Past Events

A 90-minute listening session with peers who currently provide support in crisis settings to review our draft self-assessment tool. This self-assessment tool was designed based on the Core Competencies and is intended for peers new or familiar with crisis work to reflect upon their skill sets.   If you would like accommodations to participate in any of our events, please contact us at [email protected].

Learn to recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis in this suicide prevention training. ABOUT THIS EVENT QPR stands for Question, Persuade, and Refer — 3 simple steps anyone can learn to help save a life from suicide. Just as people trained in CPR and the Heimlich Maneuver help save thousands of lives each year, people trained in QPR learn how to recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to question, persuade, and refer someone to help. This 2-hour session is meant for anyone interested in an overview of suicide awareness and intervention, and to practice asking loved ones and friends difficult questions.   Learn more about QPR Gatekeeper training and how to receive training on your own if we are not able to accept your application.   ELIGIBILITY, EXPECTATIONS & APPLICATION Members of the behavioral health/mental health workforce who are based in the states of Alaska, Oregon, Idaho & Washington (HHS Region 10) are eligible to participate Due to a high level of interest, we are no longer accepting applications for this training Each individual must have access to computer/web camera/audio to participate Seats are very limited  Questions: please contact the Northwest MHTTC at [email protected].   RESOURCES National Institute of Mental Health Center for Disease Control - Suicide Data and Statistics CDC WISQARS Data Mental Health America 2023 State of Mental Health Report Mental Health America "Alla Data" 2023 with filter function Mental Health Technical Transfer Center 988 and Crisis Resources   FACILITATOR Anna Guida, MPA Anna Guida (she/her), MPA, has worked in the public health and environmental health space for the last 8 years and has held QPR Instructor certification since 2018. Anna is passionate about education as a tool for empowerment and progress. She believes focusing on the entire person in the pursuit of wellness, specifically mental well-being, is integral to long term healing and growth. Outside of work, Anna enjoys attending concerts, cooking for friends and family, and exploring the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her dog Smokey.   

In this workshop, participants will learn and practice skills in evidence-based suicide prevention and intervention practices, including screening for risk, safety planning, connecting with families, and supporting transitions back to school following a suicide event or hospitalization.   Download Flyer

This presentation aims to discuss culturally relevant approaches to working with children and families who may have been separated during immigration and asylum-seeking processes. The presentation will address the possible effects of such processes in attachments among family members. The intended audience is behavioral health providers working with Latino populations who may work with families who have experienced dislocation and disruptions related to immigration and asylum-seeking processes.    Collaboration with Trusted Provider Network National Network. 

In this workshop, participants will learn and practice skills in evidence-based suicide prevention and intervention practices, including screening for risk, safety planning, connecting with families, and supporting transitions back to school following a suicide event or hospitalization.   Download Flyer

