Diversity, Awareness, Inclusion
Consulting and Curriculum Development

Our clients are the heroes and heroines of their own lives: they have survived, and in some situations thrived, finding their way to the moment when we begin our work together.  Approaching this relationship through a lens of cultural humility asks us to strive for a deeper level of openness to our clients’ experience and the way they see the world: it integrates collaborative and strengths-based practice with our own ongoing commitment to compassionate self-awareness, encouraging us to see without judgment how our own experience and identities impact the work we do and the values we hold.  The practice of cultural humility is gentle, forgiving, empowering and transformational, allowing both client and clinician to experience growth, intimacy, and greater authenticity.  Attending this training will provide theory behind this new approach to direct practice, as well as multiple opportunities to implement it and experience its benefits firsthand. 

 We cannot dismantle what we cannot discuss, and productive discussions are well-informed. This workshop provides participants with exactly this: the knowledge, language, opportunities and tools to boldly and productively address issues of race, racism, and skin color privilege. In a respectful, intentional environment, we will have a conversation about the socially-constructed meanings of skin color and race, and the resulting impact of racism in society and the workplace, with a particular focus on how race has been used to divide us and to benefit “white” people. We will discuss both historical and present-day racism in the United States to provide context for our current circumstances. Finally and most importantly, we will work together to brainstorm what we can do together and as individuals to participate in debunking, dismantling and defeating structural and individual racism. 

 This training helps participants foster a workplace environment that is welcoming and supportive of individuals from a wide variety of cultures, including but not limited to cultures of ethnicity, gender, sexual identity, ability and age.  Our identities impact how we perceive and interact with others, and this workshop seeks to assist participants in becoming more clear regarding our own identities, and how to create a workplace that encourages authenticity and respect, which leads to maximum productivity and positive workplace interaction.
 

The question is no longer whether we will have LGBTQIA clients, but when, and whether we will be adequately prepared to serve these populations knowledgeably and respectfully.  So let's talk about sex, and gender, and what - if anything - the two have to do with one another.  This highly experiential and interactive workshop will explain in plain language - through case examples, group discussion and video - exactly what it means to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, transgender, cisgender, intersex, gender queer, and any other term participants have heard and aren't yet familiar with. 

This fun, relaxing workshop provides an oasis in the work week, offering and practicing a range of creative solutions for improved self-care and reduced stress.  Lowered stress levels lead to better physical and mental health outcomes, as well as to increased energy and productivity.  Learn how to implement stress-reducing tactics that won't leave you stuffed, broke, or hung over.

The therapeutic dyad is a messy human-to-human relationship, and there is language our clients will use that can provoke a strong response in us as practitioners.  This brief, solution-focused training seeks to help participants better understand the ways we respond when someone uses language we perceive as racially-charged or otherwise offensive; to evaluate the impact of the setting and the client’s emotional state on how we respond; to increase understanding of our own verbal triggers and how to decide whether and how to respond when they are activated, and provide solutions for responding in ways that can honor our own boundaries without shaming our clients.