I offer a variety of education, training, and consulting services, drawing inspiration from established best-practices as well as my own experiences and research. I am most often requested to provide services related to trauma-informed care, strengths-based intervention, child/adolescent development, and creative therapeutic approaches (e.g., music therapy, experiential therapy) for especially-challenging youth. To inquire about education and training services, please feel free to contact me. Fees are determined based on hourly commitment and required travel.
My training style incorporates multisensory presentation techniques, audience participation, enthusiasm, and humor in order to make nuanced topics both approachable and enjoyable. I do not wish to simply share information, but to make it meaningful and to support your organization/staff in fully utilizing identified skills and interventions.
A number of my previously provided seminars are provided below. I am also happy to provide additional training or consulting services depending on your organization’s interests and needs.
1. Trauma-Informed Care in Communities and Schools
This training is designed to support organizations and care providers in better understanding the many impacts (emotional, neuropsychological, behavioral, etc.) of psychological trauma, as well as how to provide compassionate/effective intervention at the individual and community/organizational level.
Length of training: 2-8 hours depending on organizational need.
2. Strengths of the Adolescent Brain: Supporting Psychological Well-Being Among Teenage Populations
Most research articles, seminars, and cautionary tales emphasize the many risks and challenges associated with adolescent brain development. Instead, this training focuses on how parents, educators, and mental health providers can harnass and encourage the many potential strengths associated with this unique developmental phase – in order to facilitate improved well-being and healthy maturation.
Length of training: 2 hours.
3. Through the Looking Glass: Compassion and Case Conceptualization in Working with Difficult Youth
This is a focused, in-depth training which incorporates case examples from especially challenging youth in order to facilitate compassionate and effective case conceptualization, treatment planning, and intervention.
Length of training: 2-4 hours depending on organizational need.
4. Seeing the Strength: Identifying and Fostering Resilience in Trauma-Exposed Youth
This training discusses the identification, development, and implementation of trauma-focused interventions designed specifically to build upon a child/family’s existing strengths and protective factors in order to support their improved well-being.
Length of training: 2-4 hours depending on organizational need.
5. Putting the Mask on First: Maintaining Self-Care in a Career of Self-Sacrifice
This training emphasizes the importance of effective self-care while working with difficult client populations. Potential sources of burnout are discussed, as well as strategies for identifying signs of “compassion fatigue” within oneself and one’s coworkers. Finally, interventions are discussed (and demonstrated!) for alleviating workplace stress, facilitating self-care, and supporting a positive organizational/community environment.
Length of training: 2-4 hours depending on organizational need.
6. ACEs and Beyond: The Adverse Childhood Experiences Study, and What We Can Do About It
The ACEs study is one of the most important mental health research studies conducted in the recent decades. This training discusses the findings of ACEs research, how these relate to our work in mental health and educational organizations, and what we can do to appropriately support individuals/populations exposed to adverse childhood experiences.
Length of training: 2-4 hours depending on organizational need.
7. Experiential Interventions for At-Risk Youth
This training discusses the rationale and importance of experience-based therapies (e.g., community social skills practice, adventure therapy, music therapy), as well as how to incorporate experiential strategies in order to make therapeutic interventions both more meaningful and effective for child/adolescent populations.
Length of training: 2-8 hours depending on organizational need.
8. Therapeutic Songwriting: a Powerful Intervention for Trauma, Self-Esteem, and Emotional Distress
This training provides a step-by-step process guide for my unique therapeutic songwriting intervention program. I will introduce the rationale, history, and efficacy of this intervention, as well as sharing relevant case studies utilizing associated techniques. I will also provide participants with an adaptable protocol for utilizing this intervention with various client populations, as well as engaging participants in a full “walk-through” of the therapeutic songwriting process.
Length of training: 2-8 hours depending on organizational need
9. Healing the Whole Child: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Understanding and Supporting Victims of Developmental Trauma
This training was originally designed for occupational and physical therapists looking to incorporate trauma-related knowledge and intervention into their daily practice. Topics include the multisystemic impact of childhood trauma, strategies for incorporating trauma-informed principles into movement-based practice, and opportunities for strengthening multidisciplinary collaboration with other providers.
Length of training: 6-10 hours depending on organizational need.