  Program Number: 23CE00129   Objectives:  Identify common experiences (i.e., microaggressions, burnout, and secondary trauma) of BIPOC trainees.  Examine the power differentials that exist between supervisors and supervisees.  Create collaborative supervision contracts highlighting cultural integration.   Identify ways to adapt clinic aesthetic, policies and procedures, language, and staff representation to support trainee’s experience over the year.   Presented by: Patty Cerda-Lizarraga, Ph.D., Belinda Hinojos, PhD, LP, and Anitra Warrior, PhD, LP   Patricia Cerda-Lizarraga, Ph.D., graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a double major in Cognitive Psychology and Spanish Language and Culture. She moved to the Midwest where she completed her Masters degree and doctoral degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Patricia previously worked as a staff psychologist at UNL where she provided individual and group therapy to college students. Patricia was the diversity coordinator at Counseling and Psychological Services at UNL and has a passion to work with issues of diversity and with people of color. She recently came on board at Morningstar to work with the American Indian population in Nebraska and expand her training in working with children and families. Dr. Patty was born and raised in Southern California. Together with her two young boys and her husband they have made Lincoln, Nebraska their home. Dr. Patty enjoys family time and taking trips to California and Mexico.   Belinda Hinojos, Ph.D., received her bachelor's degree in psychology and master's degree in counseling psychology from the University of Kansas. She completed her Ph.D. in counseling psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She is a staff psychologist and training director with Morningstar. In this role, she provides mental health services to American Indian communities in Nebraska. This includes outreach and services to the Little Priest Tribal College and the Nebraska Indian Community College. Dr. Hinojos previously held the position of training director at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s (UNL) Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). Throughout her career, Dr. Hinojos has focused on increasing access to quality mental health services for people of color. She began her work at UNL-CAPS as the Diversity Coordinator and Latinx Outreach Specialist. Prior to starting her doctoral program, Dr. Hinojos worked at a community mental health agency in Kansas City providing mental health services to the Latinx community. She is an active member of the National Latinx Psychological Association. She currently serves on the Standing Committee on Diversity through the Association of Counseling Center Training Agencies, in addition to the Training Advisory Committee for the Minority Fellowship Program through the American Psychological Association.   Dr. Anitra Warrior is the owner of Morningstar Counseling and Consultation in Lincoln, Nebraska, and is from the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma. She earned her Ph.D. in counseling psychology in 2015 and has operated her clinic since 2012. Since receiving her Ph.D., Dr. Warrior has established four additional clinics that are now located throughout eastern Nebraska. Morningstar offers counseling on two college campuses, as well as in schools, communities, and other integrated care locations with the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska. Clinic sites are based on reservations and in rural and urban settings. Dr. Warrior specializes in treating trauma in children through the utilization of evidenced based practices that have been adapted to the American Indian population. Most recently, Morningstar has become a training site for doctoral candidates with the Munroe-Meyer Institute. This track will focus on integrated care on the reservation as well as provide additional clinical training opportunities in schools, colleges, and in the tribal communities.     Accredited Continuing Education   In support of improving patient care, University of Nebraska Medical Center is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.       PSYCHOLOGISTS/LICENSED MENTAL HEALTH PROVIDERS   Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP Office maintains responsibility for the content of the programs. This activity has been approved for 1.5 credit hours of continuing education credit.       Learn more about the series — Decolonizing Training and Supervision: Implementing a Culturally Responsive Model of Training    

