William C. Gilbert, PhD, MSW, LCSW, AADCRegister for CE programs now

Saturday, October 15, 2022
10:00 am – 12:00 pm

2 CECs

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

Webinar link will be emailed when your registration is complete.

Those suffering from substance use disorders can face many obstacles in achieving and maintaining recovery. As advocates for those in recovery, we know that such obstacles can delay or prevent a person from meeting their recovery goals. In response to this problem, recent research has explored those factors that support recovery. Using the concept of "Recovery Capital," Dr. Gilbert will present findings of his research on the relevance of social support, twelve step meeting participation, and spirituality as factors that foster recovery. He will also discuss how his findings can be applied to assist programs that serve people with substance use disorders.

Upon completion of this course participants will be able to:

  • define the concept of "Recovery Capital"
  • demonstrate an understanding of those factors that contribute to maintaining recovery
  • formulate a plan to apply the findings presented to assist their clients

Register for CE programs nowRuth Pearlman, LCSW, LICSW, M.ED

Wed, Sept 14, 2022
10 am – 12 pm
2 CECs

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

Webinar link will be emailed when your registration is complete.

Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) is a condition where a person has difficulties regulating their senses within their environment. These are our clients who can experience the world as being "too loud" or "too intense". They can experience the world as being so sensory over-whelming that their bodies go into a defensive "fight, flight or freeze" stance. For many people with SPD, their constant need to re-regulate their senses to adapt to the stimuli around them, creates symptoms of distractibility, irritability, anxiety, and depression.

So where is SPD in the DSM 5? It isn't. Although more than half of all the diagnostic criteria of disorders in the DSM 5 describe symptoms of SPD, the APA refuses to acknowledge SPD as a disorder. Therefore, DSM 5 conditions such as ADHD, PTSD, Tourette's, ASD, ODD, the Anxiety Disorders as well as Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, are never understood or treated through the lens of sensory integration. Yet all of the above disorders are, in large part, sensory-based disorders. Imagine trying to treat a client with ASD or PTSD and not teaching the client about their sensory system reactions?

In this interactive webinar, participants will:

  • Explore the long-delayed need to incorporate sensory integration issues into our working knowledge of the DSM 5
  • Recognize that negative behaviors of are better de-escalated when sensory overload can be quieted (calmed down), similar to "sensory rooms" and "sensory placed" used in schools
  • Consider the clinical cost of these misinterpretations for both children and adults

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

Donald F. deGraffenried, LCSW
Fri, Sept 23, 2022, 10 am – 12 pmRegister for CE programs now
2 CECs

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

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

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

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

Jennifer Berton, PhD, LICSW, CADC-IIRegister now for CE programs

Thurs, Sept 15, 29 and October 6, 2022
10 am – 12 pm
6 CEC

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

Webinar link will be emailed when your registration is complete.

Welcome to the Building a Private Practice Series . This training is not only for people who are thinking about starting a practice, but also for those who have an existing practice. It's never too late to make some adjustments to your practice that will help it grow more effectively!

This training is split into 3 consecutive Thursday webinars. Participants must attend all 3 sessions to earn CECs.

PART I covers the top mistakes people make in private practice, and begins to layout the framework for building a better one. We will explore the nuts and bolts of who, why,  where, and when to open a private practice. Then we will dive into how to set up your practice with your own policies and procedures.

PART II begins with ironing out all the financial aspects of your private practice, including how to set a fee schedule, how + why to work with insurances, how + why to work with private pay options, bank accounts, insurances, and taxes. We will then lay out all the clinical paperwork you need to safeguard your practice the right way.

PART III begins with a discussion of how to market your business, where you should focus and what you should ignore. We then round out the series by exploring how to develop your practice, how to effectively close your practice, and how to troubleshoot your practice when it isn't growing as you would like it to grow.

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

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

This workshop teaches supervisors how to support staff in planning to meet the needs of clients with mental illnesses and substance use across the life course. Included are supervisory considerations for supporting social service workers in the ongoing assessment of mental disorder symptoms and their potential impacts on clients and their families, building understanding of effective practice models as supported by research evidence, appreciating the complex nature of self-determination, and the intersections of these issues with cultural diversity.

Learning Objectives (Supervisory Best Practices):

  1. Encourage and partner with supervisees in reviewing symptoms of relevant mental
    disorders and their potential impacts on clients and their families
  2. Support supervisees in the ongoing assessment of signs and symptoms of mental illness, substance use, and trauma among clients and their families
  3. Guide and partner with supervisees to evaluate how our beliefs on mental illness and substance use influence our ethical practice
  4. Assist supervisees in planning for how they can help to meet the needs of clients with mental illnesses or substance use (who often require more effort, time, advanced planning, and skill from their social service providers)
  5. Work with colleagues and social service teams to identify effective models of service delivery for clients with mental illness or substance use that are supported by contemporary research literature and which fit with agency goals and structures
  6. Support supervisees in addressing the complex nature of self-determination, accounting for legal status, age, and neurodiversity