Social Work Workshops

9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (3 hours; 3 CEUs)
Workshop A: Manage Stress, Time, and Relationships Better
Instructor: Elise Tofias Phillips, MEd

Are you juggling multiple balls in the air with your busy professional and personal life? Are you always trying to develop strategies that can help you to navigate your life better? Would you like to be able to manage your stress, time, and relationships better? 

During this three-hour workshop, you will learn innovative, practical strategies and techniques to help you navigate life. Through exploration of personal life management skills, we will build strength and resilience toward a more balanced, healthier, and happier life. 

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will learn positive communication techniques for healthier relationships.
2. Participants will explore stress management skills to decrease your personal stress.
3. Participants will learn time-management techniques to enhance managing different areas of your life.
   

9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (3 hours; 3 CEUs - Anti-Discrimination)
Workshop B: Introduction to Gender Affirming Clinical Work with Adults 
Instructor: Luke Patrick King, LICSW

In this workshop, participants will develop an understanding of the unique clinical needs and concerns of transgender adults. This includes a framework for understanding trans and non-binary gender identity development, and specific strategies for anti-oppressive clinical practice with trans and gender diverse adults. Participants will consider the role of their own gender identity and presentation in the clinical room, and will be challenged to go beyond baseline gender acceptance to engage in meaningful and transgender-knowledgeable care. This workshop will include a lecture portion on specific clinical considerations and developmental frameworks, and will then include breakout rooms to discuss case studies and large group discussions.

Learning Objectives:

Participants will develop an understanding of:

1. The unique clinical needs and concerns of transgender adults.
2. The development of transgender adult identity.
3. Strategies for effective anti-oppressive clinical practice with transgender adults.

9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. (2 hours; 2 CEUs)
Workshop C: Parenting Apart: Helping Divorcing Parents Reduce Conflict for Their Children
Instructor: Ben Stich, LICSW, MEd

A child’s exposure to conflict or tension between parents is correlated with poorer outcomes for children whose parents are separated or divorced. Join divorce/family mediator and social worker Ben Stich to learn ways to help parents navigate a child-centered separation or divorce.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will learn about the impact of parental conflict on child development.
2. Participants will learn strategies to coach clients on how to manage a high conflict co-parenting relationship.
3. Participants will learn ways a good divorce agreement can help to reduce conflict in co-parenting.
   

2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (2 hours; 2 CEUs)
Workshop D: Crisis Intervention, Risk Assessment, and Safety Planning With Adults
Instructor: Leah Perez, LCSW

This workshop will increase participants’ understanding of crisis intervention, competence conducting a risk assessment, and ability to engage clients in safety planning. Areas explored include: suicidal ideation, self-injury, aggressive behavior, manic mood, psychosis, and substance abuse with an adult population. Participants will focus on assessing both risk and protective factors to determine individualized level of risk for various clinical scenarios. The training will introduce Massachusetts’ laws related to mental health and substance abuse (Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 123, Section 12 and Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 123, Section 35), and explore the various levels of care ranging from inpatient hospitalization to outpatient therapy, with attention to when a client would be most appropriately served by a particular service.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will be able to identify risk and protective factors relating to mental health crises, including suicidal ideation, self-injury, aggressive behavior, manic mood, substance abuse, and psychosis.  
2. Participants will learn the criteria for levels of care available for adults, ranging from inpatient hospitalization to outpatient therapy.
3. Participants will gain safety planning tools and be able to create a safety plan based on a variety of clinical scenarios. 
   

9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (3 hours; 3 CEUs - Anti-Racism)
Workshop E: Social Work and Philosophical Ethics
Instructor: William J. Healey III, PsyaD, LICSW

In this workshop, participants will learn about philosophical ethics. We will explore how many different philosophers have approached ethics, and the tools used to make sense of ethical issues. Questions that will be explored include: “Where does the ethical act take place? In the action? In the intention? In the consequences?” “What role does the unconscious play when it comes to determining what is ethical?” “How do we balance our duty towards an ethical code (law) with our moral feelings, especially if they are in conflict?” Participants will be equipped with tools to think about right and wrong.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will learn how philosophers have approached ethics from different points of time and from across the globe.
2. Participants will learn how to apply these approaches to ethical problems in their work (clinical, macro, or even personal).
3. Participants will learn how philosophy is a type of thinking that everyone can engage with; having an understanding of universal questions is beneficial for any social worker.
   

