Motivational Interviewing and Stages of Change:
Principles and practices in community corrections

Two Day Program

Program Overview:

The course integrates Prochaska and DiClemente’s stages of change model and Miller and Rollnik’’s motivational interviewing principles. The resulting program, when implemented in the field of community corrections, will increase the likelihood that clients will successfully follow a course of action toward change and thereby reduce their risk of recidivism.

Motivational interviewing consists of a set of formalized theory-based and empirically evaluated interpersonal communication techniques designed to help your clients identify and acknowledge self-defeating behaviours and to move toward cessation. It relies on non-confrontational approaches that ideally result in clients expressing concern about their behaviour and the need to alter it. The central guiding assumption upon which this course rests, is that, motivation is a variable state rather than a static trait. The amount of motivation a client possesses at a particular time is fluid and can be increased by external forces (e.g., counsellor actions, skills). Through purposeful interaction, the criminal justice worker can enhance client motivation to change problematic behaviour.

Who Should Attend?

This two day workshop will be of interest to individuals engaged in a case management and/or counselling capacity in the criminal justice system.

Course Objectives:

• Prochaska and DiClemente’s stages of change model and implications for counsellor activity.
• Miller and Rollnick’s motivational interviewing principles.
• How to integrate stages of change and motivational interviewing into a cohesive correctional approach to facilitate and support behaviour change in clients who have been in conflict with the law.
• How to facilitate understanding of the varied counsellor skills and interpersonal techniques required at each stage of change.
• How to facilitate skill development in IDENTIFICATION and ASSESSMENT of the client’s stage of change.
• How to introduce implementation strategies for an effective community corrections intervention to be utilized in management of risk (recidivism).

Instructors:

Morry Ulrich M.Ed. Counselling Psychology
Wayne Skinner, M.S.W.
Marilyn Herie, M.S.W., Ph.D. (Candidate)
Lorna Sagursky, B.Sc.

Cost:

Contact us: 1-877-889-6158

Physical Self Protection & Disengaging Skills

Two Day Program

Program Overview:

During the past several years, CTI has received numerous requests for training that enhances the safety of crisis staff who may be physically assaulted in the course of their work. This two-day introductory program exposes staff to the skills of self protection and disengaging that are non-violent. Moreover, they are designed to enhance safety while preserving the therapeutic relationship between the individual and the staff member.

Who Should Attend?

Professionals and volunteers working in community mental health, criminal justice, street-based agencies, community centres, schools, nursing, addictions, emergency services, group homes, transition shelters, and any services encountering people in crisis.

Course Objectives:

• How to assess and recognize the signs of an imminent assault.
• The gift of fear and the use of survival intuition.
• Enhance awareness of your personal strengths and limitations.
• Supportive and defensive body positioning approaches.
• Enhance awareness of body movement, and quadrants of vulnerability.
• The use of psychological distraction and evasion.
• Demonstration and practice in disengaging from strikes, kicks, punches, grabs, chokes, hair pulls and bites.
• Post crisis stress reaction awareness and self-care.

Cost:

Contact us: 1-877-889-6158

Proactive Trauma Management

Two Day Programs

Introduction:

Through the regular course of their work, many professionals are exposed to a variety of situations that can have a profound impact on their personal and work life. These situations may be life threatening, gruesome, emotionally disturbing, or the result of an unexpected death or other personally distressing experience. Called critical incidents, these events can result in critical incident stress, which may include a variety of intrusive and disruptive symptoms that can affect one’s ability to function during the event or later.

LEVEL I - Program Overview:

This workshop is designed to train mental health professionals (e.g., counsellors, clinical social workers, psychiatric nurses), victim service workers, and peer personnel from high risk professions (e.g., emergency health and human services, policing and corrections, various industries) in the effective management of critical incident stress (CIS).

Through short lectures, small group discussions, and structured exercises, participants in this introductory course will have the opportunity to:

• Review the nature of stress, cumulative stress, critical incident stress, post-traumatic stress reaction, and impact on human functioning;
• Explore specific causes of CIS;
• Examine factors that affect the individual’s vulnerability to CIS;
• Review the various CIS interventions with a focus on defusing and debriefing;
• Practice an individual defusing;
• Participate in simulating group debriefing;
• Discuss specific techniques to handle problems associated with debriefing; and
• Discuss protocols for the establishment of CIS debriefings and defusings in the workplace.

LEVEL II - Program Overview:

This advanced level course is a follow-up to Level I, providing participants with an opportunity to develop some of the key skills of defusing and debriefing, to practice the debriefing process in small groups, and to learn the ways to alter the debriefing process to meet a variety of situations.

