Products and Resources Catalog

View Presentation Slides In this presentation, we explore the varied manifestations that generate moral injury (often applied to frontline professionals), moral distress (usually used with healthcare professionals), and soul injury (often described in police or military combatants and referring to losses that are not mourned and guilt and shame that is associated with the loss). All of these situations arise from inner conflicts that arise from feeling that one’s professional practice does not follow standards of professional practice or ethical principles. Special attention is given to moral suffering in the current pandemic. In the presentation, we identify factors responsible for moral suffering as well as strategies for self-help as well as interventive strategies for clients designed to ease moral suffering.      Presenter: Dr. Kenneth J. Doka is a Professor Emeritus, The College of New Rochelle, and Senior Consultant to the Hospice Foundation of America. Dr. Doka has extensive experience in the area of grief, is a prolific author and speaker, providing keynoted addresses internationally.  Dr. Doka participates in the annual Hospice Foundation of America Teleconference and has appeared on CNN and Nightline. In addition, he has served as. a consultant to medical, nursing, funeral service, and hospice organizations as well as businesses and educational and social service agencies. Dr. Doka was elected President of the Association for Death Education and Counseling in 1993. In 1995, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the International Work Group on Dying, Death, and Bereavement and served as chair from 1997-1999. The Association for Death Education and Counseling presented him with an Award for Outstanding Contributions in the Field of Death Education in 1998 and Significant Contribution to the Field of Thanatology in 2014. In 2000 Scott and White presented him an award for Outstanding Contributions to Thanatology and Hospice. His Alma Mater Concordia College presented him with their first Distinguished   Alumnus Award. He is a recipient of the Caring Hands Award as well as the Dr. Robert Fulton CDEB Founder’s Award. In 2006, Dr. Doka was grandfathered in as a Mental Health Counselor under NY State’s first licensure of counselors. In addition, Dr. Doka is an ordained Lutheran Minister.  

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View Presentation Slides In this presentation, we describe varied forms of grief complicated contrasting them with manifestations of typical grief—and noting factors that make individuals at-risk for complications in the grieving process. We also describe varied evidence-based interventive strategies that have been used with individuals struggling with complicated grief. Finally, we note the ways complicated grief is acknowledged within the DSM-5 and the new diagnosis for Prolonged Grief Disorder that will be evident in the DSM-5-TR.   Presenter: Dr. Kenneth J. Doka is a Professor Emeritus, The College of New Rochelle, and Senior Consultant to the Hospice Foundation of America. Dr. Doka has extensive experience in the area of grief, is a prolific author and speaker, providing keynoted addresses internationally.  Dr. Doka participates in the annual Hospice Foundation of America Teleconference and has appeared on CNN and Nightline. In addition, he has served as. a consultant to medical, nursing, funeral service, and hospice organizations as well as businesses and educational and social service agencies. Dr. Doka was elected President of the Association for Death Education and Counseling in 1993. In 1995, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the International Work Group on Dying, Death, and Bereavement and served as chair from 1997-1999. The Association for Death Education and Counseling presented him with an Award for Outstanding Contributions in the Field of Death Education in 1998 and Significant Contribution to the Field of Thanatology in 2014. In 2000 Scott and White presented him an award for Outstanding Contributions to Thanatology and Hospice. His Alma Mater Concordia College presented him with their first Distinguished   Alumnus Award. He is a recipient of the Caring Hands Award as well as the Dr. Robert Fulton CDEB Founder’s Award. In 2006, Dr. Doka was grandfathered in as a Mental Health Counselor under NY State’s first licensure of counselors. In addition, Dr. Doka is an ordained Lutheran Minister.  

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Understanding trauma and its impact is crucial for providing effective care and services for people living with mental health challenges who are also likely to have histories of trauma exposure. This session will provide an overview of definitions, sources, types and the prevalence of trauma and explore its bio-psycho-social-spiritual-communal impact. We will also identify practical ways to make our services more trauma-informed. Download slides Download handouts Learning Objectives Participants will be able to:  Explain the difference between acute, chronic, and developmental trauma  Give three examples of how trauma can affect people’s engagement in services   Name one example each of the bio-psycho-social-spiritual-communal impact of trauma.  Identify three ways to make our services more trauma-informed Presenter Ken Kraybill, MSW, Senior Trainer at C4 Innovations, has worked in healthcare, behavioral health, homelessness, and housing for more than 35 years. Ken has 18 years of experience working as a behavioral health practitioner in homeless services. For the past two decades, he has been developing curricula and facilitating in-person and online training nationally on topics including motivational interviewing, trauma-informed care, outreach and engagement, case management, critical time intervention, and supervision. He also has experience facilitating strategic planning processes and providing staff retreats focused on finding resiliency and renewal for care providers. Ken is a member of the international Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT). He has a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Washington.       Want more information? Visit the Northwest MHTTC's Resource Library and Websites by Topic  and sign up for our monthly newsletter for regular updates about events, trainings, and resources available to the Northwest region.

