Current Training
Staying Curious When Our Stories Are Activated
Therapist Bias, Reactivity, and the Protection of the Therapeutic Alliance
6 Continuing Education Hours
(4 General | 2 Ethics)
Presented by Wild Grace Encounters, LLC
Date: June 5, 2026
Time: 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Location: Vestavia Hills Civic Center – Magnolia Room
Early Registration: $135 (before May 5, 2026)
Standard Registration: $150
Our ApproachThe Therapy Room Is a Meeting of Stories
The therapy room is a place where deeply held narratives meet vulnerability. Clients bring their stories, beliefs, and experiences into the counseling relationship — and therapists bring their own professional training, personal narratives, and cultural perspectives.
Even highly experienced clinicians may encounter moments when personal reactions, emotional activation, or unconscious bias begin to shape their perception of a client’s story.
When this happens, curiosity can narrow and the therapeutic alliance can become strained.
Staying Curious When Our Stories Are Activated is a continuing education workshop designed to help therapists recognize these moments and develop practical strategies for maintaining clinical presence, protecting client autonomy, and strengthening the therapeutic alliance.
This 6‑hour continuing education program examines therapist bias, emotional reactivity, and their impact on clinical practice and the therapeutic relationship.
Participants will explore:
Cognitive bias and cultural bias in clinical work
Countertransference and therapist's emotional activation
The role of personal narratives and worldview formation
Ethical considerations, including client autonomy, nonmaleficence, value imposition, and power differentials
Consultation as a safeguard when therapist activation occurs
Through lecture, case discussion, structured reflection, and skills practice, participants will develop increased awareness of their own activation patterns and learn strategies to restore curiosity when clinical certainty or emotional reactions arise.
The goal is not to eliminate bias or emotion, but to strengthen the discipline of curiosity that protects the therapeutic alliance and supports ethical clinical practice.
About the Training
Learning Objectives
Participants will be able to:
• Differentiate cognitive bias, cultural bias, and countertransference in clinical practice
• Identify at least three physiological or cognitive indicators of therapist activation
• Analyze how therapist certainty may contribute to alliance rupture or value imposition
• Describe ethical principles related to client autonomy, nonmaleficence, and power differentials
• Apply at least two regulation strategies to restore curiosity in real time
• Develop a structured bias-awareness and consultation plan to safeguard client welfare
Wild Grace Encounters is seeking approval to offer “Staying Curious When Our Stories Are Activated,” for continuing credit. Please check back for updates.
This workshop combines didactic instruction, case analysis, structured reflection, and practical skill rehearsal.
Participants will explore real clinical scenarios and practice strategies for:
Recognizing therapist activation
Regulating emotional responses
Using language that protects the therapeutic alliance
Engaging in consultation when ethical questions arise
Training Format
Continuing Education Information
Total CE Hours: 6
General CE: 4 hours
Ethics CE: 2 hours
Early Registration: $135 (before May 5, 2026)
Standard Registration: $150
Provider: Wild Grace Encounters, LLC
Participants must attend the full program to receive continuing education credit.
Presenters
David Murphree is a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor and National Certified Counselor with over a decade of clinical experience in hospital-based behavioral health, outpatient treatment programs, and private practice. His professional work focuses on therapist self-awareness, countertransference, and ethical clinical practice.
He currently provides counseling services through Trinity Counseling and has previously served as a therapist at Children’s of Alabama. Mr. Murphree has presented on mental health topics, including suicide prevention, substance abuse treatment, and ethical counseling practice.
He is co‑founder of Wild Grace Encounters, where he develops professional training experiences for mental health clinicians focused on relational awareness and therapist self-reflection.
Sara Hadgraft is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and National Certified Counselor. She is the owner of Sparrow Counseling, LLC, where she provides therapy for individuals, couples, and families.
Her clinical work includes family therapy, co‑parenting counseling, reunification therapy, and discernment counseling. She also works extensively with families navigating complex relational dynamics and high‑conflict divorce situations.
Ms. Hadgraft has presented at professional conferences for the Alabama Counseling Association and the Alabama Marriage and Family Therapy community. Her professional interests include relational systems, therapist awareness, and ethical decision‑making in complex therapeutic situations.
She co‑facilitates professional development programs through Wild Grace Encounters, LLC.
Workshop Schedule
9:00 – 9:15
Opening and Program Overview
9:15 – 9:45
Foundations of Bias and Clinical Worldview Formation
9:45 – 10:20
Therapist Activation and Countertransference
10:20 – 10:30
Break
10:30 – 11:15
Power, Influence, and Protection of Client Autonomy (Ethics CE)
11:15 – 12:00
Value Imposition, Nonmaleficence, and Safeguarding the Alliance (Ethics CE)
12:00 – 1:00
Lunch
1:00 – 1:30
Regulation Strategies to Restore Curiosity
1:30 – 2:00
Language that Protects the Therapeutic Alliance
2:00 – 2:10
Break
2:10 – 2:40
Consultation as an Ethical Safeguard (Ethics CE)
2:40 – 3:20
Developing a Personal Curiosity and Ethical Awareness Plan
3:20 - 3:50
Integration and Case Reflection
3:50 - 4:00
Summary and Evaluation
Registration
Date: June 5, 2026
Location: Vestavia Hills Civic Center – Magnolia Room
Limited Seating: Limited to 30 clinicians
Cost: Early Registration: $135 (before May 5, 2026)
Standard Registration: $150
Location
Vestavia Civic Center
All trainings in the Professional Education Series are currently offered in person in Alabama.
Locations are selected to create a comfortable, relational learning environment that supports conversation, reflection, and professional connection.
