Past Events

Families of persons with serious mental illness play an important role in the lives of their loved ones. In addition to being caring siblings, parents or spouses, they often function as caregivers and can be an asset to any mental health team to assure optimal benefit of treatment. A new workforce is emerging to support these families. Family peer support workers are persons with a lived experience trained to provide support to other family members who are caring for a person with a serious mental illness. In this presentation, Mid-America MHTTC specialists and partners with Omaha-based Community Alliance review the outcomes and benefits of family peer support. Participants will learn how family peer support can: Improve the subjective experiences (well-being) of family members; Ease the objective realities (life roles) many family members experience; and Help families balance and establish family and caregiver roles. Content is tailored to address needs within our four-state region — Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri — but all are welcome. Certificates of completion will be provided to viewers of 50% or more of the live webinars.

The Peer Support Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (PS ECHO) is a movement to share knowledge, and amplify capacity to provide best practices. The PS ECHO is an online community for Peer Recovery Specialist and Mental Health Peers to: Share community and statewide resources Learn new skills and tools for doing peer work Meet and connect with other peers    

Ethics and Limitations of Telemental Health October 22, 2020 11:00am - 12:00pm US/Mountain Time This event is part of the Telemental Health Training for Rural Communities series being hosted by the Northeast South Dakota Area Health Education Center (AHEC). For more information about this series, and to register please visit: https://nesdahec.org/tmh-webinars/     This series is free and continuing education units (CEUs) are available.   Series Description: Northeast South Dakota AHEC, in collaboration with Northeastern Mental Health Center, developed a series of telehealth training webinars that works to enhance the patients’ experience and providers’ understanding of telemedicine, especially with COVID. These webinar series will focus on areas of telehealth specific to mental health professionals transitioning to virtual appointments during COVID.    Session Description: Mountain Plains Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC) Technical Trainer Dr. Andrew J. McLean, MD, MPH, will present this session on the ethics and limitations of telemental health. This webinar will examine telemental health ethical best practices and the limitations of providing care via telemental health.  Trainer Dr. Andrew J. McLean, MD, MPH                        

The Northwest MHTTC in partnership with Pathways Research and Training Center (RTC) is pleased to announce a series of monthly consultation calls focused on “Advanced Topics in Strengthening Youth/Young Adult Peer Support.” Join us on the third Thursday of each month from 10-11 AM Pacific. Pathways RTC Consult Calls   The first meeting is Thursday, October 22, 10-11 AM Pacific on “Clarifying Your Peer Support Role/s.” Research has shown that role clarity contributes to employees’ work satisfaction and retention. We will explore what this means in the context of youth/young adult peer support and share resources to help with role clarification. We will also be asking participants about their priorities for future meeting topics.   Here's what you can expect from each consultation call: Focus on one topic such as skill building, supervision, coaching and training, organizational policies and procedures, hiring and on-boarding, and more Sharing a practical resource related to the meeting's topic, such as  a strategy, tool, set of research findings, or template Time for focused discussion in which attendees can ask questions and share knowledge and ideas relevant to the day’s topic, followed by an open discussion of any topic related to youth/young adult peer support To allow for interaction and discussion, registration will be limited. Register early to ensure your space! Attendees from each meeting will be given priority to register for the next one. 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.

Suicide Prevention Across the Educational Continuum Free and self-paced online course with 6.0 Continuing Education Credits (CEs) This 6-part series addresses suicide assessment and response for K-12 populations, genetic risks for suicide, school-based suicide prevention and interventions, crisis response planning for suicidal patients, interventions for youth experiencing serious emotional disturbance (SED), and intervention for transition age youth on college campuses.   Register Please go to https://healtheknowledge.org/course/index.php?categoryid=104 to register and complete the course. To register, click on the “Register Now and Begin Course” button at the bottom of the course description box. Follow the prompts to login or create your account and register for the course. You will be able to begin the course immediately.