Click "download" above to access: Slide Deck, Q/A, & Transcript   The Great Lakes MHTTC and PTTC present this webinar for prevention practitioners and mental health professionals in HHS Region 5: IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, and WI For many of us, the accumulated stress, grief, fatigue, and despair of the Covid-19 crisis pose a significant challenge to our coping resources. While this perfect storm of stressors may be unprecedented, there is much we know about how to cope with and manage stress, even at these levels.  In this talk, Dr. Kanter will describe new research on predictors of coping with the crisis and effective interventions for reducing depression and loneliness during the crisis. Dr. Kanter integrates these new findings with established science and offers strategies for managing the psychological consequences of the crisis in our everyday lives. Learning Objectives Review results of national research on effective coping tips during the pandemic (helpful in non-pandemic times as well) Understand and practice evidence-based mindfulness strategies for effective coping Understand and practice evidence-based strategies for improving well being and closeness with others   Presenter: Dr. Jonathan Kanter, University of Washington's Center for the Science of Social Connection   Dr. Jonathan Kanter is Director of the University of Washington’s Center for the Science of Social Connection. Over the course of his career, Dr. Kanter has investigated psychosocial interventions for depression, including how to disseminate culturally appropriate, easy-to-train, evidence-based approaches, with emphasis on evidence-based treatments such as behavioral activation for groups who lack resources and access to care. Dr. Kanter has published over 100 scientific papers and 9 books on these topics and his work has been funded by NIH, SAMHSA, state governmental organizations, foundations, and private donors. He is regularly invited to give talks and workshops nationally and internationally. When the COVID-19 crisis hit Seattle, the Center pivoted its resources to understand and mitigate the relational and mental health consequences of the crisis, to assist with public health efforts, and to inform the public dialogue with scientifically informed advice. Dr. Kanter has been asked to comment on the relational and mental health consequences of the crisis by, and the Center’s response to the crisis has been featured on, NPR, the BBC, the New York Times, the Huffington Post, National Geographic, and other local and national news outlets.

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View Presentation Slides For people who are grieving, holidays can often be times of immense sadness. While others are celebrating, people coping with loss can feel alone and in emotional pain. This webinar will present several activities designed to help people who are grieving reframe the holiday season into a time of celebration for the life of a loved one rather than a time of mourning for the loss of that loved one. The activities presented will be applicable to secular holidays as well as the holidays celebrated within Christian, Jewish, and Islamic faith traditions. Presenter: Douglas Smith has been the lead instructor for the University of Wisconsin’s Grief Support Services Certificate program, which has trained over 600 healthcare professions in 39 states and 14 countries. He has conducted extensive grief training workshops in all 50 states and internationally. He also has extensive personal experiences related to grief.

Original Broadcast Date: 11/12/20 The pandemic has highlighted the ways in which marginalized communities experience death and loss at much higher rates than white communities, and yet grief theory remains dominated by white and Protestant thought. In this session, participants will explore solution-based grief tools for marginalized communities, and present options for professionals and their clients to utilize in grief sensitivity and recovery. Particular attention is given to both low-tech grief rituals such as meals that center on honoring the dead, and high-tech solutions centered on www.eol.community, Michael Hebb’s recently launched website with hundreds of resources for all stages of dying, death and grief. Download the slides HERE.   Speaker Bios:   Michael Hebb: Michael Hebb is the founder of Death Over Dinner, a Partner at global wellbeing organization RoundGlass and the founder of Convivium, a creative agency that specializes in the ability to shift culture through the use of thoughtful food and discourse-based gatherings. Convivium has worked closely with thought/cultural leaders and many foundations/institutions (e.g., The World Economic Forum, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Apple, United Nations Foundation). His writings have appeared in popular magazines (e.g., GQ, Food and Wine, City Arts). Watch his TED Talk here: What happens when death is what’s for dinner?     Candi Cann received her Ph.D. and A.M. from Harvard University following an M.A. from the University of Hawaii. She currently serves as an Associate Professor and Faculty of Residence at Baylor University. Her research focuses on death and dying, and the impact of remembering (and forgetting) in shaping how lives are recalled, remembered, and celebrated. Currently, she is researching diversity in death, examining the whitening of the funeral industry and death studies, and arguing that the field of death and grief has been heavily influenced by white and Protestant worldviews. Check out her website: www.candikcann.com, Academic CV and follow her on Twitter:@CandiCann.     This webinar was one of the sessions of November's Grief Sensitivity Virtual Learning Institute (GSVLI). For more information on how to access resources from September's and November's GSVLI, please click here.