A special collaboration between the School Crisis Recovery & Renewal project and the Pacific Southwest Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Thursday, September 14, 12 - 2 pm. HT / 3 - 5 p.m. PT / 4 - 6 p.m. MT (find your timezone) From Lahaina and outward, the waves of impact and layers of grief, trauma, and crisis reverberate weeks after the wildfire.   This event surfaces ecological grief and climate anxiety for those watching. This event surfaces vicarious trauma and grief for those of us connected to Lahaina living in the diaspora and on the mainland. This event might activate those of us who have experienced devastating wildfires before in California and beyond.     It’s a moment to gather as school crisis leaders to hold the complexity of how this event is experienced by so many, and what we can listen into for deeper learning to better support the children, youth, and young adults we serve.    What is this? This event is a collaboration of the School Crisis Recovery & Renewal project (a National Child Traumatic Stress Network Category II site) and the youth and young adult specialty program of the Pacific Southwest MHTTC. A special session that offers us language, learning, and opportunities to listen to voices that hold wisdom and experience in Native Hawaiian grief work, learning about youth climate resilience leadership, and a special share from Butte County Office of Education leaders reflecting on wildfire years after.  We’ll also have an opportunity to break into smaller groups to extend our learning with topics such as ecological grief and climate anxiety, how to support youth and young adults in the context of ecological disaster, what emotional and cultural recovery might feel like, and our own grief frameworks, which can impact the way we lead.   It is an opportunity to lean into individual and collective cultural humility as we examine how our grief cultures might collaborate for healing, or at times collide and prevent recovery or renewal.    Our Time Together Welcome, Orientation & an Invitation for Self-Reflection and Grounding: What is coming up for us as leaders of school communities, systems, and allies of youth and young adults, in the context of climate disaster, wildfire, collective and vicarious grief?   Kaumaha: Hawaiian Grief Work and Grief Cultural Collaborations & Considerations with Adam Keawe Manalo-Camp   Climate Resilient School Leadership: Merging Ancestral Traditions and Climate Solutions with Lil Milagro Henriquez, Mycelium Youth Network   A Love Letter to Lahaina Educators and Other Wildfire Educators from Butte County Office of Education, California   Breakout sessions for deeper intentional reflection and sharing (participants will choose their breakout selection during the session): A Deeper Dive Into Grief Work, with Adam Keawe Manalo-Camp A Deeper Dive Into Climate Resilience Schools and Youth Leadership: Supporting Young People to Survive and Thrive in a Climate Challenged World, with Lil Milagro Henriquez Supporting Youth and Young Adults’ Grief Recovery, with Oriana Ides Supporting Educators’ Wellbeing Amidst Chaos and Crisis, with Leora Wolf-Prusan & Matt Reddam Grieving From Afar: Vicarious Grief and Trauma, with Erin Briley   Closing together: what might we need moving forward, and how might we support ourselves and each other?   Who is this for? We offer this place to process intentionally for school leaders (system administrators, county offices of education, local education agencies, school mental health professionals) and youth and young adult providers, professionals, and peer supports nationwide.   If you do not work in schools or with young adults, we welcome you to join us as a learner.    PRIMING RESOURCES https://www.psychologytools.com/assets/files/Grief_work_Blatner.pdf https://onipaa.org/kaumaha-helu-ekahi + https://onipaa.org/kaumaha-helu-elua https://nkoemaui.org/ - https://nkoemaui.org/group-support-registration/ Climate Resilient Schools | Mycelium Youth Network    Speakers & Breakout Facilitators  Adam Keawe Manalo-Camp (he/him) is a writer, cultural practitioner, and historian. Adam is Jewish and of Kanaka Maoli and Filipino ancestry and is based in Las Vegas, NV.  