91吃瓜网

by Kurt Gottschalk

Audrey Freshman, Ph.D., director of ,聽explained the success of the continuing聽education workshops at 91吃瓜网鈥檚聽School of Social Work very succinctly.

鈥淲e offer cutting-edge trainings from national聽and international experts and seek to provide聽participants with the very best experience,鈥� Dr.听Freshman said.

Dr. Freshman, who is also director of the聽Postgraduate Certificate Program in Addiction,聽came to Adelphi in 2011 and has been guided聽by the School鈥檚 goal to 鈥渆nhance human聽service delivery and strengthen organizational聽capacity.鈥� She started building an audience,聽collaborating with behavioral health practitioners and聽providers, building upon the school鈥檚 professional networks,聽and establishing new partnerships. 鈥淲e are really mission driven,聽and our strategy has been to build an infrastructure for聽quality continuing education.

The school was well positioned to respond to the increased聽popular demand when New York State began requiring聽continuing education for social work license renewal in聽January 2015. 鈥淎delphi was one of the first continuing education聽providers approved by New York State and we were able to聽鈥榮cale up鈥� quickly to respond to the needs and interest of our聽professional community,鈥� she said.

The number of workshops the School presents per year has聽doubled, from six at the Garden City location in 2011 to more聽than 15 daylong workshops and certificate programs and聽conferences, as well as agency-based (customized) trainings聽across all four campuses, with more in the works.

鈥淭he goal is to bring state-of-the-art training to the community,鈥澛爏he said. 鈥淎 lot of times, the speaker is someone who has聽advanced the field directly, not solely an interpretation of their聽work by someone else.鈥�

For example, just this past season, Pauline Boss, Ph.D.,聽presented her original work on the concept of 鈥渁mbiguous loss.鈥澛燭he unresolved grief associated with losing a loved one who is still physically present due to Alzheimer鈥檚 or聽mental illness is not often acknowledged as a
sort of mourning. Dr. Boss鈥� work is aimed at聽helping practitioners see the loss clients can聽feel due to such difficulties, or in absences聽due to incarceration or prisoner-of-war聽status.

Another aspect of absence covered during聽the past year鈥檚 sessions came under the聽banner 鈥淭he Distracted Couple: The Impact聽of ADHD Upon Adult Relationships.鈥� That聽session covered the deep, if often joked about,聽problem of partners and family members聽who aren鈥檛 fully present due to compulsive聽use of social media or other technological聽distractions.

鈥淚t was about the very real relational difficulties resulting from聽a diagnosis of attention deficit disorder,鈥� Dr. Freshman said.

Christine Courtois, Ph.D., a major contributor to the field of聽trauma, was another of last year鈥檚 distinguished presenters.听Dr. Courtois has helped to advance the work on 鈥渃omplex聽trauma鈥� that results from multiple exposures such as incest or聽witnessing repeated domestic violence. Like the distraction and聽ambiguous loss workshops, Dr. Courtois鈥� presentation provides聽enlightening and concrete concepts offering a positive utility聽for the attendees鈥� practices.

The coming year offers up-to-the-moment thinking on issues聽affecting gay, bisexual and transgender youth, as well as聽addiction in the Latino community. Also on tap is a look at the聽sanctuary model in therapeutic settings, where all employees of聽an agency are trained to present a unified front on behalf of the聽patient. Opportunities to learn Dialectical Behavioral Treatment聽Skills (DBT) and EMDR are also in the works. Sessions will be聽offered at each of the Adelphi campuses.

Dr. Freshman acknowledged the overwhelmingly聽positive聽response to the School鈥檚 programming. 鈥淚t鈥檚 rewarding that聽our programs are so popular,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e are grateful聽for the opportunity to bring quality continuing education聽and professional development to the School鈥檚 professional聽community.鈥