Original Broadcast Date: 11/13/20 Dr. Aaminah Norris, a professor of teacher education, and Babalwa Kwanele, a licensed mental health therapist working with school communities to engage in examining grief and the double pandemics of racial violence and COVID-19. In Part 2, participant reflects on their own experiences with counseling, teaching and learning during the double pandemics and learn ways to incorporate culturally responsive pedagogies that create healing and learning spaces. Participants learn humanizing strategies for working through grief that address and disrupt racism and anti-blackness. Download the slides HERE.   Speaker Bios:   Dr. Aaminah Norris, Associate Professor at Sacramento State University, is Founder and CEO of UnHidden Voices LLC, a Black woman-owned educational consultancy with a mission of building empathy and disrupting the invisibility of Black children, students, and families. She has more than 25 years of experience supporting schools and non- profit organizations in addressing issues of educational equity for low-income students from historically marginalized communities. She researches, teaches, and advocates the digital literacies of Black girls and women, with a particular interest in their STEM practices, culturally responsive pedagogies particularly as they connect to maker education, and the pedagogies of Black women teachers.     Babalwa Kwanele is a licensed mental health therapist (LMFT), with over 30 years of professional experience working with culturally diverse youth, children, and families in community mental health and school - based settings. Her work and research has a special focus on prevention and intervention, with the goal of improving academic outcomes and the social determinants of health. She has extensively studied the neurobiology of trauma and the effects of racism and poverty on communities, families, individuals, and complex systems. Kwanele’s areas of specialization are complex multigenerational trauma, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), trauma-informed school based mental health, impact of secondary trauma on educators and learning, complex family systems, cultural humility, and culturally responsive care.     This webinar was one of the sessions of November's Grief Sensitivity Virtual Learning Institute (GSVLI). For more information on how to access resources from September's and November's GSVLI, please click here.

Original Broadcast Date: 11/13/20 For part two of this series, Justin Thongsavanh, Iana Malcolm, and Carla Fernandez share learnings from The Dinner Party, a nation-wide movement turning loss from an isolating experience to one marked by community support, candid conversation, and forward motion. From small groups gathering in over 100 cities across the US to now an entirely virtual offering in the COVID-era for individuals and organizations, Iana and Carla will share key lessons learned in 2020, and how they translate to your workplace. They will take you through an interactive work session to design your own loss readiness plan for your organization. Their work has appeared widely in media, from CNN to New York Times, OnBeing and Oprah Magazine, and as a case study in over half a dozen books. Their workplace program has been rolled out in organizations across sectors and sizes, such as Banner Health, Good Shepherd Services, Redfin, Google, and more. For more information, visit thedinnerparty.org/atwork. Download the slides HERE.   Speaker Bios: Carla Fernandez, Co-Founder, The Dinner Party Fernandez is the co-founder of the award winning The Dinner Party , which houses Grief At Work. The family dinner table is sacred ground in the Fernandez family - so when her dad passed away of brain cancer, coming back to the table was a natural way for her to connect with others and unpack the experience of life after loss. She is also on the founding team of enso, a mission-driven creative agency working with brands such as Google, Khan Academy, and Nature Conservancy on their impact campaigns. She is an NYU Social Entrepreneurship Fellow, and Senior Fellow at the USC Annenberg School of Communications Innovation Lab.     Iana Malcolm is a community manager & BIPOC lead. At 27, and after 7 years of being her Caregiver, she lost her mother to Breast Cancer. At 31 years old, she lost her father to Brain Cancer. Since then she has dedicated her life to the support of Caregivers and all those managing life after loss. Outside of her work as a Community Manager for The Dinner Party, she is a birth and death Doula, Yoga and Meditation teacher, and leads Wellness retreats worldwide with her company Bliss Out Retreats.     Justin Thongsavanh, MPA is a community manager for The Dinner Party. Throughout his career, he has worked for a variety of nonprofits and municipalities focusing on the development and implementation of programs for youth. Prior to joining The Dinner Party, he worked for one of the nation’s largest bereavement camps, developing programs and raising funds for children and teens who experienced the loss of a parent or sibling. After the death of his own father at the age of 12, he felt isolated and alone. As an adult he has made it his mission to not only find a community for himself, but to also help create a community for folks who have experienced loss and subsequent adversities. He holds a B.A. in Liberal Studies, a Certificate in Non-Profit Management, and a Master’s in Public Administration all from California State University, Long Beach.     This webinar was one of the sessions of November's Grief Sensitivity Virtual Learning Institute (GSVLI). For more information on how to access resources from September's and November's GSVLI, please click here.

