MASOC Lunch and Learn: Fostering Imagination in Clinical Work with Children and Adolescents

This Lunch and Learn series is a monthly, 1-hour, high-octane focus on the emerging issues for clinicians and allied professionals working with children and youth engaging in problematic sexual behaviors. This is a collaborative effort between MASOC and MACA.

Research in the fields of cognitive neuroscience and developmental psychology have highlighted important connections between imagination and the acquisition of emotion regulation and executive functioning skills for young people. At the same time, meta-analyses show that we still have a long way to go in enhancing the effectiveness of child/adolescent treatment, where non-improvement and treatment dropout are common. This presentation will highlight the potential for imagination as a transtheoretical mechanism of change and consider the “why and how” of incorporating techniques that foster imagination into clinical practice.

Learning objectives: 

• Name two reasons why the use of imagination can enhance treatment with children and adolescents.
• Identify at least three techniques for fostering imagination in clinical work with young people.
• Describe the benefits of imaginative therapy for children and adolescents with problem sexual behavior.

October 14, 2025 from 12: 00PM – 1:00PM EST. Register here.