All Webinars

“Dr. Gibson is very knowledgeable and experienced on this topic. She also has a very pleasant, engaging method of teaching. Excellent session!”-Jeffrey T., Social Worker, New York

During a time of unprecedented crisis in the face of a global pandemic, many individuals across the globe are unfortunately impacted by another stressor detrimental to their health: racial trauma. Those who experience racial trauma have feelings of distress that lead them to seek counseling for symptom relief. Psychotherapists are charged with creating safe spaces to help clients heal from such dreadful life occurrences through the use of therapy services. 

The current webinar led by Dr. Lillian Gibson will provide mental health professionals with a practical framework to assess and treat racial trauma. The importance of recognizing both the likenesses and dissimilarities of clients’ and clinicians’ worldviews within the context of treatment will be explained. Participants will learn how to apply culturally-specific approaches when exploring trauma experiences and implement client-centered interventions. 

The on-line training will use a case vignette to guide the presentation and uncover mistakes that can be made when cultural considerations are not utilized. 

Participants will leave the webinar with a clear understanding of racial trauma, an awareness of racial trauma assessment options, the biopsychosocial impacts of trauma, symptom tracking measures, clinical pitfalls to avoid, steps to strengthen a therapeutic alliance, and a list of treatments that may be useful to decrease the effects of racial trauma (when appropriately applied).

Traditional abstinence-only models have long dominated Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) treatment, yet emerging research demonstrates that harm reduction strategies—including moderate drinking—offer effective alternatives for many individuals, particularly those with less severe or early-stage alcohol issues. For clients whose alcohol use is creating problems, learning to drink more moderately and safely can represent both a realistic goal and a sustainable outcome. For others, managed drinking serves as a crucial stepping-stone toward temporary or permanent abstinence.
 

This harm reduction framework transforms treatment by lowering barriers to care and creating more inclusive options for individuals intimidated by abstinence-only approaches. The result is more flexible, personalized care that meets clients where they are in their recovery journey. 

Since office-based therapists are typically the first professionals contacted by individuals seeking help with alcohol concerns, all mental health practitioners—regardless of specialty—must be equipped with the knowledge and skills to competently address these issues. This comprehensive webinar provides a diverse clinical toolkit featuring practical strategies, integrated behavioral and pharmacological interventions, real-world case studies, and essential clinical considerations. Participants will gain valuable insights into addressing alcohol-related challenges with greater flexibility, empathy, and effectiveness, significantly expanding treatment possibilities for clients seeking help with alcohol use concerns.

This workshop will provide an overview of gun violence in the inner city. The presenter will discuss current statistics and look at how the topic disproportionately impacts certain groups of people. The training will then look at contributing factors to gun violence and how it impacts youth. The training will close with looking at strategies to support youth impacted by gun violence.

Given the amount of trauma individuals have experienced, it’s crucial for social service providers to understand common trauma responses and how they may manifest. Although
fight, flight, and freeze are more commonly known there is more acknowledgment of the fawn response. This training will provide an overview of these common trauma responses, how they manifest and how to clients. Not only is it important for us to understand these trauma responses it’s equally as important to help clients understand how they show up in their lives and may even be impeding their functioning at home, at school and other settings.

“Outstanding instruction presented in an interesting way, especially wtih the use of short video clips. It increased my awareness of how trauma is transmitted to children and made me want to research more about this.”-Audrey H., Counselor, Alabama

Working with youth can be challenging given the generational patterns of trauma, poverty, incarceration, etc. So, it’s essential for providers to understand generational trauma and how to work with youth from a generational perspective. Without this perspective, we can have unrealistic expectations for youth and their families and encounter barriers to engagement. Providers will learn strategies to support youth with generational patterns of trauma within their families.

Many youth, especially foster care and juvenile justice youth, come from generational cycles of trauma and oppression. So, it’s necessary for providers to understand these generational patterns to effectively partner with these youth and their families.