Training at Prevention First

Veterans have their own culture and rich life experiences that can present unique challenges and opportunities to civilian community mental health care providers. It is crucial to be informed on culturally humble practices and have a basic understanding of co-occurring disorders that are seen when working with this population, as well as resources available to mental health clinicians. This interactive training will provide an overview of what makes the Veteran population truly unique including the impact of rank, enlistment, branch of service and potential deployments. Special populations will be discussed along with the impact of Military Sexual Trauma, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, and Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders. This training will assist community providers in making an effort to understand key aspects of the Veteran experience which may help to establish a connection, build trust and inform treatment planning.

Objectives:

1. Identify the factors that contribute to military culture and that lead to the development of Veteran identity and the camaraderie among this population.
2. Acquire knowledge regarding the potential higher risk of suicide among Veterans.
3. Increase understanding of co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders that are commonly treated among Veterans.
4. Gain awareness of resources available to civilian mental health clinicians.
5. Increase knowledge of frequently used interventions, including CBT, MI, and safety planning

During this interactive virtual classroom course, participants will learn about the steps and best practices involved in campaign planning and implementation.

All SUPS and CSUPS staff reporting hours for communication campaigns who have not previously completed Planning and Implementing Communication Campaigns are required to complete this course.

This training increases the treatment professional’s knowledge base about ethical and legal standards, ethical principles, and the application of these principles to clinical practice. Common ethical pitfalls, such as boundary crossings, as well as federal and state laws and regulations surrounding client confidentiality will be examined. The training participants will explore case studies, ethical decision-making models, and other strategies to resolve ethical challenges.

Objectives:

1. Recognize common ethical dilemmas and identify strategies for treatment professionals to effectively manage and resolve various types of ethical challenges that may arise.
2. Summarize ethical codes and Georgia-specific ethical and legal standards for treatment professionals.
3. Examine laws and regulations that protect and safeguard confidentiality for clients seeking mental health and substance use treatment.
4. Determine how treatment professionals can best maintain personal and professional boundaries as well as competency and integrity.
5. Review case studies that scrutinize ethical conflicts faced by treatment professionals.
6. Outline the fundamental steps of decision-making for treatment professionals seeking to resolve ethical dilemmas.

During this presentation, Dr. Patterson will discuss the different types of groups and share creative ideas for engaging clients in the group processes. Icebreakers, engaging participants in group activities, and creating fun environments will be the focus of this enjoyable presentation.

Objectives:

- At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:

- Provide engaging icebreaker activities to groups

- Discuss the importance of creativity in providing services

- Think outside the box of routine process groups

While many organizations are trauma-informed, becoming trauma-responsive means looking at every aspect of an organization’s programming, environment, language, and values and involving all staff in better serving clients who have experienced trauma.
Moving from Trauma-Informed to Trauma-Responsive provides program administrators and clinical directors with key resources needed to train staff and make organizational changes to become trauma-responsive. This comprehensive training program involves all staff, ensuring clients are served with a trauma-responsive approach.

Objectives:

1. Identify three examples of “Big T” and “little t” stressors
2. Describe two of the major findings from the ACE study relating childhood experience to substance use and mental
   health impairment.
3. Perform at least one technique for engaging consumers in a trauma informed approach.
4. Describe at least one impact of trauma on cognition and physiological functioning.
5. Identify one Domain of Trauma-Informed Care and how, organizationally, activating this domain enhances trauma care.

This two-day, application-focused training will provide participants with an in-depth look at some of the significant changes and improvements in the Fourth Edition. Participants will have opportunities to apply and practice key components of the Criteria, including but not limited to; the six dimensions, level of care assessment, application of Risk Ratings to each of the Five Dimensions, Dimensional Admission Criteria Decision Rules, shared decision-making and an overview of Service Characteristic Standards, Discharge and Transition Criteria.

All participants receive an in-depth electronic training journal to guide the training experience and as a resource for continuing skill application, as part of the training.

Books are not required, but highly recommended.

The Illinois Department of Human Services funds this training and is only open to license-funded treatment professionals in the state of Illinois.

Foundations of Youth Prevention Education prepares direct service providers to implement evidence-based Youth Prevention Education (YPE) programs. Participants will obtain a basic understanding of the components and best practices related to implementing any YPE model program. This training will increase participants’ knowledge and skills related to planning, managing, facilitating, and evaluating a Youth Prevention Education program.

All SUPP providers reporting hours for youth prevention education are required to complete this course.

Virtual Classroom Training Note: Regular classroom time for this course is 12 hours. Since the classroom time for this modified course is only 9 hours, participants must complete 3 hours of individual work to obtain credit for the course. Prework will be assigned for each session.

Participants will understand the relationship between the treatment plan and the use of
admission, continued stay, and transition criteria. In addition, participants will learn how to
write measurable, individualized treatment plans based on the Dimensional Drivers and
individualized needs and preferences of the person served. Participants will also have the
opportunity to explore ways in which the patient’s stage of change impacts and drives a
person-centered treatment plan and a cursory review of core motivational interviewing skills
for treatment planning conversations, shared-decision making and to support readiness for
and engagement in treatment.

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is defined as “a particular way of talking with people about change and growth to strengthen their own motivation and commitment” (Miller & Rollnick, 2023, p. 3). MI is designed to evoke and enhance the individual’s own motivation to change, using strategies that are empathetic and non-confrontational. While it has long been recognized as an effective way to promote behavior change within individuals in substance use treatment, MI has a wide range of applications beyond the clinician-client interaction. MI is designed to help draw out the individual’s own strengths and resources to help them make the behavioral changes needed to reach their goals. In this introductory training, participants will learn about spirit of MI and its basic skills and strategies, and will have the opportunity to apply and practice those core skills in an experiential skill-development training.

