Products and Resources Catalog

  To view resources from this training, click DOWNLOAD Click here to watch the recording Event Description This presentation will describe how to recognize and facilitate grief and mourning in individual psychotherapy on the basis of Worden’s (2018) model. Normal grief will be described, including the necessary tasks of mourning. Normal grief will be distinguished from complicated grief, including how to assess for more complicated grief. Principles for facilitating grief counseling in both normal and complicated grief and mourning, and common therapist barriers to addressing grief in counseling, will be discussed. Trainer Dr. Melanie Wilcox, PhD, ABPP Dr. Melanie Wilcox is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences, Institute of Public and Preventive Health, and Department of Psychiatry at Augusta University. She is also a licensed psychologist and board certified in counseling psychology and works part-time in private practice providing both therapy and assessment via telehealth. Her clinical areas of expertise include culturally responsive and trauma-informed care as well as substance abuse and addiction. Her research focuses on culturally response and antiracist psychotherapy and training, racial and socioeconomic inequity in higher education, and racial and social justice more broadly. She is in her final year as a member of the American Psychological Association’s Board of Educational Affairs, which she chaired in 2020, and is currently President Elect-Elect of APA Division 17, the Society of Counseling Psychology.

On September 14th, 2023, over 60 attendees gathered to explore grief leadership, to create space for providers to process the August 8th wildfires in Lahaina, Hawai'i, and to explore how those devastating fires affected people far beyond Maui. This session was a collaboration of the School Crisis Recovery & Renewal Project (a National Child Traumatic Stress Network Category II site) and the youth and young adult specialty program of the Pacific Southwest Mental Health Technology Transfer Center    In times of crisis, coming together to make meaning of what we are each holding helps us show up for ourselves and for each other professionally. Our time together was designed to gather school crisis leaders, youth and young adult providers, and peer support professionals to explore how the Lahaina fires were experienced across multiple communities and ways to better support impacted children, youth, and young adults.   After rich discussions and collective learning and resourcing, we offer the following summary to steer our grief leadership, now and in the weeks, months, and years to come.   

This November, in honor of Children's Grief Awareness Month, the MHTTC Network hosted a two-day, no-cost, training experience for the mental health and school mental health workforce. We worked with leading grief experts across the country to strengthen grief sensitivity skills, techniques, and interventions. This resource page includes all session recordings and materials from Day 1 of the Institute geared toward the general mental health workforce with a special focus on gender-based violence, institutional violence, community violence and grief. The theme for our 2023 GSVLI was Working with grief in the context of violence: Strengthening our skills to strengthen ourselves Access the slide deck from Day 1 here or by clicking on the "download" button above. The full video recording is embedded below. Keynote (start at 18:50) Panel 1: Grieving through and due to Institutional and Community Violence (start at 53:30) Panel 2: Grieving through and due to Gender Based Violence (GBV) and Interpersonal Violence (IPV) (start at 2:14:11) Workshop Practice Session: Supporting Youth, Families, and Communities Grieving Homicide Death, and Closing of Day 1 (start at 3:39:45) View the MHTTC GSVLI 2023 Faculty Curriculum Vitae & Resources here.  Please note: This was a 2-day event. More information on both days can be found on the GSVLI 2023 landing page. Who? The Institutes are for Community Mental Health Practitioners, Social Workers, Psychologists, Therapists, School Mental Health Personnel, School Counselors, Educators, School Administrators, and anyone interested in enhancing their grief sensitivity. You can view recordings from either day and any session no matter your role to support your interests and learning. The populations you serve may be discussed across each Institute day, settings, and sessions. How? Both days of the GSVLI were rich with faculty who offer grounding and foundations for grief sensitivity for the mental health or school mental health workforces and its intersection with violence. Faculty shared where we have been as a field, where we are now, and where we are going (new research, findings, and learnings to impact our practice). Each day began with a grounding keynote, offered two panels to deepen our learning, and a workshop session.

