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The Consultation Center
A cooperative endeavor of the Connecticut Mental Health Center, Department of Psychiatry,
Yale University School of
Medicine, and
The Consultation Center, Inc.
NOVEMBER 2008
Introduction to Prevention in Mental
Health (3 NASW CECs) 
Register Now
11/7/08 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 Noon
Faculty: Susan Ottenheimer,
LCSW
This workshop provides an overview of prevention approaches in the mental health field, providing both didactic and practical information for new service providers who may need to implement prevention programs and managers who must supervise this work. At the end of the training, participants will be able to: 1) describe major prevention approaches used in the U.S. over the past several decades; and 2) become familiar with how prevention is defined by major federal agencies including the National Institute of Mental Health, the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, and the Institute of Medicine.
DECEMBER 2008
Coping with Work and Family StressTM
An Intervention to Prevent Alcohol Abuse
and Psychological Symptoms (SAMHSA
Model Program)
Register Now
12/5/08 9:00 A.M. – 4:00 P.M.
Faculty: David L. Snow,
Ph.D. and Susan Ottenheimer,
LCSW
This workshop will provide training in the rationale, design, and implementation of a workplace coping skills intervention aimed at reducing alcohol abuse and psychological symptoms among employees. Participants will: 1) learn a risk and protective factor model that links selected factors from work and family domains to alcohol abuse and psychological symptoms; 2) review the rationale and content of a workplace intervention aimed at enhancing employee's skills in coping with work and family stress; and 3) examine various issues and strategies for introducing the program into the workplace.
Resource Development and Grant
Writing for Youth-Serving Organizations (3 NASW CECs)
Register Now
12/5/08 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 Noon
Faculty: Deborah Stewart,
B.A., CPP
This course will be an introduction to resource development for youth-serving organizations. The workshop will help participants to develop a strategy for their grant writing and proposal development. Proposal development tools and helpful worksheets will be practiced based on actual current programming. A local funder of youth programs will also share advise on approaching funders and their tips for successful grants. Participants will learn about guidelines from both private and public sector funders, as well as technical assistance and future training opportunities. Participants will: l) discuss an approach to resource development and grant-seeking based on values and mission of an organization; 2) review formats and guidelines from different funding sources; 3) identify public and private sector funding sources and the communication vehicles for finding funding sources relevant to their particular interest areas; 4) learn the essential steps for proposal development and tips for successful grant writing; and then practice the sequence of steps necessary for completing funding applications in compliance with guidelines from a selected funding source; and 5) share strategies for sustainability, and discuss additional opportunities for obtaining training and technical assistance in both grant writing and resource development.
Engaging Youth Leaders in Prevention
Planning and Programming (3 NASW CECs)
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12/10/08 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M.
Faculty: Deborah Stewart,
B.A., CPP
This workshop will focus on incorporating a youth development framework into prevention planning and program development. The youth development framework includes an emphasis on meaningful youth engagement in the design, planning and implementation of youth programs. Youth partnerships with adults to address local school, neighborhood and community issues is confirmed in the literature as an important best practice for individual healthy development and for community civic engagement to resolve issues facing youth. The framework applies to community programming work with all youth, not just young people in crisis or living in high risk community settings. Participants will learn how diverse programs are incorporating input from youth and youth organizations in order to assure positive outcomes on multiple levels - individual youth, family, organization, and community. Participants will also discuss and share strategies for engaging and supporting young people in planning, implementation, and evaluation of a wide range of skill-based youth activities. The workshop will include a review of quality assessment tools for afterschool and summer programs, as well as program resource materials from Connecticut and other states.
Life Skills for the Transition to
Adulthood (3 NASW CECs)
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12/12/08 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 Noon
Faculty:
Terry Freeman, MAT,
LCSW, CPP-R
Prevention research emphasizes the effectiveness of "life skills" training in order to decrease the likelihood of risky behaviors by adolescents. This workshop will place emphasis on the developmental needs of older adolescents and the skills they need for successful adulthood. Components of life skills curriculum that support their growth will be reviewed, including topics such as decision-making, goal-setting, career exploration, self-care and coping, independent living, etc. Strategies and materials useful for community-based group work or formal educational settings with older adolescents will be explored. Emphasis will be on interactive activities that involve youth in learning and positive development.