This workshop will build on the material presented in Level I. Through the use of role playing, simulations, and case discussions, participants will have the opportunity to:

• Practice specific aspects of critical incident stress debriefing (CISD) through simulation;
• Apply the CISD process to specific situations;
• Identify and problem-solve difficulties and issues that may arise in a debriefing process; and
• Examine a framework for translating or generalizing CISD skills and processes to other settings.

Certification:

Levels I & II qualify as credits toward the Justice Institute of British Columbia’s Trauma Response Certificate Program. These Courses are also recognized as credits towards the Certified Trauma Specialist designation by the Association of Traumatic Stress Specialists. This latter organization is the only certifying body for specialists in this area. Application for credit is also being pursued through the Ontario College of Social Workers.

We also offer a 2-day Peer Support Training program for those agencies or communities who wish to provide such a service within their community. Prerequisite for 2 Day program is Level l Pro-active Trauma Management.

Cost:

Contact us: 1-877-889-6158

Relapse Prevention and Community Corrections

Two Day Program

Program Overview:

In recent years CTI has been adopting principles of relapse prevention in the delivery of case management workshops and is now offering a course specifically designed to explore relapse prevention applications in community corrections. Conceptions of Relapse Prevention models are no doubt diverse. We feel it is therefore clinically appropriate to present an overview of its application to the fields of corrections specifically (as we have in the community mental health field) in reducing the risk of recidivism. In traditional applications of relapse prevention programs i.e., substance abuse, smoking cessation, obesity etc. ambivalence and relapse are acknowledged and viewed as opportunities to move the client toward healthy outcomes. Relapse is recognized as a distinct stage of change rather than a failure to change.

Who Should Attend?

Individuals working in case management/counselling capacity with individuals in conflict with the law.

Course Objectives:

• An introduction to principles of Relapse Prevention and applications to community corrections.
• An overview of D.R. Laws’ Relapse Prevention model with sex offenders and current approaches utilized in the field of community mental health.
• How to obtain detailed analysis of past relapse episodes.
• An introduction to the concept and identification of High Risk Situations (HRS).
• An overview of situational determinants of relapse.
• Cognitive factors in the relapse process, i.e., self efficacy, outcome expectancies.
• Cognitive assessment and intervention procedures for relapse prevention.
• Life-style modification.
• Application to specific populations.

Instructors:

Morry Ulrich, M.Ed. Counselling Psychology
Wayne Skinner, M.S.W.
Marilyn Herie, M.S.W., Ph.D. (Candidate)

Cost:

Contact us: 1-877-889-6158

Relapse Prevention & Community Mental Health

Three Day Program

Program Overview:

As the management of psychiatric patients increasingly moves into the community and away from institutional settings, a new agenda emerges that requires an important set of sub-skills in the community mental health worker - collaboratively identifying high risk situations and the teaching of appropriate coping skills in response to such situations.

This program will introduce participants to principles of relapse prevention, Kavanaugh’s model of Relapse in Schizophrenics, cognitive-behaviour theory and practice and maintenance principles as they specifically relate to the mentally disordered.

Who Should Attend?

This program will be of interest to front line staff in all areas of mental health; i.e. RN’s, RNA’s, psychiatric assistants, community psychiatric nurses, ACT Team members, integrated crisis response team members, case managers, and social workers with a psychiatric case load.

Course Objectives:

• A comprehensive overview of relapse prevention principles as they relate to mental illness - an overview of Marlatt & Gordon’s model of relapse prevention and its application to mental illness.
• An overview of Kavanaugh’s model of relapse in schizophrenia.
• An overview of the role and techniques of assessment as it specifically applies to relapse prevention.
• Facilitate the acquisition of skills/knowledge in cognitive-behavioural intervention techniques and their application to the mentally disordered.
• How to enhance participants’ understanding and detection of early warning signs and characteristic relapse signatures.
• Training in coping skills to effectively work with high-risk situations.
• To explore the role(s) of family members in the relapse prevention process - family psycho-education and review of the concept of expressed emotion (EE).

Instructors:

Morry Ulrich, M.Ed. Counselling Psychology
Marilyn Herie, M.S.W. Doctoral Candidate
Wayne Skinner, M.S.W.

