Month: August 2021

Beyond Borders: The Human Rights of Non-Citizens at Home and Abroad

Posted on August 31, 2021October 8, 2021 by Wessell, Lindsay

Dr. Kathryn Libal, Associate Professor and Director of the UConn Human Rights Institute, co-edited Beyond Borders: The Human Rights of Non-Citizens at Home and Abroad. Published by Cambridge University Press, the book was made available online in August 2021.

Read the preface below:

States have long denied basic rights to non-citizens within their borders, and international law imposes only limited duties on states with respect to those fleeing persecution. But even the limited rights previously enjoyed by non-citizens are eroding in the face of rising nationalism, populism, xenophobia, and racism. Beyond Borders explores what obligations we owe to those outside our political community. Drawing on contributions from a broad variety of disciplines – from literature to political science to philosophy – the volume considers the failures of law and politics to guarantee rights for the most vulnerable and attempts to imagine new forms of belonging grounded in ideas of solidarity, empathy, and responsibility in order to identify a more robust basis for the protection of non-citizens at home and abroad. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Molly Land is the Catherine Roraback Professor of Law at the University of Connecticut School of Law. Her research focuses on the intersection of human rights, science, technology, and innovation.

Kathryn Libal is an Associate Professor of Social Work and Human Rights and Director of the Human Rights Institute at the University of Connecticut. Her publications have focused on human rights, social work, and refugees and asylum seekers.

Jillian Chambers is a Juris Doctor Candidate at the University of Connecticut School of Law, where she is the Symposium Editor of Volume 53 of the Connecticut Law Review and Executive Brief Writer for the Connecticut Moot Court Board

Relieve Anxiety with Emotional Freedom Technique – Theory and Practice

Posted on August 18, 2021September 1, 2022 by Beth Sharkey, MSW

Catherine Ewing, LCSW, MDiv

2-parts:
Wed, Feb 23, 1 – 3:30 pm & Wed, March 9, 1 – 2:30 pm
4 CECs

$80 – UConn SSW Alumni and Current Field Instructors
$100 – All Others

Webinar link will be emailed when your registration is complete.

Life as we’ve known it has been turned upside down and inside out. Change, loss, fear and uncertainty all add to our already high stress levels and worrisome thoughts. Based on feedback from her previous Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) presentations, Catherine Ewing expanded this program to a 2-part webinar. In the first session, you will learn the basics of EFT (tapping). We will explore how it can relieve anxiety and help bring our clients and ourselves back to a place of inner peace.

In the second session, we will have an opportunity to share our tapping experiences during the previous two weeks, ask questions, and have time for additional practice. If time permits, we will do a group tapping experience based on the energy of the group and what feels most helpful and appropriate to help you move forward in your tapping practice.

Please join us for this 2-part webinar to learn the basics of EFT and walk away with a tool that will change your life. This is the perfect time to learn this simple, but powerful technique for yourself and your clients.

In this engaging webinar, we will:

learn the Basic Recipe that is the basis for all of EFT
learn the 8 standard tapping points
have a direct experience of the benefits of tapping
learn how to use EFT for self-care and with clients
have time to practice and gain confidence in using EFT

The Foundation for Understanding Mental Health

Posted on August 17, 2021September 1, 2022 by Beth Sharkey, MSW

Qur-an Webb, MSW and colleagues from Welcome2Reality

Wed, Oct 20, 2021
2 pm – 4 pm
2 CECs

$40 – UConn SSW Alumni and Current Field Instructors
$50 – All Others

This webinar was created to provide a base level understanding of mental health challenges and disorders from stigma to trauma to treatment and more. The training will be delivered in an interactive format by including activities, promoting discussion and creating a safe space for to engage in critical conversations around mental health and what we can do to promote better mental health wellbeing and functioning.

We will discuss the factors that puts someone at risk or protects them from developing a mental illness, including the influence of trauma. We will examine the effect of stigma on the perception of mental illness on the individual and societal levels, including how this is often internalized. We will explore some of the most common mental health disorders and then bridge into discussing treatment methods, how to identify signs versus symptoms, barriers to treatment and ways in which we can work to eliminate stigma, promote treatment engagement and emphasize the importance of self-care.

Learning Objectives:

Understand the prevalence of mental health challenges and disorders
Explore risk and protective factors for developing a mental illness
Discuss the impact of trauma and the physiological manifestation of signs and symptoms as they influence mental health
Discuss the impact that stigma has on the perception of mental illnesses on the societal, communal and personal level
Learn some tips for eliminating stigma, engaging in treatment and the importance of self-care

Finding and Improving a Trauma-Informed Workplace Using Brain Science

Posted on August 13, 2021August 13, 2021 by Beth Sharkey, MSW

Patricia D Wilcox, LCSW

Friday, Sept 24, 2021
10 am – 12 pm
2 CECs

$40 – UConn SSW Alumni and Current Field Instructors
$50 – All Others

Webinar link will be emailed when your registration is complete.

Our growing awareness of the importance of trauma-informed care goes beyond clinical work with individuals. It includes the organization and practices of the whole agency system. Helpers cannot treat their clients any better than they themselves are treated. In addition, as we consider the high toll that working with trauma survivors can take on treaters, it is increasingly clear that self-care practices are not enough. In this era of staff shortages and high turnover, the agency must take action to sustain the hope and energy of its workers. What are these actions?

When staff feel they are connected with each other and the agency, and are using and developing their best selves, they are calmer and more effective. Trauma-informed care means using the relationship as the primary vehicle of change. Staff cannot have open-hearted relationships with clients unless they feel safe and connected. We will share strategies for developing a protective social environment.

Participants will be able to:

Define a trauma-informed workplace and list five components.
Develop a list of questions to ask in a job interview to learn more about organizational practices.
Critique their current organization through a polyvagal and trauma-informed lens.
Appraise and discuss their own personal contributions to a culture to sustain employees and develop a plan for future action.
Utilize polyvagal theory to examine staff reactions to safety and danger and develop an action plan to increase staff connectedness and safety either as an employee or as a supervisor.

More details about the webinar:

This webinar will first address the process of seeking a job in an agency that takes care of its workers. What should the interviewee look for? What questions should they ask?

The webinar will then address the role of the individual employee in creating and enhancing a trauma-informed system. What can one person do? The new field of polyvagal theory will help participants understand how safety and danger affect their own behavior and that of their co-workers, including the role of implicit bias. A tool to develop insight into one’s own experiences of safety at work will be introduced. A sense of safety is greatly enhanced by connectedness. Participants will also examine how the racist climate influences our sense of safety and danger, and how self-awareness and specific strategies can help us bring anti-racism into our treatment. Other areas that have been shown to be essential for worker job satisfaction are voice and choice and a sense of purpose and efficacy. Participants will explore actions they personally can take to evaluate and improve these factors in their work settings.

The webinar will also address the role of supervisors and leaders in creating a sustaining workplace, including a checklist of possible action steps.