His writings on history and culture have been published in ʻŌiwi Native Hawaiian Literary Journal, Queernesia, and is a regular contributor in the only Native Hawaiian paper, Ka Wai Ola o OHA. His Instagram account is @adamkeawe where he regularly posts on Hawaiian history and culture. Lil Milagro Henriquez (she/her) is a 20-year veteran of social and environmental justice activism. She is a mother, passionate organizer, lover of all things nerdy. In 2017, she founded Mycelium Youth Network, an organization dedicated to preparing and empowering frontline youth for climate change. In 2020, she received the Women’s Earth Alliance fellowship and the 2021 recipient of the Partners Advancing Climate Equity fellowship. She was recently recognized as one of the top 16 Eco-Warriors of 2021 by Marin Magazine and did a TEDx talk with the City of San Francisco illuminating the failures of conventional education to prepare youth for climate change in 2022. In 2023, she was featured in Climate Resilience by Kylie Flanagan as a climate resilience leader to watch. Erin Briley (she/her) was born and raised in Wailuku, Maui where she worked many years of her adult life as a school psychologist in Central Maui before moving to the mainland.  Erin Briley joined the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) in 2019. She currently is the School Mental Health Coordinator for the Mountain Plains Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Network (MHTTC).  As the program manager and school mental health lead, her work focuses on providing intensive technical assistance, resources, and training to school staff on ways to support school-based mental health. She is also a WICHE Program Manager for the Hawaii Psychology Internship Consortium (HI-PIC), an accredited doctoral-level psychology internship. Prior to working with WICHE, Ms. Briley worked as a School Psychologist and has over 20 years of experience working in the schools, serving school districts in California, Hawaii, and Colorado while providing direct and indirect supports for children ages 3 through 22 of all developmental levels. She has additionally served temporarily as an administrator in special education as well as a program administrator for a school-based behavioral health program at the DOE state level. Ms. Briley earned her Bachelor’s in Human Development and Family Studies at Colorado State University, and her Master’s in Counseling/School Psychology with a Certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis at California State University Los Angeles; she is also a Nationally Certified School Psychologist.    Matt Reddam (he/him) is a licensed ther­a­pist and cur­rent School and Com­mu­ni­ty Well­ness Advi­sor for the Butte Coun­ty Office of Edu­ca­tion. The for­mer Pol­i­cy and Prac­tice Coor­di­na­tor for Trau­ma Trans­formed Bay Area, Matt is rec­og­nized as a region­al expert in trau­mat­ic stress and an advo­cate for mar­gin­al­ized and his­tor­i­cal­ly sub­ju­gat­ed pop­u­la­tions. Begin­ning his career as a ther­a­pist, Matt quick­ly found that sys­tems and com­mu­ni­ties often pathol­o­gized children’s attempts to sur­vive, lead­ing to mis­di­ag­no­sis, mar­gin­al­iza­tion, and the rob­bery of resilience. This led him to shift his work from indi­vid­ual treat­ment to the con­sul­ta­tion and train­ing of large systems. As a sur­vivor of com­plex trau­ma, a stu­dent of racial jus­tice, and a father, Matt con­tin­ues to walk the line of learn­er, expert, and fierce advo­cate. After the Camp Fire in 2018, Matt began work­ing pri­mar­i­ly with­in Butte Coun­ty, and con­tin­ues to sup­port the health and well­ness of the com­mu­ni­ty of Par­adise. Matt believes that true sys­temic and com­mu­ni­ty change comes from dis­com­fort, rela­tion­ship, and unflinch­ing self-reflection.   Speakers & Breakout Facilitators    Leora Wolf-Prusan (she/her) EdD SCRR Project Director PSMHTTC School Mental Health Field Director   Leora Wolf-Prusan serves as the Project Director for the School Crisis Recovery & Renewal project and as the School Mental Health field director for the Pacific Southwest Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC), in addition to many other facilitation projects. She received a BA in international relations and a BA in Spanish with a minor in Social & Ethnic Relations from the University of California, Davis; a teaching credential from Mills College; and an EdD in educational leadership from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her work in school crisis recovery and renewal is motivated by and dedicated to educators and youth who envision schools as a platform for community and connection.     Oriana Ides (she/hers), MA, LPCCI, PPS SCRR Field Coach PS MHTTC Youth and Young Adult Co-Lead  Oriana Ides is the School Mental Health Training Specialist at CARS, who approaches healing the wounds of trauma and oppression as core elements of social justice. She has worked with young people across life course from elementary school to college, and has served as teacher-leader, school counselor, classroom educator and program director. She is committed to generating equity within school structures and policies by focusing on evidence-based mental health techniques and institutional design. Her work to forge a more just world is motivated by and dedicated to Amilca Ysabel Mouton Fuentes. 