This November, in honor of Children's Grief Awareness Month, the MHTTC Network hosted a two-day, no-cost, training experience for the mental health and school mental health workforce. We worked with leading grief experts across the country to strengthen grief sensitivity skills, techniques, and interventions. This resource page includes all session recordings and materials from Day 2 of the Institute geared toward the school mental health workforce with a special focus on school violence & grief. The theme for our 2023 GSVLI was Working with grief in the context of violence: Strengthening our skills to strengthen ourselves Access the slide deck from Day 2 here or by clicking on the "download" button above. Please note: To access Dr. Roberto Rivera's slides for the Keynote presentation, please click here (you must create a login to access content). The full video recording is embedded below.  Keynote (start at 18:23) Panel 1 - Grief Sensitive School Crisis Response (start at 1:01:18 ) Panel 2 - Unpacking the Uncomfortable: Cultural Humility's Role in our School-Based Grief Work (start at 2:12:59) Workshop Practice Session - Growing Through Grief: Understanding and Supporting Youth Exposed to Loss, and Closing of Day 2 (start at 3:34:21) View the MHTTC GSVLI 2023 Faculty Curriculum Vitae & Resources here.  Please note: This was a 2-day event. More information on both days can be found on the GSVLI 2023 landing page. Who? The Institutes are for Community Mental Health Practitioners, Social Workers, Psychologists, Therapists, School Mental Health Personnel, School Counselors, Educators, School Administrators, and anyone interested in enhancing their grief sensitivity. You can view recordings from either day and any session no matter your role to support your interests and learning. The populations you serve may be discussed across each Institute day, settings, and sessions. How? Both days of the GSVLI were rich with faculty who offer grounding and foundations for grief sensitivity for the mental health or school mental health workforces and its intersection with violence. Faculty shared where we have been as a field, where we are now, and where we are going (new research, findings, and learnings to impact our practice). Each day began with a grounding keynote, offered two panels to deepen our learning, and a workshop session.

  In the wake of the recent mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, it’s vital to remember that recovery and healing take time, compassion, and support. Recognizing that everyone affected by this tragedy will navigate grief and trauma uniquely, the New England Mental Health Technology Transfer Center is offering specific behavioral health resources to support survivors, their loved ones, as well as the larger community.   For an easy-to-understand overview of the disaster trauma recovery process: Disaster Behavioral Health: Response and Recovery Considerations. Reaching out for help can be the first step towards hope.

The fourth October issue of our newsletter features the 2023 Grief Sensitivity Virtual Learning Institute, four upcoming Northwest MHTTC webinars, TTC Network events, our latest podcast episodes, other events of interest and resources.

