All Webinars

For justice to be corrective in the correctional system there is an absolute and dire need for more social workers to be working in the system and for the code of ethics of social work to guide the functional process. Without more social work involvement within our institutions that postulate corrective change we in Canada are lying to ourselves that we are doing anything more than perpetuating oppression and totally failing the most vulnerable of our citizens.  

This webinar looks at the role of social work within corrections and in extension with the demographic as they come in and out of our revolving doored corrective system for minor offences, breaches, addiction, poverty and mental health related issues.    

Key objectives:

• Providing information about the population and corrections from a social work/mental health perspective
• Providing justification for the absolute need for increased social work within corrections
• Providing tools on how to support the incarcerated population
• Looking at shifts in the politic landscape that could impact corrections
• Examining trends around the world with correctional programming
• Examining how correctional social work challenges social workers code of ethics and standards of practice
• Examining what we social workers can do at a micro/macro level to make the system more just and therapeutic

20-40% of homeless youth are LGBTQ2+. 70% of trans youth have experienced sexual harassment. More than one-third of trans youth ages 14-18 have been physically threatened or injured in the past year. LGBTQ2+ individuals experience significantly higher rates of mental health problems and substance use issues than their heterosexual and cisgender peers. Despite greater health and social service needs, LGBTQ2+ communities are less likely to access health services – and all too likely to have negative experiences when they do.  This presentation will bring together the results of Wisdom2Action’s recent report on LGBTQ2+ youth and Gender-Based Violence alongside the expertise of our affiliates in LGBTQ2+ inclusion in health and social services to provide participants with a deeper understanding of the experiences of LGBTQ2+ young people, and practical tips and tricks for improving LGBTQ2+ inclusion in your practice and workplace. LGBTQ2+ inclusion is about more than a rainbow sticker. True inclusion requires a fulsome commitment to organizational culture change to embed LGBTQ2+ inclusion as a core principle and practice at all levels.

Specific learning objectives for this presentation are to:

1. Understand how the health and well-being of LGBTQ2+ young people is shaped by systemic discrimination, homophobia, transphobia and gender-based violence.
2. Become familiar with LGBTQ2+ terminology and the cultural context of gender, sex and sexuality.
3. Develop strategies for bringing LGBTQ2+ inclusion into your organization.
4. Learn about practical tips and tricks for embedding LGBTQ2+ inclusion in your practice.

Circles for Reconciliation is a non-profit, grassroots community project that seeks to promote reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada. The goal is to create new relationships that are based on “mutual recognition, mutual respect, sharing and mutual responsibility” (TRC).  This session will introduce participants to a meaningful way of addressing the challenge of reconciliation and moving forward on the path to healing through common dialogue to further understand the work arising from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

“The Commission defines reconciliation as an ongoing process of establishing and maintaining respectful relationships.” (TRC Final Report, p.16)

Webinar Key Objectives:

• To highlight a meaningful and practical step to reconciliation for practitioners, organizations and communities
• To promote mutually respectful relationships as the base of reconciliation
• Circles for Reconciliation Project will be described, including how the project began and why it has been successful

When people live through interpersonal trauma, there is a tendency for many to stay silent about their experiences. Reasons can include loyalty to close others, or the wish to keep family secrets. As a means of protecting others and themselves from the pain of traumatic experiences, many rely on a variety of coping strategies to neutralize or cut off painful memories. For example, some may rationalize away traumatic events, use intellectualization as a defense, or dissociate and keep trauma-related feelings at bay. But silence about the painful past is both emotionally costly, and ultimately unsustainable. How can clinicians help these clients feel safe enough to start opening up about their traumatic histories?    

In this presentation, trauma expert Robert T. Muller, PhD, will look at the process of helping challenging trauma clients open up in a safe, measured way. Through the lens of attachment theory, using a relational, integrative approach, Dr. Muller draws on theory and uses case examples and segments from his own treatment sessions. This web conference focuses on clinical skills that are directly applicable in a therapy practice.

Key Learnings:  This introductory instructional level web conference is designed to help clinicians:

1. Create safety in the therapeutic relationship early on
2. Recognize client ambivalence about their trauma stories
3. Describe how to help people in therapy pace the process of opening up.
4. Recognize therapist feelings in the treatment (e.g., the wish to rush into  trauma work, or the wish to avoid it).