Are you supporting individuals in returning to post-secondary education? If so, you may be interested in attending this training on assessing the need for and identifying the different types of assistive technology and accommodations available for students with mental health conditions in post-secondary settings. Assistive technology and accommodations can significantly improve academic success; however, accessing these supports can be cumbersome. Additionally, there are many types of assistive technology devices/tools that students can use for academic success that range on a continuum from low to high tech. We will define assistive technology and accommodations in the post-secondary setting as well as explore the types of accommodations and assistive technology used to improve performance in post-secondary school settings. Various types of assistive technology and apps will be demonstrated. A representative from Disability Rights’ Assistive Technology Advocacy Center will also be available to provide an overview of relevant legislation and how to access assistive technology. We 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.   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.

This learning community is closed to select participants.  To learn more about this series, visit the homepage: Implementing Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) in Kansas  

Part two of a two-part networking event for ACT psychiatric care providers to connect with other providers across the country. Offered in collaboration with the Institute for Best Practices at the University of North Carolina. ABOUT THIS EVENT This two-part networking event, occurring September 7th and September 14th, 12-1 pm Pacific, will bring together Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) psychiatric care providers, including psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, and other prescribers who work within ACT teams across the U.S. Co-facilitated by ACT psychiatrists and ACT experts, each meeting will include mutual sharing of strengths, challenges, resources, and next steps to help to further support ACT psychiatric care providers in the future. Slides from 9/14   FACILITATORS Steve Harker, MD Dr. Steve Harker has been committed to the ACT model for almost 20 years in a variety of roles. Dr. Harker is an ACT psychiatrist based in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is a certified ACT Fidelity Reviewer and frequently conducts case consultations to PACT teams in Washington state. He also advises students in RADIAS' psychiatry residency program and conducts training in RADIAS' Training Institute.     Christopher Gross, MD Dr. Christopher Gross is a psychiatrist based in Seattle, WA where he works with the PACT team at the Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC). Dr. Gross adopts a holistic approach to psychosis management considering genetics, environmental factors, and neurological processes contributing to the onset and progression of psychotic disorders. His passion lies in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of mental disorders, emphasizing a comprehensive understanding of his patients' well-being.   Maria Monroe-DeVita, PhD Dr. Monroe-DeVita’s expertise is in implementation and services research related to evidence-based practices for adults with serious mental illness, particularly the Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) model. She has served as the Principal Investigator on several projects with the Washington State Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery, including the development, implementation, and fidelity assessment of 10 new ACT teams, and several Illness Management and Recovery (IMR) and Integrated Dual Disorder Treatment (IDDT) pilots across the state. She is also in the process of developing and testing novel approaches to better serving people with serious mental illness. She received a collaborative R34 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to develop and pilot-test the integration of IMR within ACT teams and is working to better define and implement integrated primary care services within ACT. She is also the lead author of the new ACT fidelity tool – the Tool for Measurement of Assertive Community Treatment (TMACT) – which has been disseminated and pilot-tested in several U.S. states and countries. Dr. Monroe-DeVita is a core faculty member of the Northwest MHTTC and SPIRIT Lab at the University of Washington, which provides training, consultation, technical assistance, and fidelity assessment to agencies across the state to support sustainable implementation of EBPs that can substantially enhance the functional recovery of individuals living with serious mental illness.   Lorna Moser, PhD Dr. Lorna Moser is the director of the UNC ACT Technical Assistance Center in the UNC Department of Psychiatry’s Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health, and coordinator of the NC ACT Coalition, a grassroots organization of ACT providers. She is the co-author of the TMACT, and has evaluated and consulted with ACT teams across the United States and abroad. Dr. Moser graduated from Indiana University Purdue University’s Clinical Psychology program, with an emphasis in psychiatric rehabilitation. While there, she worked with the ACT Center of Indiana and as an implementation monitor for the SAMHSA-funded National Implementing Evidence-Based Practices Project. Her dissertation research on the use of restrictive practices within ACT has earned her national awards and she has worked in a wide range of clinical settings, including two ACT teams. Dr. Moser completed post-doctoral training in the Services Effectiveness Research Program in the Duke University Medical School Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.      

DESCRIPTION For the past 100 years, scholars have documented the association of serious mental illness with early mortality. Accelerated aging in people with serious mental illness may be a result of the pathophysiology of mental illnesses and/or non-pathophysiological impacts on the body including medication side effects, the stress of psychotic episodes, stress of navigating the mental healthcare system, stigmatization, community exclusion, impact of lack of preventative care, stress of lower functional status, weak social support, poor healthcare, trauma, lower socioeconomic status, and lifestyle factors such as unhealthy diet, sedentary behavior, and smoking. This webinar will present on the latest empirical evidence on both the risk and protective factors against accelerated aging in people with serious mental illness.   LEARNING OBJECTIVES Develop an understanding of the process of accelerated aging in people with serious mental illness Examine a phenotype for resilience against accelerated aging in people with serious mental illness Develop a practical understanding of how to apply this knowledge in practice to support people with serious mental illness     PRESENTERS Karen Fortuna, PhD, LICSW holds a doctorate in Social Welfare and a master’s degree in Social Work. Dr. Fortuna is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College. Her primary research interest is service delivery strategies for older adults with serious mental illnesses and chronic health conditions. Dr. Fortuna is using community-engaged research methods to develop and implement peer-supported mobile health (mHealth) intervention. She was awarded the NARSAD Young Investigator Grants from the Brain and Behavior Foundation and the Alvin R. Tarlov & John E. Ware Jr. Award in Patient Reported Outcomes for her work. Dr. Fortuna served on the International Standards Advisory Committee to develop the first-ever international accreditation standards for behavioral health care for older adults. Her work can be seen in numerous book chapters on digital peer support, in peer-reviewed journal publications, and in Forbes Magazine and Innovators Magazine. She currently serves as editor of the Journal of Participatory Medicine.     Robert Walker, MS, COAPS is a state peer specialist’s organizer with lived experience with a mental illness. He is on the National and Local Peer Advisory Board for a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute-funded project based at Dartmouth College, organizing the voice of lived experience with behavioral health conditions to influence research and serving as the voice of persons served in the public mental health system to influence public policy, services, and programs. He is employed with the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health.      

