Event details

  • In-person event!

  • Friday, October 25, 2024

  • 9am to 4:30pm

  • 6 Core CE Hours for MFTs (pending)

  • Extra half day for students on October 26

  • Mercer University, Macon, GA

Course Objectives

This course will cover many important and helpful topics, including...

  • A review of the diagnosis of autism and the therapist's role in the diagnosis process

  • How to establish a therapeutic environment for the autistic individual and best practices for therapy

  • The systemic impact of autism and explore treatment options for each subsystem

  • How couples develop and maintain their relationship functioning

  • How to support the neurotypical siblings and cohesion in the family

  • Using family system models with couples and families with autistic children

  • How to utilize a "village" to treat the family system.

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Event Details & Schedule


Friday, October 25: 9am to 4:30pm. Lunch on your own. 

Saturday, October 26: 8:30am to noon for students only. 

Presenter

Dr. Justin S. Romney is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Kent School of Social Work and Family Science in the Couples, Marriage, and Family Therapy program at the University of Louisville. He earned his Ph.D. from Texas Tech University, where his dissertation focused on the lived experiences of families with children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Dr. Romney's research encompasses several significant areas within autism treatment and family therapy. His recent publications include studies on how couples with autistic children create and maintain relationship functioning, effectively adapting Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) informed teletherapy for autistic children and their families, understanding the impact of meaning-making and stress on parent relationships when raising an autistic child, and the systemic treatment of families with an autistic child using a narrative lens. Dr. Romney is an accomplished scholar with numerous peer-reviewed publications on autism and family therapy. His work has been featured in esteemed journals, and he has presented his findings at several national conferences, contributing valuable insights to the field of autism treatment. In his private practice in Louisville, KY, Dr. Romney specializes in therapy for families affected by autism, with a special focus on helping the parents find satisfaction in their relationships.

Dr. Justin S. Romney

About the Armour Lecture Series


The Armour Family Therapy Lecture Series is made possible by a gift from retired faculty members Dr. Mary Anne Armour and Dr. Rollin Armour. Dr. Mary Anne Armour came to the School of Medicine in 1982 when the first class of medical students enrolled. She retired as Associate Professor in 1998. 

While at Mercer, she established with colleagues the medical student program in family and psychosocial issues and served as co-director of the Master of Family Therapy Program, which she founded at Mercer in 1983. Dr. Rollin Armour, former Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, retired in 1998 as Professor in the Department of Christianity, College of Liberal Arts.