Author: Beth Sharkey, MSW

Racial Justice and Implicit Bias: Fostering Authentic Engagement

Provides 2 hours of content on cultural competence.

Qur-an Webb, MSW and colleagues from Welcome 2 RealRegister Now for CE programsity

Tuesday, October 24, 2023
6:00 – 8:00 pm
2 CECs
Webinar

Registration Fee: $50
10% discount for UConn SSW Alumni and current SSW Field Instructors

The webinar link will be emailed when your registration is complete.

This webinar will examine implicit bias, the differences between equality and equity, and how to recognize equitable practices. Participants will learn to talk about race constructively within their workplace, with colleague organizations, and with their clients by having conversations about racial justice work to help foster authentic engagement. The training will enable participants to apply what they know about racial justice and equity to build a further understanding and agreement. Participants will learn which facilitation tools to use when faced with hot button issues and how to lead conversations about race with presence, grace, and authority.

Learning Objectives:

  • Discuss how biases and discriminatory practices effects clients and their families
  • Explore strategies to help improve our work with the children and families we serve
  • Explore next steps for applying concepts and strategies to advance racial equity

Marijuana: Miracle Drug or the Devil’s Lettuce?

William C. Gilbert, PhD, LCSW, AADCRegister Now for CE programs
Virtual

Wednesday, Sept 20, 2023
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
2 CECs
Also approved for 2 CEUs by the Connecticut Certification Board (CCB) for Alcohol and Drug Counselors

Registration Fee: $50
10% discount for UConn SSW Alumni and current SSW Field Instructors

Webinar link will be emailed when your registration is complete

With the increasing number of states legalizing recreation marijuana and other states approving the drug for medical purposes, the use of marijuana is becoming more popular. With this increasing popularity, the facts about marijuana and the effects on the brain and body are often misrepresented. Marijuana in neither the panacea that some claim, nor will its use lead to the downfall of our country. This webinar will present an unbiased discussion about the facts and myths about marijuana. The pharmacology of the drug will be reviewed as well as its benefits and negative consequences.

By the end of the webinar, participants will be able to:

• describe the effects of marijuana on the brain and body
• distinguish between the myths and facts about marijuana
• describe the validated medical use of marijuana
• describe the cultural and societal effects of marijuana use

Who is Thich Nhat Hanh: Using One Stone Meditation with Clients?

Donald F. deGraffenried, LCSW
Fri, Nov 10, 2023, 9 am – 11 amRegister for CE programs now
2 CECs

Registration Fee: $50
10% discount for UConn SSW Alumni and current SSW Field Instructors

Webinar link will be emailed when your registration is complete.

This two-hour online training will explore the teachings of Buddhist Monk Thich Nhat Hanh. Participants will learn about his history with mindfulness, his advocacy for peace and social justice, and his connection to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Trainer deGraffenried will explain the origin of the “One Stone Meditation” and demonstrate how to use this powerful, yet simple experience of mindfulness to use with clients or for yourself. This is a gentle introduction to the process of mindfulness and enhancing the greater ability to be fully in the moment.

Participants are requested to have a small stone available to use during the webinar. The stone should fit comfortably in the palm of your hand.

In this webinar, you will:

  • Understand how Thich Nhat Hanh’s history with mindfulness and his advocacy for peace and social justice conforms to social work practice
  • Learn about the origin of the “One Stone Meditation” and how to use this powerful, yet simple experience of mindfulness, with clients or yourself

Power, Passion and Purpose: Understanding Clinician Burnout

Jennifer Berton, PhD, LICSW, CADC-II

Thursday, August 31, 2023Register Now
10 am – 12 pm

2 CECs

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

Link to webinar will be included in your email confirmation

Trainings on clinician burnout typically focus on balance and self-care, which may increase healthy habits, but often won’t alleviate burnout. This webinar goes to the heart of the three most common causes of burnout, a lack of power, passion, and purpose, and how to build each one.

