Keynote Speaker 

Dr. Gary Sibcy II

Dr. Gary A. Sibcy II is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist with a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from The Union Institute & University. He currently serves as a Professor at the Center for Professional Psychology at Liberty University and has previously directed the Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology there. As Vice Chair of the Virginia Board of Psychology, Dr. Sibcy brings extensive clinical experience, including his roles as a consultant for psychological services, professor, and Clinical Psychologist at Piedmont Psychiatric Center. An accomplished researcher and speaker, he has contributed to the field through numerous publications and presentations at professional conferences. Dr. Sibcy has published numerous works focusing on topics such as attachment-based treatments, neurobiology, and depression, panic disorder, and trauma. While the specific titles of his books and articles aren't detailed in the document, his contributions span academic publications and presentations at professional conferences, reflecting his extensive expertise in clinical psychology.

Helping People Change: The Secure Base System

An Attachment-Based, Transdiagnostic Framework for Christian Counseling and Psychological Interventions

Helping People Change introduces the Secure Base System, an attachment-based, transdiagnostic framework designed to help clinicians understand the core processes that underlie lasting change. Rather than promoting a single treatment model, the Secure Base System equips counselors to build tailor-made treatments by integrating the most empirically supported counseling approaches and psychological interventions according to each client's unique needs. Throughout the series, contemporary psychological science is filtered through a scripturally grounded Christian worldview that affirms both the authority of Scripture and the responsible use of psychological science, providing a practical framework for faithful, evidence-based clinical practice.

Keynote #1 - Applying the Secure Base System to Anxiety Disorders (2 CEs)

Effective counseling requires more than selecting a treatment protocol or the right workbook—it requires understanding the processes that maintain emotional suffering and tailoring treatment to the individual. This workshop introduces the Secure Base System, an attachment-based, transdiagnostic framework that helps clinicians integrate the most empirically supported counseling approaches and psychological interventions within a coherent model of therapeutic change.

During the first hour, participants will learn the Secure Base System and its ten core therapeutic processes that promote healing, transformation, and lasting change. During the second hour, these principles are applied to anxiety disorders, demonstrating how attachment patterns, threat detection, emotional avoidance, and safety behaviors contribute to the development and maintenance of anxiety. Participants will learn how to use attachment theory to build tailor-made treatment plans by integrating evidence-based counseling approaches and psychological interventions, filtered through a scripturally grounded Christian worldview.

• Describe the Secure Base System as an attachment-based, transdiagnostic framework for helping people change.
• Explain how attachment theory and transdiagnostic processes contribute to treatment planning.
• Identify the core processes that maintain anxiety disorders.
• Build tailor-made treatments by integrating empirically supported counseling approaches and psychological interventions through a scripturally grounded Christian worldview.

Keynote #2 - Applying the Secure Base System to Depression and Chronic Depression (1.5 CEs)

Depression develops through multiple pathways and often requires different treatment approaches. This workshop demonstrates how the Secure Base System helps clinicians build tailor-made treatments for those clients suffering from various forms of depression.

The first thirty minutes focus on treating episodic depression using behavioral activation, cognitive restructuring, and interpersonal approaches, which include the resolution of loss and grief. The remaining ninety minutes examine chronic, treatment-resistant depression through the Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBASP), demonstrating how attachment disruptions, developmental trauma and adversity, and interpersonal learning contribute to persistent depression. Participants will learn how CBASP naturally fits within the Secure Base System and views chronic depression as a relational dilemma in which early adverse experiences create rigid interpersonal expectations and avoidance behaviors that repeatedly produce disconnection, helplessness, and depressive symptoms.

Participants will be able to:

• Differentiate episodic depression from chronic depression using an attachment-based framework.
• Describe how attachment insecurity, avoidance, relational learned helplessness, and reduced reinforcement contribute to depression.
• Build tailor-made treatments by integrating empirically supported interventions for episodic and chronic depression.
• Apply CBASP principles and strategies through a scripturally grounded Christian worldview.

Keynote #3 - Applying the Secure Base System to Trauma Treatment (2 CEs)

Building on the framework developed in the previous two workshops, this session focuses specifically on trauma treatment. Participants will learn to use the Secure Base System to develop individualized, attachment-informed interventions for intrusive memories, flashbacks, avoidance, and other trauma-related symptoms while integrating the most strongly supported counseling and psychological treatments.

Participants will be able to:

• Explain how attachment theory informs the assessment and treatment of trauma.
• Differentiate trauma-informed care from trauma-focused treatment.
• Identify factors that guide the selection and sequencing of empirically supported trauma interventions.
• Build tailor-made treatments for trauma through a scripturally grounded Christian worldview.