Products and Resources Catalog

The one-hour Reclaiming Native Psychological Brilliance virtual series provides an opportunity for participants to: Gain skills on strength-based approaches in partnership with Native People to enhance Native behavioral health, and Discuss ways that Native brilliance is demonstrated and supports behavioral health, and Learn about Native brilliance examples to share with behavioral health and other health care staff, as well as with local Tribal Nation citizens The concept of Native psychological brilliance will be celebrated through Native music videos and Native spoken word performances as part of each session of the Reclaiming Native Psychological Brilliance series.   August's topic was "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Support for Building on Tribal Practices for Wellness in Indian Country."  

The one-hour Reclaiming Native Psychological Brilliance virtual series provides an opportunity for participants to: Gain skills on strength-based approaches in partnership with Native People to enhance Native behavioral health, and Discuss ways that Native brilliance is demonstrated and supports behavioral health, and Learn about Native brilliance examples to share with behavioral health and other health care staff, as well as with local Tribal Nation citizens The concept of Native psychological brilliance will be celebrated through Native music videos and Native spoken word performances as part of each session of the Reclaiming Native Psychological Brilliance series.   September's topic was "Action Steps: Cultural Healing and Behavioral Health."

The one-hour Reclaiming Native Psychological Brilliance virtual series provides an opportunity for participants to: Gain skills on strength-based approaches in partnership with Native People to enhance Native behavioral health, and Discuss ways that Native brilliance is demonstrated and supports behavioral health, and Learn about Native brilliance examples to share with behavioral health and other health care staff, as well as with local Tribal Nation citizens The concept of Native psychological brilliance will be celebrated through Native music videos and Native spoken word performances as part of each session of the Reclaiming Native Psychological Brilliance series.   October's topic was "Responding and Moving Past Tribal Community Crisis."

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.

Prolonged delays from psychosis onset to care (or Duration of Untreated Psychosis-DUP) can imperil the benefits even of evidence-based Coordinated Specialty Care (CSC) clinics. Early detection efforts to shorten DUP are thus a necessary component of modern early intervention  services for schizophrenia. The NIMH-funded Mindmap campaign reported the first successful demonstration of DUP reduction in a U.S. region. Details of the design and implementation of Mindmap will be presented with lessons for future early intervention efforts.   Presenter: Vinod Srihari, MD is a staff psychiatrist at the Connecticut Mental Health Center, Professor of Psychiatry at Yale University, and the founding Director of the Program for Specialized Treatment Early in Psychosis (STEP). STEP completed the first U.S. based RCT of specialty team based care for early psychosis and followed this with the first successful replication of the Scandinavian TIPS study of DUP reduction. The Program delivers a care pathway that integrates early detection with CSC and within a population health framework that targets geographically defined populations. This webinar was co-hosted by the Massachusetts Psychosis Network for Early Treatment (MAPNET, www.mapnet.online).   View a recording of this 11/3/23 session here. 

About this Resource: The Southeast MHTTC Newsletter highlights upcoming events and recently released products as well as shares information on available resources from SAMHSA and the MHTTC network.  The November 2023 issue promotes Native American Heritage Month. This issue also highlights our upcoming events and recently developed products, celebrates efforts being done by Region IV states, and provides resources available through the MHTTC Network and SAMHSA to connect individuals to needed treatment and support. 

Download the presentation slides here Medicaid is a leading source of financing for school mental health services and programs.  As Medicaid policies change, there may be greater opportunities for mental health providers to bill Medicaid for more services in schools.  In this two-part webinar event, Dr. Adam Wilk (SE MHTTC Policy Lead) will describe key policies that govern Medicaid funding for school mental health services, and how they can be changed to increase school mental health funding.  He will provide examples of states that have pursued specific reforms, and he will also highlight important resources that can help school mental health leaders to identify what steps may be most appropriate to take in their home state.  This series is designed for school mental health leaders who are interested in learning 1) about the fundamentals of Medicaid financing of school mental health services and 2) about options for changing Medicaid policy to better support school mental health systems and services. Part 1 will focus on policies related to who is eligible for Medicaid coverage and what services Medicaid covers.   Learning Objectives: Specify when Medicaid can be billed for school mental health services. Discuss how Medicaid policies affect who may be eligible for coverage under Medicaid and what services may be covered by Medicaid. Describe and distinguish the two main pathways for reforming state Medicaid eligibility and service coverage policies in support of school mental health.  

