Trainings for Human Service Providers

Note: Certificates will not be awarded to those who arrive later than 15 mins after the start of the course and who leaves before the course ends. NYS Social Work CE & LMHC Credit Hours: 5.0.  CASAC Renewal Credit Hours: 5.0 Regardless of the program setting, organizations strive to offer services that are culturally sensitive to the service recipients.  With an ever-changing demographic of clients, maintaining cultural competency among staff has to be a deliberate and planned goal.  This training focuses on skill-building based on four of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Standards on Cultural Competency: Ethics and Values, Self Awareness, Service Delivery, and Language Diversity.   In addition to providing services to diverse service recipients, most programs are also staffed by a broad range of individuals, each with unique communication styles and values.   The quality of services offered often depends on the degree to which effective communication takes place amongst all levels of staff, and certain critical sentiments can get lost in translation when staff members are unable to effectively exchange points of view.  Experiential exercises are used to illustrate the concept of culturally bound frames of reference and how to use awareness of these frames to heighten cultural sensitivity.  At the end of this training, attendees will be better equipped to offer culturally sensitive services and to effectively communicate points of view.   Read more

Note:  You must complete the Full Day to receive your certificate. Certificates will not be awarded to those who arrive later than 15 mins after the start of the course and who leaves before the course ends. NYS Social Work CE & LMHC Credit Hours: 5.0.  CASAC Renewal Credit Hours: 5.0 Altering behavior is complicated, and staff can either help the change process by becoming change agents in partnership with the service recipient or hinder the process by unwittingly pushing too hard.   This training is a supplementary training for practitioners who have already mastered the Motivational Interviewing (MI) skills offered in the introductory MI training, such as OARS, expressing empathy, rolling with resistance, and avoiding common road blocks to change.  In this training, participants learn how to use “change talk” to elicit client motivation.  In addition, the training introduces common MI techniques such as DARN statements, reframing, agreement with a twist, and amplified and double-sided reflections.  The goal of the training is to help practitioners promote persons’ commitment to change by advancing their use of MI techniques and avoiding traps that interfere with motivation.  Attendees will leave with a greater understanding of their role in the change process when working with others.   Read more

Note:  Certificates will not be awarded to those who arrive later than 15 mins after the start of the course and who leaves before the course ends. NYS Social Work CE & LMHC Credit Hours: (This training is not eligible for SW CE/LMHC Hours) CASAC Renewal Credit Hours: 5.0 In prison and jail, individuals with mental illness often experience a series of traumatizing (or re-traumatizing) events that increase their mental and emotional vulnerability.  These experiences can create challenges with re-entry into the community.  This training is designed for those who are or will be working with individuals living with mental illness who have a justice-involved history.  Specifically, it explores cultural adaptations common during incarceration, and how these behaviors can influence the adjustment to “living on the outside”; it then provides tools for engaging and assisting these individuals as they transition back into community settings.  Case scenarios are presented, as well as a “Prison Survival Quiz” that reviews some of the situations/decisions that an inmate may encounter when incarcerated, and the impact of those decisions after.  Attendees of the training will leave with a clearer understanding of what it means to be acculturated into prison life, and the steps that direct service staff can take to help individuals re-acclimate after release. Read more

Note:  This training is a Webinar, you must complete the Full Day to receive your certificate. Certificates will not be awarded to those who arrive later than 15 mins after the start of the course and who leaves before the course ends. NYS Social Work CE & LMHC Credit Hours: (This training is not eligible for SW CE/LMHC Hours) CASAC Renewal Credit Hours: 5.0 Studies suggest that social service work can be very stressful, and that not addressing these stressors can impact service delivery.  This often translates to high turnover rates and programs having to invest in resources to train new staff.  This training acknowledges the level of stress in this field and uses the same strengths staff use in their daily work to engage in a series of dialogues about personal self-care and organizational issues that often go unaddressed.  The training also explores common sources of stress and provides strategies for managing and lowering stress levels.  Discussions focus on acknowledging and addressing issues of burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma.  A special emphasis is placed on self-care for staff.  Attendees will be offered information to support a renewed sense of purpose and will be better equipped to manage their stress. Read more

Note:  This training is a Webinar, you must complete the Full Day to receive your certificate. Certificates will not be awarded to those who arrive later than 15 mins after the start of the course and who leaves before the course ends. NYS Social Work CE & LMHC Credit Hours: 5.0.  CASAC Renewal Credit Hours: 5.0 Supervisors play a critical role in helping staff to successfully integrate Motivational Interviewing (MI) into their day-to-day practice.  This training provides supervisors with a forum to discuss and remove barriers to embedding MI into ongoing clinical practice. It also provides concrete strategies that supervisors can use to evaluate and strengthen the more advanced skills taught in Motivational Interviewing.   It provides tools and exercises that supervisors can use to evaluate staff member’s MI skills, practice skills together with staff, and embed MI practice into client interactions. By identifying multiple opportunities and methods for helping staff to build MI skills and avoiding common road blocks, supervisors learn practical ways to reinforce this evidence-based practice. The training is designed to help staff strengthen “change talk” and commitment to change, and to incorporate more direct methods for eliciting motivation to change after establishing a solid alliance.   Attendees will leave with the skills and strategies needed to embed MI into the culture of the workplace. Read more

Note:  This training is a Webinar, you must complete both days to receive your certificate. Certificates will not be awarded to those who arrive later than 15 mins after the start of the course and who leaves before the course ends. NYS Social Work CE & LMHC Credit Hours: 5.0.  CASAC Renewal Credit Hours: 5.0 This training provides staff with information regarding an overview of major psychiatric disorders. Attendees will also be provided information on major diagnostic changes in the DSM5. This training focuses on major psychiatric disorders commonly seen in program settings, including Schizophrenia, Mood Disorders, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Borderline Personality Disorder.  The focus includes the recovery vision so attendees understand that clients who experience psychiatric symptoms can move forward in their lives. The training also offers information on the signs & symptoms of each diagnosis and how to identify them. Attendees will leave with a more complete picture of major psychiatric disorders. and the clinical skills that assist persons move towards recovery.   Read more