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Online via Zoom • 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (lunch break 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.)
Instructor: Daniel Morehead, MD

Neuroscience
Neuroscience constitutes an exciting though vast and disorienting field. This course will synthesize information from primary neuroscience into a coherent and usable form for clinical social work, human social life, and everyday life. We will review brain structure and function, then discuss illuminating aspects of brain science in human development, adversity, resilience, and health. Finally, we will connect specific mental health disorders and treatments to neuropathology, as well as social challenges and inequities. Throughout the course, we will emphasize the brain as one aspect of human nature, a level of dynamic organization that both reflects and influences social and psychological experience, and ultimately cannot be separated from them. No prior knowledge of neuroscience is required, and the class format will be interactive.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will learn brain anatomy and function for the purposes of understanding relevant clinical literature and neuroscience-based theories.
2. Participants will learn the neuroscience and physiology of normal stress and its relation to the development of mental illness.
3. Participants will learn the neuroscience of fear and trauma, including the developmental consequences of early life adversity.
4. Participants will explore the neuroscience of major depression, PTSD, anxiety, and their treatment.
5. Participants will be exposed to the complex and mutual interactions between biological, psychological, and social factors in mental health.

Course Fee: $180
CEUs: 6

Online via Zoom • 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (lunch break 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.)
Instructor: Kelsey Taylor, MS, LMHC

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Children, Youth, and Families
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps children explore their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and how they are interconnected. CBT is frequently used in the treatment of depression, anxiety, and trauma in children and adolescents. This course provides an orientation and overview of CBT. Learn practical skills for individual, group, and family therapy. Explore interventions focused on problem solving, cognitive restructuring, self-regulation, affect identification, and relaxation. Through case studies, interactive discussions, role-plays, and worksheets, you will take away practical CBT strategies to use immediately with any client.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will recognize the Cognitive Triangle and Thinking Errors/Cognitive Distortions.
2. Participants will identify interventions to target feelings, thoughts, and behaviors and when to best implement them in treatment.
3. Participants will identify problem solving techniques.
4. Participants will practice skills for relaxation.

Course Fee: $180
CEUs: 6

Online via Zoom • 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (lunch break 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.)
Instructor: Kenna Sullivan, LCSW

Suicide Prevention Across the Lifespan
One of the most challenging issues a clinician can face is a client’s suicidal crisis. This course will address the psychological, medical, and mental health factors that contribute to suicide and the specific challenges faced by clients at different phases of life. We will review the multi-dimensional aspects of suicide including biological, psychological, interpersonal, sociological, cultural, ethical, and philosophical/existential elements in the suicide event. We will address the management of suicidality and the unique challenges facing clients at different ages. We will identify and examine risk factors as well as treatment interventions and best practices in dealing with the suicidal and the bereaved of all ages. Information and resources will be shared on local and national suicide prevention efforts specific to children, adults, and older adults.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will discuss the terminology, incidence, prevalence, and epidemiology of suicide behavior.
2. Participants will examine three high risk factors for suicide in each of these age groups.
3. Participants will review best practices in suicide assessment and strategies for managing both acute and chronic suicidal clients.
4. Participants will describe various treatment approaches (CBT, DBT, Interpersonal Therapy) for suicidality and therapeutic risk management.
5. Participants will review the most current national and local efforts on suicide prevention and how strategies vary according to the targeted age group.

Course Fee: $180
CEUs: 6

Online via Zoom • 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (lunch break 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.)
Instructor: Chitra Gopalan, LMHC

Motivational Interviewing for Children, Youth, and Families
Motivational Interviewing (MI) is an evidence-based practice that is broadly used by practitioners. This approach can be used with clients with a variety of mental health, substance use, or physical health disorders. MI interventions involve empathically collaborating with the client to enhance intrinsic motivation for change while understanding, addressing, and resolving ambivalence. This course will review the fundamental principles of MI, highlight the techniques for facilitating change that are associated with this approach, and consider how to most effectively employ MI skills in working with children and their caregivers. The Transtheoretical Model of Change will also be reviewed, as will MI interventions that guide progress through the stage of change. This course includes multiple opportunities to practice skills and techniques that are reviewed, heavily incorporating practice exercises for participants to complete in breakout rooms.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will be able to define motivational interviewing (MI).
2. Participants will be able to describe the spirit and the principles of MI.
3. Participants will identify the Stages of Change.
4. Participants will recognize and elicit change talk in clients.
5. Participants will identify MI core skills and tools.

Course Fee: $180
CEUs: 6

Online via Zoom • 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (lunch break 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.)
Instructor: Julia Rydin, LICSW

Psychodynamic Therapy for Adults
Psychodynamic psychotherapy is an empirically validated form of treatment that produces lasting change via a collaborative effort between client and therapist. Psychodynamic therapy is a highly developed model that not only recognizes external and visible symptomatic manifestations of one’s struggles but also the often unconscious forces behind various behavioral and interpersonal patterns. Originally derived from Freud’s psychoanalysis, the psychodynamic model offers a contemporary perspective resulting from decades of subsequent growth and development with theoretical and clinical contributions from ego psychology, object relations, self-psychology, attachment theory, and relational theory. This course will review some fundamental assumptions of the psychodynamic approach, familiarize participants with the work of a few of the key contributors, and apply theory to clinical situations that arise in a variety of social work settings.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will be able to describe fundamental concepts from Drive Theory, Object Relations Theory, Self Psychology, and Relational Theory that underlie contemporary practice of psychodynamic psychotherapy.
2. Participants will be able to articulate how dynamic factors interact with biological predispositions and societal forces to inform their understanding of individuals’ clinical presentation.
3. Participants will be able to identify a set of clinical techniques utilized in psychodynamic therapy to promote formation of insight, development of agency, and greater integration within a relational context.

