About Us & Our Workshops

Hello, and thank you for visiting The Knowledge Tree!

Our vision at The Knowledge Tree is really quite simple. We want to inspire you to grow as a therapist and as a person so you may have a positive impact on your clients, your communities, and the greater whole. In other words, we want to make a difference, and we believe that offering cutting-edge quality continuing education workshops is the skillset we have to be a positive influence.

The Knowledge Tree was founded by Dr. Becky Beaton-York, who is a Licensed Psychologist and educator. She started her career in this field in 1991, and she has been teaching and organizing workshops since 1997. Dr. Becky is active in the therapeutic community, and she is constantly listening to what therapists want to learn about and finding the best possible presenters to develop workshops accordingly. The Knowledge Tree has recruited some of the best speakers from around the globe, and they have been extensively vetted to ensure nothing short of excellence.

We do not take lightly the trust you place in us by attending our CE workshops and utilizing our resources, and we strive to provide education of only the highest quality. We sincerely hope you value the time you spend with us and leave each workshop or resource feeling inspired!

Now Proudly a Part of Summit Professional Education

The Knowledge Tree joined forces with Summit Professional Education, a national leader in continuing education for healthcare providers. Summit brings a long-standing reputation for accredited, high-quality education across rehabilitation therapy, behavioral health, and more.

This partnership allows us to expand our offerings, increase our reach, and continue to innovate in delivering meaningful, career-enhancing training. Together with Summit, we’re deepening our commitment to:

• High-impact learning that goes beyond the screen
• Engaging instructors who bring real-world experience and energy
• Accessible, transformative education for professionals nationwide

“Welcoming The Knowledge Tree expands our reach and deepens our commitment to delivering engaging, high-impact education.” — Ken Ramirez, CEO of Summit Professional Education

We’re excited about the future—and we’re just getting started.

What This Means for You

Whether you're a returning learner or just discovering us, you’ll continue to receive the same expert-led, interactive courses you know and trust—now with even greater access to resources, new content areas, and innovative features coming soon through our partnership with Summit.

Stay tuned as we grow together!

Explore What's New At Summit

Becky Beaton-York, PhD, Founder & Director of Behavioral Health Content & Curriculum

As mentioned above, I began my therapy career in 1991 and have been teaching and organizing workshops since 1997. I also founded The Anxiety & Stress Management Institute (ASMI) back in 2004, where I created and managed the ASMI workshop program. I have since sold ASMI, and moved to teaching and sponsoring workshops through The Knowledge Tree (TKT).

Early in 2025, TKT became part of Summit Professional Education as described above, and I'm really excited to now have a large team of people supporting me in supporting you. I'm also excited about the amazing lineup of speakers we have for you this year and next, which includes the excellent instructors I've sponsored in the past, as well as other internationally renowned experts teaching the topics you have all been requesting.

In addition to providing continuing education through live webinars, The Knowledge Tree is here to inspire you, help you grow, and get excited about cutting-edge treatments and ideas. We would love to hear from you about what you find interesting or needed, and we'll do our best to find an excellent speaker who is well-versed in creating either a brief video or a continuing education workshop around that topic. This is a gathering site where we share knowledge and wisdom, and we hope you will benefit from being part of our community.

A little more about who I am.....