9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (6 hours; 6 CEUs) (lunch break 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.)
Workshop F: Integrating Solution Focused Therapy Into Clinical Practice, Part 2 (Part 1 to be offered during the Summer 2023 Advanced Clinical Practice for Adults series)
Instructor: Susan Lee Tohn, MSW, LICSW

Solution Focused work is ideal for these challenging times as the model meets the client's needs in fewer sessions than traditional models and is applicable to a culturally diverse clientele. Solution Focused Brief Therapy focuses on "change" not "problems" and is applicable to both the micro and macro levels of working with individuals, families, groups, and managed behavioral healthcare organizations. Solution Focused Therapy empowers people to create and realize their own solutions, and emphasizes strong rapport and active participation by both client and therapist. The workshop will build on the Part 1 course that covered theory and an initial Solution Focused session, and will provide participants with many hands-on techniques they will be able to incorporate immediately into their work. This Part 2 training will cover later sessions and how to create the unique intervention message that includes the client's homework.

Learning Objectives: 

1. Participants will demonstrate the EARS technique.
2. Participants will explain how to utilize scaling to terminate with clients.
3. Participants will describe the three components of the Solution Focused intervention message.

9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (3 hours; 3 CEUs)
Workshop G: Domestic Violence: The Legal and Social Work Overlap
Instructors: Tsana Dimanin, MSW, LICSW, NIC and Owen Ladd, JD

In this workshop, learn about proceedings before, during, and after a domestic violence (DV) case. We will discuss the different roles that a Social Worker has during these proceedings and how we can help. We will review laws/regulations in Massachusetts that can assist in these cases outside of the courtroom (restraining orders, police investigation, grand jury, in court, post-disposition, probate court). There will also be discussion about populations that are involved in DV cases, state agency involvement, and restorative justice.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will identify the different roles/responsibilities/contributions a Social Worker can make during a DV case.
2. Participants will explain the policies and procedures for court proceedings arising from DV cases, such as criminal cases and civil restraining orders.
3. Participants will learn to utilize resources available in Massachusetts that can help individuals involved in DV cases.
   

9:00 a.m. to 11 a.m. (2 hours; 2 CEUs)
Workshop H: Results Based Facilitation For Social Workers
Instructor: Qur-an Webb, MSW 

Results Based Facilitation (RBF) helps leaders design, lead, and contribute to meetings that effectively move groups from talk to action and hold participants accountable for advancing the work. This workshop will provide participants with an understanding of RBF and the foundational skills necessary to effectively plan a meeting that results in a commitment to action. Participants will leave the training with concrete RBF tools that can be put into practice.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will learn the roles and responsibilities associated with Results Based Facilitation.
2. Participants will learn the six foundational skills that lead to becoming more effective.
3. Participants will be able to describe the Person, Role, and System module as it relates to Results Based Facilitation.
4. Participants will understand the commitment to action and continued growth of social workers.  
   

2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (2 hours; 2 CEUs)
Workshop I: Crisis Intervention, Risk Assessment, and Safety Planning With Children and Adolescents
Instructor: Leah Perez, LCSW 

This workshop will increase participants’ understanding of crisis intervention, competence conducting a risk assessment, and ability to engage children, adolescents, and families in safety planning for a variety of clinical presentations. Areas include: suicidal ideation, self-injury, aggression, and emotional dysregulation. Participants will focus on assessing both risk and protective factors to determine individualized level of risk for various clinical scenarios. The training will introduce Massachusetts’ laws related to involuntary admissions as they relate to youth (Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 123, Section 12); discuss inpatient, outpatient, and community based services available to address the needs of children and families; and support participants’ ability to determine which services would most appropriately meet a client’s needs.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will be able to identify risk and protective factors relating to mental health crises, including suicidal ideation, self-injury, aggression, and mood dysregulation, for children and adolescents. 
2. Participants will learn the different available services to address child and family mental health needs, including inpatient hospitalizations, CBAT, partial hospitalizations, CBHI services, and outpatient services.
3. Participants will gain safety planning tools and be able to create a safety plan for children and families based on a variety of clinical scenarios. 
   