Objectives:

1. Describe key aspects of the spirit of motivational interviewing as well as its relation to the transtheoretical model and the importance of effective engagement
2. Describe the core skills of motivational interviewing, including open-ended questions, affirmations, reflections, and summaries
3. Generate effective responses consistent with motivational interviewing to draw out and highlight the individual’s own desire, ability, reasons, and need to change
4. Demonstrate application of concept as well as use of core motivational interviewing skills in practice activities

During this course, you will learn how to support young people in your life and your work.

Youth Mental Health First Aid teaches you how to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges among adolescents ages 12-18. You will build the skills and confidence you need to reach out and provide initial support to young people who are struggling. You will also learn how to help connect them to appropriate support.

After the course, you will be able to:

• Recognize common signs and symptoms of mental health challenges, including anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD).
• Recognize common signs and symptoms of substance use challenges.
• Understand how to interact with a young person in crisis.
• Know how to connect a young person with help.
• Better understand trauma, suicidal ideation, substance use, self-care, and the impact of social media and bullying.

*Virtual Training* This course requires you to complete about 2 hours of pre-work on your own before the instructor-led training. 

After you register (typically within 24 hours), you will receive an email from randyl.wilkins@prevention.org with instructions on completing your pre-work. You must complete the pre-work prior to the training date to be admitted into the instructor-led training and receive your certification. 

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is defined as “a particular way of talking with people about change and growth to strengthen their own motivation and commitment” (Miller & Rollnick, 2023, p. 3). MI is designed to evoke and enhance the individual’s own motivation to change, using strategies that are empathetic and non-confrontational. While it has long been recognized as an effective way to promote behavior change within individuals in substance use treatment, MI has a wide range of applications beyond the clinician-client interaction. MI’s guiding helping style draws out the individual’s own strengths and desires to help them make the behavioral changes needed to reach their goals. Participants will learn about the guiding spirit of MI and the four tasks, and will have the opportunity to practice core skills and appropriately respond to challenges in an experiential skill-development training.

Objectives:

1. Describe key aspects of the spirit of motivational interviewing as well as the four tasks and the importance of effective engagement
2. Describe common traps and communication barriers (e.g. the persuasion trap, the wandering trap) which can arise and contribute to potential discord
3. Generate effective responses consistent with motivational interviewing to elicit change talk and to help clients explore and resolve ambivalence
4. Demonstrate use of core motivational interviewing skills, as well as the ability to identify and appropriately respond to sustain talk and discord

During this interactive virtual classroom course participants will learn how to screen and recruit participants, develop effective questions to gain useful insights, moderate focus groups successfully and confidently, and analyze the results of focus groups to bolster programming. Introduction to Focus Groups must be completed prior to registering for this course.

All SUPS and CSUPS staff reporting hours for communication campaigns who have not previously completed Conducting Focus Groups are required to complete this course.

Group therapy and group work is a common way to deliver SUD treatment interventions in various types of treatment settings. Participants enrolled in this training will develop professional knowledge and skill for group work services to and for diverse persons affected by mental health issues, substance use disorders, and other behavioral addictions. The phases of group development and intervention during the various group work stages provide a conceptual framework for the training experience. Participants will compare and contrast the group dynamics of a mutual aid framework and the eleven therapeutic factors that lead to positive outcomes in group therapy. This training is highly experiential, and participants will engage in a parallel process of being group members and examining the roles of group leadership during this training. Training participants will demonstrate how to navigate discord, member testing, mandated patients and conflict in group settings using a mutual aid framework of group work.

Objectives:

1. Recognize the benefits of developing group norms using a mutual aid framework to establish group safety and increase trust in the early stages of group.
2. Compare and contrast the group dynamics using a mutual aid framework and the eleven therapeutic factors that lead to positive outcomes in substance use disorder groups.
3. Identify the different stages of group development, and short term, long term, open and closed groups and specific interventions to foster safety, universality, and group cohesion.
4. Practice responding to conflict, discord, and responding and working with mandated patients in a group setting.
5. Discuss strategies for clinically appropriate group endings, and transitions.

This two-day, application-focused training will provide participants with an in-depth look at some of the significant changes and improvements in the Fourth Edition. Participants will have opportunities to apply and practice key components of the Criteria, including but not limited to; the six dimensions, level of care assessment, application of Risk Ratings to each of the Five Dimensions, Dimensional Admission Criteria Decision Rules, shared decision-making and an overview of Service Characteristic Standards, Discharge and Transition Criteria.

All participants receive an in-depth electronic training journal to guide the training experience and as a resource for continuing skill application, as part of the training.

Books are not required, but highly recommended.

The Illinois Department of Human Services funds this training and is only open to license-funded treatment professionals in the state of Illinois.

Limited spots are available.

This training provides skill-building in the use of the ASAM Criteria as a framework for determining the most appropriate intensity of services and how a harm reduction model/approach, specifically providing strategies for working with clients on goal setting, application of risk reduction skills and evaluation of treatment goals fits within the broader framework of the Criteria’s six dimensions and levels of care.

All participants receive an electronic copy of an in-depth training journal to guide the training experience and as a resource for continuing skill application as part of the training.

The link to join the training will be emailed to you prior to the training.

The Illinois Department of Human Services funds this training and is only open to license-funded treatment professionals in the state of Illinois.