  ABOUT THIS RESOURCE This 75-minute webinar focuses on grief.  We have been through such grief: fires, isolation, sickness, death, murder, protests, job losses, loss of our normalcy. Grief affects our mental health, physical health, coping skills and those we are trying to help in our field.  We are still grieving losses from Covid, from our childhood. We grieve losses we anticipate will be forthcoming. The norm of our culture is to push our grief away, to push through, to "get over it." We isolate, and in the past, self-medicate. While we tuck these griefs further and further away, they aren't gone from us. As mental & behavioral health professionals, our grief requires our tending. We need to walk with our grief from time to time just as we walk with our joy. Grief tending allows us release and relief. It allows those of us working to care for the grief of others to be stronger and better able to offer our skill and attention. Offered in collaboration with Mental Health & Addiction Association of Oregon (MHAAO).   ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Eve L. Ewing: “I saw Emmett Till this week at the grocery store” poetry reading (3-minute video) Spilling the Light, a poem by Theresa I. Soto They Are with Us Still, a poem by Kathleen McTigue Ritual: Power, Healing and Community by Malidoma Patrice Somé Examples of altars Daniel Foor, ancestral medicine Thomas Hübl, healing collective trauma Five Gates of Grief. From The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief by Francis Weller, published by North Atlantic Books, copyright © 2015 by Francis Weller. Used by permission of North Atlantic Books.   Grief, Loss & Bereavement resources from the MHTTC Network   Grief Resources and Self-Care:   If you are interested in more grief resources, the MHTTC Network has released a series of five fact sheets that cover various topics, such as defining grief, responses to grief across the lifespan, preventive strategies and protective resources for grief, cultural responsiveness, and evidence-based treatments for grief.  We recognize that for some people, attending sessions on grief can activate our own feelings and grief responses. Be sensitive to your own reactions throughout the Learning Institute. Take breaks, stretch, drink lots of water, etc. If you need more support, please contact:  National Suicide Hotline - 1-800-273-8255  NAMI - 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or [email protected]  Mental Health America- 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text MHA to 741741  SAMHSA’s National Helpline - referral and information - 1-800-662-HELP (4357)  SAMHSA’s Disaster Distress Helpline - 1-800-985-5990 or text TalkWithUs to 66746    FACILITATOR Jennifer Springsteen Jennifer Springsteen is a writer and a teacher in Portland, Oregon. She is in her final year of seminary seeking her Masters of Divinity and is currently serving as the intern minister at Unitarian Universalist Church of Vancouver, Washington. She has been offering grief workshops for the past five years to writers, folx identifying as dually diagnosed, seminarians, and congregants. Terms of use and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) disclosure statement

Original Webinar Date: 8/4/20 This is the third in a three-part webinar series. (Part One, Part Two) This session summarizes the principles of psychological first aid and common reactions that may be seen in any crisis event, including the current pandemic.  It provides practical advice on how to help students and staff understand and cope with the current pandemic and begin to prepare for what may be needed to offer support to students when schools re-open.  The session underscores the need for professional self-care and highlights some of the barriers as well as some potential solutions.  Together, we consider how best to support students, staff, and ourselves during this evolving pandemic.   Intended audience: educators; school mental health providers and support professionals (school counselors, nurses, psychologists, and social workers); school administrators; and community-based medical and mental health professionals providing support to schools and/or children and families.   About the Presenter: David J. Schonfeld, MD, FAAP, established and directs the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement (www.schoolcrisiscenter.org); the Center coordinates the Coalition to Support Grieving Students (www.grievingstudents.org), comprised of over 85 organizations including the major educational professional organizations. He holds a joint appointment at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Schonfeld has authored more than 100 scholarly articles, book chapters, and books (e.g., The Grieving Student: A Teacher’s Guide, Brookes Publishing), and he has given more than 800 presentations on the topics of pediatric bereavement and crisis. He has provided consultation and training on school crisis and pediatric bereavement in the aftermath of a number of school crisis events and disasters within the United States and abroad, including school and community shootings in Newtown, CT, Marysville, WA, Aurora, CO, Chardon, OH, and Townville, SC; flooding from hurricanes Sandy in New York and New Jersey, Katrina in New Orleans, and Ike in Galveston, TX; 2008 earthquake in Sichuan, China; tornadoes in Joplin, MO, and Alabama; and Great Smoky Mountain wildfires in Sevierville, TN. He has also conducted school-based research (funded by NICHD, NIMH, NIDA, the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, William T. Grant Foundation, and other foundations) involving children’s understanding of and adjustment to serious illness and death, as well as school-based interventions to promote adjustment and risk prevention. About the National Center for School Crisis & Bereavement: In 2005, Schonfeld established the NCSCB with funding from the September 11th Children’s Fund and the National Philanthropic Trust. Further funding from the New York Life Foundation has allowed the center to provide ongoing and expanded services. The center aims to promote an appreciation of the role that schools play to support students, staff, and families at times of crisis and loss; to collaborate with organizations and agencies to further this goal; and to serve as a resource for information, training materials, consultation, and technical assistance. 1-877-53-NCSCB (1-877-536-2722) [email protected]

This infographic provides information for helping behavioral health providers cope in the aftermath of a suicide.