Rituals are actions done in purposeful ways that symbolize something much more than the acts themselves. Every culture has rituals that provide purpose and meaning to experiences. Rituals are made up of actions that represent ideas, thoughts, myths, or beliefs about something specific. They give purpose to action and always serve to connect us to something else, generally something greater than ourselves. In difficult times, rituals provide a certain order to an existence that otherwise might be full of confusion and chaos. Given the current pandemic, loss and grief have taken a front seat. A sense of loss permeates in many of our lives, and for many clients this may be difficult to name. Furthermore, the inability to perform rituals in our habitual ways can be distressful for many. The current webinar will discuss the experience of loss and grief for Latinos during the current pandemic: including physical and symbolic losses. The presenters will discuss Latinos values and rituals as they relate to the current pandemic. The importance of the therapeutic relationship will be discussed as well as approaches and strategies that promote new rituals, new meanings, and a transformative experience. Three case studies will be included for group discussion.   Download the slides HERE.     About the presenters:    Salvador Treviño, PhD- Dr. Treviño has taught professional psychology for over 40 years and lectures extensively on the theories and practices of psychoanalytic psychotherapy, primitive mental states, and Latino behavioral health. Drawing on his scholarship of more than 43 years of clinical work with Latino immigrants and families, Dr. Treviño is active in furthering the national conversation on cultural diversity, the impact of historical trauma on Latino behavioral health, the psychology of racism, and matters of social justice from a psychoanalytic perspective. Dr. Treviño is Executive Director of GCAPS - Guadalupe Counseling & Psychological Services in Santa Barbara, CA and is adjunct faculty of the Antioch University Santa Barbara Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology. Dr. Treviño is licensed as a psychologist and marriage and family therapist specializing in salud mental Latina.   Darice Orobitg, PhD- Darice Orobitg is a clinical psychologist. She obtained a BA from Washington University in St. Louis and completed her PhD at Carlos Albizu University in San Juan, PR. Dr. Orobitg worked at the PR Rape Crisis Center where, she was a therapist for children, adolescents, and adult survivors of sexual violence. At the PRRCC she was also a clinical supervisor and coordinator of clinical services. She later worked at the National Hispanic and Latino ATTC as trainer and TA consultant offering training and TA to clinicians, counselors, social workers, and other professionals offering services to Hispanic and Latino populations with SUDs. Dr. Orobitg was also a clinical consultant at Proyecto Mujer- a gender-specific treatment program for Latinas with SUDs and trauma histories. Darice is currently the Training and Content Specialist for the National Hispanic and Latino Mental Health Technology Transfer Center. She has been in private practice since 2005.  

View Presentation Slides   Session Description: Join Doug Smith to explore grief counseling skills. Part 2 (During the November Institute) will present and briefly describe a multitude of grief counseling tools, including loss intensity graphs, relationship complexity graphs, healing contracts, grief diaries, letters to finish the unfinished, memory books, memory jars, memory quilts, memory sculptures, memory collages, forgiveness flowers, wounded healer resumes, joys and concerns altars, guided imagery techniques, virtual dreams, breath meditations, collaborative prayers, tools for getting through the holidays, Tonglen, and the use of silence. Speaker Bio: Douglas Smith has been the lead instructor for the University of Wisconsin’s Grief Support Services Certificate program, which has trained over 600 healthcare professions in 39 states and 14 countries. He has conducted extensive grief training workshops in all 50 states, and internationally. He also has extensive personal experiences related to grief.  

