• To provide an overview of the research regarding the impact of marital betrayals and conflict on individuals, their relationships and their children
• To provide a psychological framework for understanding the effects of severe betrayals on individuals and their relationships and how these effects can be similar to a traumatic response
• To present a three-stage model of forgiveness that helps individuals overcome these relational traumas
• To provide a few suggestions for helping people work through the process of forgiveness
• To provide an opportunity for area professionals and lay people to interact on issues important to working with families.

Parking:

Participants are invited to park in Children's Hospital's Parking Garage on Clinch Avenue below the hospital. We ask that you park on the top level of the parking garage if possible. Bring your parking ticket into the conference so that it can be stamped for complimentary parking. Click here for directions.

Location:

The conference will be held in Children's Hospital's Koppel Plaza Building on the second floor in the Meschendorf Conference Room.

Thank you for your interest. We invite your suggestions of future topics for our annual seminars. If there are ways we can be of service to you, please contact Chaplain Rick Callaway, Director of Pastoral Care, East Tennessee Children's Hospital, P. O. Box 15010, Knoxville, TN 37916, 865/541-8476, or rcallaway@etch.com.

Faculty:

Kristina Coop Gordon, Ph.D.
Dr. Gordon is an associate professor and the Associate Director of Clinical Training in the clinical psychology program at the University of Tennessee. She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill after completing her clinical psychology internship at the Brown University Consortium in Providence, RI. She recently served as Vice President for Science for the American Psychological Association's Division 43: Family Psychology. Currently she is chair of their task force on empirically validated couple and family therapies. Dr. Gordon also has served as co-president of the Association for Cognitive and Behavior Therapies' Couples Research and Therapy Special Interest Group.

She has authored numerous articles and book chapters on forgiveness, couple therapy and dyadic processes, which have been published in journals such as Journal of Family Psychology, Journal of Marriage and the Family, Journal of Marital and Family Therapy and Family Process. Together with co-authors Donald Baucom and Douglas Snyder, she has one self-help book for the lay public on surviving infidelity (titled Getting Past the Affair: A Program to Help You Cope, Heal, and Move On--Together or Apart, available from Guilford Press and online at Amazon.com, Borders Books, and Barnes and Noble). A companion treatment manual for clinicians is in press, also with Guilford Press.

Currently, Dr. Gordon conducts research on forgiveness and family processes, supervises a couple therapy practicum, teaches graduate and undergraduate classes at UT, and also maintains a small private practice in Knoxville, TN. The most challenging and rewarding part of her life is running after her two daughters, Maggie, 7, and Lucy, 2.

Cost:

A minimum donation of Ten Dollars is requested to the Children's Hospital "Faith" Fund. The Faith Fund is an endowment fund which will help insure the work of the Pastoral Care Department and other support services into the future. If this donation would prohibit your coming please don't feel obligated to give, come be our guest. "Faith" Fund donations can be made at the conference by check payable to East Tennessee Children's Hospital.

Children's Hospital
Children's Hospital is the only hospital in East Tennessee dedicated exclusively to the care of children. For over 65 years Children's Hospital has provided excellent pediatric health care for children from birth to 21 years of age. Each year children make more than 130,000 visits to Children's Hospital. Because children are not just "miniature adults," but individuals with special medical needs, they deserve a specially trained staff. Children's Hospital offers more pediatric specialty services than any other hospital in the region.

Thank you for your interest. We invite your suggestions of future topics for our annual seminars. If there are ways we can be of service to you, please contact Chaplain Rick Callaway, Director of Pastoral Care, East Tennessee Children's Hospital, P. O. Box 15010, Knoxville, TN 37916, (865) 541-8476 or on e-mail at rcallaway@etch.com.