Learning objectives:

  • explore and evaluate traditional clinical burnout prevention techniques
  • examine the concept of power, what it is and how to build it in oneself and in the workplace
  • investigate passion by remembering early passion for work and how to reignite it
  • consider one’s purpose and how to increase its value to promote job satisfaction

Understanding Animal Assisted Therapy: How it Conforms to Social Work Practice

Lori Ratchelous, LMSW
Register for CE programs now

Saturday, Dec 3, 2022
10 am – 12 pm
2 CECs

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

The webinar link will be emailed when your registration is complete.

Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) has become increasingly popular over the past decade. Questions surface as to what AAT really is. Therapists often question if by having their animal present while working are they actually providing AAT services to their clients. AAT is a specialty and is much more than bringing a pet into the office.

This webinar will explore a model of understanding the impact of the human-animal bond on attachment, affirmation, and affect regulation. The training will include an overview of three broad areas: a) What is AAT and how is it incorporated into our practice; b) How human-animal interactions and the human-animal bond can impact human health and well-being; and c) The powerful potential that positive connections with animals have for healing and promoting resiliency in human beings while at the same time providing a benefit to the animal.

At the conclusion of this webinar, you will be able to:

  • describe and classify human benefits, including physical, emotional, psychological, and social benefits that can be communicated through HAI (human-animal interaction) and HAB (human-animal bond)
  • demonstrate the ability to match differing therapeutic animal roles and interventions to address different types of human-health and wellness related needs in various settings (schools, nursing homes, hospitals)
  • identify and examine values, ethics, and risk issues for both humans and animals involved in human-animal interactions
  • gain knowledge on ways to incorporate animals in a psychotherapeutic process for special populations: children on the spectrum, elderly, people with dementia

Helping Parents Navigate the New Normal: Promoting a Child’s Social and Emotional Wellness

Deborah Poerio, DNP, APRN, FNP-BCRegister for CE programs now

Thurs, Nov, 3, 2022
6:00 – 8:00 pm
2 CECs

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

Webinar link will be emailed when your registration is complete.

The two and a half yeas have brought about unprecedented transitions for families and many parents find themselves in uncharted waters. Unanticipated life challenges, added roles to parental responsibilities, social isolation, and fear of the unknown have increased stress for both parents and children. Participants will examine these remarkable transitions and their impact on preschoolers (2 – 5 years) and parents. The webinar will incorporate approaches from ADAPT©, a multidimensional community wide evidence-based, screening, assessment, and therapeutic intervention program.

Through lecture and the use of case scenarios, participants will:

  • review the normal growth and development for Preschoolers (2 – 5 years)
    identify common deviations and the methods children use to express deviations
    learn about effective interventions and valuable resources to address behavioral issues

Motivational Interviewing

2 Day TrainingRegister Now for CE programs now

Thomas Broffman, PhD, LICSW, CAADAC, CCS, CEAP
Thursdays, October 20 and 27, 2022
9:00 am – 12:00 pm

6 CECs
Participants must attend both days to receive CECs

$120 – UConn SSW Alumni and Current Field Instructors
$150 – All Others

Webinar link will be emailed when your registration is complete.

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a form of collaborative conversation for strengthening a person’s own motivation and commitment to change. It is a person-centered counseling style for addressing the common problem of ambivalence about change by paying particular attention to the language of change. It is designed to strengthen an individual’s motivation for and movement toward a specific goal by eliciting and exploring the person’s own reasons for change within an atmosphere of acceptance and compassion.

Motivational interviewing is an evidence-based practice based on CBT principles to enhance people’s motivation to change through use of engagement strategies specific to the person’s stage of change. It is particularly effective with people in the pre-contemplation, contemplation, and determination stages of change. The key strategy is to resolve people’s resistance to change their increasing their resistance to change.