• I'm a Licensed Psychologist, a Licensed Professional Counselor, a Certified Professional Counselor Supervisor (CPCS), and I am a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist Diplomat.
• I studied at the University of California, Santa Barbara where I received a BA in Human Philosophy and a BA in Cultural Geography (double major).
• I did my graduate work at Georgia State University (M.S., Ed.S. and, Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology).
• I am an Adjunct Faculty member for Emory University's Department of Psychology.
• I founded, directed, and sold a large therapy practice, The Anxiety & Stress Management Institute (2004-2019).
• I co-founded OCD Georgia, a non-profit affiliate of the International OCD Foundation.
• I had an incredible opportunity to be the treating psychologist for Discovery Studios'/TLC's hit series "Hoarding: Buried Alive" for four years and 60 episodes.
• The TV series opened the door for several other media appearances on Anderson Cooper, CNN, Good Morning America, and others.
• I love being a mentor and providing inspiration to fellow therapists. I've supervised hundreds of therapists to licensure, and I've provided practice development and ethics consultations to many more. I generally run about six Business of Practice Consultation Groups each month for group practice owners. If you'd like to be part of one of my groups or you'd like one-on-one consultation around practice growth or ethical concerns, please schedule a time with me directly on my calendar here: https://calendly.com/dr-becky-beaton-york. Please note that I am not accepting new clients at this time - only consultations with other therapists.
• I served as the Ethics Chair for the Georgia Psychological Association for eight years. I recently finished my second four-year term as Chair, but I'm still active on that committee and have been since 2010. I was also the Ethics chair for the Licensed Professional Counselors' Association of Georgia for two years.
• I've developed numerous forms available to therapists in private or group practices, drawing on years of experience managing a practice, ethics expertise, and having been hired by attorneys to provide expert testimony in malpractice lawsuits. Please check out those forms here: https://www.theknowledgetree.org/courses/category/Practice%20SmartForms.

Most importantly, I've had the privilege to personally witness or hear about the journeys of literally thousands of clients: my own clients, my associates', my supervisees', my students', my ethics consultees', etc. It's because of these clients, their challenges & resilience that I've become passionate about teaching cutting-edge treatments that work better, gentler, and faster and encouraging all therapists to be grounded in ethics and integrity. I'm also passionate about mentoring therapists to develop fulfilling practices and balanced lives.

Thank you for taking the time to read about what inspires me, and I sincerely hope The Knowledge Tree will inspire you as well. My aspiration is that you will share what you learn from your experience with The Knowledge Tree with your clients and even your family and community, and that you find us to be a place of refuge and inspiration.

Jordan Barbeau is the Director of Business Operations and Workshop Coordinator for The Knowledge Tree. Jordan has a Bachelor's of Business Administration in Marketing and has extensive experience in online and social marketing. He also became a Hootsuite Social Marketing Certified Professional in 2019. Jordan has aided numerous small businesses and individuals. He has years of experience managing the details of the Continuing Education Workshops for The Anxiety & Stress Management Institute alongside Dr. Beaton in addition to helping to establish Sati Yoga in Atlanta, Georgia. Jordan has a diverse skill set outside of marketing, with experience in writing, accounting, web design, and more. Most importantly, he is basically The Knowledge Tree's go-to guy for just about everything!

Ryan DeVane (he/him) brings over a decade of experience in the mental health field, having served in various roles and settings including nonprofit management, community mental health, inpatient hospitals and private practice. He has years of experience in quality assurance management in addition to his clinical skills working with clients. He is the Founder and Clinical Director of Grounded Wellbeing, a group practice that centers LGBTQ-affirming mental health care and trauma recovery. Ryan has a strong background in continuing education, having led CEU workshops on a range of clinical topics. His passion lies in creating meaningful, accessible learning experiences for fellow clinicians. Most recently, he co-founded a conference designed to support and equip mental health professionals working with the LGBTQ community. As a trauma therapist, Ryan integrates specialized training in clinical hypnotherapy, Brainspotting and meditation into his work, supporting clients in deep, somatic, and experiential healing. His clinical expertise is grounded in evidence-based approaches and an affirming, relational attachment based framework. At The Knowledge Tree, Ryan supports the review of social work accreditation standards for every new workshop created, bringing a thoughtful lens rooted in clinical excellence, community impact, and inclusive education.

Our Speakers

We have recruited some of the best speakers from around the globe. Dr. Beaton-York either attends a full workshop presented by our speakers or she personally interviews and hosts a "workshop audition" for each speaker who trains for The Knowledge Tree. Each speaker is evaluated in multiple areas: Level of expertise on the topic presented, teaching skill, relatability, humor, humility, visual aids and handouts, experiential exercises (if applicable), cutting-edge concepts and research, inclusive language & ability to address and appreciate diverse populations, current references, enthusiasm, and the ability to hold your interest for multiple hours!!