Times: 6:00-7:30 p.m. ET / 3:00-4:30 p.m. PT / 12:00-1:30 p.m. HT (view your time zone)  Compassion Fatigue Resilience Series Part 3 of the Compassion Fatigue Resilience series focuses on self-care. Self-care gives us the fuel we need to be effective within our formal, professional roles. We cannot take care of others if we are not taking care of ourselves. Trauma makes us fearful, and being fearful we can mistrust each other. Mistrust leads to shame, and we may find ourselves withdrawing or reacting in anger. Self-care is about nourishing your mind and body and accessing an important source of strength: each other. This workshop will explore different elements of self-care and help participants build strategies for ongoing self-care tactics to enhance personal and professional resilience. Learning Objectives: Define secondary traumatic stress, burnout and compassion fatigue Describe the negative and positive impacts of our work  Describe and practice techniques for self-care   Register for Part 1: Self-Regulation and Part 2: Reframing of this series.   Continuing Education Hours Available: An optional 1.5 Continuing Education Hours are available for each event in this series (4.5 total). There is no fee to attend this event; a processing fee of $25 for each event will be payable to Center for Applied Research Solutions (CARS) if you would like CEHs. CEHs are available for ASW, BRN, LCSW, LEP, LMFT, LPCC, and/or PPS as required by the CA Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT) and CA Board of Registered Nursing (BRN). CARS is an approved provider for CA BRN #16303 and CAMFT #131736. About the Presenter  Joel Jackson serves as a subject matter expert for several programs at the Chicago Center for HIV Elimination. Through Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation of Greater Chicago, Joel serves as a Racial Healing Practitioner. In this role, Joel co-facilitates Racial Healing Circles across Chicagoland, helping to provide space for healing and connection and to reaffirm the humanity in all of us. He is also the UChicago Medicine Assistant Director of Inclusion and Training for the Urban Health Initiative Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity. He coordinates the hospital’s cultural competence training strategy and is the lead facilitator of the UChicago Medicine Cultural Competence Course. Joel is also helping to coordinate the hospital’s Resilience Based Care training strategy, which will include a focus on compassion fatigue resilience and a focus on trauma-informed care. He is a Certified Compassion Fatigue Professional and the 2020 Staff Diversity Leadership Award recipient for the University of Chicago.

The South Southwest MHTTC has partnered with the Texas Education Agency and Texas Health and Human Services to develop a school mental health learning collaborative for mental health teams working in Texas' Regional Educational Service Centers. The webinar will focus on funding and sustainability of school mental health services and programs.

About the Event:  MODULE 4: Developing Culturally Centered Interventions Module Goal: This module will provide training on the integration of culturally centered interventions in mental health and substance use treatment.  This training is Module 4 of the Clinical Applications of Cultural Elements in Treating Hispanics and Latinos with Mental Health Disorders and was prepared by the National Hispanic and Latino Mental Health Technology Transfer Center. The goal of this training is to increase the awareness and abilities of mental health care providers in their use of cultural elements by promoting the use of culturally appropriate formulations when treating Latinx presenting with psychological and mental health disorders. The information is informed by current research findings on the impact of cultural factors on the assessment and treatment of mental health disorders and on the therapeutic relationship.   About the Presenter:  Michelle Evans, DSW, LCSW, CADC. Dr. Michelle Evans is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor, and Licensed Sex Offender Treatment Provider with experience in individual and family counseling and in developing therapeutic groups. She has worked primarily with the Latino population throughout her career as a bilingual and bicultural social worker. She is currently the Hospital Administrator for Elgin Mental Health Center in Elgin, IL. She is in private practice at Nickerson & Associates, PC as a bilingual therapist where she treats adults and adolescents with mental health issues, substance abuse issues, and sex addictions. She also teaches on these topics at Aurora University and University of Chicago. 

