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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]

ABOUT THIS RESOURCE This is a recording of the webinar held on December 13, 2022; the webinar explores the unique issues facing those doing in-person crisis intervention and first responder work. Practical information and tools will are shared to offer support to people in these roles. Providing mobile outreach crisis intervention and evaluation services for people in a behavioral health crisis takes immense skill and is a 24/7 job. The launching of the National 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline heightened the need for staff and leadership who have this complex expertise. Workers respond to complex crisis situations, conduct face-to face assessments and make determination decisions, utilizing standardized and advanced risk and assessment skills. They sometimes triage to divert from emergency services if possible and alternatives exist. Staff develop stabilization and safety plans in collaboration with the person receiving care. Supervisors of staff and teams provide feedback, ensure exceptional clinical services and effective, efficient program operations and consultation. Workers complete documentation and safety planning and possess an in-depth knowledge of community resources including the ability to address tailored needs.    Being a crisis and/or first responder takes a heavy toll. Witnessing crises, suffering and trauma day after day can affect their well-being. These roles continued despite a pandemic that is transitioning to an endemic. Job vacancies, insufficient resources, organizational culture and inadequate training can make a difficult role feel impossible. Professional distance and self-care can suffer when the crises keep happening, meanwhile working in a climate unsupportive of staff wellness and needing everyone to work extra shifts.  This presentation covered topics related to the establishment and maintenance of healthy boundaries between yourself and the work, strategies for engaging active coping skills that don’t feel like more on your “to do list,” and the various stress response systems, including how to recognize and engage effective coping based on how your brain and body are responding to the stress of the work.     Goals:  Develop detailed understanding of the ways that you personally may be impacted by the stressors of in-person response work during the transition from pandemic to endemic management of COVID 19 Understand how to create a plan for yourself in order to effectively manage stressors that you may be facing Begin to establish and maintain clear boundaries for yourself that act to protect you from additional burnout risks Outline participant needs and priorities for future trainings   RESOURCES Presentation slides Locus of Control self-assessment quiz recommended by Dr. Kira Mauseth The Evidence Base for Interventions Targeting Individuals with Work-Related PTSD: A Systematic Review and Recommendations; Volume 42, Issue 2; https://doi.org/10.1177/0145445517725048 Posttraumatic stress disorder in police, firefighters, and emergency dispatchers; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2018.08.005 SAMHSA Disaster Technical Assistance Center Supplemental Research Bulletin First Responders: Behavioral Health Concerns, Emergency Response, and Trauma Change Your Mind: Meditation Benefits for the Brain When science meets mindfulness: Researchers study how it seems to change the brain in depressed patients - The Harvard Gazette Mindfulness Improves Emotion Regulation and Executive Control on Bereaved Individuals: An fMRI Study Front. Hum. Neurosci., 28 January 2019, Sec. Cognitive Neuroscience https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2018.00541 National Guidelines for Behavioral Health Crisis Care – A Best Practice Toolkit from SAMHSA Resources from Northwest MHTTC related to this topic: Behavioral Health Crisis Response Systems webinar series Dr. Mauseth’s previous series with the Northwest MHTTC: Disaster Response and Behavioral Health Brief Behavioral Skills: DBT Distress Tolerance Skills  FACILITATOR Kira Mauseth, PhD Dr. Kira Mauseth is a practicing clinical psychologist who splits her professional time between seeing patients at Snohomish Psychology Associates, teaching as a Senior Instructor at Seattle University and serving as a co-lead for the Behavioral Health Strike Team for the WA State Department of Health. She also serves on the state’s Disaster Medical Advisory Committee (DMAC). Her work and research interests focus on resilience and recovery from trauma as well as well as disaster behavioral health. She has worked abroad extensively in disaster response and with first responders and health care workers throughout United States. Dr. Mauseth also conducts trainings and provides presentations to organizations and educational groups about disaster preparedness and resilience building within local communities.   Terms of use and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) disclosure statement