Many of us at some point in our lives decide what type of information and how much to tell others. We may not formally sit down and consider this decision but we nevertheless weigh the pros and cons of what we want our colleagues or others to know about us. Researchers in this area (Waghorn and McGahey, et al., 2014; Waghorn, et al., 2010) describe this type of disclosure decision-making as developing a plan for managing personal information (PMPI). A PMPI includes agreed upon language of how the student wishes to describe their disability as well as any accommodations that might mitigate support needs. This workshop will provide resources and strategies to assist students in developing a plan for managing personal information in education, including assessing the need for and requesting reasonable accommodations., including assessing the need for and requesting reasonable accommodations. This training will utilize a service conceptualization framework and peer/expert discussions to apply the skills learned. If you wish, please come prepared to discuss an individual participating in services (please no names or other identifying information). This training is in collaboration with the Integrated Employment Institute (IEI) at Rutgers University.   View session recording.   Presenters: Joni Dolce, M.S., CRC  Joni Dolce is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Counseling Professions at Rutgers School of Health Professions. Joni has many years of experience working in behavioral health services, specifically Supported Employment (SE), providing both direct services and supervising SE staff. She has authored and co-authored several articles and workbooks on employment and presents and provides webinars and trainings locally and nationally on a variety of employment related topics. She has provided training in SE on a national level, including at the NY Department of Mental Health and Hygiene, Washington State Healthcare Authority, the Veterans Administration, and SAMHSA’s Northeast and Caribbean Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC). She has taught/co-developed the inaugural academic courses for Rutgers in SE and Supported Education. Joni was training coordinator for a Field Initiated National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) grant evaluating the implementation of SE into Supportive Housing environments. Joni has been invited to present to Human Resource professionals on the topic of mental health in the workplace and is listed in the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) as a recommended speaker on this topic. She is currently a member of the MHTTC’s Dissemination and Implementation working group and is a past president of the National Rehabilitation Association’s NJ affiliate chapter and past secretary of the NJ Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association. Joni is a doctoral candidate in Psychiatric Rehabilitation further exploring the impact of disclosure decision making in employment.     Amy Banko, M.S., LAC, NCC, CPRP Amy Banko is a Lecturer in the Department of Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Counseling Professions at Rutgers University. In addition to providing course instruction, Ms.Banko is a trainer and consultant at the Integrated Employment Institute of Rutgers. Within this role, she facilitates trauma-informed, Supported Employment & Supported Education training and technical assistance to enhance practitioner competencies and program outcomes. Previously, Ms. Banko was a clinical contributor on three NIDILRR funded studies focused on education, employment,  and trauma for individuals with mental health conditions. Additionally, Ms. Banko is a co-author of a best practice manual for providing career services to transition-age youth with mental health conditions. She currently serves as Co-Investigator on two NIDILRR funded studies related to postsecondary education, mental health conditions, and trauma. Ms. Banko’s research agenda focuses on rehabilitation counseling and social/transformative justice as well as critical disability theory as she seeks to build interventions and counseling services that bolster the social determinants of health for those with mental health conditions. Her passion is addressing disability stigma, internalized stigma, ableism, and improving the social determinants of health for people with disabilities and those who experience the intersectionality of disability with other marginalized and oppressed identities. Additionally, Ms. Banko leverages her lived experience of a mental health condition to inform her research, course instruction, and counseling. Ms. Banko is currently attending her doctoral studies at Kean University for Counseling and Supervision with a focus on the treatment of trauma.

  The Great Lakes Current is the e-newsletter of the Great Lakes ATTC, MHTTC, and PTTC.   The November 2023 issue honors National Native American Heritage Month, National Homelessness Awareness Month, and a brand-new Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy intensive technical assistance opportunity. As always, you will also find links to all upcoming events and trainings hosted by the Great Lakes ATTC, MHTTC, and PTTC.   Make sure you're subscribed to our email contact list, so you never miss a month of The Great Lakes Current newsletter and thank you for reading!