This infographic provides information for loss survivors bereaved by suicide.

This is a recording of Part 1 in the Getting Grief-Ready at Work: A Starter Kit Workshop Series, that took place on November 28, 2022.   In this workshop series, the Pacific Southwest MHTTC's Field Director, Leora Wolf-Prusan, Ed.D, Dr. David J Schonfeld of the National Center for School Crisis & Bereavement, and Mary Pauline Diaz-Frasene of the Dinner Party teamed up to lead a text-study exploration of Fostering Grief Ready Workplaces: A Starter Kit for Mental Health and School Mental Health Leadership.   This Starter Kit offers a review of essential guidelines and evidence-based practices to cultivate a grief-sensitive culture. The workshop series is an accompaniment for the Starter Kit and is intended to serve anyone interested in being grief sensitive, including school and mental health leaders, providers, and professionals.   Part 1 in the Starter Kit Workshop Series offers opportunities to hear questions, discussion, and discourse on the following: •    Grief Readiness: The Basics & How Grief Impacts our Workforce •    Self-reflection: How Grief Ready am I? Is my Team? Is my System? •    Approaching Grief Readiness with a Power Analysis: Cultural Sensitivity and Anti-Racism at Work

Our hearts are heavy for the tragedy that occurred in Uvalde, Texas on May 24, 2022. As we look towards how to cope with he experience, this newsletter brings together a selection of resources for families, educators, and professionals working with children and families.

The Northwest MHTTC’s School Mental Health Team has curated some additional free resources to support youth, staff, communities and district systems to support our region as we respond to these traumatic events. Want more information and school mental health resources? Visit the Northwest MHTTC's School Mental Health page and sign up for our newsletter for regular updates about events, trainings, and resources available to the Northwest region.

To access slide deck, click DOWNLOAD above CLICK HERE to view the recording This event was held on May 25th, 2022 from 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. MT/12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m. CT.  Event Description May is Maternal Mental Health Awareness month.  As many as 1 in 5 new mothers experience some type of perinatal mood and anxiety disorder (PMADs). These illnesses frequently go unnoticed and untreated, often with long-term consequences to both mother and child.  No one is immune to experiencing PMADS. Women of every culture, age, income level and race can develop perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. Symptoms can appear any time during pregnancy and the first 12 months after childbirth. There are effective and well-researched treatment options available to help women recover, but stigma often prevents women from seeking help.     Join us this month as we offer two 1-hour training sessions that address sensitive topics that are often missed in the perinatal mental health conversation: Grief and Loss, and Birth Trauma.    Learning Objectives: ·      Define birth trauma and related experiences during the perinatal period  ·      Recognize symptoms and  screening tools for birth trauma and PTSD  ·      Examine effective ways to support individuals who have experienced trauma during birth  Trainer Marianela Rodriguez-Reynaldo  Marianela Rodriguez-Reynaldo is a mother, postpartum doula, Certified Lactation Educator and Clinical Psychologist specialized in Perinatal Mental Health. She completed her Master’s degree at Xavier University in Ohio and went on to complete her PhD in Clinical Psychology at the Carlos Albizu University in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She has been a PSI Coordinator in Puerto Rico since 2009, has a private practice and led a monthly support group for parents who have experienced perinatal loss for 11 years. She is an activist for reproductive justice and human rights in maternal infant care. Provides training on perinatal mental health and trauma for health and birth professionals, is part of the expert panel for the Observatory of Obstetric Violence in Puerto Rico and serves as a Psychology Consultant for the Puerto Rico Health Department, Mother, Child and Adolescent Division (Title V). In 2020 she co-founded the first Center for Perinatal Mental Health in Puerto Rico that focuses on research, awareness, and service for this population. 

