnerable young people, becoming an internationally recognised expert who has worked across every level of care from intensive inpatient settings to school-based services.
As President and Founder of Counselor's Choice Award LLC and Licensed Mental Health Counselor with Child Mental Health Specialist credentials, DeBroeck brings unique expertise that bridges clinical practice with professional education and product development. His MS in Clinical Psychology with thesis research on suicide factors, combined with his CBT Plus certification from the University of Washington and Harborview Sexual Assault and Traumatic Stress Center, demonstrates his commitment to understanding the complex factors that put young people at risk. His published children's therapy books and scientific research on suicidality in young adults reflect his ability to create practical resources that help both clinicians and families navigate difficult conversations about mental health.
DeBroeck's expertise spans child and adolescent mental health, suicide prevention and assessment, trauma therapy, ADHD treatment, codependency, abusive relationships, grief counseling, and addiction counseling. His approach recognises that effective work with high-risk youth requires understanding family systems, school environments, and community resources while maintaining safety as the primary concern. He specialises in cases requiring intensive intervention, situations where standard outpatient therapy hasn't been sufficient, and training practitioners to work confidently with suicidal and severely traumatised children and adolescents.
What sets his training apart is real-world crisis experience combined with practical resource development. DeBroeck doesn't just teach theory - he shows practitioners exactly what to do and say in high-risk situations, drawing from years of intensive inpatient work and wraparound services. His development of therapeutic tools and children's therapy books demonstrates his understanding that effective intervention often requires creative, engaging approaches that meet young clients where they are.
For your practice, expect to gain specific suicide assessment techniques, tools for engaging resistant adolescents, and frameworks for coordinating care across multiple levels of intervention. His approach particularly benefits clinicians working with high-risk youth, those needing confidence in crisis situations, or practitioners wanting to develop expertise in intensive mental health services.
Quick Win: DeBroeck's "safety scaling" technique helps practitioners quickly assess suicide risk while building therapeutic rapport with adolescents - which helps create a foundation for honest communication about difficult topics while maintaining appropriate clinical vigilance.
Qualifications
- MS, Clinical Psychology (thesis: factors in suicide)
- Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), Washington State
- Child Mental Health Specialist (CMHS), Washington State
- Mental Health Professional (MHP)
- CBT Plus Certified, University of Washington and Harborview Sexual Assault and Traumatic Stress Center
Leadership & Business
- President & Founder, Counselor's Choice Award LLC, Washington State, current
- Continuing Education Course Provider, USA, Australia, Canada, UK, current
- Product reviewer for counseling and therapeutic tools
- International trainer and course developer
Professional Experience
- Mental Health Therapist, Community health center, Washington State (full-time with Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists team)
- Therapist, Intensive inpatient program, Spokane, Washington (children and adolescents focus, several years)
- Experience across multiple levels of care: long-term inpatient care, WISe wraparound intensive services, school-based therapy services, outpatient clinical settings
Clinical Specialties
- Child and adolescent mental health across all levels of care
- Suicide prevention, assessment, and intervention
- Complex trauma therapy for children and adolescents
- ADHD treatment and symptom management
- Codependency and relationship abuse recovery
- Grief counseling and loss processing
- Addiction counseling for adolescents and families
- Neglect and abuse recovery interventions
- Self-confidence building and resilience development
Ready to work confidently with high-risk children and adolescents while developing the crisis intervention skills essential for intensive mental health practice? Discover how Leo DeBroeck's evidence-based, practical methods can help you provide effective care across all levels of treatment intensity while maintaining safety and building genuine therapeutic relationships.
Feedback & Reviews
This course includes:
- Lessons 4
- Topics 0
- Duration 6 hours
- Quizzes 1
- Language English