The November issue of our newsletter spotlights Native American Heritage Month, features upcoming Northwest MHTTC webinars, MHTTC & ATTC network events, other events of interest and resources. 

Due to technical difficulties, we were unable to process and upload the video portion of our webinar. We apologize for this inconvenience. Presentation slides are still available. Attendees will engage in discussion with panelists on navigating context paralysis and addressing the mental well-being of LGBTQIA+ youth. Panelists are presenters from the previous sessions. Speakers: Jordan Mix, Jabari Lyles, Shelley Craig, PhD, Leah Love, MSSA, LISW, LCSW, and Alison DeLizza, PhD   Jordan Mix (they/them) is the Director of Educational Programming at Iowa Safe Schools. They graduated from Drake University in 2016 with degrees in Law, Politics, and Society; Sociology; and Women and Gender Studies. While at Drake they were the president of Drake’s LGBTQ organization, Rainbow Union, helped establish the first all-gender bathroom on campus, and collaborated heavily in writing Drake’s Transgender Inclusion Statement. Jordan also completed their graduate studies in Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of North Carolina Charlotte. In 2019, Jordan was the head curator of a project called Breathe, Learn, Act — the first ever virtual care package for parents and loved ones of transgender and non-binary kids. Jordan joined the Iowa Safe Schools team in March of 2020, where they work with K-12 educators to develop LGBTQ-Inclusive curriculum, facilitate an online academy for Iowa’s K-12 educators, and lead training sessions for students, educators, and other community members. When they’re not working, you can find Jordan hiking with their wife, cheering on the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team with their cat, and honing their home barista skills. ____   Jabari Lyles (they/them) is an unapologetically Black, fat, queer, gender non-conforming educator, community organizer, servant leader and consultant with over 15 years of experience leading initiatives which emphasize their passion for people, education and justice. A native of Maryland, Jabari has been active in LGBTQ organizing in across the state throughout their entire career. Aside from a long history with several flagship LGBTQ organizations in Baltimore and beyond, Jabari is most proud of their experience as a proud, Black and openly queer classroom teacher at public and independent schools in Baltimore City. Jabari was born in Baltimore City and raised in Baltimore County, Maryland. Their family, who were mostly educators and human service providers, encouraged them from an early age to nurture their love of learning and to be proud of any job well done. It was in high school that Jabari became involved with the local chapter of GLSEN, the country’s leading organization championing LGBTQ issues in K-12 schools. At 15, Jabari began assisting with producing the annual Youth Summit, a free conference-style event for LGBTQ youth and allies from the Greater Baltimore area. At 19, Jabari became the lead facilitator for the Safe Schools for All—Baltimore program, offering assemblies, guest lectures and workshops to elementary, middle and high school students on anti-bullying and LGBTQ inclusion, as well as professional development training to teachers and administrators on creating safer and more affirming schools for LGBTQ youth. For the next decade, Jabari would dedicate their career to helping shape Baltimore’s schools, nonprofits, government and businesses, into safe, inclusive places for all of the many identities found within the LGBTQ community. Prior to launching into a career as a full-time consultant, Jabari was the first-ever Senior Advisor and Director of LGBTQ Affairs for the Office of the Mayor in Baltimore City, a newly created position in local government, where they supported Baltimore’s three previous Mayoral administrations on the needs and interests of the LGBTQ community, while working to grow the community’s capacity and visibility. During their time in the Mayor’s Office, Jabari was instrumental in developing crucial new policies, including the city-wide Gender Neutral Restroom Act, the sex-based discrimination and transgender student rights policy in Baltimore City Public Schools and the legislation to amend the City charter to create Baltimore’s first Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs. Jabari is the former Chief Operating Officer and Senior Strategist at Baltimore Safe Haven, a nonprofit organization providing health and housing services for transgender people living in survival mode in Baltimore City. Currently, Jabari works with communities across the country providing consultation, technical assistance and guest speaking on gender, identity, leadership and inclusion in education. Jabari is retained by the Gender & Family Project at the Ackerman Institute for the Family as a Training & Capacity Building Associate, where they provide gender inclusion training for educators and service providers in New York City, including the New York City Department of Education. In October 2021, Governor Larry Hogan appointed Jabari to a four-year term on Maryland’s first-ever statewide Commission on LGBTQ Affairs, a 15-member body who will assist the state government with shaping public policy and furthering the capacity of state agencies to fully serve and represent LGBTQ Marylanders. Jabari has worked with and led local and statewide LGBTQ organizations, including becoming the first-ever executive director of GLSEN Maryland, the youngest-ever President and Executive Director of The Pride Center of Maryland, and co-chairperson of the education workgroup for Youth Equality Alliance, a policy coalition working towards positive outcomes for LGBTQ youth in Maryland convened by FreeState Justice. They are the former chairperson and executive producer of Baltimore Pride, a former elementary and middle school teacher in Baltimore City and the first-ever LGBTQ Studies teacher in the Upper School at Friends School