Course Catalog

Best Practices in Virtual Learning Series

Various

During COVID-19, many providers had to shift not only service delivery, but also staff training and support, to virtual platforms. How can we best use virtual tools to help staff manage the emotional demands of their work, apply trauma-informed practices, or learn and use other new skills? Courses in this series share best practices for designing and delivering effective virtual learning programs from Academy instructors, community-based organizations, and others. They may be helpful to anyone who delivers training or coaching, facilitates meetings, or leads other learning activities in your organization.

Building Emotional Intelligence Skills for Leadership

Brief Learning Series

Multi-Session (4.5 hours) 

This course introduces ways to recognize and develop emotional intelligence skills that can be used to lead people and teams in nonprofit social service settings. It will help supervisors, managers, and other leaders guide teams effectively and create supportive organizational environments.

Chronic Pain and Mental Health

Brief Learning Series 

Single-Session (1 hour) 

Pain is a common and difficult challenge. It has emerged as an urgent global health issue that impacts physical, psychological, and emotional health. Chronic pain is the second most common reason for outpatient visits in the U.S. Fortunately, scientific understanding of pain is growing as well as ways to help provide emotional support for those suffering from chronic pain. This course includes information about chronic pain, ways chronic pain impacts mental health, and personal and professional resources for reducing pain-related distress.

Combatting Burnout and Compassion Fatigue

Brief Learning Series 

Self-Paced (2 hours) 

Burnout and compassion fatigue can diminish the way people feel about their work and contribute to things like turnover, especially for helping professionals. However, it is possible to combat these issues by building and promoting self-care and self-compassion. This course introduces definitions of burnout and compassion fatigue, helps learners recognize signs and symptoms in themselves and others, and offers proactive strategies to protect or improve wellness in the face of work-related stress.

Compassionate Conversations

Brief Learning Series 

Single-Session (2 hours) 

This foundational course shares research and concrete strategies for having compassionate conversations. It will help learners develop self-compassion, strengthen reflective listening skills, and engage with the spirit of Motivational Interviewing: acceptance, evocation, collaboration, and compassion.

Connecting Through Art and Creative Expression

Brief Learning Series 

Multi-Session (10 hours) 

Connecting Through Art and Creative Expression equips learners to engage children and young people through art-based experiences. Participants will learn to use art to build rapport, trust, and psychological safety in relationships with young people who have been impacted by domestic or intimate partner violence. This course is centered in trauma-informed theory and practices, and is taught by licensed creative arts therapists. Each week, participants will explore a different kind of art material and experience the benefits they can offer. Participants will be guided to apply these techniques between course sessions and learn how to facilitate art activities within their own scope of practice at their organization. In the final week, each participant will present on their experience of using art and creative expression with children and young people impacted by DV/IPV.

Deep Roots: Tools for Healing Mass and Intergenerational Traumas

Brief Learning Series 

Multi-Session (6 hours) 

This course helps providers expand their understanding of trauma to include complex, intergenerational, and mass trauma, especially as they relate to the losses and disruptions of COVID-19. Participants will learn intergenerational healing tools as a pathway to posttraumatic growth, including tapping, mindfulness, ritual, and writing, and consider practices to support staff and community members in their organization.

Dream and Vision: Connecting to Purpose in the New Year

Conversation & Speaker Series 

Single-Session (1.5 hours) 

The winter season finds us turning inward, spending more time inside, and seeking rest. Join us for this winter visioning workshop to reconnect to what inspires you in your personal and professional lives.

Grief In Film

Conversation & Speaker Series 

Single-Session (1.5 hours)

Learn foundational concepts of grief through scenes from classic and contemporary film and television.  These scenes will bring to life concepts such as acute grief, integrated grief, ambiguous loss, prolonged grief, ritual, complicated spiritual grief, and attachment theory.

Grief: Let’s Talk

Conversation & Speaker Series 

Single-Session (1.5 hours)

Gain a helpful foundation for understanding and addressing grief, loss, and healing. This course presents research-based information and addresses common myths about grief. We will start exploring ways grief and loss may impact our work and wellbeing, and steps we can take to support ourselves and others. This will be a helpful primer for those planning to participate in the multi-session course, Understanding Grief and Loss: Supporting Bereaved Community Members.

Intergenerational Trauma and Interconnected Healing

Conversation & Speaker Series 

Single-Session (2 hours) 

This course will help learners develop an understanding of Trauma Informed Care that includes intergenerational, complex, and mass trauma. It will also introduce evidence-based wellness tools for healing intergenerational trauma. This will be a helpful primer for those planning to participate in the multi-session course, Deep Roots: Tools for Healing Mass and Intergenerational Trauma.