Build your Motivational Interviewing (MI) skills through the free Motivational Interviewing Learning Collaborative! Third Wednesday each month, beginning February 19, 2020.  10:00-10:45am CST The Great Lakes MHTTC and PTTC will host a series of interactive calls via Zoom for people who want to enhance their MI skills. This learning opportunity provides practitioners with a no-cost, easy to access opportunity to continue to build their practice skills towards fidelity. All sessions will be geared towards multiple levels of learning. Attend all sessions or select from the menu (see list of dates and topics below). Calls last for 45 minutes You only need to register one time for the Zoom link to the calls  ​​​ Trainer: Laura Saunders State Project Manager, Wisconsin Great Lakes ATTC, MHTTC, and PTTC Laura A. Saunders, MSSW, is the Wisconsin State Project Manager for the Great Lakes Addiction, Mental Health and Prevention Technology Transfer Centers. Her position is housed at the UW–Madison, where she’s worked since 1988. Since 2001, Laura has provided SBIRT and Motivational Interviewing training to physicians, nurses, medical students, psychologists, specialty addiction treatment providers, social workers, physical therapists, health educators, and staff who work in correctional settings. She has provided feedback and coaching to hundreds of social workers, correctional staff, and other human service providers who are interested in using evidence-based practices with fidelity. Laura joined the international group of Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT) in 2006 (Sophia, Bulgaria) and is an active member of the Wisconsin MINT group. Topics by Date February 19 Your MI Spirit Is Showing March 18  Let Your Partner (Client, Consumer, Customer, Patient) Know You're Working Hard to Understand April 15 WHY Not Ask WHY And Other Things to Think About With Open Questions May 20 Taming Your Inner Cheerleader: Be Proud Of You and How Well You Can Use Affirmations June 17 Gold Star Things to Say (Genuinely!)  July 15 What To Do When the Client Says Something About Changing Their Behavior August 19 What to Do When The Client Seems Stuck About Changing Their Behavior September 16  Pay Attention to Discord October 21 Guess What Happens When You Ask for Change Talk? November 18:   TBD December 16:   TBD 

The Supporting School Mental Health During a Pandemic Professional Learning Community is an application only learning community, intended to assist state-, district-, and building-level administrators with providing school mental health supports during the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal of this Regional School Mental Health Learning Community is to provide an opportunity to help teams problem-solve around specific challenges they are encountering as they work to support students and staff during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. This learning community will consist of monthly virtual learning sessions, technical assistance and coaching, and the development of strategic plans tailored to your districts and states.

Please note: These events will be limited to 500 attendees. Access to the live event will be available to registered participants on a first come, first serve basis. To secure a spot, we invite you to log on 5 - 10 minutes prior to the event.   About the Webinar: Returning to school, (in person, online, or a hybrid of both), after an abrupt interruption, amplifies the need for a social-emotional wellbeing, trauma informed and ‘mental health for all’ approach. We will highlight how the Interconnected Systems Framework (ISF)  focuses on a whole system response for building a resilient, culturally responsive community and acknowledging diverse populations and their needs.  Objectives Participants will be able to define how Interconnected systems framework Participants will be able to describe how ISF is being adapted to fit current context. Participants will be able to describe school and district level strategies that support adult wellness. Learn more about our presenters and access all presentation materials & recordings here. About the Series: The Northwest MHTTC and the Pacific Southwest MHTTC are continuing our partnership to provide and extend deeper technical assistance on the Interconnected Systems Framework (ISF). This year, we are offering programming to deepen your ISF work and contextualize ISF to this moment of COVID-19 and beyond.   Interconnected Systems Framework (ISF) is a structure and process that maximizes effectiveness and efficiency by blending the strengths of school and community mental health with strengths of the multi-tiered framework of PBIS (Barrett, Eber, Weist, 2013). This webinar is part of our ISF West Coast Party Webinars: Enhancing MTSS - Integrating Student Mental Health and Wellness Through Systems, Data, and Practices. This series consists of four modules and ends with a town hall for you to be able to ask faculty your questions and resource one another. Each module includes teaching from Susan Barrett and field leaders on ISF systems and USC faculty on ISF practices.    Mental Health is Everyone’s Job. Come learn how the Interconnected Systems Framework approach supports students, staff and families. Series Schedule:  You can register for multiple events using the registration button above. You are welcome to attend as much or little as desired, though we do recommend attending the systems sessions (in blue) before the practices sessions (in green).   Module 1: ISF in Virtual Conditions 10/20/20 - ISF Systems in Virtual Conditions w/Susan Barrett 10/22/20 - Secondary Traumatic Stress and Educator Well Being w/Steve Hydon   Module 2: ISF + Trauma Informed Approaches 10/27/20 - ISF Systems & Trauma-Informed Approaches w/Susan Barrett 11/5/20 - Virtual Adaptations of Psychological First Aid w/Marleen Wong 11/17/20 - Virtual Adaptations of Trauma Informed Skills for Educators w/Pamela Vona & Vivien Villaverde   Module 3: ISF + Tiers 2 & 3 12/1/20 - ISF Systems and Tiers 2 & 3 w/Susan Barrett 12/3/20 - Virtual adaptations of SSET/Bounce Back w/ Pamela Vona & Vivien Villaverde   Module 4: ISF & Equity 1/12/21 - Secondary Traumatic Stress & BIPOC Educator Well Being w/Steve Hydon & Guests 1/19/21 - ISF Systems & Equity w/Susan Barrett 1/21/21 - Racial Violence and Trauma and Schools w/USC faculty & Guests   ISF West Coast Town Hall 1/26/21 - ISF systems & practices in this moment with Susan Barrett & USC Faculty *Our events are open to the public and attendees from any region. Due to limited capacity, however, we kindly ask that if you are not from Region 9 (AZ, CA, HI, NV, and U.S. Pacific Islands of American Samoa, Guam, Marshall Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau) or Region 10 (AK, ID, OR, WA) to please consider waiting to register or not attending live and watching the recording in order to prioritize space for our Region 10 participants. We have an amazing team that will post a link to the recording within a week of event.

