Hamilton County Virtual Academy Training Alliance System Wide Training

Mindfulness:  Fostering Resilience to Prevent Vicarious Trauma

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

12:30 – 4:00 p.m.

Cincinnati-Hamilton County Community Action Agency

1740 Langdon Farm Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45237 

Professionals in high-stress careers, especially working with child maltreatment, can be susceptible to vicarious trauma and even burnout. Much attention has been given in recent news and scientific literature to the concept of mindfulness and mindfulness-based interventions. But what is mindfulness? How can it be used for provider self-care?

Mindfulness involves training the mind to work more wisely with thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations. Use of mindfulness helps to discard old, unconscious, maladaptive patterns. By noticing the early signs of oncoming stress, one can take proactive steps to prevent burnout.

Through lecture, exercises, and small group discussion, this presentation will provide an overview of six scientific principles for building resilience:

Values – getting in touch with what really matters

Mindfulness – connecting with the present moment

Defusion – working wisely with thoughts

Acceptance – seeing reality as it is

Self-As-Context – remembering who you really are

Committed Action – taking consistent small steps toward what matters

Objectives:

By attending this training, participants will be able to:

  1. Identify factors that lead to too much stress and burnout.
  2. Understand how mindfulness can be used as a tool for self-care.
  3. Describe the role of thoughts in perpetuating stress, anxiety, and depression.
  4. Practice a short mindfulness technique to monitor and reduce stress levels.

About the Speaker: Richard Sears is a board-certified clinical psychologist in private practice in Cincinnati, core/research faculty at UC Integrative Health and Wellness, and conducts mindfulness groups at Alliance Integrative Medicine. He is author of 10 books, including “Mindfulness in Clinical Practice” and “Mindfulness: Living through Challenges and Enriching Your Life in this Moment.”

About the Alliance:  Children in the child protection system need the right services and interventions that will allow them to thrive. To enhance the skills of those working on the front lines of this system, which includes Hamilton County’s foster children, four local entities have come together. This Virtual Academy includes a Training Alliance, dedicated to enabling its members to have the information they need to effectively help our community’s children.

A collaborative effort, it involves four strategic partners:

  • ProKids;
  • Hamilton County Job and Family Services;
  • Hamilton County Juvenile Court; and
  • Hamilton County Guardian ad Litem Division of the Public Defenders Office.

While the Training Alliance is actively involved in providing training opportunities like this session, other subgroups are developing and testing comprehensive tools which will enable members of the sponsoring groups to access “just in time” information when working with our community’s vulnerable children.

Training is FREE. 3 GAL credits. 3 CEU and 3 CLE credits pending approval.

Seating will be limited. Registration opens July 20th.

Questions? Contact Heather at ProKids, hmckernan@prokids.org.

Posted June 23, 2017