ABOUT THIS RESOURCE This is a recording of the webinar held on December 6, 2022; the webinar explores the unique issues facing those doing virtual crisis management and response work such as crisis lines via phone, text, email or chat. Practical information and tools that provide support to people in these roles are enumerated.  Doing crisis line work can be extremely rewarding, and our field relies on countless people to serve as crisis staff answering phone calls and other messaging tools. The launching of the National 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline heightened the need for staff and leadership who have a unique set of skills. This workforce helps in immediate situations, saves lives and connects people to needed services. It performs crucial crisis intervention, suicide prevention and brief supportive counseling to people in emotional distress. They provide consultation to determine what options are appropriate and triages for safety and further evaluations. Supervisors of crisis call centers provide real-time feedback to staff, ensure exceptional customer service and effective, efficient program operations as well as stepping in for more complex scenarios. All the while, everyone strives to provide a supportive, trauma-informed, and inclusive environment.  However, many factors contribute to why these roles are challenging. Staff face highly complex topics, severe distress and trauma which can affect their well-being. Job vacancies, insufficient resources, organizational culture and inadequate training can make a difficult role feel impossible. Professional distance and self-care can suffer when hearing crisis after crisis and is exacerbated by a climate unsupportive of staff wellness and by working extra shifts.  This presentation covered topics related to the establishment and maintenance of healthy boundaries between yourself and the work, strategies for engaging active coping skills that don’t feel like more on your “to do list,” and the various stress response systems, including how to recognize and engage effective coping based on how your brain and body are responding to the stress of the work.   Goals:  Develop detailed understanding of the ways that you personally may be impacted by the stressors of virtual crisis work Understand how to create a plan for yourself in order to effectively manage stressors that you may be facing Begin to establish and maintain clear boundaries for yourself that act to protect you from additional burnout risks Outline participant needs and priorities for future trainings   RESOURCES Presentation slides Locus of Control self-assessment quiz recommended by Dr. Kira Mauseth The Evidence Base for Interventions Targeting Individuals with Work-Related PTSD: A Systematic Review and Recommendations; Volume 42, Issue 2; https://doi.org/10.1177/0145445517725048 Posttraumatic stress disorder in police, firefighters, and emergency dispatchers; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2018.08.005 SAMHSA Disaster Technical Assistance Center Supplemental Research Bulletin First Responders: Behavioral Health Concerns, Emergency Response, and Trauma Change Your Mind: Meditation Benefits for the Brain When science meets mindfulness: Researchers study how it seems to change the brain in depressed patients - The Harvard Gazette Mindfulness Improves Emotion Regulation and Executive Control on Bereaved Individuals: An fMRI Study Front. Hum. Neurosci., 28 January 2019, Sec. Cognitive Neuroscience https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2018.00541 National Guidelines for Behavioral Health Crisis Care – A Best Practice Toolkit from SAMHSA Resources from Northwest MHTTC related to this topic: Behavioral Health Crisis Response Systems webinar series Dr. Mauseth’s previous series with the Northwest MHTTC: Disaster Response and Behavioral Health Brief Behavioral Skills: DBT Distress Tolerance Skills  FACILITATOR Kira Mauseth, PhD Dr. Kira Mauseth is a practicing clinical psychologist who splits her professional time between seeing patients at Snohomish Psychology Associates, teaching as a Senior Instructor at Seattle University and serving as a co-lead for the Behavioral Health Strike Team for the WA State Department of Health. She also serves on the state’s Disaster Medical Advisory Committee (DMAC). Her work and research interests focus on resilience and recovery from trauma as well as well as disaster behavioral health. She has worked abroad extensively in disaster response and with first responders and health care workers throughout United States. Dr. Mauseth also conducts trainings and provides presentations to organizations and educational groups about disaster preparedness and resilience building within local communities.   Terms of use and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) disclosure statement

