Sept. 25 - Disability Justice in the Context of Behavioral Health in SW

Nev Jones PhD is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh and critical mental health services researcher with a focus on long-term psychiatric disabilities. Many of her projects center on bridging disconnects between service user and provider perspectives, and addressing underlying structural determinants, including social welfare policy, poverty and structural racism. Nev identifies as disabled, with long-term experience of psychosis/schizophrenia, and has developed social work training initiatives focused on supporting students who have faced significant barriers in higher ed due to disability.

Workshop Objectives

1. Understand psych disability in social work education and
   practice.
2. Critically analyze self-care discourse and the interaction with
   psych disabilities
3. Explain the value of learning from people, including students
   and clients, about the psych disability experience

Oct. 23 - Jewish Identity in Clinical Work

Natalie Benjamin has an MSSW and MPH from Columbia University and has been an LCSW in CA since 2012. For a decade she worked in Federally Qualified Health Centers until she went into private practice five years ago, where her practice focuses on adults. She was in the Peace Corps in Peru and provides therapy in English and Spanish. Her therapeutic style is highly relational and informal, gravitating toward a mind/body/heart connection in the healing process. Many of her sessions happen outside, sometimes on a walk with her dogs.

Workshop Objectives

1. Understand cultural and religious implications in
   professional identity.
2. Understand the application and integration of cultural
   humility practices in clinical work.
3. Explore self-reflection as a tool in religious and cultural
   identity and clinical practice.

Nov. 15, 3:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. - Addressing the Needs of Muslims

Professor Jasmine Ali is trained in cultural-responsiveness, faith-sensitivity, trauma-informed care and evidence-based practices in mental health and is a lecturer at California State University, Sacramento, where she teaches introduction to field, social work theory, health and human services, family violence courses, and others. Ali is also a specialist in her field and runs her own private practice- Jasmine Ali, LCSW- in Sacramento where she serves primarily Muslims, first and second-generation immigrants, and women of color who want a therapist who gets their identity. Ali is additionally a consultant who travels around California giving speeches and training hospitals and businesses on culturally responsive mental health practices for Muslim, Asian Pacific Islanders and ethnic minority populations. Ali previously managed the Clinical Health Program at Opening Doors, a Sacramento refugee resettlement agency.

Workshop Objectives

1. Become familiarlized with the unique needs of students and clients from Muslim populations.
2. Understand cultural and religious implications that can affect learning and thrivingin Muslim students during Ramadan.
3. Learn and be able to apply clinical interventions that are rooted in cultural-responsiveness in Muslim Populations.
4. Understand and apply cultural humility with Muslim populations, whether it be with students or clients.

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Dec. 11, 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. - Mental Health Wellness in Child Welfare

As a licensed clinical social worker, Eric has served the Sacramento State community for the past twelve years, as well as volunteering regularly with the Gender Health Center. His career in social work spans twenty-four years and has focused on serving children and families with an emphasis on child welfare. He has served as a field liaison to the Title IV-E MSW Program for sixteen years, building professional ties with many of our surrounding child welfare agencies, both public and nonprofit, via committee work and monthly site visits with his assigned field students. Eric is committed to the profession of social work and believes that being an educator is one of the most important ways he can influence future professionals and our larger society.

Workshop Objectives

1. Learn about and apply concepts of mental health wellness
   in child welfare social work.
2. Explore clinical interventions that support mental health
   wellness in child welfare.

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Jan. 22, 3:30p.m. - 5:30p.m. - Exploring Joy in Professional Resilience

Genelle Smith is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She has provided direct social work service for over 26 years in the Sacramento area. Genelle is the Executive Director of a local non-profit and teaches part-time in the School of Social Work at CSUS. Genelle believes in the power of community and love to heal and create justice.

Workshop Objectives

1. Understand the evidence base of joy informed practice.
2. Identify practices to cultivate joy as a protective factor
   against the risk of burnout, exhaustion, and overwhelm.
3. Experience the power of joy in professional narratives
   to optimize individual and organizational well-being

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Feb. 13, 3:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. - Practical Statistics for Social Workers

Francis Yuen DSW, ACSW is a Professor Emeritus at California State University Sacramento. He was a social worker and an agency and university administrator working with diverse populations on health, mental health, and critical social issues. He has been an active program evaluator and trainer/consultant for many government and non-profit organizations. Dr.Yuen has published widely, including the latest Conceptual and Practical Research and Statistics for Social Workers. (2020, Cognella). He aims to make seemingly boring and difficult topics exciting and easy to understand. He invites you to add basic statistics to your “can do” list.

Workshop Objectives

1. Acquire a mental map of basic statistics for social work practice
   research.
2. Develop a capacity in choosing the appropriate statistics.
3. Interpret statistic outputs and draw conclusions as related to the
   research question.
4. Become a consumer and a producer of research for service
   improvement

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Mar. 11, 3:30p.m. - 5:30p.m. - The Context of Workforce Exclusion

Katie Savin, PhD, MSW is an assistant professor in the School of Social Work at California State University, Sacramento. Their current research uses qualitative methods to investigate the socio structural context of SSI recipients work-related decision making and is funded through the Social Security Administration’s Retirement and Disability Research Consortium at the University of Wisconsin Madison Center for Financial Security. Across areas including the welfare state, disability policy, and public health bioethics, Dr. Savin’s research uses community-informed, qualitative and mixed methods that center the lived experience of disabled people. Dr. Savin’s experience as an SSDI recipient and as a medical social worker informed their path to their current research.

Workshop Objectives

1. Recognize the role of social security policy in shaping disabled people’s participation in the workforce, particularly those from multiply marginalized communities.
2. Understand the psychosocial and financial impacts of SSI policy
   on disabled people.
3. Identify macro-, mezzo-and micro-level strategies for social work with SSI recipients.

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Apr. 22, 3:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. - Inclusive Communication Tools

Darla Hagge is a Full Professor and Graduate Coordinator in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, founder and director of NeuroService Alliance a collection of life participation approach programs for adults with acquired cognitive and communicative disorders, cofounder and director of the Health & Human Services Interprofessional Education Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, chair of the CSUS Institutional Review Board, affiliate of the National Aphasia Association, and Fellow of the California Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

Workshop Objectives

1. Describe national policies that require the use of
   inclusive communication tools/strategies when working
   with a variety of populations
2. Identify inclusive communication tools and strategies.

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