Continuing Education Course Catalog

It is understandable that individuals struggling with substance abuse problems are often highly ambivalent about engaging and committing to treatment and recovery, especially upon initial contact with a helping professional. The skills of engagement and enhancement of client motivation are thus critical for anyone seeking to effectively assist substance-involved populations. Additional understanding of and ability to appropriately assess individuals according to whole-person frameworks is also important.

This set of learning sessions will focus on these foundational knowledge and skill areas, as well as equipping participants with the professional ethics knowledge and perspectives necessary for working with substance-involved populations.

Revised 7/2024

Successful treatment of addictive disorders typically includes various elements and processes that the effective practitioner needs to not only know about, but also to know how best to invoke those treatment elements in a manner that will be the best fit for each individual service recipient. Additionally, there are time-tested, evidence-based therapies with proven positive outcomes that practitioners would benefit from knowing about, either for direct provision or for the purposes of informing referrals. This set of sessions will focus on these learning targets, as well as equipping participants with the professional ethics knowledge and perspectives necessary for working with substance-involved populations.

As behavioral healthcare service delivery has become increasingly concerned with effective treatment for co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders, integrated care models, and dual-diagnosis-informed interventions have emerged and become well- established. The more recent acknowledgement of the importance of further integration with physical healthcare treatment services is also highly pertinent to successful and sustainable treatment of substance-involved populations. This set of learning sessions will focus on addictions treatment with individuals having complex and comorbid circumstances and conditions, including mental health, physical health, criminal justice, and trauma issues.

Suicide is a leading cause of preventable death in the United States and worldwide. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for suicide prevention is an evidence-based intervention that is both valuable and effective in practice with clients. This workshop will provide training for clinicians to learn about the intervention approach and gain skills for delivery, with a specific focus on the adult population (18+). Clinical skills will be broken down into phases of treatment with use of examples and recommended techniques. Importantly, anti-oppressive practice will be discussed in addition to navigating challenges in delivering CBT for suicide prevention.

Reviewed 6/12/2024

This course is designed for practitioners who work with clients struggling with substance use and are seeking to enhance their skills in Motivational Interviewing (MI). Drawing on foundational work by experts William R. Miller and Stephen Rollnick, the course offers two progressive training modules:

1. Introduction to Motivational Interviewing: This initial module provides a comprehensive overview of Motivational Interviewing, focusing on equipping participants with the foundational skills needed to engage with clients who are ambivalent about change. The training aims to build basic MI skills, laying the groundwork for more effective communication and fostering readiness for sustainable recovery.

2. Advanced Motivational Interviewing Skills: Building upon the introductory module, this advanced session focuses on deepening MI skills and enhancing practical application. Participants will further develop their techniques, with a focus on more complex interactions and strategies to support clients in overcoming ambivalence and moving towards lasting behavioral change.

The content in this course is drawn from Modules 3 & 4 of the Addictions Certificate Program.

Course developed 1/2025.

Both modules emphasize practical skill-building and real-world application to enable practitioners to better guide substance-involved clients through their recovery journey. This course is excerpted from Modules 3 & 4 of the Addictions Certificate Program.

This workshop will provide comprehensive content and strategies about creating and using enhanced genograms in social work practice. It is a tool social workers can use to understand client and community stories in a way that identifies past traumas and potential sources for healing and strength. In addition, this workshop will model how to implement an enhanced genogram in real time, as well as strategies for helping clients and communities to understand their own core story. This might include tips for daily practice during times of stress.

This workshop has been developed to train participants in skills that can be used in multiple settings, including interpersonal practice as well as working with organizations and communities.

Over 27% of the U.S. population identifies has having one or more disabilities or impairments, yet people with disabilities and those who identify as disabled are often left out of conversations around diversity and inclusion. This workshop will cover some of the history of language used by and about this community, what ableism is (as well as able-bodied/neurotypical privilege), ways to dismantle these types of oppression so ingrained in various systems, and ways that to create more inclusive programs, conferences, classrooms, offices, and health care to ensure that all members of this community are able to engage. Participants will learn about ways ableism has been historically used to oppress disabled bodies, what ableist microaggressions are (and ways to interrupt/engage them), discuss the concept of disability justice, create action items to leverage their own privilege, and more.

When supporting clients around their sexuality, it is important for social workers to understand the basic in and outs of sex toys and safety surrounding their use. Additionally, safety is key in kink and BDSM practice. Attendees will about the basics of kink play, how consent is discussed and negotiated, the difference between all the terms, and what various kinks and fetishes may look like. Understand the differences between fantasy (like 50 Shades of Grey) and reality, and how to support your clients/patients in their kink practices. Whether you’re looking to learn something new, or just to add some knowledge to support your therapeutic or medical practice, this is a great overview of safety regarding sex toys and kink/BDSM.