JANUARY 2009 Back to Top
Identification of Risk and
Protective Factors for Alcohol and Prescription Substance Abuse in Older
Adults:
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Implications for Program Planning (3 NASW CECs)
1/9/09 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 Noon
Faculty: Donna Fedus, M.A.
This interactive workshop will explore awareness, attitudes, and understanding of individuals, families, and health professionals toward alcohol and prescription substance abuse in older adults. It will include an overview of the prevalence of substance abuse and addiction, risk and protective factors related to alcohol and other substance abuse, the potential role of ageism in under-identification of alcohol and prescription substance abuse in older adults, and the bio-psycho-social factors involved. As a result of this training, participants will be able to: 1) identify their own pre-conceived ideas relating to substance abuse and older adults; 2) understand the physical, psychological, and social aspects of substance abuse in older adults; 3) understand the impact that preconceived notions have on the identification of elders at risk for substance abuse, and the on development of interventions addressing alcohol and substance abuse in elders; and 4) outline techniques for working with older adults and their families around alcohol and substance abuse that address risk factors and enhance protective factors for elders.
Promoting Positive Racial/Ethnic
Identity Among Adolescents
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1/21/09 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 Noon
Faculty: Jeana Bracey,
M.A.
This workshop will explore the process of racial identity development with the goal of training youth service providers to promote positive development among adolescents. The workshop will include an overview of racial identity development models, an examination of the role of stereotypes and biases, and will provide practical examples of ways to promote positive identity when working with youth. Workshop participants will engage in interactive activities to promote personal growth around cultural awareness and positive identity.
A Perspective on Ethical Issues in
Prevention Practice and Research
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1/30/09 9:00 A.M. – 4:00 P.M.
Faculty: David L. Snow, Ph.D., and
Susan Ottenheimer,
LCSW
This workshop will provide a perspective on ethical issues frequently encountered in implementing community-based prevention programs and in conducting prevention research. Ethical issues will be considered related to: 1) values and value conflicts and determining intervention goals and objectives; 2) principles that guide the processes of action and implementation; 3) ethical dilemmas related to informed consent; and 4) conducting prevention research in community settings and how findings are shared with stakeholders. An experiential component will be built in throughout to involve participants in debating the resolution of various ethical dilemmas.
Prevention Groupwork with Adolescent
Girls (6 NASW CECs)
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1/30/09 9:00 A.M. – 4:00 P.M.
Faculty:
Terry Freeman, MAT,
LCSW, CPP-R
Gender-specific prevention work with adolescent girls challenges group facilitators to select topics and strategies that fit the developmental needs of group members. Based on experience with girls' groups for middle and high school age females, this workshop will emphasize specifics of gender-specific work with girls, review developmental issues of adolescent girls, examine curricular resources, and discuss activities, structure, and group leadership issues.
Legal Issues and Emotional Dynamics in Grandfamilies
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2/6/09 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 Noon
Faculty: Donna Fedus, M.A.,
and Kathleen Lutz
“Grandfamilies” are families in which grandparents or other relatives are raising a child or children. The children are related to the caregivers by blood, marriage or adoption, although they may or may not have a legal relationship. This phenomenon is also known as “kinship care,” “kincare,” or “relative care.” According to the 2000 U.S. Census, there are more than 6 million children in the U.S. living in grandfamilies. Of these, 2.4 million are being raised solely by their grandparents or other relatives with no parents present. This workshop will provide an in-depth look at the legal issues and emotional dynamics common in grandfamilies which are layered over the normal strains of childrearing. As a result of this training, participants will be able to: 1) identify the advantages and disadvantages of various legal arrangements for grandfamilies; 2) understand the emotional dynamics and coping strategies of the oldest and youngest generations within grandfamilies; and 3) outline strategies for assisting kinship care families.
Preventing Alcohol Abuse in African
American Women
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2/20/09 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 Noon
Faculty:
Susan Ottenheimer,
LCSW,
Katurah A. Bryant, RN,
LMFT, LADC,
Martin Jackson, M.Ed., LADC
This workshop will provide an overview of the problem of alcohol abuse among African American women. Although studies have shown that African American women have a lower rate of alcohol abuse than their Caucasian counterparts, they suffer a disproportionate rate of physical, social and emotional consequences as a result of their alcohol use. Participants will become familiar with factors associated with heavy alcohol consumption specific for the African American female and strategies for building preventive interventions within a culturally informed framework will be explored. An experiential component will be built in throughout the training.