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2023 3:00 - 4:30 p.m. PT [Find your local time zone here] Workshop 4 of 5 in the "Back to School Sessions" Workshop Series (view series page for full details)   Trauma Informed Suicide Prevention for Administrators Trauma Informed Principle to Practice: Safety & Peer Support   Recently, school and school system administrators have had to grow their knowledge, skills, and approaches to suicide prevention in their practice. That new stretch in response to rising suicidal ideation amongst staff and students can be daunting and overwhelming.   Join Angela Castellanos and Tina Rocha - two former school site and district administrators - to build an understanding of suicide prevention policy, the prevalence and impact of traumatic stress and its relation to suicide, and resources available to schools. Learn how school leaders can and should be trauma informed when conducting a risk assessment, and how to effectively collaborate with community partners when providing follow up support to students and families.   Audience: System leaders, prevention specialists, educators, administrators, school site leadership, district and state administrative leadership, and anyone interested.   Faculty   Tina Rocha, MSW, PPSC, PASC (she/hers) Tina Rocha has been committed to serving youth and families throughout Orange County as a leader in crisis response and mental health programs. Ms. Rocha has an extensive background in providing countywide school-based crisis response services, training, and consultation. Through her work with the Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance, Ms. Rocha led county-contracted prevention and early intervention mental health services in support of individuals who have often been unserved or underserved. Within her roles with Santa Ana Unified School District and the Orange County Department of Education, Ms. Rocha supported districts in ensuring the practice of trauma-informed and culturally-responsive mental health services through training and through the development of policies and procedures enhancing suicide prevention, intervention and postvention.   She is a committed collaborator–always working to expand support to all along the spectrum of mental health care alongside partners in schools, community, hospitals, and county entities. She is a lifelong learner, a proud social worker, and considers it an honor to have a seat at the CARS table as a Technical Assistance Specialist.     Angela Castellanos, PPSC, LCSW (she/hers) LAngela Castellanos, LCSW, is an experienced mental health consultant and administrator with 25+ years of diverse and progressive expertise in the mental health care industry and school settings. As a licensed clinical social worker, she specializes in administering school mental health programs; mentoring industry professionals (local, state, and federal); and developing and teaching best practices in the areas of trauma, suicide prevention, crisis response and recovery, and school mental health. She is a Certified Approved Instructor through the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Inc. and an experienced wellness coach and therapist.        

  Event Description Multitiered systems of support (MTSS) have gained traction in schools as a population-based approach to meet the needs of all students, especially in the areas of academic intervention and behavior supports. Many MTSS practices are promising for school mental health practice, and can allow mental health supports to be incorporated in existing school structures. In this presentation, an MTSS approach to school-based mental health prevention and intervention techniques will be discussed. Participants will learn about strategies that support all, some, and few students based on levels of need, including a focus on universal prevention strategies, data-based decision making, and intervention modalities and strategies in each tier. Trainer Miranda Zahn, NCSP 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 with attention to public health approaches to early detection and intervention. In addition, Miranda is a school psychologist and school mental health provider at Nebraska’s Educational Service Unit #1, where she provides training and systems consultation to schools.

NAMI has many free support and educational programs. This talk will review these programs and discuss NAMI's first book You Are Not Alone, where people who have lived with mental health conditions use their names and share what they have learned. They do so to reduce the isolation and shame so common with mental health conditions and to make meaning of their experience. Their lessons include ways they have found to live with symptoms, give to others, and build a life. Families who have learned to communicate and cope with loss will also share what they learned.   Presenter: Ken Duckworth, MD, is the chief medical officer of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Ken is board certified in adult psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry, and is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.   If you would like accommodations to participate in any of our events, please contact us at [email protected].