Cost:

Contact us: 1-877-889-6158

Responding to Individuals in Crisis:
Assessment, intervention and stabilization

One, Two and Three Day Programs

Program Overview:

In contrast to Crisis Intervention With the Hostile and Aggressive Individual, the Responding to Individuals in Crisis focus on assessment, intervention and stabilization of people experiencing a crisis created by a mental illness, psychotic episode, severe depression or suicidal thoughts. Further, the program is designed to assist the crisis intervenors' efforts to teach coping and problem solving strategies to the person in crisis, as a critical component of the intervention process.

Who Should Attend?

This program has been delivered to a variety of staff involved in providing 24-hour crisis response services in Ontario including; CMHA - Lambton County, York Central Support Services, Peel Integrated Crisis Response team members and Cat Lake Ahki Pimadizewening Weecheewaywin Healing Centre.

The program will be of particular interest to individuals engaged in 24-hour distress call centres, mobile crisis response teams, psychiatric triage and intervention in hospitals, ACT team members.

Course Objectives:

• The crisis intervention "process", i.e. Albert Roberts’ 7 stage model of crisis intervention that will fuel the process of the crisis intervention experience.
• Lethality risk assessment/intervention.
• The interactional processes of the crisis experience.
• The Crisis Triage Rating Scale and the Triage Assessment Form and its implications for client assessment and disposition planning.
• Principles of effective assessment.
• The necessary problem solving skills to enhance effective coping.
• Principles of follow-up.
• Crisis intervention with special population groups, i.e. intoxicated callers, frequent callers, chronic self-injurious and parasuicidal clients (special groups to be determined by participants).
• Contextualize crisis intervention services within the larger community based systems of care.
• Explore foundations and principles of a successful crisis intervention team.

Instructors:

John Sawdon, M.Sc..
Jeanette Ambrose, M.Ed.
Other instructors to be named.

Cost:

Contact us: 1-877-889-6158

Responding to Trauma and Loss:
Intervening with youth in schools and communities

Two Day Program

Program Overview:

School and community caregivers are frequently required to provide trauma and grief aftercare following tragedies such as accidents, suicides, murder and other violent and upsetting events. These extraordinary and unpredictable events may have devastating, and sometimes long-term consequences. As school and community responders, we can be an integral part of a positive, supportive "recovery environment", facilitating and strengthening natural supports and augmenting them when necessary. However, we often rely on standardized responses that may be inadequate or inappropriate to meet the particular needs of affected youth, families as well as school staff and other community caregivers.

Who Should Attend?

This 2-day workshop is for mental health counsellors, school personnel, clergy, and other community responders. It will examine a range of reactions experienced by individuals, families and groups in school and community settings. It will explore in greater depth than introductory postvention/trauma response courses, the immediate and intermediate individual and group interventions appropriate to trauma and grief. Participants will have the opportunity to observe and practice a range of group interventions. The workshop will be interactive and skill building, utilizing presentations, case examples and planning, small group exercises, role-plays, etc.

Course Objectives:

• A framework for assessing type and magnitude of a tragic event and its potential impact on youth and their families.
• To assess the needs of those affected specific to the situation and context - e.g. grief, trauma, suicidality, etc., and plan appropriate interventions based on identified needs and clearly defined goals for intervention.
• To address the specific developmental concerns and needs of children and adolescents following trauma and loss.
• Learn an assessment and triage model for immediate and longer-term trauma and loss needs.
• An understanding of the role of the "recovery environment" in managing and growing through trauma and loss.
• Individual and group trauma/grief interventions including psychoeducational sessions, formal and informal debriefing, grief and memorial events, memorial planning and activities.
• How and why to facilitate school/community trauma response meetings following tragic events.

Instructor:

Jeannette Ambrose, B.A., M.Ed.

Cost:

Contact us: 1-877-889-6158

Self in Transformation

One Day Program

Program Overview:

Transformation is the journey that the Self goes through in order to reclaim its wholeness. It is the process of dying to the old and being reborn to the new. During the process one is faced with one’s innermost fears; unresolved and blocked emotions; non-supportive mental as well as emotional patterns. To begin the process of learning to recognize, accept, and integrate qualities that may emerge from the "dark" unconscious.

In a climate of trust and mutual acceptance the program will introduce participants to individual and small group experiential exercises, movement, mediation, visualization, and time for individual reflective journaling. We will explore the realms of spirit within ourselves in an environment that embraces all belief systems and experiences of spirit. As a participant you will embark upon an inner journey that will challenge you in a gentle and supportive process.

In this retreat we will explore:

• The overall process of transformation.
• Transformation of mental/non-supportive beliefs and patterns.
• Transformation of dissociated (unconscious) aspects of the Self.
• Working through unresolved grief and loss.
• The witnessing presence.