How to Evaluate Your Program:
Appropriate Approaches to Evaluation
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2/27/09 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 Noon
Faculty:
Amy Griffin, M.A.
This workshop will cover the basics of program evaluation, including interactive exercises to help participants learn how to prepare for and engage in the evaluation process. The workshop is meant to introduce participants to program evaluation and provide them with resources to help enable them to contribute to the development and utilization of evaluation within their programs. The course will cover needs assessments, logic models, evaluation design, and utilizing data to inform program decisions.
Tools and Strategies to Facilitate
the Development of Outcome-Based Programs (3 NASW CECs)
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3/6/09 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 Noon
Faculty: Meghan Finley,
Ph.D.
This workshop is geared to program managers and agency directors and will review how to develop and utilize mission statements, program goals and measurable outcomes. The workshop will include both didactic and participatory components and will give participants the opportunity to understand the importance of mission statements and program goals and how to develop them. In addition, participants will learn how to develop outcomes that are measurable, realistic (program can impact them), feasible (program can collect the data) and useful. Participants will learn how to develop their programs theory of change (mission--> goals--> activities--> outputs--> outcomes) and to articulate this theory in a logic model. Finally, participants will learn how to utilize these tools for strategic planning and on-going program monitoring.
Fostering Youth Leadership in the
Prevention of Underage Drinking
Register Now
3/11/09 9:00 A.M. – 3:00 P.M.
Location of Training:
Stratford Community Services, 468 Birdseye St., Stratford, CT 06615
Faculty:
Deborah Stewart,
B.A., CPP, and colleagues from existing coalitions and new underage
drinking program
This workshop will help participants to develop local action plans for engaging more young people in community or school project activities that address the complex issue of alcohol abuse by teens and the larger problem of underage drinking. Participants will: 1) review the research and best practices on effective strategies for substance abuse prevention with middle and high school youth; 2) learn about statewide, regional and local efforts underway in our state to reduce underage drinking; 3) review regional/local data on the extent of the problem in their own geographic area and use assessment and community planning tools to help map out a local strategy; 4) hear directly from youth who are part of community coalitions already working on these issues and conducting positive activities to engage young people in a wide range of positive alternatives to drinking and substance abuse; and 5) develop a preliminary action plan to increase youth input, involvement and leadership at their respective local sites.
Introduction to Suicide Prevention
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3/13/09 9:00 A.M. – 4:00 P.M.
Faculty: Susan Ottenheimer,
LCSW
In any given year in the United States, approximately 30,000 individuals commit suicide and thousands more make attempts. It is estimated that 90% of those who die by suicide at any age have a diagnosable mental illness, most often depression, making the identification, diagnosis, and treatment of individuals with emotional disorders critical to suicide prevention efforts. Suicide is clearly a clinical issue, but it is also a public health or environmental issue, requiring a shift in focus that not only includes prevention and treatment at the individual level, but also includes prevention at the community level. This course will include an overview of risk and protective factors across the lifespan that place certain individuals at increased risk for suicide. An array of preventive intervention strategies will be explored, including examples of “Effective” and "Promising" Evidence-based programs. Participants will: 1) learn about the signs and symptoms of mental illness and the risk factors for suicide for individuals across the lifespan; and 2) increase their awareness of multi-level preventive intervention strategies targeting individuals and communities. An interactive component will be built in throughout.
Healthy Relationships/Prevention of
Relationship Violence for Young Adults
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3/20/09 9:00 A.M. – 4:00 P.M.
Faculty:
Terry Freeman, MAT,
LCSW, CPP-R, and
Jeana Bracey, M.A.
This interactive workshop will include principles, curricula and strategies for working with adolescents to promote healthy relationships and prevent relationship violence. Based on our curriculum, "Healthy Inside and Out," the workshop will prepare participants for planning and implementing relationship-focused programs to fit young adults. Participants will review current knowledge about adolescent relationship violence, sample strategies and materials they can use with adolescents, and exchange ideas on tailoring curriculum to their own population and setting.
