Tuesday, September 9, 2008
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Waukesha County Technical College
Pewaukee, WI 

Beyond Stress and Compassion Fatigue
(Brochure in PDF Format)

 Workshop Description:

    There is a cost to caring.  Helping professionals who listen to the stories of anxiety, depression, fear, pain and suffering can become stressed out or experience compassion fatigue.  This workshop is about moving beyond stress and compassion fatigue to health and wellness.  The workshop combines mini-lectures with discussion, a video, exercises and skill-building practicums to foster life/work balance and a healthy view of human service work.  Learn to harness the healing power of nutrition, exercise, positive self-talk, relaxation, support systems, time management and laughter/play while limiting the effects of compassion fatigue.  Workshop goals include: 

• Understanding the meaning of stress, distress and eustress;
• Learning how compassion fatigue can undermine our work;
• Recognizing how we create much of our own stress (self induced);
• Recognizing signs and symptoms (warning signals) of distress; and
• Learning strategies for preventing burnout or compassion fatigue.

 About the Presenter:

    Roger T. Williams is a consultant/trainer/mediator in private practice after 33 years as a professor of continuing education at UW-Madison/Extension.  He served as chairman of the Professional Development and Applied Studies Department for 15 years while at the university.  This gave him practical experience in stress management, teambuilding and conflict resolution....three topics at the heart of his consultation, training and mediation work today.  Roger was actively involved in organizing the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), NAMI-Wisconsin, Wisconsin Prevention Network and Harvest of Hope Fund (an ecumenical emergency fund for Wisconsin farm families in distress).  He has MS and Ph.D. degrees in adult education and enjoys the challenge of integrating theory with practice.  He is the recipient of several awards, including the 2003 Van Hise Outreach Award for Distinguished Teaching from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Thursday, September 18, 2008
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Hilton Garden Inn
Oshkosh, WI

Aging and Mental Health
(Brochure in PDF Format)

 Workshop Description: 

  The present challenges of providing quality geriatric mental health care are great.  The cost for untreated or ineffective geriatric mental health care is significant in terms of personal suffering and societal fiscal expenditures.

   The future indicates even greater mental health care needs among older adults with demographic projections indicating that 22% of the 65+ population will have mental illness in the next 20 years.

   Because late life mental illness is unique, this seminar will introduce participants to the characteristics and distinguishing features of the most common late life mood disorders.  Emphasis will be upon understanding how mood disorders present in older adults.  Evidence-based research has identified the complex relationship between sleep and mood disorders in older adults.  In this seminar time will be allotted to explore this domain.  Valid and reliable screening tools used to identify risk for late life mental illness will be introduced as central to providing quality mental health care for older adults.  At the completion of the seminar, participants will be able to: 

• Understand how major depressive disorders and depressive symptoms present in late life as compared to mid life;
• Recognize the etiology of late life depressive and anxiety disorders;
• Recognize late life anxiety disorders and their interplay with depressive disorders;
• Know which screening tools are most effective for the above;
• Use screening tools for effective referrals;
• Identify key features of various late life sleeping disorders; and
• Recognize the serious impact that untreated depression and anxiety have on late life sleeping disorders.

 About the Presenter:

    For over 15 years, Suzanna Waters Castillo, Ph.D., MSSW, has provided cutting edge continuing education as part of her work in the Department of Professional Development at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

    Dr. Castillo has devoted her career to the field of gerontology with a teaching emphasis upon Cross Cultural Competency in Health Care, Care Management and Late Life Mental Disorders.  She has been a national and international speaker that uses applied research to provide students with the skills and insight needed to provide meaningful care to older adults.

Monday, September 29, 2008
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Waukesha County Technical College
Pewaukee, WI    

Advanced Ethics and Boundaries in Mental Health and Child Welfare Services
(Brochure in PDF Format)

Workshop Description:

 As the behavioral health profession continues to evolve, the issues surrounding ethical practice continue to provide new challenges for those in the field.  Many practitioners find themselves working in non-clinical settings and other non- traditional environments with shifting client and employer expectations regarding service.

    This workshop will focus on legal and ethical issues in child welfare and mental health services settings. Boundary issues will be covered, especially as they relate to dual relationships and in-home services.

    Included in the workshop will be a special focus on unique ethical and legal expectations and challenges facing those in supervisory roles.

    In this workshop participants will:

• Discuss the significance of ethical practice in behavioral health services;
• Identify unique ethical challenges presented in child welfare systems;
• Learn about maintaining boundaries in selected treatment settings;
• Examine the interaction between personal ethics and institutional ethics;
• Develop a personal strategy to cope with ethical dilemmas;
• Consider emerging ethical issues; and
• Study the range of legal and ethical issues that may arise in supervisory relationships.

 About the Presenter:

    Ann Marie Starr is an AAMFT Approved Supervisor and Director of the Family Therapy Training Institute. She is in private practice with Systemic Perspective. Ann consults and trains in both private and public agencies. She served as president of the Wisconsin Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and currently holds an appointment to the Marriage and Family Therapy Board for the Department of Regulation and Licensing. Her practice specialties include families and addiction, blended family issues, and professional practice ethics.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Waukesha County Technical College
Pewaukee, WI

Talking and Working with Kids and Sexuality: Helping Caregivers Assess Normal
(Brochure in PDF Format)

 Workshop Description:

    When a child displays a sexual behavior, parents can be troubled and uncertain about what to do.  Often parents, teachers and other caretakers struggle with the concept of “normal” sexual behaviors in children.  This workshop will explore the boundaries of “normal” sexual behavior in children and provide tools and resources for behavioral health and social services providers to help families understand and address child sexual behaviors.