Foundational Skills from Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT): 4-Part Series As caring and competent providers, you realize the importance of having readily available tools to share with your clients whether you are meeting for the 1st or the 15th time. Few evidence based practices offer relevant and accessible skills for decreasing distress, or the vulnerability to distress, like Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT).  Although not a comprehensive DBT course, this 4 module seminar provides a snapshot of some of the foundational skills from DBT. Learn how you can integrate DBT-informed skills into your work with clients from a trauma psychologist trained in DBT approaches. This interactive 4-part series will offer didactic instruction, small group discussions, and opportunities for skill-building practice.  *Registration is now closed as training capacity has been reached. Please email [email protected] for more information about future training sessions in Spring 2024.    Week 2: Learn skills for helping clients validate their emotions  Wednesday, September 13 | 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM (ET)  - Discuss the importance of sensing, naming and managing emotions  - Identify ways to engage clients in their own assessment of their emotions  - Identify techniques to assist clients in developing practical strategies for addressing their emotions appropriately   About the Series Facilitator:  Dr. B. Nilaja Green, PhD writes, speaks and engages at the intersections of individual psychological distress and collective sociocultural oppression. As an Atlanta based Licensed Clinical & Community Psychologist, Dr. Green is certified in trauma informed care and delivering specialized culturally responsive trauma treatments to vulnerable populations such as military veterans, Black women, and members of the LGBTQ+ community through her private practice, Atlanta Trauma Therapy & Consulting. She has engaged in several community level initiatives, including collaborating with the mayor of East Point, in Atlanta to create community level conversations addressing, issues of race, class, history and equity. Having made appearances on several podcasts and in print media, Dr. Green strives to share her message of culturally relevant, holistic mental health practice on various platforms. In service to her profession, she supervises, writes, leads workshops and trainings asking clinicians to cultivate their own radical introspective practice and to approach care of clients with greater cultural humility. In addition to her formal training and years of clinical experience, Dr. Green has also incorporated her love of creative writing and journaling into her clinical work. In service to the community, she created an award winning, community writing group for healers that ran for four years in the Atlanta area, out of which she has developed The Radical Introspection Method for Therapists and trainees. As a foundation for her career, Dr. Green received a B.A. in English & Psychology from Georgetown University and her doctoral degree in clinical and community psychology from Georgia State University. She completed her internship and postdoctoral training at Yale University, Department of Psychiatry in New Haven, CT. She currently lives in Atlanta with her spouse and their stubborn older dog, Bean and new puppy JB. 

MHTTC monthly webinar series featuring Mike Bricker, MS, CADC-2, NCAC-II, LPC Download the flyer HERE for more info  

This is a Post-Program Best Practices School Presentation as part of the 31st Annual Virtual New England School of Best Practices in Addiction Services. This interactive webinar, sponsored by the New England Mental Health Technology Transfer Center, will provide an overview of key strategies to move person-centered care from theory to reality through the practice of Person-Centered Recovery Planning (PCRP). Critical components of PCRP will be addressed including philosophy, process, planning documentation, and purpose. Practical coaching will be offered for how to maintain a strengths-based, person-centered orientation within a comprehensive plan which simultaneously meets rigorous fiscal and regulatory standards. Participants will have an opportunity to “build” a recovery plan through interactive polls and breakout groups and will hear directly from individuals with lived experience about the necessity of person-centered approaches in supporting self-determination and recovery. A variety of take home tools and resources will be available for those interested in more intensive learning on this topic.    Participants will be able to: Identify the critical components of Person-Centered Recovery Planning (PCRP); Build a Recovery Plan that includes Person-Centered goals, strengths, and interventions appropriate for your work setting; and Describe a tool and a resource to support person-centered recovery planning.   Presenter: Janis L. Tondora, Psy.D., Yale University     Participants who register for the full program can attend any of the post-programs at no additional cost. There will be a special registration option for participants who only want to register for post-program sessions. 