The Community Mental Health Association of Michigan (CMHAM) created infographics based on data gathered in their recent statewide behavioral telehealth survey. This resource demonstrates the reported rates of behavioral telehealth use patterns prior to and throughout the height of the pandemic. The survey findings underscore the state's need for improved telehealth access and continued training support for Michigan’s behavioral healthcare providers. The CMHAM formed the Michigan Behavioral Telehealth Resource Center to strengthen innovative care delivery models and increase the use of evidence-based technologies to improve access to and the quality of behavioral health care. The Resource Center provides multi-level supports for behavioral telehealth, including an online curated resource library, telehealth alert communications, and a statewide advisory group that facilitates partnerships with Medicaid state leadership staff and national policy institutes. CMHA in partnership with public sector consultants also organized provider/consumer focus groups that offer comprehensive data on telehealth use, satisfaction, and barriers.   

To access slide deck, please click DOWNLOAD above CLICK HERE to view the recording Event Description COVID-19 changed how people access healthcare, how people receive healthcare, and how healthcare professionals deliver care. Regardless of your professional role during COVID-19 or your personal feelings about COVID, the pandemic has been a collective trauma in our history and the residue on health professionals is real. While trauma is often experienced individually, a collective experience has both protective and risk elements which will be articulated in this presentation. Placing your personal experience over the past couple of years in a larger perspective can facilitate a deeper understanding of both our own and others’ reactions, as well as discover effective strategies to heal and even grow from the events of the past couple of years.  Learning Objectives 1. Understand the experience of trauma, vicarious trauma, and secondary  stress as it relates to being a healthcare provider during the pandemic  2. Apply the principles of trauma exposure to understand the personal impact  on one’s mind, emotions, behaviors, and the body  3. Learn and practice self-regulation techniques to mitigate activation in the body.  Trainer Christine Runyan, PhD, ABPP    Christine Runyan is a clinical health psychologist, the Co-Founder of Tend Health, and  Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University  of Massachusetts Medical School. After starting her career as a psychologist in the US Air  Force, she focused her research, clinical service, and teaching on behavioral science in  family medicine as well as promoting models of integrated primary care. Dr. Runyan is also  a mindfulness teacher at the University of Massachusetts Center for Mindfulness. At the  height of the pandemic, recognizing the undeniable need for expert mental health services  for healthcare professionals, she launched Tend Health. Tend Health provides specialized,  private, and accessible mental health care and education to healthcare professionals and  consultation to healthcare organizations willing to invest in their most precious resources.

          You might like: ARC for Health Professionals ARC for Educators Professional Well-Being          

  You might like: ARC for Health Professionals ARC for Educators Professional Well-Being      

        You might like: ARC for Health Professionals ARC for Educators Professional Well-Being              

        You might like: ARC for Health Professionals ARC for Educators Professional Well-Being        

    You might like: ARC for Health Professionals ARC for Educators Professional Well-Being            

    You might like: ARC for Health Professionals ARC for Educators Professional Well-Being        

    You might like: ARC for Health Professionals ARC for Educators Professional Well-Being      

          You might like: ARC for Health Professionals ARC for Educators Professional Well-Being      

    You might like: ARC for Health Professionals ARC for Educators Professional Well-Being        

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.

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.

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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

ABOUT THIS RESOURCE This document details how supervisors and leadership can apply disaster recovery information to real-world teams functioning in support of staff vitality and resilience and was developed in conjunction with the "Grief, Exhaustion, and Finding Vitality in Behavioral Health Care For Supervisors and Leadership" webinar held on February 8, 2022. View the recorded webinar and other related resources here.     Terms of use and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) disclosure statement

This online seminar recording provides a general understanding of common emotional responses to the coronavirus pandemic – worry, anxiety, demoralization, moral distress -- and offers efficient strategies to deal with them.  Guest presenter Kaethe Weingarten, PhD, focuses on the witnessing model, a concept she developed, that describes four different witness positions that affect people in their daily lives. Ways of moving into the only effective position are suggested.  Concrete ideas for remaining in one’s resilient zone, not stuck too high, not stuck too low, are also described.  Dr. Weingarten also shares a unique prevention approach to the development of PTSD.  