Resilience is much more than an individual child’s capacity to overcome adversity. It is also the result of how well children, their families and communities work together to help vulnerable young people navigate their way to the resources they need for wellbeing, and whether those resources are made available in ways young people experience as culturally and contextually meaningful. In this presentation, Dr. Michael Ungar will use examples from his clinical practice and research collaborations on six continents to explore the nature of children’s resilience. His work challenges us to think about resilience as something nurtured rather than something innate. In this story-filled presentation, Dr. Ungar will provide nine practical strategies parents, caregivers and educators need to help children heal, no matter a child’s emotional, psychological or behavioral problems. Based on material from his two most recent books, Change Your World: The Science of Resilience and the True Path to Success, and I Still Love You: Nine Things Troubled Kids Need From Their Parents, as well as case examples from his clinical practice and his research, Dr. Ungar will share what caregivers and educators have taught him about why a supportive environment is essential to improving young people’s resilience. 

Specific learning objectives for this presentation are:
1.    To understand how individuals and families with complex needs use “problem” behaviours to enhance their resilience and wellbeing when more socially acceptable solutions are not available;
2.    To become familiar with how to assess resilience;
3.    To learn about nine resilience-promoting resources necessary for positive child development;
4.    To develop strategies for working without resistance with hard-to-reach, culturally diverse children, adolescents, and their families;
5.    To discuss ways services can be structured for children, youth and families that make resilience more likely to occur.

In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) issued 94 Calls to Action.  Drawing on a range of examples from health and human service settings, this webinar will explore concrete tools and strategies to support social workers as they respond to the Calls to Action in their personal and professional lives.

If you dream of having a private practice that lets you help people while giving you the freedom to choose your own hours, location, client issues, case load and specialization, you’re not alone! All of these factors contribute to compassion satisfaction and can help you live in alignment with your values. Unfortunately, many social workers struggle to start or grow a successful private practice because they were never taught basic business concepts and strategic ways to build a practice (most business training programs don’t fit well for private practice).  The webinar will review practical steps to start or grow your practice and how to overcome four common barriers most social workers experience.

In this webinar, you will learn:

• What to consider before starting a private practice
• Five practical things you need to do when starting a practice
• Three ways to charge for your services
• Supervision and support for practitioners
• The pros and cons of working through insurance providers
• How to overcome four common barriers most social workers experince

This webinar will include an overview of the 8th International Summer Course on the Rights of the Child event program, as well as a public lecture on the issues of inclusive education policy. Can an inclusive education system be defended through the rights of the child? Can the best interest of the child be invoked to emphasize the integration of the student in the regular classroom? What grounds for student exclusion in the regular classroom could be justified by a fundamental rights analysis?

The Brain Health and Wellness Project offers clinicians like you free training, support and materials to quickly and effectively promote key modifiable health behaviours known to promote brain health and wellness. Developed by the Fountain of Health by clinicians for clinicians, these tools have been field-tested in over 500 patients to date, and found to be effective with over 80% of patients meeting a health goal within 3 months. These CBT-based paper-based and e-materials including The Wellness App, offering goal-setting, tracking and encouragement. The process is also quick and simple for clinicians, taking 5 minutes in the context of routine care, over 2 visits about a month apart-- 80% of clinicians who have used the materials recommended them for colleagues. 

The most recent warnings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are clear.   The time to work together to end fossil fuel emissions of greenhouse gases is now. As professionals we can respond to the human behaviors that are undermining the earth’s ability to sustain and support our lives. The technologies to accomplish this task exist, but human systems are not responding to the crisis with their full capacity, in fact they are, by force of habit, exacerbating the problem.   

The general social narrative continues to be stuck, afraid of change and uncertain. The story is similar to the stories of segregation, apartheid, women’s rights, nuclear contamination and the need for a nuclear freeze. But in these instances, the narrative changed and we were able to respond in productive ways.  Social workers played a central role in all these cases.  Can we do the same for climate change?

Social workers, doctors, teachers, planners, architects, theologians and many others ought to add their perspectives to the overriding and real urgency of global warming. Social work, through its humane focus and multi-generational roles of promoting understanding between people and communities, and advancing humane care for everyone, can contribute to a new hopeful and inclusive narrative.  How can we do this, and what special insights and capacities can we contribute through our professional knowledge and experiences?   Would our understanding of the psychosocial consequences of stress on communities and families help broaden the conversation about the dangers of the moment?  Would our experience of the importance of community participation, and our abilities to listen to and help others be critical at this time?  Can social workers’ thoughtful participation and concerted action contribute to the global tasks at hand in a way that leaves no one out?

Webinar key learnings:

• A brief presentation of the October 2018 UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report and other warnings about the immediate need to address global warming. 

• A brief overview of the off-the-shelf technological solutions that could respond to the IPCC recommendations for action.

• The need to broaden the social narrative and take action – when has that worked in the past and why? 

• How has denial and despair been overcome?
• Do we feel despair?  Can we help professionally with denial and despair?

• How can social workers contribute through our professional capacities to broadening the conversation and contributing to concerted actions?
  •   How can social workers support each other and the community at large during this era of “eco-anxiety”?