of Baltimore. They are a seasoned diversity trainer and group facilitator, and has participated on several workgroups, boards and coalitions working towards gender, racial and sexual justice for Black people, transgender people and LGBTQ youth. Jabari has delivered guest lectures and guest speaking on LGBTQ inclusion and public service for Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, Towson University, McDaniel College and the Maryland Institute College of Art. Their contributions have appeared in local and national publications, including the Baltimore Sun, Washington Blade, Baltimore Magazine, The New York Times, WYPR, Okayplayer and Youth Today. Their 2017 TEDx Talk, entitled Black Self/White World: Lessons on Internalized Racism gained over 200,000 views and has been featured in racial justice education and university syllabi across the globe. Jabari is a 2018 Baltimore Homecoming Hero, the only two-time recipient of the Mark Scurti Award for Outstanding Contributions to the LGBTQ Community by OUTLaw at the University of Baltimore School of Law, a 2020 Business Equality Pride Magazine LGBTQ Leader Under 40, and was recently named Emerging Leader of the Year by the Maryland LGBT Chamber of Commerce. Jabari attended The Community College of Baltimore County, and The University of Maryland—Baltimore County (UMBC) as a Sherman STEM Teacher Scholar. They have completed significant university coursework in mathematics, physical science, teacher education and gender studies, as well as a graduate certificate program in Supporting System-Involved LGBTQ Youth from Georgetown University. They currently reside in Southeast Baltimore City, where they enjoy trying out new recipes, entertaining for family and friends, dancing to loud music, the beach, and Beyoncé. ____   Shelley L. Craig joined the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work in 2009 as an Assistant Professor. She served as an Associate Dean, Academic from 2016-2019. She is currently a full Professor and holds a Canada Research Chair in Sexual and Gender Minority Youth. Dr. Craig’s program of research focuses on cultivating resilience in marginalized populations through innovative, community-based interventions. Her primary specializations are: (1) understanding the needs of sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY), particularly the role of information and communication technologies on their mental health and wellbeing (2) developing of tailored interventions to address the mental health disparities of SGMY (3) exploring the skills and interventions used by health social workers to impact the social determinants of health (3) developing competent social work practitioners through effective social work education. Dr. Craig has developed and tested the first evidence-informed interventions for sexual and gender minority youth mental health including Strengths-First (a resilience-focused case management program for youth at risk); ASSET (an empowering group model delivered in schools), AFFIRM (an affirmative cognitive-behavioural group intervention) and AFFIRMative Caregiver (an affirmative group intervention for parents and caregivers of SGMY). She has created INQYR, The International Partnership for Queer Youth Resilience, which consists of fifty international scholars, four regional research networks and twelve students as part of the International Student Training Network. Dr. Craig has also directed a community research plan in Miami-Dade County and subsequently established a comprehensive system of care for SGMY and their families. In addition to many other research activities, she has conducted extensive research on HIV prevention interventions with juvenile detainees, newcomers and immigrants and sex workers. She is a PI on an international study of LGBTQ students in social work programs. Dr. Craig is grateful to have been funded by SSHRC, CIHR, PHAC, Lesbian Health Foundation as well as other donors. During her extensive practice history, Dr Craig has served as: Founder and Executive Director of the Alliance for LGBTQ Youth, Executive Director of ALSO for Out Youth; Medical social worker in the emergency care center of a community hospital; and Director of a domestic violence shelter as well as many other positions. She has been grateful to be the recipient multiple awards including the Ontario Association of Social Work (OASW) Inspirational Social Work Leader (2015). ____   Leah Love (she/her) has a passion for helping others and creating a safe space for individuals to navigate through life’s barriers. Leah is an independently practicing social worker with an undergraduate degree in Applied Science and a postgraduate degree in Master of Science in Social Administration (MSSA). Leah Love, MSSA, LISW, LCSW has a hybrid role with Vita Health as Clinical Development Lead and Clinician. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the state of Ohio. She has worked in the social service field for over 10 years in both clinical and administrative roles. Leah has a passion for assisting others reach their goals, needs and fundamental happiness by intentionally creating a safe environment to work through life’s barriers. She practices from an array of theoretical perspectives utilizing various applicable interventions. Her expertise is in working with youth identifying in the LGBTQ+ community. ____   Dr. Alison DeLizza is a child psychologist who has a special interest in working with children and teens with anxiety and depression. She has been working in Nebraska since 2018 when she relocated from Western Michigan. In addition to anxiety and depression, Dr. DeLizza also has experience working with children and teens with ADHD and other behavior disorders. Dr. DeLizza's therapy interests also include OCD and working with LGBTQIA+ youth. Dr. DeLizza completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology at Western Michigan University and her Clinical Internship at the Munroe-Meyer Institute at UNMC. Learn more about this series: Supporting the Mental Well-being of LGBTQIA+ Youth in Schools  