9:00 a.m. to 12 p.m. (3 hours; 3 CEUs - Anti-Racism)
Workshop J: Building Accountable Communities with People Who Have Caused Harm
Instructors: Jonathan Barry, LICSW and Samuel R. W. Ellison

This workshop will build on three community workshops that the instructors co-facilitated in Boston from 2018 to 2021 to support people who want to do Transformative Justice (TJ), and community accountability work with men who have caused harm, specifically sexual harm. The workshop will introduce TJ and community accountability as models for responding to sexual harm. We will also engage participants in self-reflection, teach core skills, and share frameworks as well as lessons learned from the workshops we facilitated.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will be introduced to Transformative Justice (TJ) as a framework.
2. Participants will reflect on roles and responsibilities in Community Accountability work within a Transformative Justice framework.
3. Participants will reflect on core capacities for engaging people who have caused harm in a Transformative Justice framework.
4. Participants will learn engagement strategies that can be used in work with people who have caused harm.
5. Participants will learn strategies for building community capacity for community-based TJ responses to harm.
   

9:00 a.m. to 11 a.m. (2 hours; 2 CEUs - Anti-Discrimination)
Workshop K: Understanding Public Safety Based Clinicians
Instructor: Samantha Cavanaugh, LICSW, MSW

This workshop will focus on teaching participants about the access points, strengths, and limitations of clinical support within public safety departments. In addition to learning about the different types of clinical teams, participants will also learn about prevention, crisis, and postvention techniques and how/why certain strategies are used in different settings. Furthermore, information will be taught about the importance of meeting individuals where they are at and respecting/honoring their identities in assessment and treatment planning. The workshop will also cover the importance of applicable policy and buy-in from the department, town/city, and community partners.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will comprehend the differences in roles between public safety and clinicians within public safety sectors.
2. Participants will understand the limitations of the systems currently at work in Massachusetts and how this impacts public safety.
3. Participants will understand the different types of intervention areas and types of police-based clinicians. 

2:00 p.m. to 4 p.m. (2 hours; 2 CEUs - Anti-Racism)
Workshop L: Supporting Resilience for African Diaspora Students
Instructors: Jessica Fonzi, LCSW and Nadiya Tucker, LCSW, MSW

Mental health services and programs are often designed for the needs and worldviews of students who are from the majority culture. These programs often disregard the perspectives, intersecting systemic vulnerabilities, and strengths of people living in the Diaspora. This training will help both micro- and macro-level practitioners to identify these gaps and bridge them in creative ways to better reach this population and support resiliency. We will use case examples and personal reflections, with a person-in-environment lens to increase awareness and insight for participants. We will also examine how these learnings intersect with those from other underserved populations. This training will also strengthen skills for self-reflection and compassionate curiosity for ourselves as practitioners, in support of a growth mindset.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will recognize the diverse needs of clients in the Diaspora and their intersecting systemic vulnerabilities and resources.
2. Participants will learn about tools to identify sources of support for clients in Diaspora.
3. Participants will learn how to reinforce those supports for greater resilience.
4. Participants will strengthen skills of self-reflection and bring a growth mindset to their micro and macro practice.
   

9:00 a.m. to 12 p.m. (3 hours; 3 CEUs - Anti-Discrimination)
Workshop M: Epilepsy and Everyday Life
Instructors: Maureen Slotnick, MBA, MSW and Alison Kukla, MPH

Did you know that 1 in 26 people will develop epilepsy in their lifetime? Seizures can be a part of everyday life for many individuals who live with Epilepsy. Seizures can happen once in a lifetime or happen daily; often someone living with Epilepsy can also face other mental and physical challenges. Through this workshop, participants will learn about seizures, epilepsy, and how epilepsy can affect everyday life for an individual or that person’s family. Epilepsy is an underfunded disease so awareness and safety around seizures is often unshared. Join us for this workshop on epilepsy and everyday life.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will learn about seizures and epilepsy.
2. Participants will learn mental and physical health components of epilepsy.
3. Participants will learn about resources for those living with epilepsy.
4. Participants will learn solutions for caregivers for those living with epilepsy and how to help if a seizure occurs.