   The session will also explore sexual behavior assessment and evaluation processes, modes of treatment and strategies for working with family and other caregivers to address sexual behavior concerns.  In this workshop, participants will: 

• Learn the different etiological theories of why children and adolescents exhibit sexual behavior concerns.
• Engage in an overview of assessment methods and the psychosexual evaluation process.
• Discuss the treatment process of children and adolescents with sexual behavior concerns.
• Develop skills and tools to promote prevention and education, informed supervision and effective risk assessment with children and families.

 About the Presenter:

   Timothy M. Wright, Psy.D., has worked with sexualized children, adolescents and their families for the last 21 years.

    Dr. Wright has provided treatment, evaluation, and consultation in a variety of settings including social service agencies, school districts, adoption centers, foster parent agencies, private practices and mental health clinics.  He is currently the Clinical Director of Child and Adolescent Services at Project Pathfinder, Inc., a nonprofit agency that deals exclusively with issues of sexuality.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Holiday Inn – Campus Area
Eau Claire, WI

Ethics, Boundaries and Cross-Cultural Competence in Social Work
(Brochure in PDF Format)

 Workshop Description:

    Utilizing a strengths perspective, empowerment approach, and an ecological framework, this ethics and boundaries workshop focuses on cross-cultural competence in the helping professions.  Ethical dilemmas and boundary-setting challenges are explored in the context of “helping” to promote effective practice with a diverse population of service participants.

   Through exploration of culture, workshop participants will examine universal “helping” values and ethics that promote practitioner self-awareness, the further development and refinement of cross-cultural knowledge and skills, and gain greater understanding of how this impacts service delivery.  For the purposes of this workshop, service delivery includes not only our work with clients, but also how we relate to each other as professionals, act on behalf of our organization, and interact in varying diverse communities.

   Instructional format includes interactive lecture, focused discussion, group work, video and practice exercises, all designed to foster application of workshop content in diverse practice situations.

    Training Objectives:

• Understand how cross-cultural competence as a professional obligation is illustrated in the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics, the NASW Standards for Cultural Competence in Social Work Practice, as well as by the Wisconsin Code of Conduct for Marriage and Family Therapy, Counseling and Social Work (Ch. MPSW 20).
• Understand how utilizing the strengths perspective, an empowerment approach, and the ecological framework facilitate greater cross-cultural competence.
• Develop a sophisticated understanding of the complex interchange of personal, professional, client, colleague, organizational, and community values, resulting ethics, and various boundary-setting activities that can create barriers to, or support cross-cultural competence.
• Identify and resolve, utilizing an ethical resolution model, common cross-cultural practice challenges.
• Develop specialized cross-cultural knowledge and skills that impact the helping process and resulting service delivery.

 About the Presenter:

    Kevin R. Roeder, Ph.D., MSW, LCSW is an Associate Professor in the Social Work Professional Program at the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay.

    His applied ethics and boundaries experiences include: teaching developing practitioners in higher education at the MSW and BSW levels; developing and facilitating numerous organizational and agency-based trainings to a variety of professionals in the helping professions; service on professional and organizational ethics committees as well as development of an ethics committee for a county department of social services.

Thursday, October 30, 2008
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Hilton Garden Inn
Oshkosh, WI

 Professional Ethics and Boundaries: Challenging Assumptions, Understanding Differences
(Brochure in PDF Format)

 Workshop Description:

    In behavioral health services, practitioners experience a wide diversity of needs, complex situations, and unique clients, colleagues and supervisors. Because the work that we do directly touches people’s lives, ethical challenges and boundary questions are inevitable.  While no code, standard or law can provide a singular answer, ethical codes provide a tool to guide quality decision-making.  In reviewing these tools, we create an opportunity for further reflection, growth and a sharpening of skills.

    This workshop begins with a review of basic terms such as profession, professional, ethics, and law, and then distinguishes professional ethics codes (e.g., NASW Code of Ethics) from law and regulation (e.g., MPSW 20 Code of Conduct). A brief walk-through of the NASW Code of Ethics is followed by a consideration of boundaries and boundary violations and crossings.  Next, we consider the ethical requirement of cultural competence by exploring the functions of culture and the implications for professional social workers who are working in multi-cultural environments.  An ethical decision making model will be presented, followed by small group discussion and analyses of ethical dilemmas from practice.  Participants are encouraged to bring examples from their own practice.

 About the Presenter:

    Dr. Nick Smiar is Professor of Social Work at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.  His MSW specialization was group work and casework, with a focus on psychiatric social work, and his Ph.D. specialization was social welfare and public policy.  Prior to his work in social work education, Dr. Smiar was executive director of a multi-service child and family welfare agency in Illinois for five years.  He has been a social work educator for 16 years.  His special interests are ethics in social work, social welfare policy, international social work, and organizational and community development.  Dr. Smiar is also a graduate of the Divinity School of the University of Chicago.  He is an Adjunct Professor in the graduate program in Philanthropy and Development at St. Mary’s University of Minnesota and has been an invited Guest Lecturer in social welfare policy  analysis  at  the  University of South Africa.  Dr. Smiar is a board member of Bolton Refuge House (Eau Claire), PATH, Inc. and also PATH, Wisconsin.  He works in Finland, Germany, and South Africa on a regular basis.