Course Fee: $180
CEUs: 6

Online via Zoom • 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (lunch break 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.)
Instructor: Jennifer Roman-Martin, LICSW

Trauma and Interpersonal Violence for Children, Youth, and Families
Trauma can impact children, youth, and families in both similar and unique ways. Interpersonal violence can be a particularly harmful type of trauma. To provide effective treatment and promote healing, it is crucial to understand trauma through a developmental and interpersonal lens. This course will provide participants with an in-depth understanding of the impact of trauma and interpersonal violence on children, youth, and families. Through interactive modules, case studies, and breakout sessions, participants will explore trauma-informed case conceptualization and evidence-based intervention strategies to promote healing and resilience for young people and their families.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will identify the potential impacts of trauma on children, youth, and families.
2. Participants will explore common traumatic stress symptoms and differential diagnostic considerations in a developmental context.
3. Participants will practice case conceptualization and treatment planning for interpersonal violence from a trauma perspective.
4. Participants will learn effective intervention skills to promote the healing of children, youth, and families in clinical practice.

Course Fee: $180
CEUs: 6

Online via Zoom • 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (lunch break 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.)
Instructor: Angela Belleville, LMHC

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Adults
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is an evidence-based, short-term therapy shown to decrease symptomology and improve mood and daily functioning by teaching clients self-coaching skills to identify, evaluate, and modify unhelpful thinking and behavioral patterns. This course will provide Master's level clinicians with an understanding of the Cognitive Behavioral model that will include a brief history, populations most commonly treated, basic empirical research, essential components and structure, and commonly used techniques. Participants will learn some essential skills that can be integrated into a CBT treatment plan or used as standalone interventions that they can immediately incorporate into their practice.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will be able to articulate basic theory and key components of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
2. Participants will learn effective ways to socialize clients to the model and gain "buy in".
3. Participants will be able to describe the functions of collaborative case conceptualization.
4. Participants will be familiarized with skills to manage anxiety and worry.
5. Participants will learn the steps to Behavioral Activation, an effective stand-alone intervention for adult clients presenting with depression.

Course Fee: $180
CEUs: 6

Online via Zoom • 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (lunch break 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.)
Instructor: Rachel DiBella, PsyD, MSW, LICSW

Attachment Theory
Clinicians and macro social workers alike benefit from understanding the role attachment plays in how we – and our clients – engage in organizational life, including the workplace. This course will explore the principles of attachment theory, including adult attachment, and will uncover the relationship between insecure attachment and leadership development using insights from the latest research in the field.

Designed with interactive activities and evidence-based frameworks, this learning experience proposes a model for supporting growth and resilience in teams and leaders working in increasingly unpredictable, ambiguous, and complex organizational contexts. This course equips participants with a toolkit to foster greater attachment security in our own professional lives, as well as the lives of our clients.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will be able to describe early and contemporary theories of attachment, including neurobiology, and their uses in clinical and macro social work.
2. Participants will be able to engage in "use of self" to understand one's own attachment experiences, their impacts on social work practice, and strategies for being a secure base for self and others.
3. Participants will be able to recognize the role attachment plays in adult relationships across contexts, including organizational life and professional settings.
4. Participants will be able to describe recent discoveries and limitations in scholarly research on attachment and leadership development, including attachment as an adult developmental phenomenon.
5. Participants will be able to apply working understandings of adult attachment to support leadership development, team cohesion, and organizational effectiveness in social work practice.

Course Fee: $180
CEUs: 6

Online via Zoom • 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (lunch break 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.)
Instructor: Sara Rodrigues, DSW, LICSW

Sexuality and Gender Across the Lifespan
This course provides an overview of gender and sexuality development across the lifespan, focusing on key concepts, influential factors, and implications for social work practice by exploring the complex interplay between gender and sexuality across different stages of human development. Through an interdisciplinary approach, students will examine various theoretical perspectives, research findings, and societal influences on gender identity and sexual orientation from infancy to late adulthood. Topics include biological, psychological, social, and cultural aspects of gender and sexuality, as well as the implications for individual development, relationships, and society as a whole.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will understand gender and sexuality concepts in human development.
2. Participants will explore biological and environmental influences on gender and sexuality.
3. Participants will examine gender identity and sexual orientation development.
4. Participants will analyze societal influences on gender roles and sexual behaviors.
5. Participants will discuss challenges faced by sexual and gender minority individuals.
6. Participants will address ethical and legal considerations in social work practice regarding gender and sexuality.

Course Fee: $180
CEUs: 6