At the end of the 2 training days, participants will be able to:

  • Define multiple MI techniques to help clients to change
  • Describe the Stages of Change & complete a Stage of Change Assessment
  • Define the 4 principles of MI
  • Define the components of the spirit of MI
  • Describe OARS
  • Describe at least 2 methods to elicit change talk
  • Utilize a Readiness Ruler
  • Complete a Decisional Balance
  • Complete a Change Plan
  • Describe 3 MI strategies to deal with resistance to change

“Good Trouble” at School: A Call to Action for School Social Workers

Tanya Bulls, DSW, LCSWRegister Now for CE programs now
Christine L. Limone, PhD, LCSW

Thurs, September 8, 2022
2 pm – 4 pm
2 CECs

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

Webinar link will be emailed when your registration is complete.

School social workers don’t always receive discipline-specific clinical supervision in their school setting. The lack of supervision is inconsistent with known best practices of the social work profession. It is time for school social workers to examine the social conditions, policies, and practices within the school setting that contribute to this inequity and advocate for the specialized field of school social work with the same tenacity and persistence as civil rights leaders. This interactive webinar will explain how this came to be and the resulting consequences. In addition, Dr. Tanya Bulls and Dr. Christine L. Limone will provide tools to empower participants to advocate for change in their home districts.

This webinar is intended for experienced and new school social workers, principals, and building administrators. Upon completion, participants will:

  • understand this phenomenon and its impact on the field of school social work
  • engage in activities to practice how to get into “Good Trouble” for themselves and the students they serve
  • be empowered with tools to advocate for organizational change in their districts

Trauma-informed Supervision through a Social Justice Lens

This workshop focuses on trauma-informed supervision through a social justice lens, an approach to supervision that begins with the personal and extends to the professional. Personal histories, identities, characteristics, and psychological experiences of supervisors, as well as structural and environmental conditions of the organization, are considered in supervision. This perspective promotes the role of the supervisor as a leader in establishing a culture within their team that is responsive to and inclusive of the positionalities and unique experiences of clients and colleagues. Supervisors are encouraged to remain vigilant in their commitment to social justice by leading their teams and organizations in achieving truly inclusive diversity.

Learning Objectives (Supervisory Best Practices):

  1. Draw upon social work values to enact commitment to social justice in the role of a leader within your organization
  2. Shape your interactions with supervisees by accounting for positionalities and unique experiences
  3. Partner with your supervisees to critically discuss the culture of the organization
  4. In supervision, reflect on implicit bias and how it impacts the supervisory relationship and work with clients
  5. Seek knowledge and consultation to better understand your positionality and the impact your identity has on the supervisory relationship
  6. Discuss with supervisees the applications of trauma-informed perspectives in supervision and practice

 

Teaching SW Assessment and Planning Skills

This workshop offers the supervisor a multi-dimensional framework for teaching the practice skills required in work with individuals and families of all ages through the assessment and planning phases. Included are a review of the core content areas that need to be addressed in assessing the client/family situation including both strengths and challenges; the critical thinking required in collecting client data; and the ability to organize, interpret, and summarize these data. Supervisors will be encouraged to use interactive training techniques to teach the interviewing and communication skills that engage the client and family in assessment and planning. The special skills involved in working with the family as a social system will be discussed, as will the influence of the worker’s own cultural background on assessment and planning.

Learning Objectives (Supervisory Best Practices):

  1. Use a social work assessment/planning framework as a teaching tool to guide supervisees in direct practice with individuals and families
  2. Encourage critical thinking on the part of supervisees in the collection, organization, and summarization of client data
  3. Emphasize with supervisees the importance of documenting and supporting client strengths and setting measurable and attainable goals
  4. Help supervisees recognize the influence of their own background on the assessment process and be cognizant of the ethical dilemmas they may face
  5. Facilitate interactive training among supervisees on interviewing and communication skills that promote effective collaboration with clients and other stakeholders
  6. Emphasize with supervisees the importance of a family systems approach both in assessment and in planning