The South Southwest Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC) invites peer specialists from across Region 6 to apply for the Healing & Power in Peer Support training. Studies have shown that most people will experience trauma at least once in their lifetimes. In order to be effective, peer specialists should have an embodied understanding of trauma and healing. The Healing & Power in Peer Support training was developed to train peer supporters on the concepts of power and healing-centered practice, and how those concepts impact peer support. The Youth and Young Adult Peer Support training is available for anyone who works, or is interested in working, as a peer specialist. The only prerequisite to attendance is that participants must have previous formal training in peer support practice (e.g., their state’s Peer Specialist certification training, Intentional Peer Support, etc.). This three-day training provides participants with a foundation for how power shows up in peer support relationships, how Healing-Centered Engagement principles can foster healing relationships and “power with,” and how peer specialists can integrate healing-centered principles into their practice of supporting others and themselves. This is a highly experiential training, where participants will integrate practice with their own lived experience through structured reflection, group discussion, and interactive activities. The application deadline is June 17, 2024. Learning Objectives: At the end of this training, it is envisioned that participants will be able ​​to: Identify the basic principles of Healing-Centered Engagement; Employ radical acceptance and empathy to foster healing relationships; Define the concept of “meaning-making” and how storytelling plays a role in healing; Apply skills for holding space in relation to supporting self and others; Describe the different forms that power can take; Assess power dynamics within a peer support relationship to foster “power with” another person; and Understand how racism and oppression impact power dynamics both broadly and specifically to peer support.     Facilitators: Jessi Davis (she/they) is an experienced Program Coordinator and Peer Specialist with a demonstrated history of working in the Peer Support, Mental Health, and Substance Use Recovery industries. Jessi is known for work surrounding Youth and Young Adult Peer Support training, technical assistance, and leadership. Currently working at the South Southwest Mental Health Technology Transfer Center, Jessi works to provide support, technical assistance, and training to the Peer Workforce throughout the 5 states and all tribal communities within Region 6. They have spent much of their career focused on promoting access to quality Peer Specialist services across the lifespan. Darcy Kues (she/her) is a Project Manager with the South Southwest Mental Health Technology Transfer Center and the Addiction Research Institute, where she writes curricula focused on peer support and recovery services. She has over 7 years of experience in curriculum development, grant writing, and program coordination for peer support services and recovery-oriented behavioral health. Darcy has developed trainings on reentry peer support, youth and young adult peer support, trauma responsiveness, peer support supervision, LGBTQ affirming services, and more. She is committed to building a world where recovery and lived experience are centered at every level of decision-making.

This training is full. If you'd like to be put on a waiting list, please contact Jen Winslow ([email protected]).   An Introduction to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): Enhancing Your Practice and Your Life with Acceptance, Self-Compassion, and Values-Based Action. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is an evidenced-based intervention model grounded in mindfulness, self-compassion, and values-based action. Clients learn to encounter thoughts and feelings in a mindful way, neither dwelling on them nor pushing them away. At the same time, they are encouraged to act on their most deeply held values. In over 1000 randomized controlled trials and nearly 200 meta-analyses and systematic reviews, ACT has been shown to be efficacious for a wide variety of problems helping professionals address, including depression, anxiety, OCD, psychosis, substance abuse, chronic pain, dealing with cancer, stress, and stigma. Rather than going after reducing symptoms, ACT increases psychological flexibility: the capacity to turn to the present moment as a conscious human being and take action according to personally-chosen values. ACT can enhance your practice as professional as well move one, giving you a transdiagnostic evidence-based model from which to stand. But it can also impact your life, giving you a framework for preventing burnout, finding balance, and engaging meaningfully in the world outside of work. In this two-day, highly interactive virtual workshop, professionals of any experience level will be introduced to psychological flexibility both intellectually and experientially. You will learn what it’s like, in practice, to open up to thoughts and feelings without getting entangled in them, identify what truly matters to you, and take meaningful action. Training modalities will include brief lecture, clinical vignettes, clinical demonstrations, mindfulness exercises, experiential exercises, large group discussions, small group discussions, and small-group skills practice. This won’t be your typical slog of slides as you sit for hours with glazed eyes. You’ll get multiple opportunities to watch ACT demonstrations, practice ACT with yourself, and practice ACT skills with others. The workshop is intended to be both professionally and personally meaningful.   LEARNING OBJECTIVES Define psychological flexibility and identify its six components: acceptance, defusion, present moment awareness, self-as-context, values, and committed action. Identify three strategies for facilitating acceptance and willingness with clients. Identify three strategies for facilitating defusion with clients. Help clients contact the moment-to-moment experience of thoughts, feelings, and sensations without becoming absorbed in them or trying to push them away. Contact a sense of self that is more stable than transient thoughts and feelings and transcends personal narratives about who they are and what they are capable of. Facilitate conversations with clients about personal values and values-based behavior activation.   PARTICIPANT REQUIREMENTS Must have the appropriate technology and work environment to join the Zoom training sessions. Must actively engage during training sessions using both camera and microphone. Space is limited. Please only register if you are able to attend both days of the training, Due to the limited capacity, priority will be given to those working in HHS Region 5 (IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI).   CONTINUING EDUCATION Registrants who fully attend this training will be eligible to receive 12 continuing education (CE) hours. CE certification will be managed by the co-sponsoring organization, UW–Madison Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work.   PRESENTER   Michael P. Twohig, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist in the state of Utah and a Professor of Psychology at Utah State University, where he co-runs the ACT Research Group (with Dr. Levin). He received his B.A. and M.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, his Ph.D. from the University of Nevada, Reno, and completed his clinical internship at the University of British Columbia Hospital. He is past-President of the Association of Contextual Behavioral Science, the organization most associated with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). His research focuses on the use of ACT across a variety of clinical presentations with an emphasis on obsessive compulsive and related disorders. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers, many book chapters, and 9 books, with the most recent being ACT in Steps (with Levin and Ong) and the Anxious Perfectionist (with Ong). His research has been funded through multiple sources including the National Institute of Mental Health and the IOCDF. In 2022, he was rated as currently the most productive author on ACT and that USU was the most productive institution in the world.   This training is co-sponsored by the UW–Madison Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work. The Great Lakes MHTTC is offering this training for individuals working in HHS Region 5: IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI. This training is being provided in response to a need identified by Region 5 stakeholders.