Instructors:

Medea Bavarella Chechik, B.A.
Steven Hughes, M.Ed.

Cost:

Contact us: 1-877-889-6158

Strategies to Facilitate A Healthy School Culture:
Creating environments that are safe, respectful, inclusive and collaborative

One Day Program

Program Overview:

This workshop will enhance participants’ knowledge and understanding of the critical steps required to transform their schools into healthy learning organizations, leading to creating environments that are safe, inclusive, respectful and collaborative. We will explore what works in transforming school cultures, strategies in responding to the needs of youth at risk of exclusion, and explore lessons learned from the "Beyond the Halls"^TM project.

Who Should Attend?

School administrators, social workers, guidance heads, department heads and any interested teachers, parents and student leaders. This seminar is vital to anyone facilitating change within schools.

Course Objectives:

• Effective strategies for transforming school culture, factors that enhance competency and resiliency, and specific strategies for working with youth at-risk of exclusion.
• Methods for assessing the dynamics operating within your school including the culture, the perception of violence including presence of gangs, weapons, levels of victimization, the impact of drugs and alcohol and the effectiveness of programs in responding to these issues.
• An understanding of the types of support and resources required in facilitating a comprehensive change strategy.
• The types of findings through needs assessments which may be alarming to staff and students, and a method for communicating these findings with all stakeholders.
• Strategies to both inform and involve parents and community partners will also be explored.
• A visioning and strategic planning approach that facilitates ownership and collaboration of efforts by everyone.
• An overview of lessons learned from "Beyond the Halls"^TM including overcoming resistance to change, vital leadership roles, responding to unplanned barriers.
•  The principles of complex system change including a checklist which will assist in assessing whether their school environment is ready to engage in a transformative change process.

Instructors:

Graham Vardy, B.E.S.
John Sawdon, MSc.
Susan Reid-MacNevin, Ph.D.
Debra Pepler, Ph.D., C. Psych.

Cost:

Contact us: 1-877-889-6158

Supervising Crisis Staff

One and Two Day Programs

Program Overview:

CTI piloted this program in the spring of 2001 with the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto. Through generous and critical feedback from the field over the past year, we have enhanced and evolved this dynamic and practical training program. The main focus of the course remains the same. This program will provide practical tools and resources to those who supervise and manage staff on the front-line of service delivery, where the risks of anger, hostility and violence are present.

Who Should Attend?

This 2-day program will provide managers, supervisors, directors and senior agency staff an opportunity to learn effective strategies in developing a work environment culture that promotes safety and mutual respect. Participation in this program will allow you to expand your resource base in both developing and coaching your staff team.

This course covers:

• A variety of conceptual crisis models and frameworks in your overall supervision strategies.
• Enhanced self-awareness including Myers-Briggs type inventory and coaching/mentoring inventory.
• Ground rules and expectations for the supervisory relationship.
• Effective and time efficient one-to-one supervision and coaching skills.
• Staff "self-directed" crisis competency development, monitoring and evaluation.
• Team supervision opportunities and boundaries.
• Post crisis traumatic stress impact and management.
• The Vent Group process.

Instructors:

John Sawdon, M.Sc..
Graham Vardy, B.E.S.
Steven Hughes, M.Ed.
Melanie Oda, R.N, M.H.Sc.

Cost:

Contact us: 1-877-889-6158

Train the Trainer:
Crisis intervention with explosive children, teens and others

Three Day Program

Program Overview:

This workshop has been redesigned to address the recommendations arising from recent inquests into the deaths of children/youth in care as a result of restraints. The inquest juries recommended that individuals working in the field of human services understand the dangers of inappropriate restraints. Equally, recommendations indicated a need to implement practices that support an understanding of the needs and issues of each client in care, and, that case conferences be convened for those who continue to act out behaviours that are dangerous to themselves and others.

CTI's approach to crisis training has always been focused on prevention. Our skills training program reinforces the need to build relationships with clients, to understand the intra and interpersonal dynamics, and, to enhance the staff's role as facilitator of learning. In achieving this we have designed a program which includes the following components:

• Self-awareness and management of self.
• Interpersonal awareness.
• Intervention skills that focus on defusing and problem solving.
• Self-protection and team restraint as a means of enhancing personal confidence in focusing on a problem-solving approach.
• Defusing and debriefing, including renegotiating new behaviours.
• Analysis of the culture of the organization.

