Knowledge Translation & Skills-Training for Caregivers & Professionals
What?
As a complement to my direct clinical work with children, youth and their families, I enjoy teaching and assisting others in the development of skills to assist struggling children and those who care for them. I believe it is important to be aware of best practice guidelines (and the related peer-reviewed literature) in order to provide effective, high quality clinical services and to advocate for vulnerable populations. I also believe it is important to accept opportunities to engage in knowledge translation as a means to share what we know and help others translate this into action in the ‘real world’.
SMG-CAN Annual Conference, Key Note Address (October 2015, Philadelphia, PA)
Who?
Caregivers:
When it comes to providing services to children and youth, it is typically essential to involve caregivers directly in the work. Often this involves providing education and skills-training directly to those caring for the struggling child. In many instances, caregivers are well-suited for the role of ‘interventionist’ themselves and can be invaluable in helping their children overcome their issues. Teaching caregivers can be offered within one-to-one sessions or through larger group workshops.
Student Learners:
For the past two decades, I have regularly trained learners from a broad range of disciplines including psychology (undergraduate, Masters & Ph.D. students), psychiatry, pediatrics, and social work. I am committed to ensuring new-to-the-field health and allied health professionals are well-informed, well-trained, and experienced in applying their learning in real world settings. In order to be accountable to my learners and the families they serve, I too must commit to being well-informed regarding current clinical and research developments in the field of children’s mental health and child clinical psychology.
Health/Allied Health Professionals:
I am passionate in my belief that collaborating with other professionals often leads to better outcomes for children and families. I also believe that we have an obligation to share what we learn/know about best practice in order to capacity build among service providers. To this end, I regularly provide skills-training workshops as professional development to varied audiences:
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psychology, social work, child & youth workers, psychiatry
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speech-language pathologists & communicative disorders assistants
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educators
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pediatrics, child life specialists
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I very much enjoy these teaching opportunities to share common interests, learn about how others practice, and to deepen my understanding of how children and families are served in different clinical settings
How?
I host skills training workshops on an annual basis (e.g., “Helping Children Overcome Selective Mutism”) and am frequently invited to provide professional development as a guest speaker. I have offered training workshops within school boards across the province (& beyond), for mental health programs, and hospitals. I offer intensive training through day-long workshops (or series of day-long workshops), as well as briefer, introductory sessions on special topics.
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Here are some of the topics for which I regularly offer training:
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Helping children overcome selective mutism:
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Skills-training workshops for school-based clinicians, health/allied health professionals & caregivers
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CBT training for mental health professionals or school-based clinicians
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Understanding and managing childhood anxiety
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Caring for a traumatized child
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Clinical case formulation for child welfare staff
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School refusal
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I also welcome invitations to speak on other special topics related to children's mental health and am committed to tailoring any such session to the intended audience's needs and interests.
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