The Northwest MHTTC is excited to partner with Lamarr Lewis, MA, LAPC, CPRP, to offer a live learning community about motivation in mental health recovery. 6 hours of CE contact hours available* (see below.) ABOUT THE LEARNING COMMUNITY The "Motivation IN Mental Health Recovery" learning community will focus on enhancing participants' ability to improve an individual’s motivation and engagement in treatment. Participants will learn ways to empower their clients to change by: drawing out their own meaning, importance, and capacity for change. Through the use of Motivational Interviewing, Positive Psychology, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and more, they will learn to utilize recovery as a course of change. Through these methods, participants will learn to motivate their clients to improve their health and wellness, live self-directed lives, and strive to reach their full potential. Learning Objectives: Define motivation, how it can facilitate a person’s mental health recovery, and support their self-empowerment process. Discuss treatment considerations for individuals with amotivation due to intellectual/developmental disabilities, substance use, and/or co-morbid Severe and Persistent Mental Illness. Apply evidence-based interventions to increase client motivation in their treatment. Enhance clinical decision-making and practical application of techniques related to improving client outcomes. Eligibility Members of the mental health/behavioral health workforce who are based in the states of Alaska, Oregon, Idaho & Washington Commitment to attend the whole series is required Each individual must have access to computer/web camera/audio to participate Deadline to apply: Friday, June 21, 2024.  Questions: For questions about this series, including eligibility and registration please contact the Northwest MHTTC at [email protected]. SESSIONS: Tuesdays, July 9-30, 2024  11:00am - 12:30 pm AK / 12:00 - 1:30pm PT / 1:00 - 2:30pm MT FACILITATOR Lamarr Lewis, MA, LAPC, CPRP Lamarr Lewis is a dedicated advocate, author, and agent of change. With a focus on community-based mental health, he works with diverse groups including individuals living with psychiatric disabilities, people in recovery from substance abuse, and at-hope youth (He does not use the term at-risk). He is an alumnus of Wittenberg University graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with minors in Africana Studies and Religion. He later received his master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Argosy University. His career spans over twenty years with experience as a therapist, consultant, and human service professional. He has been a featured expert and trainer for such organizations as; Boeing, Fulton County Probate Court, Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network, Mississippi Department of Health, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Region IV Public Health Training Center, the Ruby Neeson Diabetes Awareness Foundation, and more. His lifelong mission is to leave the world better than how he found it.   *Continuing Education Contact Hours Details Physicians, physician assistants, primary care ARNPs, psychologists, and other health care providers may be eligible for CME or CEUs for completing the course. Retain your Certificate of Completion and verify its suitability for CME/CEUs with your licensing/credentialing entity. The University of Washington is an approved provider of continuing education for DOH licensed social workers, licensed mental health counselors, licensed marriage and family therapists, psychologists, substance use disorder professionals, nurses and physicians under the provisions of: WAC 246-809-610, WAC 246-809-620, WAC 246-811-200, WAC 246-840-210, WAC 246-919-460 and WAC 246-924-240.

The second issue of our July 2024 newsletter features new upcoming Northwest MHTTC events and resources of interest to the workforce.

About this Resource: Have you ever wondered about the role of the Certified Peer Specialist in the new 988 Crisis System? This product, which accompanies a webinar that the Southeast MHTTC hosted along with the Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network, explains the role of peers in answering calls, crisis coordination, support services teams, and respite centers.

The Healing and Transformation Learning Academy (HTLA) manual was created to provide guidance on facilitating this program. It is intended to facilitate a process of professional growth, and guide participants on their creation of a "final project." The manual is available at no cost through the download link on this page. The Healing and Transformation Learning Academy (HTLA) is founded on the principles of peer support, acknowledging and respecting the unique paths individuals have taken in their lives. Consequently, it does not have a predetermined outcome in mind. This framework empowers participants to explore unlimited pathways that will lead them to their intended destinations throughout their time in HTLA. Although this document provides detailed facilitator notes, the space is collaboratively created to meet individuals where they are. Email [email protected] for any Technical Assistance on the utilization and implementation of this program.