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View Presentation Slides Session Description: Part 2 begins by reviewing research on grief interventions.  Participants consider the goals and techniques of grief counseling in individual, family, and group settings.  Special emphasis is placed on techniques such as meaning-making and the use of ritual and an overview of expressive techniques, as well as techniques especially suited for children, adolescents, and older adults. Speaker Bio: Dr. Kenneth J. Doka is a Professor Emeritus, The College of New Rochelle and Senior Consultant to the Hospice Foundation of America.  Dr. Doka has extensive experience in the area of grief, is a prolific author and speaker, providing keynoted addresses internationally. Dr. Doka participates in the annual Hospice Foundation of America Teleconference and has appeared on CNN and Nightline.  In addition, he has served as a consultant to medical, nursing, funeral service, and hospice organizations as well as businesses and educational and social service agencies.  Dr. Doka was elected President of the Association for Death Education and Counseling in 1993.  In 1995, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the International Work Group on Dying, Death, and Bereavement and served as chair from 1997-1999.  The Association for Death Education and Counseling presented him with an Award for Outstanding Contributions in the Field of Death Education in 1998 and Significant Contributions to the Field of Thanatology in 2014.  In 2000 Scott and White presented him an award for Outstanding Contributions to Thanatology and Hospice.  His Alma Mater Concordia College presented him with their first Distinguished Alumnus Award.  He is a recipient of the Caring Hands Award as well as the Dr. Robert Fulton CDEB Founder’s Award.  In 2006, Dr. Doka was grandfathered in as a Mental Health Counselor under NY State’s first licensure of counselors. Dr. Doka is an ordained Lutheran minister. http://www.drkendoka.com/  

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Watch the webinar. Download the FAQ.   As an extension to Part 1, we will focus on ways to communicate empathy and support students’ grief journey inaction. We will identify common barriers to providers communicating empathy to those who are grieving, invite all to reflect on our own barriers, and discuss possible ways to overcome those barriers. Then, we will introduce therapeutic activities that support students in establishing a sense of safety, dealing with emotions, making sense of the loss, and living with the loss beyond the loss, including over telehealth. Two clinicians from Hathaway Sycamores will share their clinical experiences and how they worked through their own barriers in supporting students’ grief journey.   Speaker: Rozlyn Kwong, LMFT, Hathaway Sycamore Child and Family Services   Learn more about the Grief Sensitivity Virtual Learning Institute.  

Watch the webinar.   Building on the information presented in September, this session will address more advanced topics related to supporting grieving students, including: 1) the unique challenges of supporting grieving preschool-age and college students; 2) providing support when death occurs in the context of a major school crisis; and 3) professional self-care for those providing support to grieving students. The session will also review the principles of commemoration and memorialization in school and community settings. Speaker: David J. Schonfeld, MD, FAAP, Director, National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement   Learn more about the Grief Sensitivity Virtual Learning Institute.  

Watch the webinar.   The current school landscape is experiencing overwhelming psychosocial needs of students, caregivers who are uncertain how to support youth, and school systems struggling to develop a responsive plan. COVID-19 has only served to exacerbate symptoms of trauma, grief, and loss for students and families. This session will provide an overview of trauma sensitive mindfulness techniques from neurobiological theory to a variety of specific practices that can be taught to students struggling with grief and trauma.   Speakers: Kerry Doyle, University of Southern California Lisa Wobbe-Veit, University of Southern California   Learn more about the Grief Sensitivity Virtual Learning Institute.  

Download the slides. Download the FAQ.   As an extension to Part 1, we will focus on ways to communicate empathy and support students’ grief journey inaction. We will identify common barriers to providers communicating empathy to those who are grieving, invite all to reflect on our own barriers, and discuss possible ways to overcome those barriers. Then, we will introduce therapeutic activities that support students in establishing a sense of safety, dealing with emotions, making sense of the loss, and living with the loss beyond the loss, including over telehealth. Two clinicians from Hathaway Sycamores will share their clinical experiences and how they worked through their own barriers in supporting students’ grief journey.   Speaker: Rozlyn Kwong, LMFT, Hathaway Sycamore Child and Family Services   Learn more about the Grief Sensitivity Virtual Learning Institute.  

Download the slides.   Building on the information presented in September, this session will address more advanced topics related to supporting grieving students, including: 1) the unique challenges of supporting grieving preschool-age and college students; 2) providing support when death occurs in the context of a major school crisis; and 3) professional self-care for those providing support to grieving students. The session will also review the principles of commemoration and memorialization in school and community settings. Speaker: David J. Schonfeld, MD, FAAP, Director, National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement   Learn more about the Grief Sensitivity Virtual Learning Institute.  