Journaling to Manage Stress and Build Resilience

Brief Learning Series 

Single-Session (1 hour) 

Feelings of anxiety and depression are very common during times of adversity and uncertainty. Although these feelings can seem overwhelming, simple practices can help reduce these emotions and give us a sense of perspective. One method that has been shown to be especially useful is journaling. This presentation will review the evidence around journaling to support wellbeing and ways that it can be used to turn distressing emotions into powerful stories.

Managing Perceptions of Control

Brief Learning Series 

Single-Session (1 hour) 

Among the many challenges that people have faced in COVID-19 are a sense of ongoing uncertainty and lack of control. Although we may never fully be able to anticipate challenges that lie ahead, there is growing research suggesting that how we perceive our ability to cope with stress and adapt to challenges can make a difference in our mental health. We will review recent work highlighting the importance of proactive coping and self-efficacy, as well as easy to use techniques that provide a sense of control and reduce worrying during times of uncertainty.

Managing Stress and Building Resilience

Brief Learning Series 

Single-Session (1 hour) 

COVID-19 has transformed the way we work, live, and spend time with others. For many of us, this has led to considerable increases in stress and feeling like it is harder to manage uncertainties. This introductory course draws on research from psychology and neuroscience to develop simple practices that can help us stay grounded and centered during these difficult times.

Motivational Interviewing Certificate for Organizations or Teams

Skills-Based Certificate Program

7 months 

The Motivational Interviewing (MI) Certificate program for organizations or teams provides comprehensive training, coaching, and implementation support that help organizations implement MI to improve services and outcomes. More than individual training, this unique program was designed to support the transfer of MI skills into practice in community settings. Selected organizations will identify at least 15 organizational leaders, supervisors, and direct care staff to participate in the program’s three tracks: MI Implementation Teams, MI Practitioners, and MI Supervisors.

Motivational Interviewing for Conversations About the COVID-19 Vaccine

Brief Learning Series

Single-Session (2 hours) 

This course provides tools to have helpful conversations about the COVID-19 vaccine with community members. Based in Motivational Interviewing (MI), a person-centered counseling method, participants will learn a framework and specific strategies for collaborating with community members to strengthen their own reasons for and readiness to take the vaccine. These skills can also be used to address new challenges and opportunities around vaccine uptake, including engaging people about the booster dose and talking with parents or caregivers about the decision to vaccinate young children.

Motivational Interviewing Practice Series

Brief Learning Series

Multi-Session, Cohort-Based

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is an ongoing practice. This series, limited to those who have already completed the Academy’s MI Certificate Program’s Practitioner Track, offers space to deepen and continue practicing specific MI skills. This is a cohort-based course where you will meet with the same group of peers and an expert instructor over three weeks.

Paths to Mental Health Professions Series

Conversation & Speaker Series

Multiple events 

In these one-hour conversations, mental and behavioral health practitioners will talk about their professional training and career paths to help others who may be considering further training or new kinds of work. We seek to show and encourage diversity in the field, including by sharing insights from practitioners with diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural identities; lived experiences; and motivations for doing this work, along with people who have different types of degrees, licenses, and jobs.

Preventing and Managing Posttraumatic Stress During COVID-19

Brief Learning Series 

Single-Session (1 hour) 

COVID-19 has been challenging for everyone, but for some people, it may lead to ongoing fears of returning to work and traveling, unsettling dreams and memories, and feeling easily jumpy and agitated. Given the profound changes we have been experiencing, many of us will temporarily experience some of these feelings, whereas others might feel them longer, reflecting a type of posttraumatic stress reaction. We will share an overview of what posttraumatic stress is and how we can care for ourselves if we experience these challenges.

Principles of Grief Support

Skills-Based Certificate Program

Multi-Session (10.5 hours)

This advanced course helps learners develop skills to attend to the emotional needs of people who are grieving. Drawing on current research and clinical practices, learners will deepen their understanding of what grief is and its emotional, physiological, and social impacts. This is an experiential course where learners gain concrete skills to help people process the pain of loss in 1:1 conversations and bereavement support groups. You will strengthen skills to cultivate presence with clients, validate others’ experiences, and support meaning-making and rituals, among others. This highly interactive course involves self-reflection, active listening, experiential learning, and skills practice in small groups.

Prerequisite: Understanding Grief and Loss: Supporting Bereaved Community Members

Psychological First Aid (PFA)

Brief Learning Series 

Single-Session (4 hours) 

Psychological First Aid (PFA) is an evidence-informed approach to help in the aftermath of stressful and potentially traumatic events. PFA is designed to reduce the initial distress caused by these events and help people strengthen short-term and long-term coping strategies during challenging times.

