Social Class in Therapy: Understanding and Navigating Class Dynamics in Clinical Work

Credit

Speaker

David Glick, EdM, LCSW Related seminars and products

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David Glick, EdM, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker and certified employee assistance professional with extensive experience in trauma-informed care and law enforcement psychology. He is the founder of Triad Psych, PC, a practice dedicated to advancing mental health education, expert witness testimony and clinical excellence. David served as a DEA area clinician for 19 years and provides on-call support for the FBI’s Atlanta Field Division, offering critical expertise in high-stakes environments.

With a national reputation as a dynamic speaker, David has lectured widely on topics including trauma, personality disorders, and police psychology, equipping mental health professionals with practical strategies for complex clinical challenges. His unique perspective bridges clinical theory with real-world application, making him a trusted resource for clinicians working in demanding and high-risk settings.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dave Glick is an on-call and clinician with the FBI and maintains employment relationships with the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council, the Office of National Drug Control Policy, and Triad Psych, PC. He also receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dave Glick is a member of the National Association of Social Workers.

Additional Info

Program Information

You will have access for 90 days after the program for review. For live CE credit, you must watch the live webcast in its entirety at its scheduled time and complete the CE quiz and evaluation within one week. Please note that this requirement may vary by credit type. Please see detailed credit information for specific requirements for each credit type.

Please note: There will be a 70-minute lunch and two 15-minute breaks; one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Lunch and break times will be announced by the speaker and at their discretion. A more detailed schedule is available upon request.

Objectives

1. Determine the role of social class as its own independent culture and the avoidance of the topic in the US until now.
2. Examine the concept of social class in isolation and convert it into a tangible form for application in therapy.
3. Identify different codes of communication tied to social class and the role language patters play in class discrimination, conflict, and shame.
4. Choose strategies that use code-switching to address imposter syndrome, social class cues, and client resistance in therapy.
5. Apply Maslow’s hierarchy to help clients identify hidden barriers and develop strategies for overcoming them.
6. Relate participants’ understanding of social class transference for practical application beyond the clinical setting, including organizational, community and business contexts.

Outline

Unpacking Social Class in Therapy: Understand What’s Been Overlooked

• A personal journey of recognizing social class dynamics
• How social class shapes identity and interactions across America
• Why academia and psychiatry often avoid discussing class
• The role of pop culture in shaping therapeutic narratives
• Existing research and evolving perspectives

Understanding Social Class: Models, Mindsets, and Real-World Impacts

• Traditional and emerging frameworks for social class versus racial and ethnic dynamics
• Government classification of social class groups versus lived experience
• How social class shapes psychology, orientation, and personality in working-class clients
• The struggles of those straddling two social classes
• How political and cultural shifts are reshaping class identity

Social Class in Marital Counseling: Navigate Power, Identity, and Class

• Address domination, autonomy, and self-actualization struggles in couples
• Unpacking scripts, tapes, and class-based expectations within families
• Navigate hidden tensions and social class masking in intermarriage
• Elder care conflicts shaped by class differences

The Straddler on the Couch: Empower Clients to Overcome Social Class Barriers

• Break through social class barriers to reach self-actualization
• Help clients recognize masked roots and reconnect with their true self
• Identify class bias through the ”family echo chamber”
• Tips for common complaints (materialism, lack of mentors, and family pressure)
• Frameworks for guiding clients to empathy, better decisions, and balance

Clinical Approaches for Navigating Social Class in Therapy

• Leveraging social class to strengthen the therapeutic alliance
• Domination as a bond in transference and countertransference
• Help clients reclaim agency through extreme empowerment
• Adapting communication through code-switching
• Physical movement to reinforce psychological shifts
• Limitations of the research and potential risks

Target Audience

• Counselors
• Social Workers
• Psychologists
• Case Managers
• Psychotherapists
• Marriage and Family Therapists
• Other Mental Health Professionals