Presented by SuEllen Hamkins, MD & Beth Prullage, LICSW

Sponsored by Cutchins Programs for Children & Families

January 14 and 15, 2016, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm

Northampton, Massachusetts, USA

Smith College Conference Center

Download the complete training brochure here

Workshop Description

The goal of this experiential two-day training is to enhance participants’ abilities to apply the principles and practices of narrative psychiatry and trauma-informed care in their clinical work. The focus will be on cultivating resilience through strengths-based, collaborative approaches for psychotherapy, psychiatric care and mental health treatment, guided by the family’s or individual’s values, cultural context and vision of well-being.

Throughout the workshop, we will focus on core principles that inform narrative therapy and trauma-informed care, including transparency, collaboration, empowerment, choice, voice and social justice. Our central goal will being helping participants develop tools to foster resilience in those who consult with us through cultivating strengths-based narratives in therapeutic conversations. We will teach externalizing practices to develop culturally-contextualized understandings of problems that are separate from the person’s identity. Participants will develop practices for conducting strengths-based initial assessments in their treatment contexts and learn how to cultivate a person’s or family’s vision of wellbeing and create collaborative treatment plans.

In addition, we will also attend to cultivating that which sustains and nurtures us as clinicians in doing our work, presenting several peer supervision models.

Educational Objectives

As a result of this workshop, the participant will be able to:

  • After attending this workshop, participants should be able to:
  • Describe core principles that inform narrative therapy and trauma-informed care, including transparency, collaboration, empowerment, choice, voice and social justice.
  • Explain how to foster resilience through cultivating strengths-based narratives in therapeutic conversations.
  • Employ externalizing practices to develop culturally-contextualized understandings of problems that are separate from the person’s identity.
  • Understand the concept of “the person without the problem” and apply strengths-based principles and practices in conducting initial assessments.
  • Outline how to cultivate a person’s or family’s vision of wellbeing and create collaborative treatment plans.

Target Audience

This training is for clinicians working with adults, children and families who are dealing with mental health challenges, including social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, and nurses.

Accessibility

The conference site on the Smith College campus is an accessible, barrier-free location. Reasonable accommodations can be made for individuals with visual and/or hearing impairments if needed.

Faculty

SuEllen Hamkin, MD, is a psychiatrist and author. Her passion is helping people cultivate their values and strengths in the face of difficulties and has centered on three main areas: narrative psychiatry, college student mental health and mother-daughter relationships.Her latest book, The Art of Narrative Psychiatry (Oxford University Press, 2013) brings narrative psychiatry alive through vivid case reports and offers detailed guidance in strengths-based, collaborative practices. SuEllen is Assistant Director of the Center for Counseling and Psychological Health at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and Assistant Professor at University of Massachusetts School of Medicine. She regularly leads training workshops and presents her work at professional conferences and for parents. SuEllen  is  a cherished member of the Reauthoring Teaching Faculty (read more here). She lives with her family in western Massachusetts, where they love to swim outdoors, cross-country ski, dance, cook and lie around the living room, reading.

Beth Prullage, LICSW, is the Director of Clinical Programming at Providence Behavioral Health Hospital in Holyoke, MA.  She has worked at Providence for ten years in a number of clinical positions, including the Director of Social Services, and as the Senior Clinician on the Child and Adolescent Unit.   She is also an Adjunct Associate Professor of Social Work and Faculty Field Advisor at Smith College School for Social Work, where she teaches courses in Clinical Practice, Narrative Therapy and  Family Therapy.

Download the complete training brochure here