Continuing Education

Mental Health Provider Compassion Fatigue: Preventing It and Addressing It

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Marie Cortez, LCSW, Certified Professional Life Coach
Monday, October 27, 2025
9:00 am -11:00 am
Virtual
2 CECs

This webinar explores compassion fatigue, also known as secondary traumatic stress or burnout, and its impact on mental health professionals. Social workers and other mental health providers often feel overworked, stressed, overwhelmed, and unappreciated in the workplace. It’s a reality that is seen as being part of the job, but it’s all too often dismissed or brushed aside. However, dismissing this reality does not make it go away.

The goal of this training is to empower social workers and other mental health providers to prioritize self-care and their own mental health while helping their clients.

Participants in this webinar will:
• learn how to recognize burnout
• understand why mental health providers suffer from burnout
• learn the importance of addressing the inevitable stress of our work
• explore emotion regulation strategies to cope with the stress of our field

Understanding and Addressing Parental Stress

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Qur-an Webb and colleagues from Welcome 2 RealityRegister Now
Tuesday, October 28, 2025
6 pm – 8 pm
2 CECs

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

Webinar link with be included in email confirmation

Understanding and Addressing Parental Stress is designed to help participants gain insight into the root causes of parental stress across developmental stages, the disproportionate burdens faced by low-income and marginalized families, and the lasting impact on mental health and parenting capacity. The training will offer practical tools and strategies to engage and support parents through trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and father-inclusive approaches.

Participants in this webinar will:

• Understand the current statistics and trends related to parental stress in the U.S., with a focus on disparities affecting parents with limited access to services.
• Explore how stress manifests during early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence, including financial, emotional, and time-related challenges.
• Analyze how poverty, social isolation, work-family conflict, and limited service access intensify stress for parents, particularly for fathers in marginalized communities.
• Identify evidence-based interventions, community support mechanisms, and policy recommendations that professionals can use to support stressed parents.
• Learn techniques for engaging fathers in stress reduction supports and services, especially those who are often left out of traditional parenting programs.

Understanding Grief in Children/Teens in Foster/Residential Care

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Ruth Pearlman, LCSW, LICSW, M.ED
Wed, August 6, 2025Register Now for CE programs now
10 am – 12 pm (ET)
2 CECs

Registration fee: $50
10% Discount for UConn SSW Alumni and Current UConn SSW Field Instructors

Webinar link will be emailed when your registration is complete.

As social workers, we tend to have limited training in the grief of children. How they cognitively and psychologically understand loss is often omitted from our core learning objectives. For children in foster or residential or alternative care, the research is even more limited. This webinar will focus on the specific bereavement and grief experiences of children in alternative care. We will explore how a child, to even “be” in alternative care, is to be a griever. Any alternative care for a child, by its very definition, requires that the child in care has either lost a family member(s) to actual death or another form of loss that often feels like a death.

How have we systemically viewed these grieving children? Are we more likely to diagnose their expressions of grief as negative behaviors? Can the most oppositional child we treat be among the most bereaved children we have encountered?

This webinar will examine children in alternative care as disenfranchised grievers. We will address the bereavement needs that so often, and unintentionally, go untreated. We will also explore why this grief has been systemically undertreated due to a system that was never given adequate resources to address the bereavement needs of these children.

Participants will:

  • be able to identify the common symptoms of grief experienced by children in care
  • be able to identify how grief manifests in behavioral symptoms
  • learn positive interventions to address grief and loss issues of children in alternative care

The Clinical Interview

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Jennifer Berton, PhD, LICSW, CADC-IIRegister Now for CE programs now
Wednesday, June 25, 2025 – New Date!
In-person on the UConn Hartford Campus
9:30 am – 4 pm
5.5 CECs

Registration Fee: $125
UConn SSW Alumni and Current Field Instructors receive a 10% discount

Classroom location, directions and parking details will be included in your email confirmation

Trainings on assessment and diagnosis typically focus on client symptoms and psychopathology. This training has the actual clinical interview at its focus, exploring how to gather the information you need from each client. Participants will learn how to prepare, what skills are needed, and where to focus each section of the interview.