The Pacific Southwest MHTTC curated a list of resources to support mental health needs in times of crisis. These resources have been curated with social distance mandates in mind and provide many virtual or electronic options for support. The list includes relevant webinars, stress management apps, publications, and online resources.

Se ha pedido a los educadores que desempeñen muchas funciones durante esta crisis de salud pública. Han tenido que adaptarse a nuevos entornos de aprendizaje, brindar apoyo emocional a los estudiantes, mantener la comunicación con los padres, cuidar de sí mismos y de sus familias, entre otras responsabilidades. Al mismo tiempo, están experimentando ansiedad y preocupación por la crisis de salud pública junto con el resto de la comunidad. A continuación, se presentan algunas herramientas de ayuda.

Una crisis de salud pública puede causar angustia a todos los involucrados, includios los proveedores de servicios de salud del comportamiento. Atender su bienestar personal durante este tiempo es tan importante como apoyar a las personas a las que sirve. Se anima a los proveedores a que tengan en cuenta la carga que puede suponer para su propio bienestar mental el trabajar con otras personas que sufren.

Download the presentation slides here Social and emotional learning (SEL) and life skills development through classroom activities and routines is foundational to students’ academic success. SEL is increasingly recognized as a component of promoting student engagement, positive school climate, and trauma sensitive schools. Many schools are especially noticing a need for SEL supports this school year, as students across the country are coping with variety of natural disasters, community stressors and disruptions to routine at school, home and in the community. At the same time, schools are busier than ever trying to catch students up academically and regain a sense of normalcy while simultaneously supporting student and staff needs. This session will highlight a targeted, feasible approach to implement SEL during a crisis with “SEL Kernels”. SEL Kernels are evidence-based, flexible, practical strategies to promote student SEL skill development, coping and resilience. In this learning session, we will detail the steps of assessing student SEL needs, identifying SEL Kernels to meet those needs, and implementing the SEL Kernels. Ms. Dawn Capes, a district leader from Bay District Schools, Florida will share how this approach is implemented as part of their Trauma Sensitive Classroom Project which started after Hurricane Michael. We will share resources including a teacher-reported SEL skill needs assessment survey, a free, searchable SEL Lessons Library, and relevant tools from Classroom Wise.   Learning Objectives After this learning session, participants will be able to: Understand SEL skill domains and how to conduct a needs assessment to identify priority areas for student SEL skill development. Locate free or low-cost SEL lessons or practices that can be flexibly implemented by teachers with mental health staff coaching and consultation supports. Integrate SEL implementation approaches that are practical, feasible, and effective during times of crisis or community-wide stress.   About the speakers Elizabeth Connors, PhD Elizabeth Connors is an Assistant Professor at Yale University, Division of Prevention and Community Research and at the Child Study Center. She is also a faculty member with the University of Maryland National Center for School Mental Health, where she is the Director of Quality Improvement and a developer of The SHAPE System. Dr. Connors received her Ph.D. in Clinical Child and Community Psychology and her work focuses on improving access to high-quality mental health promotion, prevention and intervention services and supports for underserved children, adolescents, young adults and their families in critical access points such as schools and community settings. Michael Strambler, PhD Michael Strambler is an Associate Professor at Yale University, Division of Prevention and Community Research and Director of Child Well-Being and Education Research at The Consultation Center at Yale. Dr. Strambler received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and his work focuses on the role of social environments in the academic, psychological, social, and behavioral well-being of children and youth. He also studies whether and how school-based programs improve the academic performance and health of children. Dr. Strambler is an enthusiast of practical approaches to use data to inform practices and policies.