Facing Your Fears Training
How can I be trained in FYF?
We offer a two-day training to professionals from a variety of backgrounds who work with autistic children and their families. Providers are typically affiliated with specialty clinics for children with autism or other neurodevelopmental conditions, University clinics, private practices, school districts and/or mental health centers. The purpose of this two-day training is to provide an overview of group cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for managing anxiety in autistic children and adolescents, as well as allow clinicians to engage in experiential learning activities via session-by-session activities.
Day One offers a broad introduction to the topic, with specific talks on the development of anxiety conditions in autistic youth as well as other talks on using CBT approaches with autistic children and teens. Our recent research has focused on adapting FYF for school settings and for teens with autism and intellectual disabilities. Thus, additional talks focus on the Facing Your Fears in Schools (FYF-S) program and the FYF-IDD program for teens with autism and intellectual disabilities.
Day Two is focused on the details of delivering FYF to autistic youth with anxiety. Core components of CBT are discussed in detail, including psychoeducation and graded exposure. A session-by-session overview of FYF is presented throughout the training. Video examples and interactive small-group activities also occur.
Facing Your Fears trainings have been conducted nationally: Albuquerque, New Mexico; New York City; Buffalo, New York; Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Cincinnati, Ohio; Baltimore, Maryland; Birmingham, Alabama; Hershey, Pennsylvania.
And internationally; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Dublin, Ireland; Donegal, Ireland; Kuwait; Singapore; Auckland, New Zealand; and numerous cities/provinces in Canada including Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta; Halifax, Nova Scotia; Vancouver, British Columbia; Regina, Saskatchewan; Toronto, Kenora, Whitby, Thorold, Townsend and Peterborough, Ontario.
Training can occur in several different ways:
- Individuals can sign up for a virtual two-day training through JFK Partners by putting their name on a waitlist. Two-day trainings occur yearly through JFK Partners.
- Agencies can contract with our training team to deliver training (virtually or in person) to your agency anytime throughout the year (schedules permitting).
- Since the Facing Your Fears in Schools manual is now available, we can provide training for school districts on this specific program.
In addition to our Developers, Drs. Judy Reaven and Audrey Blakeley-Smith, we have other team members who routinely act as trainers for the FYF program. Below are their biography paragraphs.
Lindsey DeVries, PhD is a clinical psychologist and an Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and a practicing psychologist with Developmental Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Colorado. She provides diagnostic and therapy services to youth with developmental disabilities and their families through Developmental Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Colorado. She specializes in school-age and adolescent youth with co-occurring mental health conditions as well as neurodivergent gender-diverse youth. Her research and clinical interests include the assessment and treatment of autism and co-occurring mental health conditions, sexual and reproductive health in individuals with autism, and diversity, equity, and inclusion practices within academic medicine.
Lisa Hayutin, PhD is a clinical psychologist and Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. She provides diagnostic and therapy services for youth with developmental disabilities through Developmental Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Colorado, specializing in school-age and adolescent youth with co-occurring mental health conditions. Dr. Hayutin is committed to expanding access to care, and teaching interdisciplinary trainees at the hospital and primary care providers across the state and country about understanding and meeting the needs of people with autism and other developmental disabilities. Her research has focused on developing and disseminating evidence-based mental health care to neurodivergent learners.
Caitlin Middleton, PhD is a clinical psychologist and an Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and a practicing psychologist with Developmental Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Colorado. She provides evidence-based assessment and treatment of youth of all ages with neurodevelopmental conditions. Dr. Middleton is committed to community teaching and training the next generation of psychologists who specialize in autism and related conditions. Her research and clinical interests include the assessment and treatment of autism and co-occurring mental health conditions, sexual and reproductive health in individuals with autism, and neurodivergent gender-diverse youth.