Special Topics in PE: Working with Grief in Prolonged Exposure Therapy for PTSD

Who may attend:  Licensed mental health professionals or those working under a licensed mental health professional who have training in and familiarity with Prolonged Exposure therapy for PTSD.

Date: Monday, February 23, 2026

Time: 10:00am — 2:30pm EST

Cost: $250.00 per person

Location:  Zoom webinar

Workshop Description: When treating PTSD, clinicians often encounter cases in which trauma involves the loss of a loved one. Differentiating between a PTSD reaction and a grief reaction can be challenging, particularly when distress, avoidance, and intrusive memories overlap. In this special topics workshop, Dr. Sandy Capaldi will provide an in-depth exploration of grief within the context of Prolonged Exposure (PE) therapy, offering clinical guidance on how to assess and address grief reactions effectively in treatment. Practical therapeutic techniques for integrating grief work into PE, ensuring trauma survivors can process both PTSD and grief effectively will prepare clinicians with specialized knowledge that will allow them to help clients navigate trauma-related loss without disrupting core exposure principles.

CE Learning Objectives

Following this presentation, participants will be able to:

1. Discuss misconceptions and truths about grief
2. Identify differences between PTSD and PGD
3. List three types of grief
4. Name at least 2 adaptations to PE that can be useful in processing grief

About the Presenter: Sandy Capaldi, Psy.D. is Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Associate Director, Clinical Director, & Director of Implementation at the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety (CTSA). Beginning her career as a counselor at a Philadelphia rape crisis center in 2001, Dr. Capaldi was initially trained as a study therapist to provide Prolonged Exposure Therapy for PTSD (PE). For the last 15 years, Dr. Capaldi has worked clinically and in research with trauma, PTSD, and other anxiety and related disorders at the CTSA. Her work has been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, among others. Dr. Capaldi also currently directs the PE Initiative, which is an implementation project in collaboration with the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services (DBHIDS), Community Behavioral Health (CBH), and the Evidence-Based Practice and Innovation Center (EPIC), whose goal is to support training, dissemination, and implementation of PE in Philadelphia’s community mental health centers. She is a licensed clinical psychologist who has a variety of clinical experiences with patient populations ranging from children to older adults and is certified by the CTSA as a PE Therapist, Consultant, and Trainer and as an Exposure and Response Prevention for OCD (Ex/RP) Therapist, Consultant, and Trainer. Dr. Capaldi also specializes in cognitive-behavioral treatment for trichotillomania, excoriation disorder, social anxiety, panic disorder, agoraphobia, specific phobias, generalized anxiety, and somatic symptom and related disorders.

Webinar workshop requirements:

• You must have utilities, internet service, phone service, and an appropriately private location at your home or office in order to ensure HIPAA compliance.
  • The private location should be free of noise and distractions. (If you are the parent of young children, appropriate child care arrangements must be in place.)
• You must agree to attend each hour of the video conference and agree to use video of yourself during the video conference in order to track attendance.
• You must agree not to copy or distribute workshop materials provided to you in the course of the workshop and not to audio or video-record the workshop in any form.

You will be asked to affirm the previous conditions and your agreement to them prior to the commencement of the workshop.

Continuing Education

Philadelphia Behavior Therapy Association is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Philadelphia Behavior Therapy Association maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Each program provides four (4) hours of CE credits for psychologists. 

PBTA is also an authorized provider for CE credits for Professional Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists, and Clinical Social Workers licensed in the state of Pennsylvania. Each program provides four (4) hours of CE credits.

In order to receive continuing education credits, participants must:

• attend each hour of the workshop (no late arrivals or early departures)
• complete a course evaluation

If both of these requirements are met, you will receive a continuing education certificate after the conclusion of the workshop.

Full attendance is required to obtain CE credits for this program. APA guidelines do not permit PBTA to issue partial CE credits. No refunds are provided for CE programs. No exceptions allowed.

Instructions for Registration

Registrations are due one week in advance and must be completed in full. 

To register, complete the online registration.

If you need to withdraw your application for any reason, please email Dr. Sandy Capaldi. Note that workshop fees are non-refundable after the application due date (one week before the start of the workshop).