About the Session: Returning to school after experiencing psychosis can be challenging and stressful for individuals and families. This 60-minute session covered how educators can screen for psychosis and support families and elementary/middle/high school students in navigating school supports for students with psychosis. We also discussed the purpose of and strategies for approaching disclosure and review school accommodations that may be helpful for supporting the academic success of students with early psychosis and those at risk for psychosis. Session slides can be accessed by clicking the DOWNLOAD button above The video recording can be accessed below Resources of interest shared during the session can be accessed here Intended Audience: This introductory-level learning series is geared toward the following school personnel from middle and high schools: School mental health providers, such as school counselors, social workers, psychologists, and other mental health professionals (those hired by the school and those who work for a community organization and come into the school to provide school mental health services) School nurses/school health aides, and other primary care partners working in schools School educators, administrators, school resource officers, and mental health peer leaders Please note: This is session 2 of a 3-part Introductory Series, Early Psychosis 101: Basics for Supporting Students. Learn more about the speakers for this session and access information about the other sessions in the series here.

  To view the white paper, please click ATTACHMENT links   Description The Mountain Plains Leadership Academy staff and trainers collaborated to produce a white paper, Lessons in Rural Leadership, that summarizes lessons learned from conducting the Mountain Plains MHTTC Leadership Academy for the past four years. Currently, there does not exist a specialized leadership program tailored to the unique needs of individual rural behavioral health leaders.  Lessons in Rural Leadership provides an insightful commentary on the complex nature of leadership in rural communities. The paper presents a treatise on internal and external challenges individuals face when taking on a leadership role and the strategies the Academy staff have developed to address these challenges and support new and emerging leaders in rural communities. The key challenges identified include resources and access to resources, staffing, and “battlefield commissions” or rapid promotion without formal preparation or training. Understanding these challenges was critical to developing a program that delivered needed support rapidly. The paper also includes several program components participants identified as instrumental in supporting their leadership development. The paper concludes with two stories from Leadership Academy participants who have become facilitators at the Leadership Academy. Authors Genevieve Berry Bob Dare Lindsey McCarthy Josh B. Spinney, LPC Ivory Tubbs, PhD

About this Resource:  In this on-demand recording, panelists from Part 1 of our 'Ready for Re-entry' series discuss the Forensic Peer Mentor role, including the responsibilities, qualifications and organizational framework needed to build and support a Forensic Peer Mentor Program.   Click here to learn more about our 4-part 'Ready for Re-entry' series! 