RoundTable 1: The Arts and Social Justice | Oct. 20 at 2PM EST This session will feature a conversation with the organizers, directors, and actors in theater productions that focused on recovery. The facilitator will lead a conversation with 4 panelists to talk about the production, their experience with the productions and its ties to the citizenship framework and social justice. RoundTable 2: The Citizenship Framework and Community Building | Oct. 28 at 2PM EST This session will feature a conversation with peer support professionals and community activists about the essential role that community building and active citizenship can play in recovery. Three panelists are members of the Focus Act Connect Every-day (FACE) group, which will be discussed as a model for building networks and making community-level change outside of the mental health system.   RoundTable 3: The Essential Role of Peer Support in Citizenship Work | Nov. 5 at 2PM EST This session will feature a conversation about peer support and its role in supporting people in living a full life in their community outside of the mental health system. The facilitator will lead a conversation with other leaders in the peer support movement, peer support practitioners, and other people in recovery focused on the unique role of peer support in community-based citizenship work, including examples from the experiences of panelists.   RoundTable 4: Advocacy and the Citizenship Framework | Nov. 17 at 2PM EST This session will feature a conversation about advocating for changes in the societal conditions and oppressive structures that impact mental health, which is a cornerstone of the citizenship framework. The panel will feature community activists and people in recovery sharing their own experiences with advocating for change through collective efforts, and what impact that work outside the system has had on their lives and recovery journeys.

Please join us in our weekly open forum to listen and share suggestions/resources. Special attention will be paid to resiliency, strength, overcoming challenges of social distancing, and supporting mental health professionals in their efforts to adapt their delivery of services. Times for this session: 11:00am – 12:00pm AKDT 12:00pm – 1:00pm PDT 1:00pm – 2:00pm MDT 2:00pm – 3:00pm CDT 3:00pm – 4:00pm EDT

Please join us in our weekly open forum to listen and share suggestions/resources. Special attention will be paid to resiliency, strength, overcoming challenges of social distancing, and supporting mental health professionals in their efforts to adapt their delivery of services. Times for this session: 11:00am – 12:00pm AKST 12:00pm – 1:00pm PST 1:00pm – 2:00pm MST 2:00pm – 3:00pm CST 3:00pm – 4:00pm EST

About the Event:  In this webinar, the findings from our recent listening session, “Hearing the Truth about Racism in Recovery” will be presented.  Participants will learn about how race is impacting recovery supports in the community and the behavioral health system; will learn about how race creates barriers to recovery and wellness; and will learn immediate actions peer support providers can take to identify and remedy these barriers.   Key Learning Objectives:  1. Describe how race impacts recovery supports in the community and the behavioral health system.  2. Discuss how race creates barriers to recovery and wellness.  3. Identify immediate actions peer support providers can take to recognize and remedy barriers.    About the Presenters:  The Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network believes in the ability of everyone living with mental health concerns to enjoy lives of purpose, meaning, productivity, and wellness. Since it was founded in 1991, this grassroots nonprofit organization has been led and run by mental health peers—people in mental health recovery. At its core, the basis of peer support—one person using their lived experience to support another—is not new; in fact, it is the basis of human growth and development. Mental health peers with special training are now able to use their lived recovery experience in clinical settings to provide something beyond a diagnosis or medication.   Roslind D. Hayes, BS, CPS-AD, CARES, WHWC is the Statewide Coordinator of the GMHCN's Peer Support, Wellness, and Respite Centers. She is a trainer/facilitator for the Certified Peer Specialist Project, Peer Zone, and Intentional Peer Support.  Chris Johnson, MFA, CPS, CPS-AD is GMHCN's Director of Communications. He is responsible for sharing information about recovery and wellness opportunities to behavioral health peers and providers across Georgia. 