Learning Objectives:

  • Identify the primary goal(s) of the clinical interview
  • Gather useful listening and verbal skills that support rapport
  • Explore how to direct and redirect clients and the path of the interview
  • Learn strategies to manage common scenarios that challenge the interview

Thich Nhat Hanh Meets Francine Shapiro: One Stone Meditation and EMDR

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Donald deGraffenried, LCSW
In-person at the UConn Hartford CampusRegister Now for CE programs
Friday, July 18, 2025
9 am – 12 pm
3 CECs*

* Also approved for 3 EMDRIA credits (Approval #08012-21). Prior EMDR training is not required to attend this training, however EMDRIA credits will only be available to individuals who have completed Part I and Part II EMDR Basic Training

Registration Fee: $75
UConn SSW Alumni and Current Field Instructors receive a 10% discount

Classroom location, directions and parking details will be included in your email confirmation

This three-hour in person 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 Donald deGraffenried, LCSW will explain the origin of the “One Stone Meditation” and demonstrate how to use this powerful, yet simple experience of mindfulness 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. It has wide application for use with clients, especially in the management of stress and anxiety. Participants will also have the option via a practicum to enhance/strengthen their experience by using bilateral tapping which comes out of the work of Francine Shapiro, Ph.D. and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).

Please bring a small stone with you to the training. The stone should fit comfortably in the palm of your hand.

In this interactive and experiential seminar, participants will:

• practice the “One Stone Meditation”
• develop the meditative experience
• have the opportunity to practice and strengthen their experience by using bilateral tapping

Coming Home: Readjustment Reactions following Military Service and Deployment

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Register for CE programs now

Provides 2 hours of content on veterans mental health issues.

Christopher Morse, LICSW, MVF-ASW 

Saturday, June 14, 2025
10 am – 12 pm
2 CEC

Registration fee: $50
10% Discount for UConn SSW Alumni and Current UConn SSW Field Instructors

Webinar link will be emailed when your registration is complete.

While not all service members experience mental health issues, many will experience difficulties returning to the civilian world. Participants will learn about common readjustment issues faced by military and veteran populations. We will also examine the effects of trauma on readapting to life after deployment. In response to the many requests of participants who attended his trainings on Understanding Military Culture, Christopher Morse, LICSW developed this program to shed light on another important aspect of working with veterans and active military personnel.

This webinar will:

  • examine common readjustment reactions following military service and deployment to combat theaters
  • explore the effects of trauma on readjustment following combat service
  • introduce the use of common military cultural artifacts and concepts in translating therapeutic concepts into principles common to military service

Pharmacotherapy for Depression/Anxiety Disorders and Alcohol Use/Opioid Use Disorders

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Kristin Waters, PharmD, BCPS, BCPPRegister Now for CE programs
Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Live Webinar
10 am – 12 pm
2 CECs

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

Dr. Kristin Waters, a clinical pharmacist in psychiatry and assistant clinical professor at the UConn School of Pharmacy will join us to examine current pharmacotherapy for Depression and Anxiety Disorders and Alcohol Use Disorder and Opioid Use Disorder. In the first half of the webinar, Dr. Waters will examine treatment for major depression and anxiety disorders which are among the most common psychiatric conditions affecting adults in the US. She will discuss the medications most commonly used in the management of major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders such as generalized anxiety disorder. While pharmacologic management may not be appropriate for all patients, it is important for social workers to have a basic understanding of these common medications.

The second hour of the webinar will focus on Alcohol Use Disorder and Opioid Use Disorder. Substance use disorders (SUDs) can have a major impact on the individual, their family, and the community. Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is the most common SUD in the United States, affecting approximately 30 million people. While opioid use disorder (OUD) is less common, the mortality rate is significant due to the risk of overdose and/or unsafe behaviors associated with use that can lead to further medical complications. Most people with SUDs do not seek treatment. However, medications used in the management of AUD and OUD can improve outcomes. These medications will be discussed during this webinar.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify medications that are considered first-line therapy for the management of major depressive disorder and the anxiety disorders discussed
• Describe the basic mechanism of action of antidepressant medications and other medications commonly used to manage anxiety
• Describe the most common side effects associated medications discussed including the black box warning for increased suicidal thoughts and behaviors for patients less than 25 years old
• Identify medications that are considered first-line therapy for the management of alcohol use disorder and opioid use disorders
• Describe logistical considerations surrounding how patients obtain medications used for OUD
• Discuss risks and benefits of pharmacologic strategies and role of medications in harm reduction

