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Workshops
As School Counselors or Mental Health Therapists, we often get very little education on substance use, process addictions, prevention science, or the skills to effectively work with teens to intervene in these behaviors. I can provide professional development in person or virtually on the following topics:
Catching Them Upstream: Early Intervention with Using Adolescents to Prevent Overdose & Addiction
This workshop will review the latest research on what substances adolescents are using most, what risks they pose to developing brains, and mental and physical health, and how we can deliver life-saving harm reduction education to our clients. We will discuss motivational interviewing strategies and approaches for partnering with parents that are proven to prevent early use from progressing into disordered use.
Addiction-Proofing Our Clients
The variety, rates and danger of addictive disorders are increasing in our youth, from all things screens to self-harm to substances, and initiation into them is getting progressively younger. We can play a powerful role in prevention and early intervention with our young clients who are at higher risk. I will cover proven risk factors that can be a “recipe for addiction,” diagnostic tools for identifying Use Disorders, and share my “Addiction-Proofing” model that we can utilize to partner with parents and schools to prevent and intervene early in self-destructive relationships with anything.
Not Your Grandma’s Weed: New School Drug Ed for Clinicans
Substances and use trends among our adolescent clients are constantly changing, and the research on their risks is ever-evolving. These substances are becoming increasingly potent, addictive, appealing, and easier to conceal. They are also becoming more dangerous, with a 114% increase in fatal overdoses for our 14-18-year-olds from 2019-2022. We have the opportunity to be trust worthy legitimate sources of information on drugs to counteract the sea of myths they are swimming in. This training is a deep-dive into the most recently updated research and science on how today’s drugs and alcohol can impact youth users.
Note: I am not yet an independent approved CEU provider through an accredited agency.