Individuals in crisis may respond to a sense of helplessness and loss of control through withdrawal, depression, suicide attempts or overtly through angry outbursts and/or violent attacks. The intent is to help workers to respond to individuals in their care through enhanced personal awareness, appropriate verbal and non verbal interventions and active disengaging skills.

Emphasized are the principles of empowerment, clarity and coalition building. By utilizing those principles, we will explore how we might defuse the level of arousal, assist clients to regain control and work co-operatively in a problem-solving format.

Who Should Attend?

Individuals interested in delivering the 3-day Crisis Intervention program within their agencies.

Pre-requisite:

Participants applying to this program must have completed CTI’s 3-day Crisis Intervention Program (within the past three years.)

Course Objectives:

• Explore the dynamics of anger and hostility.
• Increase self-awareness in maintaining a grounded and centred approach in responding to clients who act out overtly.
• Enhance interpersonal awareness and interpersonal skills in employing techniques to reduce physiological arousal in conflict situations.
• Develop effective verbal and non-verbal approaches for responding to anger, hostility and resistance.
• Identify and explore challenging crisis situations with participants and enhance personal and interpersonal skills in actual simulations.
• Foster a holistic intervention approach which integrates the personal and professional self in our interactions with clients in crisis.
• Enhance personal skills to disengage from attacks in fostering self-confidence and ability to focus on the client's dynamics expressed in acting-out behaviours.
• Increase understanding in the application of a safe restraint including contra-indicators that preclude use of restraints.
• Enhance knowledge, skill and understanding in debriefing an incident of explosive behaviours for clients, staff and the organizational community in which one works.
• Assess your working environment as to basic safety and security.
• Analyze policies, procedures and practices within your agency that contribute to potential for aggression and acting-out behaviours.

This intensive three-day program is highly experiential or "hands on", as are all of CTI's workshops. The workshop involves a certain amount of "self-disclosure" in a safe, comfortable and enriched learning dynamic.

Day 1

The first day of the programme has a number of goals which guide the type of learning activities that we initiate. In creating a dynamic which supports participation, ownership and learning, we attempt to facilitate an atmosphere that provides for the safety and inclusion needs of the participants. Within this framework, we focus much of our day's activities on what each individual participant brings to the crisis situation. This self awareness enhancing goal is achieved through explorations of crisis generally, learnings and personal histories in managing anger, and exploration of factors which influence crisis and anger. Through actual simulations which are based on the participants work history, we heighten awareness of the dynamics which contribute to the escalation of anger and aggression. The experiential context provides the data in exploring strategies either to reduce the level of arousal in defusing the situation or in disengaging from the encounter. The final session of the day is designed to heighten participants awareness of the non-verbal cues clients may exhibit. This is a fun exercise which stresses the need to initiate early contact with the client in fostering principles of empowerment, clarity and coalition building.

Outline:

• Arrival, Introduction, Course Overview, Completion of Pre-Test
• Crisis Defined and Explored
• Personal Challenges and Goals for the Three-Day Session
• Self-Awareness: Learnings about anger and the influence this may have in responding/reacting to angry and aggressive clients
• Factors and Dynamics which Affect Crisis and Anger
• Impact of Social Environment
• Spiral Escalation Model
• Non-Verbals: Their importance in identifying and responding to client needs
• Check-out: Review of the Day

Day 2

The second day of the program moves the participant to a process of engaging the client. This is achieved through an exploration of a number of behavioural and physiological models of crisis escalation.

Within this context, strategies and skills for reducing the level of arousal and engaging in a problem solving focus are practiced. Day 2 is a very intense day for participants. It involves them in a number of simulations from which to both practice intervention and to learn the skills involved in defusings. The simulations are designed from the participants greatest challenges which were articulated in Day 1.

Outline:

• Check-in: Review of the Previous Day
• Frameworks for Understanding Crisis Escalation
• Precipitating Causes to Crisis Escalation
• An Exploration of Agencies Culture and Its Potential Impact on Participant Behaviour
• Active Listening Skills: Practice and application to client crisis situations
• Defusing Hostility: Limit-setting skill and assertiveness in conflict
• Strategies for Managing Conflict: Resistance and aggressive behaviour
• Intervention: Simulation and practice. The contextual situations may vary from explosive outbursts to suicidal behaviour. Other contextual situations have included working with clients who are terminally ill, clients who have suffered severe trauma to the brain and with clients who manifest a psychotic state.
• Self-Care: Learning to centre oneself in the midst of a crisis. This is a relaxation exercise which utilizes principles of deep breathing and release of tension from the major muscle groups within the body.
• Check-out: Review of the Day

Day 3

Day three continues to foster a cohesive, safe and inclusive dynamic for the group. Through the use of a strength bombardment exercise, we attempt to heighten participant awareness of the need to let go of their self critic. Equally, this exercise underscores the need to communicate the positive attributes and behaviours we see in others. This process provides a foundation from which to continue with the previous days' simulations. From here we explore attribution theory and anger, team interventions, debriefing and defusing of critical incidents and prevention planning for the agency as a whole.