(Re)Imagining Trauma Recovery Among Black Youth: Healing From Historical Trauma and Social Injustice Through Action

Brief Learning Series

Multi-Session (4 hours)

This course explores how we can use alternative trauma-informed practice perspectives and theoretical frameworks to widen conversations about what trauma means and how to promote mental health and wellness, particularly by centering the experiences of Black Youth. We will explore organizing as a pathway to posttraumatic growth and action-oriented coping. Learners will be invited to share self-reflections and dream-cast ways we can improve the relevancy of mental health interventions.

Self-Care in the Workplace: Managing Race-Related Stressors

Brief Learning Series

Multi-Session (2 hours) 

Workplace race-related stress can be described as the psychological or emotional distress that Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) staff experience because of their identity. It can result from major experiences of racism, such as being overlooked for promotions or salary increases or harassed for hair texture, body type, or facial features. It can also result from an accumulation of many everyday microaggressions, such as belittling or bullying behavior, stereotyping, and having your experiences as a member of a racial minority group dismissed. When BIPOC staff have these racialized experiences, it negatively impacts quality of life, satisfaction at work, and overall physical and psychological health. This course helps learners identify and define workplace race-related stressors, explore the impact of these stressors on the workplace experience, and develop radical self-care strategies.

This Too is Grief

Brief Learning Series 

Single-Session (1.5 hours) 

While grief is often associated with the death of a loved one, we know that grief can accompany all sorts of loss experiences, including the loss of a job, the loss of health or functioning, and even the loss of a dream. This course draws on current research, contemporary grief and loss theory, and clinical experience to discuss strategies for coping with non-death losses and supporting community members who are grieving non-death losses.

Trauma-Informed Organizational Practice

Skills-Based Certificate Program

7 Months

The trauma-informed organizational practice certificate program equips leaders and supervisors to create environments that protect staff from the impacts of primary and secondary traumas and help them deliver compassionate, healing-centered care. It includes training, interactive coaching, and implementation support in two tracks: trauma-informed supervision and trauma-informed leadership. This program is designed for organizations or teams who participate in both tracks.

Understanding Grief and Loss: Supporting Bereaved Community Members

Brief Learning Series 

Multi-Session (7.5 hours) 

This course introduces current research about grief, loss, attachment, and resilience, along with helpful strategies for supporting bereaved people. Participants will learn culturally responsive and person-centered ways to support community members, employees, and co-workers who are impacted by grief, including when someone may benefit from therapeutic support. We will also explore how our personal experiences of loss can impact our work with bereaved community members. This is an interactive course that involves presentations, film, discussion, and role plays.

This course satisfies the prerequisite for the Skills-Based Certificate Program, Principles of Grief Support.

Understanding the Mental Health Effects of Racial Discrimination

Brief Learning Series 

Multi-Session (8 hours) 

This foundational course introduces key terms, concepts, and evidence for understanding the impacts of racism on mental health, including race-related stress and trauma. Grounded in Dr. Robert Carter’s 30 years of research, teaching, and action to confront racism and its effects – along with other relevant research - participants will learn how race and racism operate in our daily lives and the effects of racism on mental health and health outcomes.

This course satisfies the prerequisite for the advanced course, Acknowledging, Addressing, and Intervening in Harms Related to Racism.

Wellness Wednesday: Center

Brief Learning Series 

Single-Session (1 hour) 

Center is a mid-day restorative yoga series that can be done seated or standing. This course is part of the Wellness Wednesday series, which offers social service providers evidence-based wellness tools to support your health, reduce stress, and increase calm.

Wellness Wednesday: Kitchen Wellness

Brief Learning Series 

Single-Session (1 hour) 

Kitchen Wellness will offer strategies for staying healthy during seasonal changes. We will review common kitchen herbs that boost immunity and support wellness. This course is part of the Wellness Wednesday series, which offers social service providers evidence-based wellness tools to support your health, reduce stress, and increase calm.

Wellness Wednesday: Release and Relax

Brief Learning Series 

Single-Session (1 hour) 

In Release and Relax, we will guide you through a releasing meditation, followed by a desk stretch. We will close with a reflective writing practice to take into the week.  This course is part of the Wellness Wednesday series, which offers social service providers evidence-based wellness tools to support your health, reduce stress, and increase calm.

Wellness Wednesday: Relax, Release, Renew

Brief Learning Series 

Single-Session (1 hour) 

In Relax, Release, and Renew, you will have a chance to find a moment of restoration with this evening's Yoga Nidra practice as we work to relax the body and enter into a restful state.

Wellness Wednesday: Rise and Energize

Brief Learning Series 

Single-Session (1 hour) 

Rise and Energize is an early morning energizing Yin yoga sequence to support the energy centers in your body. It is intended to be done from the comfort of your home, where possible. This course is part of the Wellness Wednesday series, which offers social service providers evidence-based wellness tools to support your health, reduce stress, and increase calm.