In celebration of the National Hispanic Heritage Month, the Yale Program for Recovery and Community Health, in partnership with the New England MHTTC, invited people to a listening session about the importance of elevating Lived Experience Leadership among Latine/Latinos/Hispanic Peer Supporters and Latinos/Latine People with Lived Experience to inform the development of the first Hispanic/Latine Yale LET(s)Lead Transformational Leadership Academy, a 9-month FREE transformational leadership development opportunity.

  RECORDING: Collaboration for High Quality School Mental Health Services: Effective Partnering with Families and Advocates   Effective family-school collaboration has consistently been shown to enhance child and family outcomes. Caregivers know their children best and are well-equipped to serve as equal members of school teams that support their children and communities. Additionally, federal law and professional ethics necessitate the full participation of families in many school-based processes. Unfortunately, many school-based providers struggle to meaningfully collaborate with families due to competing demands and a lack of understanding around best practices in family engagement and legal requirements. Family advocates provide necessary support to families as they navigate complex school and community resources and can support schools in effective collaboration. In this webinar, participants will learn about effective family-school partnership practices, which will include an outline of procedures that necessitate caregiver involvement, specific family engagement strategies, and community resources for families and professionals.     LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Demonstrate effective family-school partnership practices Develop appropriate procedures for caregiver involvement Identify specific family engagement strategies and community resources     PRESENTERS: Miranda Zahn, PhD, NCSP, is an Assistant Professor of School Psychology at the University of South Dakota. She conducts research, training, and technical assistance in school-based mental health services. Specifically, Miranda focuses on social justice and the role of teachers in school supports for youth mental health. In addition, Miranda is a school psychologist and school mental health provider at Nebraska’s Educational Service Unit #1, where she provides direct services to youth as well as training and systems consultation to schools.     Lisa Sanderson has served as Project Director for the statewide Family to Family Health Information Center at South Dakota Parent Connection since 2008, also home to the state’s OSEP funded Parent Training and Information Center. She has worked with systems and families across South Dakota for over 25 years, serves as USD Faculty for the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) Program, and is the CDC's Act Early Ambassador to South Dakota (2018-2024). Lisa has a Bachelor of Science degree, maintains licensure by the SD Board of Social Work Examiners, and was a certified educator for many years. Lisa is a parent and grandparent of children with exceptional needs.       The Great Lakes MHTTC is offering this training for individuals working in HHS Region 5: IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI. This training is being provided in response to a need identified by Region 5 stakeholders.

The Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF) is an alternative, non-diagnostic conceptualization of distress created by providers and service users, published by the British Psychological Society and attracting international attention. Participants learned the basics of the framework and had an opportunity to discuss how it might be useful to the family workforce, especially in the areas of meaning-making, empowerment and choice. Attendees also gained knowledge of where to access further information about the use of PTMF to enhance family workforce knowledge and tools.   Presenter: Dr. Lucy Johnstone is a consultant clinical psychologist, author of ‘Users and abusers of psychiatry’ (2nd edition Routledge 2000) and co-editor of ‘Formulation in psychology and psychotherapy: making sense of people’s problems’ (Routedge, 2nd edition 2013) and ‘A straight-talking guide to psychiatric diagnosis’ (PCCS Books 2014), along with a number of other chapters and articles taking a critical perspective on mental health theory and practice.   