Outline:

• Check-in: Review of Previous Day
• Attribution Theory and Anger Simulation
• Self-Protection and Disengaging Skills
• Team Simulation and the Concept of Teaming in Responding to Crisis Situations
• Team Restraint, Guidelines and Contraindications for Restraints
• Six Step Model of Post-Crisis Debriefing
• Critical Incident Stress and Critical Incident Stress Debriefing
• Prevention Planning: Analysis of the potential for aggression within the agency
• Review and Response to Outstanding Issues
• Plans: Applying the knowledge within the agency and with significant others
• Strength Bombardment
• Post-Test
• Closure and Feedback

Instructors:

John Sawdon, M.Sc.
Graham Vardy, B.E.S.
Steven Hughes, M.Ed.
Melanie Oda, R.N, M.H.Sc.
Steven Hall, B.A.

Cost:

Contact us: 1-877-889-6158

Train the Trainer:
Crisis intervention with the hostile and aggressive individual

Three Day Program

Program Overview:

CTI Canadian Training Institute is committed to supporting agencies that wish to develop their own internal capacity to deliver in-house crisis intervention and prevention education. We encourage organizations to select staff with the skills and who have organizational support to lead and deliver in-agency training.

CTI will provide graduates who deliver in-house training for their agencies with course manuals and certificates of participation. Reproduction and mailing costs will be charged.

Who Should Attend?

Individuals interested in delivering the 3-day Crisis Intervention program within their agencies.

Pre-requisite:

Participants applying to this program must have completed CTI’s 3-day Crisis Intervention Program (within the past three years.)

Course Objectives:

• To plan, design and implement the 3-day Crisis Intervention with the Hostile and Aggressive Individual program within your agency.
• Enhance self-awareness as a trainer utilizing the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and other trainer style/learner style inventories.
• Adult learning and experiential theory and practice.
• How to create a safe and dynamic leaning environment for trainees.
• Assist participants in understanding the relationship between the persona/professional self, and the skills to defuse anger, hostility and resistance in conflict situations.
• To enhance your confidence and skills as a trainer through practice designs, processing content and presenting lessons.

Instructors:

John Sawdon, M.Sc.
Graham Vardy, B.E.S.
Steven Hughes, M.Ed.
Melanie Oda, R.N, M.H.Sc.
Steven Hall, B.A.

Cost:

Contact us: 1-877-889-6158

Treating Suicidal Adolescents in a Family Context:
Part of the problem? Part of the solution!

Two Day Program

Program Overview:

Dealing with suicidal youth is difficult for families and for the caregivers they encounter. When faced with suicidal adolescents, we may feel less confidence, a greater sense of responsibility and anxiety, and frequently a sense that we have few tools at our disposal. Research has linked adolescent suicidality to family issues of crisis, loss and change.

Who Should Attend?

This interactive workshop for social workers, counsellors, psychologists, child care workers, healing centre staff and other caregivers who work with adolescents will focus on adolescent and family contextual issues. It will utilize presentations, small group activities, videotapes and case examples, and will concentrate on practical and skill development activities.

Course Objectives:

• The Therapeutic Risk Assessment and Treatment of Suicidal Youth (TRATSY) model: Based on the belief that a suicidal crisis can often present an important window of opportunity where families are unusually open to change and the development of alternative problem solving strategies.
• Learn about the unique issues in working with adolescents: developmental tasks and characteristics.
• Understand basic concepts of family systems and development within intergenerational and solution-based family therapy approaches.
• Learn fundamental principles in working with at-risk adolescents and their families.
• Learn and practice a comprehensive, practical and step-by-step therapeutic risk assessment framework for use with adolescents and their families emphasizing the development of a family "healing theory".
• Learn and practice a flexible and integrative treatment framework based on identifying and amplifying family strengths, competencies and resilience.
• Learn strategies and techniques that encourage change and growth in families.

Instructor:

Jeannette Ambrose, B.A., M.Ed.

Cost:

Contact us: 1-877-889-6158