Racism is a “system of structuring opportunity and assigning value based on the social interpretation of how one looks (which is what we call ‘race’) that unfairly disadvantages some individuals and communities, unfairly advantages other individuals and communities, and saps the strength of the whole society through the waste of human resources.” Latino children experience discrimination in multiple micro environments, including their schools and neighborhoods affecting their well-being. School-based prevention and intervention efforts are needed to address discrimination that occurs in the school setting including the provision of Tier 1 programs to not only increase children’s awareness about diversity and differences in cultural practices and norms but also to educate youth about tolerance and acceptance (Demircioglu, 2008; Pascale, 2011; Wan, 2006). Learning objectives: - Discuss institutional racism and discrimination and their impact on the mental health of Latino children and youths.  - Identify signs and symptoms related to the impact of experiencing racism among Latino children and youths.    - Discuss best practices for identifying signs and symptoms of mental health disorders among Latino children and youths.    Who should attend? This is an intermediate level workshop designed for mental health providers, school mental health providers, and school administrators.     About the presenter:      J Rocky Romero, PhD, LMSW - Dr. J Rocky Romero is the CEO and owner of JR Romero & Associates, a training and consultant company he started almost 20 years ago. In addition, Dr. Romero is a former Assistant Professor for New Mexico Highlands University School of Social Work in Albuquerque, NM. He served as the co-chair for Governor Richardson’s appointed NM Higher Education Department on Cultural Competency Task-Force. Dr. Romero has also served as an Executive Council member for the NM-Consortium for Behavioral Health Training and Research to include other boards and committees. In addition, Dr. Romero completed his doctoral studies at the University of New Mexico in Language, Literacy and Sociocultural Studies with a focus on analyzing legal discourse through a critical race theory lens. Dr. Romero has been a trainer and consultant for the NHL-MHTTC for the last 10 years, in addition he is a National trainer for Clare|Matrix, formerly the Matrix Institute, for the last 12 years. He is focused on culturally appropriate treatment while focusing on reducing health disparities for people of color. Lastly, Dr. Romero is focused on the intersections of racism, discrimination, and the impact of racialized legal discourse on people of color.   Please read the following before registering:  The National Hispanic and Latino Mental Health Technology Transfer Center use GoToWebinar as our online event system.  Audio for the event is accessible via the internet. To receive audio, attendees must join the event by using computers equipped with speakers or dial in via telephone.  After registration, a confirmation email will be generated with instructions for joining the event. To avoid problems with log-in, please use the confirmation email to join the event.  

Please note we are not accepting new registrations at this time. A Training for Relatives and Friends in CBT-Informed Skills for Psychosis When people develop a serious mental health condition, the stress related to coping with the illness, a new diagnosis, and getting the right care can be overwhelming for those affected as well for their family members. Family members and other loved ones play a critical role in recovery from psychotic disorders, but oftentimes they don’t know how to be supportive, are unsure of what words to use, and are ill-equipped to help.   Learn More about Psychosis REACH   Psychosis REACH Training: October 15-16, 2020 Psychosis REACH is a free, two-day training that offers concrete, evidence-based skills for relatives and friends of individuals with psychotic disorders to better care for and relate to their loved ones. It takes a proven psychotherapy for people with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and modifies it to the needs of caregivers. Participants will learn: Normalizing and making sense of psychosis Evidence-based coping strategies Key caring principles­­­ Communication practices Working with medication Relapse prevention strategies NOTE: This year's Psychosis REACH training will take place virtually across two 3-4 hour days. The training will consist of pre-recorded videos, live stream videos, and virtual breakout groups allowing participants to connect with each other and share resources. About the Trainers/Facilitators: Douglas Turkington is a Professor of Psychosocial Psychiatry at Newcastle University, UK. He is also a Founding Fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy based at Philadelphia, USA. He originally worked as a general psychiatrist specializing in psychotic disorders and then as a liaison psychiatrist with an interest in suicide prevention and the psychoses linked to epilepsy. In 1990, along with Professor Kingdon, he developed and piloted a normalizing treatment with allied CBT techniques for use with schizophrenia. Recently published books include: a manual describing how to include compassion-based therapy, mindfulness and ACT within the cognitive model and a book on cultural aspects of CBT for psychosis. Currently he is working on the linguistics of thought disorder and voice hearing and on developing and implementing CBT informed caring for schizophrenia with the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario.    