Youth Leadership as a Strategy for
Neighborhood-Based Violence Prevention
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3/26/09 9:00 A.M. – 4:00 P.M.
Location of Training: WOW/NRZ Community Learning Center,
308 Walnut St, Waterbury, CT
Faculty:
Deborah Stewart,
B.A., CPP, and the Governor's Urban Youth Violence Prevention Project
This workshop will be a review of best practices for both community-based violence prevention and youth leadership development. Participants will learn about promising programs with examples shared from the nineteen program sites across the state that are funded under the Governor’s Urban Youth Violence Prevention Project. Resource materials to support youth leadership development, youth action teams, and neighborhood organizing will be discussed and available for review. Participants will: 1) reflect and share their own perspectives on how to prevent youth violence in their local communities, schools and neighborhoods; 2) share a vision of youth in leadership roles within their local program, school, or community; 3) review a framework for community youth development that includes significant opportunities for youth to be engaged in the design, implementation and evaluation of youth programs in partnership with adult resources; 4) learn about effective strategies used in urban and surburban sites across the state; and 5) hear directly from individual youth about their concerns about school and community violence, and their recommendations for changing the conditions and supporting young people to take positive action to reduce violence and expand youth engagement in a variety of skill-based activities and enrichment programs.
Strategies for School-Based Violence
Prevention
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3/27/09 9:00 A.M. – 4:00 P.M.
Faculty: Jane Shepard,
Psy.D., and
Natasha Watkins, M.A.
This course will present the history and recent developments in the field of violence prevention in schools. Participants will gain an understanding of components essential in maintaining school safety and learn effective methods for enhancing staff and student conflict resolution skills.
Needs Assessments and Program
Evaluation: Collection and Utilization of Archival and Novel Data (3 NASW CECs)
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4/3/09 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 Noon
Faculty:
Amy Griffin, M.A.
This workshop is geared to participants who have some understanding or experience with needs assessments and/or program evaluation. The workshop will review how the collection of needs assessment data and the development of outcomes that are measurable, realistic (program can impact them), feasible (program can collect the data) and useful impact both the development of a program and the evaluation of the efficacy of a program. Participants will also be exposed to a variety of ways to collect or access data for needs assessments and assessing program outcomes including: program data, social indicator data, archival data, qualitative data (including key informant interviews and focus groups) and survey data. Finally, participants will learn how to utilize data for ongoing program development and evaluation.
Prescription and Over-the-Counter
Drug Abuse (3 NASW CECs)
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4/24/09 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 Noon
Faculty:
Susan Ottenheimer,
LCSW
Over $78 billion in prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs are produced each year in the United States. Although most people use these medications properly, a significant number do not. They might take them without a doctor's prescription, use more than prescribed, or take them for reasons other than those that the drugs were prescribed for. Misuse of prescription and OTC drugs can often lead to psychological and physical dependence. This is a significant problem across the lifespan, from teens to older adults. Participants will learn which prescription and OTC drugs are most widely abuse, including risk and protective factors for abuse and sample prevention strategies.
Creating and Implementing a Self-Help
Group: Bridging Prevention and Recovery
(6 NASW CECs)
Register Now
5/1/09 9:00 A.M. – 4:00 P.M.
Faculty: Susan Ottenheimer,
LCSW
This workshop is designed to train participants on how to start and maintain a mutual aid self-help group. This training is geared toward facilitators and group leaders who are interested in exploring strategies that will keep a self-help group alive, productive, and positive. Topics that will be covered in the training include: 1) attendance and group size; 2) sharing group leadership and avoiding facilitator burnout; and 3) working with difficult group members. In the event that some participants are currently running a self-help group, they will have the opportunity to raise problem situations and questions specific to their group in order to problem solve possible ways of managing these scenarios.
The Entanglement of Family
Violence and Substance Use (6 NASW CECs)
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5/8/09 9:00 A.M. – 4:00 P.M.
Faculty: Tami P. Sullivan, Ph.D.
and Desreen Dudley,
Psy.D.