To view slide deck, click DOWNLOAD above Recording coming soon! This event was held on May 17th, 2022 from 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. MT/12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m. CT.  Event Description May is Maternal Mental Health Awareness month.  As many as 1 in 5 new mothers experience some type of perinatal mood and anxiety disorder (PMADs). These illnesses frequently go unnoticed and untreated, often with long-term consequences to both mother and child.  No one is immune to experiencing PMADS. Women of every culture, age, income level and race can develop perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. Symptoms can appear any time during pregnancy and the first 12 months after childbirth. There are effective and well-researched treatment options available to help women recover, but stigma often prevents women from seeking help.     Join us this month as we offer two 1-hour training sessions that address sensitive topics that are often missed in the perinatal mental health conversation: Grief and Loss, and Birth Trauma.    Learning Objectives: ·      Identify key concepts related to perinatal loss  ·      Consider the impact of grief and loss during the perinatal period  ·      Examine effective ways to support individuals who have experienced perinatal loss  Trainer Marianela Rodriguez-Reynaldo  Marianela Rodriguez-Reynaldo is a mother, postpartum doula, Certified Lactation Educator and Clinical Psychologist specialized in Perinatal Mental Health. She completed her Master’s degree at Xavier University in Ohio and went on to complete her PhD in Clinical Psychology at the Carlos Albizu University in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She has been a PSI Coordinator in Puerto Rico since 2009, has a private practice and led a monthly support group for parents who have experienced perinatal loss for 11 years. She is an activist for reproductive justice and human rights in maternal infant care. Provides training on perinatal mental health and trauma for health and birth professionals, is part of the expert panel for the Observatory of Obstetric Violence in Puerto Rico and serves as a Psychology Consultant for the Puerto Rico Health Department, Mother, Child and Adolescent Division (Title V). In 2020 she co-founded the first Center for Perinatal Mental Health in Puerto Rico that focuses on research, awareness, and service for this population. 

May 11, 2022 Join Kelsey Alexander, Training and Prevention Coordinator for the Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence to learn about recognizing and responding in a trauma-informed way to disclosures of sexual violence, and what resources exist in Connecticut.   to watch the recording, go to: https://youtu.be/NSiO7u26Hp4

Recording of the event Coping with Grief and Loss, originally held on April 28, 2022.   Slide Presentation

April 27, 2022 To watch the recording, please go to: https://youtu.be/3Vzu45D4k2o    Around one in four women in the United States experience sexual assault. Around two-thirds decide to tell others about their experience, often with the expectation of support. Yet, women disclosing sexual assault often receive unhelpful and even harmful reactions from others, including family, friends, or mental health and medical professionals. This talk should provide you with a background on what the research shows about the kinds of reactions that people receive from others when disclosing sexual assault, the factors that make receiving harmful reactions more likely, and the consequences of harmful reactions on women’s coping and mental health. It should also present guidelines for both professionals and community members on supportive responses to provide and harmful responses to avoid to promote better outcomes for survivors of sexual assault. Presenter:  Mark R. Relyea, PhD, is a community psychologist and statistician at VA Connecticut Healthcare System, and Associate Research Scientist at Yale School of Medicine. His focus is on understanding how to prevent sexual assault and harassment and improve outcomes for survivors. Dr. Relyea’s current research seeks to understand the frequency, consequences, and predictors of patients’ harassment towards staff and other patients within healthcare systems and the utility of bystander intervention training to address patient harassment.