This one and half-hour online session will focus on culturally responsive programmatic efforts to improve access and utilization of behavioral health services among the Hispanic/Latinx community. The session will describe how these programs and strategies reduce disparities by addressing often cited barriers and promote behavioral health equity. The concept of cultural brokering and its use in across settings will be discussed and considerations and implementation of community mental health navigator programs will be described. This session will also outline lessons learned from implementation and recommendations for future work. Who should attend? This is an intermediate-level workshop designed for mental health providers including psychologists, clinical social workers, mental health counselors, and graduate level students in the mental health field.     About the presenter:  Marilyn Sampilo, PhD, MPH.- Dr. Marilyn Sampilo is a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in integrated behavioral health and health disparities among minority populations. She received her PhD in clinical child psychology with an emphasis in pediatric psychology from the University of Kansas and a Master of Public Health from the University of Kansas Medical Center, both of which allowed her to specialize in physical and mental health promotion and prevention efforts to address health disparities among underserved populations. She has extensive experience in the cultural adaptation of treatment and interventions for Hispanic/Latinx children and families and in community engagement and advocacy for this target population. She is currently a Psychologist in the Center for Pediatric Behavioral Health at Cleveland Clinic, leads the Center’s health equity and social justice initiatives and is a consultant and trainer on issues of diversity and cultural proficiency.   Please read the following before registering:  The National Hispanic and Latino Mental Health Technology Transfer Center use GoToWebinar as our online event system.  Audio for the event is accessible via the internet. To receive audio, attendees must join the event by using computers equipped with speakers or dial in via telephone.  After registration, a confirmation email will be generated with instructions for joining the event. To avoid problems with log-in, please use the confirmation email to join the event.  

Times: 6:00-7:30 p.m. ET / 3:00-4:30 p.m. PT / 12:00-1:30 p.m. HT (view your time zone)  Compassion Fatigue Resilience Series Part 2 of the Compassion Fatigue Resilience series focuses on reframing. Living with fidelity to our purpose and in alignment with our principles is equally important in developing and maintaining our professional quality of life. Trauma makes us fearful, and being fearful we mistrust each other. Mistrust leads to anger, and then we find ourselves violating our own values, the same ones that brought us to mental health and healthcare. Although we might want things to be different from what they are, resilience arises from acceptance of the world as it is, focusing instead on what meaning we make of it for ourselves. This workshop will lead participants in exercises to help them reframe and move forward within their roles with intentionality and perceptual maturation. Learning Objectives: Define secondary traumatic stress, burnout and compassion fatigue Describe causes and effects of stress Describe and practice techniques for reframing   Register for Part 1: Self-Regulation and Part 3: Self-Care of this series.   Continuing Education Hours Available: An optional 1.5 Continuing Education Hours are available for each event in this series (4.5 total). There is no fee to attend this event; a processing fee of $25 for each event will be payable to Center for Applied Research Solutions (CARS) if you would like CEHs. CEHs are available for ASW, BRN, LCSW, LEP, LMFT, LPCC, and/or PPS as required by the CA Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT) and CA Board of Registered Nursing (BRN). CARS is an approved provider for CA BRN #16303 and CAMFT #131736. About the Presenter  Joel Jackson serves as a subject matter expert for several programs at the Chicago Center for HIV Elimination. Through Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation of Greater Chicago, Joel serves as a Racial Healing Practitioner. In this role, Joel co-facilitates Racial Healing Circles across Chicagoland, helping to provide space for healing and connection and to reaffirm the humanity in all of us. He is also the UChicago Medicine Assistant Director of Inclusion and Training for the Urban Health Initiative Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity. He coordinates the hospital’s cultural competence training strategy and is the lead facilitator of the UChicago Medicine Cultural Competence Course. Joel is also helping to coordinate the hospital’s Resilience Based Care training strategy, which will include a focus on compassion fatigue resilience and a focus on trauma-informed care. He is a Certified Compassion Fatigue Professional and the 2020 Staff Diversity Leadership Award recipient for the University of Chicago.

