Navigating Existential Issues in Psychotherapy: Top Ethical Challenges

Central Oregon Association of Psychologists

Regional affiliate of the Oregon Psychological Association

Navigating Existential Issues in Psychotherapy: Top Ethical Challenges

Presented by Kirsten Lind Seal, Ph.D., LMFT

DATE: Friday, February 6th 2026

9:00 am until 1:00 pm PST*

4 hours Continuing Education Credit

Location: ONLINE via Zoom

(registrants will be sent a Zoom link via the email address they register with. The Zoom link will be sent out 1-3 days prior to the training and will come from "COAP Workshops.")

This workshop will be capped at 95 participants

Workshop Overview: Have you ever wondered how to manage your countertransference when working with clients on deep existential issues? Does your own fear of dying or getting very ill influence how you show up for them? Do you ask yourself how you can help people find meaning when you often struggle with finding meaning yourself? Or maybe you work regularly with people who are ill, or in an existential crisis around end-of-life issues, and at times you find it hard to stay grounded yourself. This workshop will help you navigate this uncertain and yet wildly human terrain with more equanimity and grace. You will learn how to more calmly and surely walk alongside your clients as they grapple with the larger questions that we all face, while adhering to relevant ethical standards regarding self-disclosure, for example. Managing countertransference, applying of ethical principles and professional codes and clear clinical recommendations will be included.

Learning Objectives: By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

• List 3 ways to manage existential countertransference with clients who are dealing with end-of-life issues
• Examine their own beliefs relevant to working with existential issues in psychotherapy
• Develop greater self-awareness around reasons to consider therapist self-disclosure regarding existential issues with clients
• More deeply understand the ethical principles most relevant to working with existential issues in psychotherapy

About the Presenter: Kirsten Lind Seal, PhD, LMFT holds an MA in Counseling Psychology and a PhD in Couple and Family Therapy from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Lind Seal teaches Ethics at two universities and regularly conducts trainings on Ethics and Cross-Cultural issues at the local, national and international level. She is currently Adjunct Associate Professor at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota and Core Ethics Faculty (adjunct) at Chaminade University of Honolulu. Her March 2024 PESI webinar has recently been translated into French and Italian.

Dr. Lind Seal’s research has been published in Psychology Today, Journal of Marital and Family Therapy and Family Process. She has published several case studies and an Ethics-focused “In Consultation” piece in the Psychotherapy Networker and has reviewed for The Journal of Critical Psychology, Counseling and Psychotherapy (UK). She is currently conducting a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning research project examining the impact of her Cultural Context Ethical Decision-Making model on graduate students’ cultural growth and ethical decision-making at Chaminade University of Honolulu.

She has a completely virtual private practice where she works with individuals, couples and family, and offers ethics consultations to colleagues. She has been interviewed as a content expert by MPR, CNN.com, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune and is in her tenth year as a regular on-air creator/contributor on Relationship Reboot, a weekly segment on relationships on WCCO TV’s Channel 4 (CBS Twin Cities).

Costs: COAP uses an online registration process that accepts credit and debit cards. The lowest registration rates are associated with early registration, we encourage you to sign up early to make sure you have a spot. This workshop is limited to the first 95 participants who register.

Registered by 1/23/26

COAP Member: $105

Non COAP Member: $120

Registered after 1/23/26

COAP Member: $115

Non COAP Member: $135

Student Rate $50

*Membership in COAP is limited to Central Oregon based active and retired psychologists, residents, and psychologist associates. You must be current with COAP dues to register at the membership rate. Yearly COAP dues are $25 and are collected in September via Cheddar Up website (a small fee will be charged by cheddar up). Please use this link to pay dues: https://coap-membership-2025-26.cheddarup.com/

We welcome all allied mental health practitioners to our workshops (at non-member registration rates). Receiving Continuing Education credit from your various Licensing Boards is left to the discretion of the individual practitioner. Please see note below about APA.

**A $20 cancellation fee will be assessed for all cancellations. Registration fee will not be refunded for dissatisfaction with the training or for no-shows.

Students are invited to attend for $50. Please be prepared to submit a copy of your student identification card as proof of your student status.

Questions can be directed to info@coapworkshops.org

Check out the COAP website for additional information https://www.coapworkshops.org