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Digital Seminar

Social Justice, Ethics and Multicultural Issues for Mental Health Professionals: Clinical Strategies for Inclusivity, Empowerment and Improved Treatment Outcomes


Faculty:
Lisa Connors, PhD, LCPC, LPC, NCC
Duration:
6 Hours 11 Minutes
Format:
Audio and Video
Copyright:
Mar 31, 2023
Product Code:
POS055270
Media Type:
Digital Seminar
Access:
Never expires.


Description

Effective treatment focuses on the whole person. The thoughts, behaviours and sufferings of your clients are intimately connected to the social and cultural context in which they live.

Without seeing your clients in their entirety, you could fail to recognize the unique challenges, stressors, barriers and burdens that can lie at the heart of their mental health issues. But even therapists can feel uncomfortable with conversations surrounding racial, cultural, sexual, economic and religious issues. And cultural stigmas and distrust born from societal power dynamics can cause some clients to hold back in therapy or leave treatment early.

This inspiring class will open your eyes to the struggles of disenfranchised or marginalized populations, and give you practical and innovative techniques so you can comfortably and successfully work with them in treatment.  You’ll leave able to more capably assess clients, avoid cultural misunderstandings that can harm the therapeutic alliance, and gain the trust you need to achieve truly transformative results.

It’s time to be the change you wish to see.

Purchase today and feel the satisfaction and joy that come with being a better advocate for clients individually, communally and globally!

CPD

Planning Committee Disclosure - No relevant relationships

All members of the PESI, Inc. planning committee have provided disclosures of financial relationships with ineligible organizations and any relevant non-financial relationships prior to planning content for this activity. None of the committee members had relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies or other potentially biasing relationships to disclose to learners.  For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography.



CPD

PESI Australia, in collaboration with PESI in the USA, offers quality online continuing professional development events from the leaders in the field at a standard recognized by professional associations including psychology, social work, occupational therapy, alcohol and drug professionals, counselling and psychotherapy. On completion of the training, a Professional Development Certificate is issued after the individual has answered and submitted a quiz and course evaluation. This program is worth 6.5 hours CPD for points calculation by your association.



Handouts

Objectives

  1. Argue how social class and race can impact clinical assessment and treatment of mental health issues.
  2. Conclude how the values and biases of clinicians can influence treatment and therapeutic outcomes.
  3. Appraise how mental health clinicians can better understand clients within their social and cultural environments to avoid misunderstanding that can harm the therapeutic alliance.
  4. Demonstrate how clinicians can more comfortably and capably discuss issues surrounding race and economic issues that clients can be reluctant to talk about.
  5. Determine how clinicians can help clients overcome cultural shame for improved engagement in mental health treatment.
  6. Devise two ways clinicians can reduce barriers to mental health treatment that face minority groups and disenfranchised people. 

Outline

How Client Identity and Systemic Dynamics Impact Assessment and Treatment 

  • Social class, race, ethnicity, poverty and religion
  • Gender identity and sexuality
  • Myths, oppression, stereotypes and microaggressions
  • Power dynamics of counselling that can threaten minority groups
  • How clinician’s values and biases influence therapeutic outcomes
  • Culturally competent assessment techniques
  • Research implications and limitations

Ethics and the Equal Treatment of Clients 

  • Obligations to challenge social injustice
  • Respecting the inherent dignity and worth of the person
  • Valuing the importance of human relationships

Clinical Strategies: That Meet Clients Where They Are: Proven Approaches for Greater Empathy and Effectiveness 

  • How to understand clients within their social and cultural environments
  • Strategies to recognize your:
    • Inherent biases
    • Histories and generational influences
  • Self-assessment – identify personal values that can influence therapeutic outcomes
  • Techniques to work with inter-generational and historical trauma
  • Crisis intervention strategies

Be a Change Agent: How to Advocate for Your Clients Individually, Communally, and Globally 

  • Should clinicians hold a neutral position?
  • Strategies to reduce barriers to accessing mental health treatment
  • Overcome cultural shame surrounding mental health issues
  • Tips for working with racial stress and trauma
  • Connect clients to resources, agencies and funding
  • Intervention at the system level

Case Scenarios 

  • 32 year-old Latino female with PTSD
  • 46 year-old woman originally from Pakistan with depression
  • 38 year-old Native American male with suicidal ideation and substance abuse issues
  • 30 year-old Latino male with HIV referred for case management services
  • 18 year-old Asian American female with eating disorders

 

Target Audience

  • Social Workers
  • Counsellors
  • Psychologists
  • Psychotherapists
  • Marriage & Family Therapists
  • Addiction Counsellors
  • Case Managers
  • Therapists
  • Nurses
  • Physicians
  • Other Mental Health Professionals

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