This course is a live, interactive webinar held on December 19, 2025, from 12pm-2pm Eastern Standard Time.
Registration closes at midnight (EST) the day before the event
![Navigating Uncertainty Fostering Adaptability and Well Being in Chronic Illness Treatment Promo]()
Living with a chronic health condition often brings relentless uncertainty, identity disruption, and a profound sense of loss—leaving clients vulnerable to heightened psychological distress and clinicians searching for effective ways to help.
This course offers mental health professionals practical, evidence-based strategies to foster resilience, adaptability, and well-being in clients facing the daily challenges of chronic illness. Participants are invited to explore innovative approaches that ease suffering and promote growth.
Dr. Melanie Smith, PhD, LMHC, CEDS-C, brings extensive expertise as a therapist, clinical trainer, and author specializing in evidence-based treatment for complex conditions. As a Certified Therapist & Trainer of the Unified Protocol for the Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders, she has taught nationally and internationally, offering clinicians real-world tools to support clients living with chronic illness and pain.
Dr. Smith’s teaching integrates neuroscience, trauma-informed care, and cognitive-behavioral theory (CBT) with a primary emphasis on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Through case examples, experiential exercises, and clear explanations, she equips clinicians with both conceptual understanding and practical interventions that can be immediately applied in clinical practice.
Topics covered include the role of experiential avoidance, cognitive fusion, and unworkable control strategies in amplifying suffering; the psychological impact of medical trauma and systemic invalidation; ACT-based interventions for promoting flexibility and values-based living; and insights from neuroscience on neuroplasticity, central sensitization, and the stress-pain connection. Participants will leave with tools to help clients cultivate self-compassion and reconnect with meaningful living despite the challenges of illness.
Key Takeaways:
- Deepened understanding: Explore how cognitive, behavioral, and neurobiological mechanisms contribute to distress in chronic illness.
- Trauma-informed strategies: Learn practical ways to address medical trauma and systemic invalidation in the therapeutic process.
- ACT-based interventions: Gain tools to foster psychological flexibility and support values-driven action in clients living with chronic illness or pain.
Why this course?
- Trusted expertise: Learn directly from Dr. Melanie Smith, a nationally recognized clinician, trainer, and author specializing in chronic illness and emotional disorders.
- Evidence-based training: Gain strategies grounded in CBT, ACT, trauma-informed care, and neuroscience, ensuring both clinical rigor and practical application.
- Mission-driven provider: Offered by Telehealth Certification Institute, whose mission is to equip healthcare professionals with exceptional CE opportunities that empower them to deliver the highest quality care.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe key cognitive, behavioral, and neurobiological mechanisms that contribute to psychological distress in individuals with chronic illness, including the roles of experiential avoidance, cognitive fusion, and central sensitization.
- Identify at least two trauma-informed strategies for recognizing and addressing the impact of medical trauma and systemic invalidation in the therapeutic process with chronically ill clients.
- Demonstrate at least three Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)-based interventions that promote psychological flexibility and values-based action in clients managing chronic illness or chronic pain.
By joining this training, you will not only strengthen your clinical toolkit but also gain renewed confidence in supporting clients navigating the profound challenges of chronic illness. This is an opportunity to deepen your expertise, enhance your impact, and walk alongside your clients as they discover adaptability and well-being in the midst of uncertainty.
This course is a live, interactive webinar.
Schedule: (listed in Eastern Standard Time)
- 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm Lecture
- 1:00 pm - 1:05 pm Q&A
- 1:05 pm - 1:50 pm Lecture
- 1:50 pm - 2:00 pm Q&A
How to Attend: Instructions for attending and completing a course can be found here.
Who Should Attend: This course is intended for clinicians who provide behavioral health services.
Teaching Methods: This is a live, interactive webinar. Enrollment includes access to live event(s) but does not include recordings of the presentations.
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Melanie Smith, PhD, LMHC, CEDS-C
Melanie Smith, Ph.D., LMHC, CEDS-S, is the Director of Training for The Renfrew Center for Eating Disorders. In this role, she provides ongoing training, supervision, and consultation to clinicians across disciplines for the purpose of continually assessing and improving competence in the treatment of eating disorders. Dr. Smith is co-author of The Renfrew Unified Treatment for Eating Disorders and Comorbidity Therapist Guide and Workbook (Oxford University Press), is a Certified Eating Disorders Specialist and Approved Supervisor, and is a Certified Therapist and Trainer for the Unified Protocol for the Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders (UP). In addition to her work with the Renfrew Center, Dr. Smith maintains a telehealth private practice specializing in the supervision and consultation of registered mental health counselor interns (Florida) and individuals seeking eating disorder specialist certification through the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals (iaedp).
Disclosure Statement: The instructor(s) for this course receive compensation for their services. There are no reported conflicts of interest to disclose.
Credit Hours: This course consists of 2 continuing education hours of credit.
Counselors:
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Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No, 6693. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC 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 Mental Health Counselors. #MHC-0048.
Marriage and Family Therapists: Many MFT licensing boards accept our courses or one of the approvals which we have from professional associations. You can check with your board to determine if your licensing board would accept this course.
Social Workers:
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Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, #1609, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 05/02/2024 – 05/02/2027. Social workers completing this course receive 2 clinical continuing education credits.
Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Social Workers #SW-0435.
Addiction Professionals:
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This course has been approved by Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits. NAADAC Provider #193104, Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is responsible for all aspects of the programming.
Psychologists:
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Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Telehealth Certification Institute LLC maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Psychologists #PSY-0128.
Art Therapists: Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC 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 Creative Arts Therapists #CAT-0093.
Other Professionals: This course qualifies for 120 minutes of instructional content as required by many national, state and local licensing boards and professional organizations. Retain your certificate of completion and contact your board or organization for specific filing requirements.
This course is an-interactive, live online webinar.
Participants may request a printed version of their certificate of completion to be delivered by mail. A shipping/handling fee of $6.95 will be charged per request. Shipping internationally may require an additional charge.
By registering for this event you are agreeing to the following:
24 hour notice is required if you are not able to make it to a live event. Recordings are not provided to webinar registrants.
To update and test using Zoom.us/test before the event to ensure you are ready for the event.
Since this is a live interactive event it means that your interaction during the event is expected. Your name and image will be visible to other participants during the live event. You will NOT be included in any recording made.
An evaluation must be completed within one week of the event. Continuing Education credit(s) cannot be issued unless you attend the event and the evaluation is submitted. (Evaluation is not mandatory for APA hours)
Partial CE credits are not possible; therefore you are required to be present throughout the event in order to receive CE credits.
Respect all other participants during the event as though you would if you were sitting with the other attendees at a conference table:
- Dress appropriately
- Be in a private location void of distractions
- Do not multitask
- Do not drive during an event
- Remain on mute unless you are sharing with the group
Closed captioning is offered for all live webinar participants.
You can click on the following links to view our policies:
