The City Colleges of Chicago Wellness Centers are now offering Continuing Education in mental health for CCC faculty, staff and the broader community.

The goal of the Wellness Centers’ Continuing Education program is to promote education and ongoing learning to those working in the social sciences and to provide mental health resources to our CCC faculty and staff.

The Wellness Centers’ Continuing Education program is offering several opportunities.

The City Colleges of Chicago Wellness Centers are approved Continuing Education Sponsors through the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) to provide Continuing Education for licensed psychologists, licensed professional counselors/clinical professional counselors, licensed social workers/clinical social workers and licensed marriage and family therapists.

Brief informational videos, put together by our Wellness Center staff and interns, will be updated regularly on this page and are available for viewing at any time.

Learn More About CE Courses

Introduction to Mental Health

Continuing Education Courses

The Wellness Centers will be providing live Continuing Education (CE) courses each semester. These will be provided in both virtual and in-person formats and are open to the community. The cost and schedule for each course may vary. Information about live CE courses will be regularly updated on this page.

‘Just Say No’- An exploratory look on how this historic initiative shaped SUD treatment in the Y2K era.

CCC Wellness Centers are offering this course at NO COST!

Date and Time: 10.27.2023 | 1:00 PM-3:30 PM

2.5 CE credits will be available upon completion of the course and course quiz.

This will be a virtual event. A link to join the event will be sent following registration.

To register, click on the button below:

For question #13 please enter code: 1027

Learn More About the Course

Presented by:

LaTia Lane, LCSW

Clinical Director of Wellness Center

Olive-Harvey College

Destinee Miguest, LCSW, CADC

Clinical Director of Wellness Center

Richard J. Daley College

Course Objectives:

Clinicians will:

Develop an understanding of the DSM-5-TR definition of substance use disorders (SUD)
Explore the link between addiction, trauma & attachment
Gain knowledge about co-occurring disorders
Learn how to implement SUD treatments with an increased knowledge base
Learn the importance of attachment theory when treating SUD

Students Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of this course, the student should be able to do the following:

Identify methods to include attachment theory with additional treatment modalities to treat SUD.
Identify the intersection between trauma, attachment, and substance use.
Articulate a theoretical framework from which to both assess and provide treatment to clients diagnosed with SUD.
Demonstrate sensitivity to critical issues of difference that influence assessment and interventions.
Explore ethical dilemmas regarding SUD treatment.

Faculty and Staff

CCC faculty and staff ONLY can view virtual courses provided by PESI at any time, for no cost. Continuing Education (CE) credit is available for these courses on a limited basis. For information on how to obtain CE credit for these courses, please contact Dr. Cossu at ncossu@ccc.edu.

View Courses

Learn More About the Courses

Navigating Racialized Trauma in the Context of Addictions

In this session, we’ll look at the interaction of racialized trauma and addiction, on both the individual and collective levels. Then we’ll explore a set of somatic healing practices that can support the healing of both trauma and addiction. Lastly, we’ll use the lens of Somatic Abolitionism to examine how we can help our clients create positive feedback loops of growth, emergence, and healing.

Objectives

Theorize how racialized trauma and addiction impact one another.
Assessing the distinctions between individual and collective traumatic stress through a racialized lens.
Propose interventions for racialized trauma in the context of addictive behaviors.
Demonstrate 5 interventions for racial trauma in the context of addictive behaviors.

Outline

The Five types of trauma responses
The differences between individual and collective traumatic experiences
How racialized trauma is experienced in the context of addiction
The Five anchors of healing and recovery
Tools of addiction recovery from a racialized trauma perspective
The collective healing of trauma and addiction from a racialized trauma perspective

Target Audience

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Integrative CBT and Schema Therapy Techniques for Anxiety, Trauma, and Eating Disorders

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is one of the most effective evidence-based treatments for chronic and recurring mental health issues, making it no surprise that CBT is the most widely used form of psychotherapy in the United States.

But when clients are suffering with really challenging issues, like deep-rooted developmental trauma, destructive relational patterns, and perfectionistic and rigid belief systems, it can make the therapeutic process feel like it’s going in circles…

… and you often end up working harder than the client to effect change.

In this training, Amy Van Arsdale, PhD and CBT expert, will show integrating CBT and Schema therapy interventions can help you overcome common obstacles to client progress and what to do when your initial interventions don’t work. Through use of clinical cases and videos, you will walk away with a set of CBT and Schema Therapy clinical tools to enhance your practice and breakthrough some of your toughest cases.

In this training, you will also learn:

Integrative CBT interventions for anxiety, trauma, mood disorders and more
How combining Schema Therapy and CBT can make both short and long-term therapy more effective
Powerful CBT and Schema techniques for healing interpersonal trauma and rigid behavioral patterns
Practical CBT exercises, worksheets, and resources for immediate use

Leave this training with specific CBT and Schema Therapy tools to confidently and consistently treat your most difficult and resistant clients!

Objectives

Integrate evidence-based techniques and latest research into treatment using the CBT model.
Utilize CBT thought records and worksheets to identify negative self-talk, automatic thoughts, assumptions, and core beliefs
Apply CBT case conceptualization and adapt it to a variety of disorders, including anxiety, eating, and mood disorders.
Practice behavioral activation, mindfulness, and interpersonal skills techniques.
Compare and contrast Young’s 18 Early Maladaptive Schemas and apply them to sample cases.
Utilize re-parenting techniques to change self-defeating behavioral patterns.

Outline Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Exploring the model

CBT Triad: A tool for psychoeducation and intervention
Empirical support for CBT
Integrative CBT techniques
Cultural considerations for best practice
Research limitations and potential risks
CBT case conceptualization:
- Beck’s Cognitive Triad
- Symptom Maintenance

Cognitive and Behavioral Interventions

Identifying cognitive distortions
Guided Discovery & Socratic Questioning
Negative core beliefs
Changing and reframing problematic thinking
Hypothesis testing/behavioral experimentation to change unhelpful patterns
Mindfulness, breathing and relaxation
Tools: CBT thought record, worksheets, homework, and apps

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Specific Clinical issues

Anxiety Disorders
- CBTs role in managing anxiety and worry
- Psychoeducation and reduction of physiological symptoms
- Worry time for generalized anxiety
- Exposure techniques for:
  - Generalized Anxiety
  - Social Anxiety
  - OCD
Trauma
- Overview of evidence-based practices
- Prolonged Exposure Therapy
- Cognitive Processing Therapy
- Emotional regulation strategies and skills
- Grounding and self-soothing strategies
Eating Disorders
- Challenging cognitive distortions
- Behavioral interventions for Bingeing and Restrictive Eating
- Hunger Scale and Mindful Eating
Mood Disorders
- Psychoeducation for clients and their families
- Behavioral activation for depression
- Coping and problem-solving skills for:
  - Depression
  - Bipolar Disorder
  - Seasonal Affective Disorder
- Strategies to provide solutions for daily problems
- Relapse prevention
Anger
- Identifying triggers & emotional identification
- Active feelings vs. dormant feeling
- Slowing down and calming techniques
- Interpersonal skills:
  - Assertiveness
  - Communication
  - Boundaries

Schema Therapy

What to do when CBT isn’t enough
- An expansion of traditional CBT
- Emphasis on lifelong patterns and effective change techniques
- Special emphasis on re-parenting
- The 18 early maladaptive schemas
- Core emotional needs and self-defeating coping styles
- Schema modes and self-defeating behavioral patterns
- Breaking rigid patterns with resistant clients
- Integration into long-term therapy

Target Audience

Ethics and Risk Management in Behavioral Health: What Every Clinician Needs to Know About Mental Health and the Law

Watch Attorney Robert Landau and Dr. Frederic Reamer as they collaborate to deliver an interactive, dynamic presentation on ever-changing ethics and risk-management challenges in behavioral health.

Keeping up-to-date is essential to protect your clients and yourself. During this workshop you will gain an understanding of ethics and risk-management challenges related to:

Confidentiality exceptions
Privileged communication
Documentation
Telehealth
Informed consent
Boundary issues
Recent changes to federal regulations governing confidentiality of substance use disorder patient records
And other complex topics

Landau and Dr. Reamer will highlight ethics and risk-management challenges related to your use of technology to deliver services remotely, communicate with clients, and store records.

This is a workshop you do not want to miss…as both presenters will offer practical advice from both the legal and behavioral health points of view to help you stay on top of issues that arise in everyday clinical situations.

Objectives

Evaluate ethical challenges and risks in behavioral health.
Utilize risk management tips to reduce licensing board complaints and lawsuits.
Analyze ethical dilemmas clinicians face surrounding use of technology to serve clients remotely, communicate with clients, and store information.
Apply an ethical decision-making framework to recognize, analyze, resolve or prevent ethical dilemmas in your clinical practice.
Employ state-of-the-art documentation guidelines and protocols.
Determine ethical/legal standards of care as the pertain to clinical practice.

Outline INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW: KEY ISSUES

ETHICS AND RISK MANAGEMENT: THE LEGAL PERSPECTIVE

Insurance coverage: The essentials
Importance of documentation:
It really matters!
Tips to avoid and defend lawsuits and licensing board complaints: Practical advice
Key risk areas: What to look out for
Importance of peer, ethics, and legal consultation
Responding to subpoenas: Do’s and don’ts
Working with attorneys

ETHICS AND RISK-MANAGEMENT: THE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVE

Trends in malpractice claims and ethics complaints: Ethical mistakes, ethical decisions, misconduct
Ethical challenges and risks: Essential knowledge
Confidentiality, privacy, privileged communication
Informed consent
Boundary issues, dual relationships, and conflicts of interest
Digital, online, and remote services and relationships
High-risk treatment and services
Termination of services
Defamation
Documentation
Impaired professionals
Ethics consultation and ethics committees
Handling difficult ethical judgments and decisions: Protecting clients and practitioners

Target Audience

Suicide Assessment and Intervention: Assess Suicidal Ideation and Effectively Intervene in Crisis Situations with Confidence, Composure and Sensitivity

Losing a client to suicide is your worst nightmare. And there inevitably comes a time when the suicidal client is more than just an intangible dread. When an actual person, suffering and sitting in your office, reveals they are having suicidal thoughts. Many clinicians are left feeling unprepared, frightened, and unsure what to do next. The weight of keeping someone alive can steer you in the direction of avoidance. Desperate and alone, suicidal clients can find themselves passed from one therapist to the next. And that’s not care.

Don’t let fear push you away.

This seminar will transform how you view and work with suicidal clients and give you the clinical tools you need to save lives.

Full of thought provoking lecture, engaging case studies, and guided instruction on a host of powerful clinical applications, this seminar will provide you with the tools you need to:

Assess for suicidal risk and identify implicit and explicit expressions of suicidal thought.
Formulate a game-plan for crises when suicide is imminent.
Intervene in suicidal despair with proactive approaches derived from the evidencebased efficacy of CBT and DBT.
Effectively use targeted language with suicidal clients that will help you avoid stigma and successfully communicate your compassion.
Provide innovative grief support resources that connect clients and clinicians with other survivors of suicide and suicide loss.

Leave this seminar feeling confident and capable to work with suicidal clients and guide them out of the darkness and back into the light!

Objectives

Assess individuals at risk of suicide with a clinical approach that identifies both explicit and implicit expressions of suicidal thought.
Determine key indicators of imminent suicide and develop a strategy for determining when and how to hospitalize clients.
Formulate a CBT and DBT oriented case conceptualization that addresses how to effectively work with specific populations including veterans and the elderly.
Employ a collaborative safety approach to help clients survive a suicidal crisis.
Develop communication strategies that convey compassion and support and strengthen the therapeutic alliance.
Design a multi-systemic approach that reduces access to lethal means and incorporates the suicidal person’s social connections into their safety plan.

