Professional Will Boot Camp: An Emotional, Ethical, and Practical Workshop
Description
Despite the ethical imperative to make arrangements in the event of psychologists’ unexpected death, disappearance, or incapacitation (APA Ethical Principles, Section 3.12) an estimated 68% of therapists have not taken this step. Many have attended presentations on how to create a Professional Will, and are aware of its importance, but nevertheless do not create one.
This all-day, in-person workshop goes beyond the standard presentation on Professional Wills. In highly interactive and experiential exercises, participants will have an opportunity to examine their own mortality, the impact of their potential death on their patients, and the resistance they might have to taking necessary steps. They will also have the opportunity to tap into their motivation to creating a Professional Will.
After doing this emotional work, participants will receive a template for a Professional Will. The presenter will review the template and discuss the information necessary to complete it. There will be time during the workshop to fill in their individual information into the template. One of the obstacles to making these arrangements is the challenge of choosing a Professional Executor. During the workshop, participants will develop their own criteria for choosing someone for this important role. Since the workshop is in-person, there will be opportunities during the day to make connections with others who might satisfy the criteria that participants develop.
The overall goal of the workshop is for each participant to end the day with, at minimum, a draft of their Professional Will and their criteria for selecting an Executor.
Note: In NJ, there are no legal requirements for a Professional Will. Rather, having a Professional Will is an ethical imperative. This workshop does not constitute legal advice.
Note: Lunch will be provided. Please email any dietary restrictions to ce@gsapp.rutgers.edu. Requests can be accommodated up to one week prior to the workshop.
Learning Objectives
Participants will be able to:
- identify their feelings regarding their own mortality.
- name at least two concerns they have that might inhibit them from writing their Professional Will.
- identify the impact their death might have on one of their patients.
- identify at least two reasons that motivate them to write a Professional Will.
- explain the issues around therapist self-disclosure in the event of a diagnosis of an illness that will impact the therapy, including a terminal illness.
- list what information should be included in a Professional Will.
- specify their criteria for choosing a Professional Executor.
write a first draft of their Professional Will.
Agenda
10 minutes Introduction
40 minutes Presentation on impact of therapist sudden death when no arrangements made
20 minutes First Breakout: discussion of feelings about one’s own mortality
5 minutes First report out: breakout groups report out; highlights themes, links to issues reported in the literature
20 minutes Second Breakout: choose one patient, and discuss the impact on that patient if you were to die suddenly
5 minutes Second report out: breakout groups report out; highlights themes, links to issues reported in the literature.
10 minute break
20 minutes Third Breakout: identify sources of your resistance to writing a Professional Will
5 minutes Third report out: breakout groups report out; highlights themes, link to issues reported in the literature
25 minutes Whole group discussion and Q&A
LUNCH 30 minutes (provided)
55 minutes Presentation on Professional Will Template and Necessary Information
15 minutes Questions and Answers
15 minutes Individual private brainstorming about criteria for Professional Executor
15 minutes Breakout: share in breakout group your criteria
15 minutes Opportunity for optional sharing with the large group your criteria, in case there is someone present who satisfies your criteria
10 minute break
80 minutes Individual work to write your own Professional Will
25 minutes Whole Group Discussion, and Q&A
Instructor Bio
Jeffrey Axelbank, Psy.D., is a psychologist in Highland Park, NJ. He specializes in group therapy and treating chronic pain and other neuroplastic symptoms. In addition to his clinical practice, Dr. Axelbank works as an organizational psychologist, drawing on his training at the White Institute Organizational Program in psychoanalytic approaches to organizational consulting. His consulting work focuses on developing high- performing teams, and whole-system interventions to help diverse stakeholders in organizations and communities discover common ground in their vision of their shared future. Dr. Axelbank was named 2011 Psychologist of the Year by the New Jersey Psychological Association, and won the Rutgers University Peterson Prize in 2013 for “outstanding contributions to professional psychology.”
In June 2025, Dr. Axelbank’s long-term psychoanalyst died suddenly. In a confluence of coincidences, a NY Times reporter spotlighted him in a featured article (a Great Read on the website and front page of the Tuesday Science Times Section) on the impact to patients of therapists’ sudden death. As a result of the exposure in the article, Dr. Axelbank became a repository for people to contact him with their similar stories. In an effort to take the advice to turn a trauma into something positive, he offered support groups for people who lost their therapist. Forty people responded to this offer, and two such groups have met as of Winter 2026.
Dr. Axelbank does not have any conflicts of interest for this workshop.
Contact Us
For questions, please contact: ce@gsapp.rutgers.edu
Continuing Education Information
Rutgers Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP) is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0123.
LMFT/MFT and LPC/LAC Licensed in New Jersey: Programs approved by the American Psychological Association are acceptable sources of continuing education credits. Please see https://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/regulations/Chapter-34-Subchapters-10-31-Professional-Counselors.pdf, Section: 13:34-15.4 APPROVAL OF COURSES OR PROGRAMS on page 27. For all other professional licenses and certifications, please reference your issuing state board regulations regarding reciprocity of continuing education credits.
Rutgers Graduate School of Applied & Professional Psychology is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Rutgers Graduate School of Applied & Professional Psychology maintains responsibility for this program and its content.