Training

“Life Long Learning”

Practitioners with the right information, skills, abilities, and values will be most effective in serving their clients, and will add value to the organization over time.  I can help you make a strategic investment in training.  I will work with you to clearly understand your staffing and training needs, select the best models and formats, and create training experiences that equip participants with the competencies they need.

Here are some examples of my work in training:

Early Childhood Mental Health

Endorsed Trainer in Child Parent Psychotherapy  (University of California at San Francisco) — in partnership with the Nebraska Resource Project for Vulnerable Young Children

Family Therapy

Motivational Interviewing and Engagement

Breaking the Cycle — Intergenerational Interventions

Effects of Toxic Stress and Poverty

Child Welfare Practices for Early Childhood Well-being

 Mental Health and Trauma Treatment

Sustaining Professional Staff:  Secondary Stress, Resilience, and Well-Being

Navigating Evidence Based Practices

Uses of Narratives and Storytelling in Trauma Healing and Recovery

Expressive Arts in Trauma Treatment

Historic and Cultural Perspectives on Trauma and Resilience

Writing for Recovery and Resilience

Special Issues for Victims of Violent Crime

Promoting Post-Traumatic Growth and Resilience

Trauma Informed Schools

Ethical Mental Health Practice

Professional Retreats and Reflection

Professional, Organizational and Community Well Being

Creating a Learning Organization

The Adverse Childhood Experiences Study

Creating Trauma-Informed Culture in Organizations

School Based Systems of Mental Health

In 2015, I developed a course, “Mental Health in Schools”, for the Department of Special Education at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. This course is a comprehensive overview of the issue of children’s mental health for the educator. I have taught this course to graduates and undergraduates for four years. Course topics are available as presentations. Syllabus is available upon request.

Mental Health services in the schools is a model that has been developing over the past twenty years, but the pace has accelerated recently.  Students cannot learn if their mental health needs create obstacles.  Increasingly,   school professionals recognize that if they are to be able to help students succeed academically, they need to support their physical, social, emotional, and mental health needs as well. These services are often a partnership with community mental health agencies.

In the course, I offer practical information to help teachers to better serve students who have mental health disorders – which may be mild, moderate, or severe.  Mental health disorders are complex and multi-layered, and the course explores the context in which they occur – family, neighborhood, and community factors.  I present a continuum of cause – from the biological, neurological, and emotional processes within the child – to conditions that are clearly the result of external factors, like toxic stress.  I outline the overlap with Special Education – the children whose mental health issues create distinct barriers to learning and the resources available in the schools through the IEP process.

I also present an overview of the continuum of school mental health models and services which are considered best practice across the country.