This course is designed for participants with minimal to some experience in
working with populations that struggle with family violence and/or substance
use issues. Traditional instructive methods will be used to review
approaches to understanding the multiple relationships that exist between
domestic violence and substance use for individual children, adolescents,
and adults, as well as families. Skill enhancement will focus on (a)
identifying family violence as a significant contributor to substance use
and how that relationship differs for men and women, (b) assessing the
impact of family violence on substance use, and (c) developing methods to
more effectively work with clients with these co-occurring issues.
Participants will: 1) review existing research and practice regarding the
multiple relationships that exist between family violence and substance use
for youth and adults and men and women; 2) enhance skills to identify family
violence as a contributor to substance use for men and women; 3) be
introduced to tools that can be used to assess for family violence and
substance use; and
4) enhance skills to intervene with clients who experience family violence
and substance use.
A Perspective on Ethical Issues in
Prevention Practice and Research (6 NASW CECs)
Register Now
5/22/09 9:00 A.M. – 4:00 P.M.
Faculty: David L. Snow, Ph.D., and
Susan Ottenheimer,
LCSW
This workshop will provide a perspective on ethical issues frequently encountered in implementing community-based prevention programs and in conducting prevention research. Ethical issues will be considered related to: 1) values and value conflicts and determining intervention goals and objectives; 2) principles that guide the processes of action and implementation; 3) ethical dilemmas related to informed consent; and 4) conducting prevention research in community settings and how findings are shared with stakeholders. An experiential component will be built in throughout to involve participants in debating the resolution of various ethical dilemmas.
Understanding Alzheimer's Disease, A Progressive Disorder and Coping
Strategies for the Caregiver (6 NASW CECs)
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5/22/09 9:00 A.M. – 4:00 P.M.
Faculty: Donna Fedus, M.A.
Caring for someone with Alzheimer’s Disease is extremely challenging, whether you are a professional or a family caregiver. In this workshop you will learn the basic progression of Alzheimer’s Disease and strategies for coping with the difficult behaviors associated with each stage. After attending this training, participants will be able to: 1) identify the typical progression of Alzheimer’s Disease; 2) link a range of behaviors to the each stage of the disease; 3) identify coping strategies for professional and family caregivers and critical skills for prevention professionals; and 4) help the person with Alzheimer's maintain maximum independence and dignity.
Health Promotion: Linking Prevention
and Health Promotion to Recovery (3 NASW CECs)
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5/27/09 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 Noon
Faculty: Susan Ottenheimer,
LCSW
A multifaceted training that will provide an overview of health promotion delivered in an array of settings, including knowledge, skills and ideas to help your clients, contacts and colleagues. Learn how research supports effective programming solutions, and how simple techniques can begin a path to wellness.
Core Competencies in
Prevention (for Certification) (3 NASW CECs)
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5/29/09 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 Noon
Faculty:
Susan Ottenheimer,
LCSW
This course provides an overview of prevention approaches by emphasizing its core competencies of practice, including training and community education, program development, consultation and technical assistance, advocacy, and program evaluation. At the end of the workshop participants in the course will: 1) be able to describe the major core competencies in prevention; 2) have developed skills to implement prevention services for at least two core competencies; and 3) be able to identify resources to gain further expertise in specific core competencies as their practice needs change.
Helping People Change: Applying
Behavior Change Theory (6 NASW CECs)
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6/10/09 9:00 A.M. – 4:00 P.M.
Faculty: Susan Ottenheimer,
LCSW
Helping people change behavior is an important role for practitioners, weather it is for disease management, lifestyle modification or addictions. Understanding a persons readiness to make change, anticipating barriers to the change and helping to manage relapses are all important aspects of behavior change. In this workshop we will explore the Transtheoretical Model of Change, also know as the Stages of Change model to effective apply it to develop and deliver interventions that are on target for the population with which we work with. We will also explore Motivational Interviewing and discover how utilizing this technique can assist our clients. As a dynamic behavior change theory, the Stages of Change model can be applied in a variety of settings, for numerous behaviors. As a result of this training, participants will be able to: 1) identify various behavior change models; 2) list the various stages of behavior change theory; 3) apply behavior change theory in motivational interviewing by assisting clients in developing a plan and working through the stages; 4) learn techniques for overcoming barriers and relapses; and 5) learn how to develop interventions that are appropriate for various stage of change.