ABOUT THIS RESOURCE This webinar will address the strategies, dynamics and tactics related to being part of a healthy team. Group dynamics are complicated- even more so these days with a highly polarized social and political world. How can team members work well together when it comes to effective communication, productivity, and effectiveness in the workplace, without doing 'more'? We will cover data on effective work groups, and how those characteristics can be replicated in many sectors, even under high-stress conditions.   ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Presentation slides Related resources from Dr. Kira Mauseth When is the crisis really over? Resilience for crisis line staff and teams When is the crisis really over? Resilience for in-person crisis and first responder staff and teams  Disaster Response and Recovery Timelines, Cycles and Common Experiences in Behavioral Health Responding to Disasters: Principles and Considerations for Behavioral Health "LEND A HAND": A Crisis Management, Triage and De-escalation Model   FACILITATOR Kira Mauseth, PhD Dr. Kira Mauseth is a practicing clinical psychologist who sees patients at Snohomish Psychology Associates in Everett and Edmonds, WA, is a Teaching Professor at Seattle University and formerly served as a co-lead for the Behavioral Health Strike Team for the WA State Department of Health throughout the COVID response. She also owns Astrum Health LLC, and consults with organizations and educational groups about disaster preparedness and resilience building within local communities. Dr. Mauseth has provided training to community groups and professionals both regionally and abroad as the co-developer of the Health Support Team© program. Her work and research focus on disaster behavioral health, resilience, and recovery from trauma as well as small and large-scale critical incident response and preparation for organizations. She has worked abroad extensively with disaster survivors and refugees in Haiti, Jordan and Poland, and has trained first responders and health care workers throughout Puget Sound the United States, and currently serves in the adult mental health clinical seat on Washington State’s Disaster Medical Advisory Committee (DMAC). Terms of use and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) disclosure statement

Recording of the event The Impact of Bullying on Mental Health in the Black Community, originally held on October 26, 2023.   Slide presentation 

  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 final October issue of our newsletter spotlights three upcoming Northwest MHTTC webinars, TTC Network events, other events of interest & a new MHTTC resource: Providing Culturally Responsive Care & Addressing Cross-Cultural Barriers in Early Psychosis.

This is a recording of, “Session 3 of October Rising Practices Series - Interrupting Bullying & Fostering Belonging for the School Mental Health Workforce,” on October 26, 2023. In our final session in this three-part series, Region 9 School Mental Health Field Director Leora Wolf-Prusan moderated a panel discussion that offered learnings about the power of bias reduction curricula in elementary schools, and the ways in which school district and county systems can shift internal cultures to be welcoming drivers of equitable compassion. Among other themes, the session uplifted new practices of how to respond to and interrupt xenophobia and anti-immigrant hate in our classrooms.    This workshop recording features guest speakers including Drs. Carrie Langner and Linda Lee with California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, Dr. Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj with the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Santa Barbara and Valerie White, LCSW, M.Ed, a licensed clinical social worker and founder of Magical Minds.    The session's guiding questions were: What might the school mental health workforce need to know about the difference and similarities between abuse, harassment, and bullying in k-12 contexts? What might be new or pressing phenomena related to bullying (e.g., anti-LGBTQIA+ bullying or the intersection of bullying and suicidality) for which we need to raise awareness? What challenges do we foresee at the workforce level, and what training, resources, or other support would help resolve these challenges? What might be some rising practices, policies and successful strategies for anti-bullying policies and practices?   This session was designed school administration, site and systems leaders, school social workers, school counselors, school psychologists, educators, instructional coaches, school climate personnel, after school program providers, child advocates, and whoever else is interested!

Download the presentation slides here 1 in 36 school-age children have autism. Autistic students are much more likely than non-autistic students to experience mental health challenges, including difficulty with emotion regulation, anxiety, and depression that may be exacerbated by experiences of bullying, victimization, and segregation within schools. There is an urgent need to support the mental and behavioral health of autistic students. In the past year, the SEMHTTC team has disseminated resources related to identifying and supporting mental health challenges in this population, including anxiety and, more recently, executive function. The purpose of this two-part series is to build on the didactic content covered in our earlier learning sessions on executive function [Part 1, Part 2] and provide more opportunity to cover a case example, engage in discussion, and have ample time for Q&A.  In each session, we will provide a very brief overview of the prior content we covered (15 minutes), have an in-depth discussion of one case example (15 minutes), and ample time for questions and open conversation related to the mental health of autistic students (25 minutes).   The first learning session will be devoted to common executive functioning differences in autistic students. Define executive functioning and its importance for autistic youth. Know the executive functioning differences that are common in autistic youth Identify executive functioning differences among autistic youth within one case study.