Making Sense of the DSM 5 TR

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Jennifer Berton, PhD, LICSW, CADC-IIRegister Now for CE programs now
Wednesday, June 4, 2025
In-person on the UConn Hartford Campus
9:30 am – 4 pm
5.5 CECs

Participants are requested to bring a copy of the DSM 5 to practice diagnosis using clinical vignettes during the workshop.

Registration Fee: $125
UConn SSW Alumni and Current Field Instructors receive a 10% discount

Classroom location, driving directions and parking details will be included in your email confirmation

The 5th edition of the DSM is a manual rich with information and guidance into the diagnostic process, yet most clinicians only utilize a portion of the manual. Are you prepared to incorporate the manual into your practice to accurately diagnose your clients? The workshop provides practical insights into navigating the DSM’s complex structure, ensuring accurate and consistent application in clinical practice. We will examine the full manual and practice accurate diagnosis together.

Learning Objectives

  • Understand the major philosophical and categorical changes in the DSM 5
  • Learn the essential features of each disorder group in the DSM 5
  • Examine the assessment tools published with the DSM 5
  • Practice diagnosis using the DSM 5 through clinical vignettes

Art of Diagnosis

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Register for CE programs nowJennifer Berton, PhD, LICSW, CADC-II
Wednesday, May, 28, 2025
In-person at the UConn Hartford Campus
9:30 am – 4 pm
5.5 CECs

Registration Fee: $125
UConn SSW Alumni and Current Field Instructors receive a 10% discount

Classroom location, directions and parking details will be included in your email confirmation

The diagnosis is at the root of all clinical work, yet there is little education on how to write diagnoses well. This training explores common diagnostic errors and how to avoid them using several significant assessment tools that allow us to get to the best diagnosis for each client.

Delve into the intricacies of diagnostic processes, learning how to differentiate between various mental health disorders with precision and confidence. This training emphasizes critical thinking and the application of diagnostic criteria in real-world scenarios.

Learning Objectives

  • Explore common diagnostic mistakes clinicians make
  • Learn the major influences that affect our diagnostic process
  • Evaluate critical assessment tools to aid in diagnosis
  • Practice assessment utilizing clinical assessment tools

The Power of Group Work in the High School Setting

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Antoinette Brown, LMSWRegister Now for CE programs
Saturday, May 17, 2025
9:30 am – 4:00 pm
In-person Seminar
5.5 CECs

Registration Fee: $125
10% discount for UConn SSW Alumni and Current SSW Field Instructors

This seminar is designed for School Social Workers and other education professionals seeking to enhance their understanding of group work as a powerful tool for supporting students’ social and emotional well-being. Participants will explore how group work fosters a sense of belonging, strengthens peer connections, and addresses academic, relational, and behavioral challenges. By creating a supportive group environment, School Social Workers and Group Work Facilitators play a crucial role in fostering a more conducive learning atmosphere for all students.

Key Takeaways:

• Practical strategies for planning and facilitating effective school-based groups.
• A deeper understanding of how group work meets students’ social-emotional needs.
• Tools for creating inclusive, trauma-informed group environments.
• Techniques to navigate common challenges in group dynamics.
• Increased confidence in using group work to support student success.

This interactive seminar will equip participants with the knowledge and skills needed to implement meaningful group interventions that foster student well-being and success in the school setting.

By the end of this seminar, participants will:

• Understand the role of group work in promoting students’ social-emotional growth and academic success.
• Learn strategies for intentional planning and preparation of group sessions.
• Identify different types of school-based groups and their specific purposes.
• Explore trauma-informed practices within the group setting.
• Develop skills to promote cultural competency and inclusiveness in group work.
• Engage in interactive learning activities that reflect real-world group dynamics.
• Discuss the organic nuances and challenges of facilitating school-based groups.