Download the slides.   The current school landscape is experiencing overwhelming psychosocial needs of students, caregivers who are uncertain how to support youth, and school systems struggling to develop a responsive plan. COVID-19 has only served to exacerbate symptoms of trauma, grief, and loss for students and families. This session will provide an overview of trauma sensitive mindfulness techniques from neurobiological theory to a variety of specific practices that can be taught to students struggling with grief and trauma.   Speakers: Kerry Doyle, University of Southern California Lisa Wobbe-Veit, University of Southern California   Learn more about the Grief Sensitivity Virtual Learning Institute.  

Our opening keynote address focuses on intervention strategies for grief therapy. Dr. Katherine Shear introduces the concept of H.E.A.L.I.N.G. milestones and stopping points in adapting to loss. She provides simple, evidence-based guidelines for grief therapy that include active listening, validation, support and guidance. She presents a simple approach to grief therapy, based on proven efficacious treatment for prolonged grief disorder, discusses the relationship between usual grief and prolonged grief disorder and how to recognize the latter, and provides tips for understanding and addressing processes that can stall or halt the process of adapting to loss. Download the slides HERE. Speakers: Dr. M. Katherine Shear, Founder and Director of the Center for Complicated Grief, is an internist and a psychiatrist with the heart of a social worker. She is a talented clinician who is widely recognized for her work in bereavement studies and complicated grief disorder. Dr. Shear developed a short-term psychotherapy for people unable to move forward after a loss that was influenced by her inherent optimism and faith in human creativity and resilience. Complicated Grief Therapy (CGT) has proved to be efficacious in three NIMH-funded randomized controlled trials. Her work has produced several assessment instruments and an instruction manual for CGT—a focused, adaptation-focused approach with the strongest evidence base of any grief treatment to date. Dr. Shear is the Marion E. Kenworthy Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia School of Social Work and Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. She served on review committees of the National Institute of Mental Health and on the advisory council for its National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. She served as an advisor to the DSM-5 workgroup on complicated grief and adult separation anxiety, a member of the World Health Organization’s ICD11 Working Group on Mood and Anxiety Disorders, a member of the scientific advisory board of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and an elected member of the board of the Association for Death Education and Counseling. This webinar was the opening session of November's Grief Sensitivity Virtual Learning Institute (GSVLI). For more information on how to access resources from September's and November's GSVLI, please click here.

Join youth leaders from the RYSE Youth Center, a community based organization founded by young people and their adult allies who were experiencing- and still are- violence, loss, homicides, and trauma. Together, RYSE youth and staff created a home agency to address the emotional, mental and political health of youth that centers healing, agency, leadership, and dignity. The MHTTC GSVLI was honored to have RYSE youth sit with one another in a conversation-for them and by them- on what it looks, sounds, and feels like to not only survive grief, but to thrive in its wake. In sharing their experiences and stories, our conference ends with those we serve.  Download the slides HERE. Speakers: Latrinity Gulley has been a RYSE member since 2018 and is currently a student at Contra Costa College studying Psychology. She has been a part of the Community Leadership Institute (CLI), which is a program that teaches young leaders grassroots organizing. With CLI, she volunteered at various community organizations, including Safe Return. While working to clean up community parks and trails, she simultaneously started the first-ever Black Student Union at her high school. Mental health is essential to Latrinity because of her own struggles and having someone to talk to about l what she is going through has been crucial to her healing process. When she gets her degree, she hopes that she will be able to be there for people who too struggle with mental health.   Monica Tello has been a RYSE member since 2018 and is currently a student at Contra Costa College, exploring her career options, with plans to transfer to a university. While in high school, she spent a year volunteering at an animal shelter. Mental health is important to Monica because when she first started coming to RYSE she was going through the “worst year of her life” and having someone to talk to was essential for her to keep pushing and moving forward. “I believe everyone deserves that opportunity.”   Carizma Hughes has been a RYSE member since 2016 and is currently a student at Los Medanos College with plans to transfer to a university to study Elementary Education. She has been a mentor for Project WHAT!, a youth-led program that helps children of incarcerated parents build community by sharing their experiences through storytelling and creative work. She has also facilitated several groups to develop best practices in serving children of incarcerated parents. This webinar was the closing session of November's Grief Sensitivity Virtual Learning Institute (GSVLI). For more information on how to access resources from September's and November's GSVLI, please click here.