We are so pleased that after a short pause, our School Mental Health Wellness Wednesdays are back. For the coming program year, we’ll offer 60-minute virtual sessions for the school mental health workforce to connect, reflect, and support each other. The Wellness Wednesdays will occur every 2nd Wednesday of each month, 2-3 p.m. PT, and will be led by Pacific Southwest MHTTC School Mental Health staff (Leora Wolf-Prusan and Oriana Ides). Please note that Wellness Wednesdays are not a sequence; you can join some or all.

About the Event:  MODULE 3: Considering Culture in the Diagnosis of Mental Health Disorders in Hispanic and Latino Populations.  Module Goal: This module will provide training on integrating Latino cultural factors into the assessment, evaluation, and diagnosis of emotional, psychological, and mental disorders.  This training is Module 3 of the Clinical Applications of Cultural Elements in Treating Hispanic and Latinos with Mental Health Disorders series and was prepared by the National Hispanic and Latino Mental Health Technology Transfer Center. The goal of this training is to increase the awareness and abilities of mental health care providers in their use of cultural elements by promoting the use of culturally appropriate formulations when treating Latinx presenting with psychological and mental health disorders. The information is informed by current research findings on the impact of cultural factors on the assessment and treatment of mental health disorders and on the therapeutic relationship.   About the Presenter:  Michelle Evans, DSW, LCSW, CADC. Dr. Michelle Evans is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor, and Licensed Sex Offender Treatment Provider with experience in individual and family counseling and in developing therapeutic groups. She has worked primarily with the Latino population throughout her career as a bilingual and bicultural social worker. She is currently the Hospital Administrator for Elgin Mental Health Center in Elgin, IL. She is in private practice at Nickerson & Associates, PC as a bilingual therapist where she treats adults and adolescents with mental health issues, substance abuse issues, and sex addictions. She also teaches on these topics at Aurora University and University of Chicago. 

About the Event:  MODULE 3: Considering Culture in the Diagnosis of Mental Health Disorders in Hispanic and Latino Populations.  Module Goal: This module will provide training on integrating Latino cultural factors into the assessment, evaluation, and diagnosis of emotional, psychological, and mental disorders.  This training is Module 3 of the Clinical Applications of Cultural Elements in Treating Hispanic and Latinos with Mental Health Disorders series and was prepared by the National Hispanic and Latino Mental Health Technology Transfer Center. The goal of this training is to increase the awareness and abilities of mental health care providers in their use of cultural elements by promoting the use of culturally appropriate formulations when treating Latinx presenting with psychological and mental health disorders. The information is informed by current research findings on the impact of cultural factors on the assessment and treatment of mental health disorders and on the therapeutic relationship.   About the Presenter:  Michelle Evans, DSW, LCSW, CADC. Dr. Michelle Evans is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor, and Licensed Sex Offender Treatment Provider with experience in individual and family counseling and in developing therapeutic groups. She has worked primarily with the Latino population throughout her career as a bilingual and bicultural social worker. She is currently the Hospital Administrator for Elgin Mental Health Center in Elgin, IL. She is in private practice at Nickerson & Associates, PC as a bilingual therapist where she treats adults and adolescents with mental health issues, substance abuse issues, and sex addictions. She also teaches on these topics at Aurora University and University of Chicago. 

In this session, attendees will learn about psychological safety in the workplace and a communication strategy they can use to help develop it in their school. Psychological safety refers to a sense of safety to show faults and mistakes in the workplace without repercussion, and to be able to effectively give and respond to feedback. Psychological safety is most effectively instilled through leaders to create a safe working environment, and teachers can contribute to that process in their day-to-day interactions with one another.