DESCRIPTION This in-person and virtual training workshop, presented by the Central East Mental Health Technology Transfer Center and HeadsUp, offers a full day intensive introduction, overview and practice of psychosis identification, management and referral to evidence-based care. It offers a deep dive into assessment and practice of crisis and suicide for individuals experiencing psychosis as well as an overview of the current psychopharmacological treatments regarding symptoms, co-occurring substance use and social determinants of health.   LEARNING OBJECTIVES Discuss identification and screening for individuals experiencing early psychosis Discuss screening and de-escalation for individuals experiencing early psychosis Cite key considerations for non-prescribers of psychopharmacological interventions   AUDIENCE  Community mental health providers serving Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, DC, and West Virginia   CONTINUING EDUCATION INFORMATION / COST The University of Pennsylvania Department of Psychiatry is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The University of Pennsylvania Department of Psychiatry maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Five CE credit(s) will be awarded for this program.   A $25 fee is applicable for anyone applying for APA CE credit for the home study course. There is no CE fee for participants attending the live (in-person or virtual) event.     Access information about the sessions and speakers here.  

Adiestramiento solicitado por la Adminitración de Servicios de Salud Mental y la Adicción (ASSMCA).   

SERIES DESCRIPTION The Central East MHTTC in collaboration with the National Center for School Mental Health is pleased to offer a school mental health webinar series with a focus on advancing high quality, sustainable school mental health from a multi-tiered system of support, trauma sensitive, and culturally responsive and equitable lens. To familiarize yourself with the foundations of school mental health, please review the school mental health guidance document.   SERIES LEARNING OBJECTIVES Gain increased awareness of school well-being within a multi-tiered system of school mental health supports and services Support trauma-informed systems in schools Increase understanding of strength-based practices that promote student academic and social-emotional-behavioral success Learn to provide more culturally responsive and equitable services and supports Hear perspectives on school mental health from school, district and state levels Obtain insight into how youth, families, schools and communities can best work together to address student mental health needs     AUDIENCE Educators, Administrators, Health and Behavioral Health Care Professionals, Central East (Region 3) Project AWARE Grantees, Policymakers and Advocates, and Child-Serving Agency Staff

In this series, participants will learn about implementing and evaluating new or existing programs at their agency. In this first session, the planning stage will be covered.   Session Dates September 12, 2023 | 2:00-3:00 pm ET Session 1: Planning September 19, 2023 | 2:00-3:00 pm ET Register Now! Session 2: Implementation September 26, 2023 | 2:00-3:00 pm ET Register Now! Session 3: Evaluation

The South Southwest MHTTC is pleased to collaborate with the Texas Association of Community Health Centers to host a Trauma Informed Care Series: Knowledge & Strategies for Health and Hope. Join us as we empower staff with “hands-on” Trauma Informed Care knowledge and strategies to advance holistic patient-centered care.     Trauma Informed Care (TIC) is an evidence-based framework particularly suited to collaboratively identify risk factors to care, such as medication access and use, therapeutic engagement, and non-medical resource needs and navigation.     This series is open and applicable to all providers (Medical, Dental, Behavioral Health, and SUD Treatment Clinicians) and all staff (direct-care, front-line, operations, administration, and leadership).       These 1-hour didactic sessions will meet on the 2nd Tuesday of the month. Session 1 (July 11th): Trauma Informed Care Foundations Session 2 (August 8th): Real-world Applications of Trauma Informed Care Principles: Non-Medical Drivers of Health (SDoH) and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Session 3 (September 12th): TIC and Care Coordination through Cross-Sector Collaborations Session 4 (October 10th): TIC and Care for Individuals with Chronic Diseases Session 5 (November 14th): TIC and Care for Individuals with SUD   Download Flyer

DESCRIPTION Youth Mental Health First Aid is an evidence-based training that teaches participants how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges among children and adolescents ages 6-18. This two-part virtual course (September 12 & 14, 11:00am - 2:30pm each day) is primarily designed for adults who regularly interact with young people (such as parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, health and human services workers, etc.). Topics covered include anxiety, depression, substance use, disorders in which psychosis may occur, disruptive behavior disorders (including AD/HD), and eating disorders.   LEARNING OBJECTIVES Describe common mental health challenges for youth Explain typical adolescent development Describe a 5-step action plan for how to help young people in both crisis and non-crisis situations  

This learning community is closed to select participants.  To learn more about this series, visit the homepage: Implementing Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) in Kansas