Outline

Suicide: Who, When, How and Where

Addiction recovery
Trauma-informed care
Populations with multiple risk factors
Suicide attempt survivors – learning from their experience
Upstream clinical practices: reaching people before the point of crisis

Elicit Key Information from Suicidal Clients: Assessment and Level of Risk

Implicit and explicit expressions of suicidal thoughts
Communicating caring: Language to impart compassion and avoid stigma
Suicide risk assessment
- SAFE-T
- PATH WARM
- Ideation, plan, means, intent
- Level of risk

Formulate Treatment Plans that Help Clients Regulate Emotions and Make Them Feel Valued and Connected

Collaborative safety planning (or “Why Suicide Contracting is Dead”)
Proactive approaches to decrease the likelihood of suicidal despair
Multi-system approaches – support systems
Evidence-based treatments:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
  - Cognitive restructuring strategies
  - Emotional regulation exercises
  - Behavioral Activation
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy
  - How to organize a skills training group
  - Tips for phone coaching
Relapse prevention plans
Documentation
Reduce access to lethal means
Working with specific populations: veterans, the elderly

Confidently Handle Crisis Situations

Conduct a behavioral chain analysis
Validating reasons for suicide
Identify reasons for living
Use distress tolerance and CBT skills to manage a crisis
When and how to hospitalize

Suicide Grief Support and Innovative Suicide-Specific Care

Implement Suicide Grief Support
- Understand the unique nature of suicide grief
- Peer-based support: Connect clients to other survivors of loss
Other innovative suicide-specific care
- Collaborative online tools and applications
Clinicians with lived experience
Post-traumatic growth and suicide

Target Audience

ADHD in Diverse Populations: Strategies to Treat Adults, Kids & Collaborate with Care Teams

Disparities in care for clients with ADHD from diverse backgrounds don’t have to exist.

You can be a part of closing the gap in treatment inequality. The solution is right here…

Get expert training to understand, recognize, assess and treat culturally diverse clients with ADHD.

Commit to not missing cues, symptoms, and giving the highest standard of care to all your clients by joining Brandi Walker, PhD, for a comprehensive training on ADHD in communities of color. Sit alongside Brandi and explore:

Real world case studies with complex, intersectional identifies of both clients & therapists
Familial dynamics that impact development and treatment of ADHD
How to build rapport and trust across cultural differences
Strategies for collaborating with caregivers and care teams
Ways to overcome disparities in medication management, access to treatment & more

Make sure you have the interventions to help any client coming through your door.

Objectives

Analyze health disparities as they pertain to ADHD diagnoses within socially diverse populations.
Evaluate the health, mental health, and social problems that result from assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of ADHD when health disparities are present.
Investigate current research studies and their findings.
Develop understanding of the diversity in family dynamics and its influence on treatment/interventions and quality of life outcomes for clients with ADHD.
Apply a transcultural model to assessment and treatment of ADHD .

Outline From Multiculturalism to Transculturalism

Overcome historical mistrust and distrust
Contextuality & what it means for clinicians
How intersectional identities impact therapy
Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model
Racial socialization

Qualities for Culturally Competent Work

Foster trust across culture lines
Be a catalyst for hope
Cultivate consistency
Acculturation and assimilation

Disparities in Assessment & Diagnosis Of ADHD

Know the risk factors
Explore the potential health outcomes
Understand assessment biases & learn alternatives
What prevents diagnosis when it’s appropriate?
Trauma & common comorbidities

How to Overcome Treatment Gaps

Impact of untreated ADHD
7 Essential steps for clinical care
Evaluate racial socialization/ethnic stress
ADHD & incarceration
Resource sharing
BioPsychoSocialSpiritualStrengths Model
Understand family dynamics & support families more

Case Studies & Clinician FAQ

Wesley & Mom – 2nd grader, father incarcerated; 27 years old, three kids, new relationship
Shayla – 17th year old, Latina & caibbean female, middle class, “behavior & academic” problems
Marcel – 18 year old, African American Female, parents divorced, first year in college
Anna – 26 year old, pacific Islander, transgender, bullying, anxiety, depression
Marvin – 32 years old, 2nd generation Lantix American, low-income, career struggles

Target Audience