The Fostering Grief Ready Workplaces - A Starter Kit for Mental Health and School Mental Health Leadership aims to provide essential ingredients to guide you and your organization through the basics of supporting a grieving workforce. This starter kit recaps the contents we covered in the Grief Readiness Lab (April- May 2021) and Series (November-December 2021). We offer an overview of what was explored in the Lab and Series, and a taste of some of the conversations shared among participants. The pilot and series were created and hosted by Workplace Resilience, a program of The Dinner Party, and the Pacific Southwest Mental Health Technology Transfer Center and advised by the National Center for School Crisis & Bereavement. Just as we shared in our 2021 Spring Lab and Series, that time and this guide won’t be everything to figure out every little detail for the workforce's grief response approach. We offer this guide not to provide a copy-and-paste solution but instead to offer a framework that each individual school counselor or mental health professional could use to begin developing their team’s unique grief readiness plan, recognizing that each participant holds a distinct role and sphere of influence in their school or organization.   What’s inside the guide? Compilation of content we engaged with during the Spring 2021 Lab and Fall 2021 Series Quotes from participants & learnings from our discussions; participants represented mental health and school mental health workplaces, represented decades of cumulative; there was much to learn from the lived experience of those in the room. Practical activities and strategies you can employ Reflection questions which guided participants toward creating their own Grief Readiness plans and programs. These are questions that you can return to again and again, and each time has the potential to spark something new.   Who is this guide for? Supervisors, managers, directors, administrators and leadership of school and mental health organizations, agencies, and agencies Human resources professionals Mental health and school mental health providers (e.g., therapists, social workers, peer support professionals) Technical assistance providers, coaches, consultants Trauma informed professionals And anyone else interested in being grief sensitive at work

Duelo: logremos empatía mientras cuidamos de nuestra salud mental, Segunda Parte

In this online seminar recording from a 3-part series produced by the Pacific Southwest MHTTC in July of 2021, Kaethe Weingarten, PhD of Migrant Clinicians Network and the Witness to Witness Program, presents materials about grief in general and grief in the circumstances of the pandemic. As the losses mount with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, many are feeling a range of emotions. Confusion, fear, anger, and sadness are strong, as is grief. Grief usually takes shared public forms, but during the pandemic, there are constraints. Dr. Weingarten discusses the particular challenges of grief following estrangement or ambiguous loss. She asks the audience look at ways to support others – clients, friends, colleagues, family members – without becoming overburdened oneself, in order to avoid empathic pitfalls while offering support. Throughout the online seminar, Dr. Weingarten looks to opportunities for balancing despair with hope and creating hope in community, knowing that this is something best done with each other.

In part 1 of this series, the Pacific Southwest MHTTC presents the Migrant Clinicians Network and the Witness to Witness Program to address how to manage the multiple stressors impacting service providers and those they serve.   The premise of this online seminar is that the helpers need help to manage the distress that comes with the role of witness and helper. Sometimes the distress comes from the stories providers are told by the people they work with or interactions they directly observe. Sometimes the distress comes from the people who administer the policies and procedures that affect the people they serve. And often the distress derives from both sources. Providers may also have their own challenging histories. Current situations may trigger memories of difficult personal experiences, making it harder to cope with contemporary stress. View this video presentation for Dr. Kaethe Weingarten’s discussion on these topics. The second half of this online seminar looks at sources of resilience and what Dr. Weingarten calls reasonable hope.

About the Session: This webinar is the opening session of the MHTTC 2022 Grief Sensitivity Virtual Learning Institute (GSVLI) that took place on February 23, 2022 (Day 1). For more information on how to access resources from this 2-day institute, click here. About the Keynote Speaker:  Resources: REFUGE IN GRIEF Animated short: How to Help a Grieving Friend  PBS documentary: Speaking Grief  Podcast: HERE AFTER (from iHeartMedia) Learn more about Megan Devine at www.megandevine.co. View GSVLI Faculty Curriculum Vitae and Resources here. 

ABOUT THIS RESOURCE This Q&A document addresses how behavioral healthcare providers can cope with grief, loss, and bereavement both personally and professionally and was developed in conjunction with the "Grief, Exhaustion, and Finding Vitality in Behavioral Health Care for Staff" webinar held on February 10, 2022. View the recorded webinar and other related resources here.     Terms of use and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) disclosure statement