# Laurier Continuing Education > Curated public course and certificate information for the Laurier Continuing Education site. Use the sections below to find primary public catalog pages and their descriptions. ## Courses Here is a list of the currently available courses. - [Course 0001: Situation Table Training](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1017611): Start date: Continuous. Delivery: Online. Language: English and French. Who: Open (Intended for police services and community service agencies but anyone may participate). Fee: $5.00 Certificate of completion: Yes. Languages available: English and French After gaining access, you will have 30 days to complete the five modules. Each e-module should take you approximately 10 minutes and concludes with a summative quiz consisting of multiple choice, true/false or matching questions. You must successfully complete all five quizzes in order to receive your certificate of completion. The training modules are complemented by a manual as well as interactive videos and resources to support you on your journey. Training Modules The modules are designed to guide you through the Situation Table four-filter process if you are considering implementing one in your area. The training modules utilize case studies, activities and quizzes to help you engage with the content and to apply and assess what you have learned. Videos Videos are utilized throughout the training modules to support the content that you are learning and to help demonstrate how the Situation Table functions. The videos utilize members from existing Situation Tables to show the Situation Table four filters as well as additional personal perspectives on the Situation Table process and examples of difficult cases. Manual The Situation Table Manual was written by Hugh Russell, community justice consultant. The manual is intended to provide details beyond the training and to be used as a reference guide for situation table attendees as they move ahead with their meetings or encounter different situations. Chapters include: Overview of Situation Tables Communication Strategy Site Selection Partner Identification and Engagement Detachment Preparation Agency Preparation Standards, Agreements and Protocols Collaborative Context for Situation Tables Other Resources Throughout the modules you will be provided with handy resources and summaries of what you have learned that you can utilize when implementing a Situation Table. Additional resources include: Internal Agency Screening Questions Acutely Elevated Risk Threshold Risk and Protective Factors Planned Intervention Key Points Professional Standards Conclusion Reasons for Situation Table - [Course 0002: Emerging Practices in Community Policing](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1017768): Brought to you by the Centre for Public Safety and Well-Being - CPSW@wlu.ca This online, three-module course prepares police services and community partners with collaboration practices that will increase safety and well-being for the people in their communities. This course stems from the growing idea that community safety and well-being is not simply a police matter, but a collective responsibility to be shared between police, social agencies and organizations, municipal governance and the community itself. The modules go through three transformative practices in policing that have emerged throughout Ontario in recent years. You will learn about Ontario’s mobilization and engagement model of community, risk mitigation and situation tables, and the framework for planning community safety and well-being. Not only will you learn the philosophy behind each of these practices, you will learn how to apply them in your work setting. This course was envisioned by the Sault Saint Marie Police Service who are leaders in testing and adopting best practices in community policing. They collaborated with the Centre for Public Safety and Well-Being and the Ontario Police College to present this course for Ontario’s policing partners. What are the Emerging Practices in Community Policing? Emphasizing the roles, responsibilities and philosophies for non-police community members, the goal of community policing is for communities to move toward even safer and more secure conditions, and once they get there, stay that way. This course will explore: Module 1: Ontario’s Mobilization and Engagement Model Module 2: Risk Mitigation and Situation Tables Module 3: Community Safety and Well-Being Planning  Course Overview Start date: Continuous. Delivery: Online. Who: Open (Intended for members of police services, community service agencies and community members but anyone may participate). Fee: $50. Time: Approximately three hours. Certificate of completion: Yes. - [Course 0012: GEAR UP for Graduate Studies](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1018573): Offered by the Faculty of Human and Social Sciences Centre for Professional Development - FHSSPD@wlu.ca The GEAR UP program includes six modules to help you prepare for graduate level academic work. Each module will help you practice and enhance your academic skills to support your success in graduate courses. Module 1: Expectations and Personal Assets This module introduces you to the expectations for graduate students, goal setting and recognizing personal assets to support success. Module 2: Balancing School-Work-Life Commitments You will be engaged in understanding life-role conflicts and stress management, and practice skills for time management. Module 3: Engaging with the Learning Materials - Readings, Lectures and Beyond This module focuses on increasing your awareness of strategies for successful learning including reading techniques, note taking and review for test preparation. Module 4: Research Skills You will hone your academic research skills and learn strategies for engaging in inquiry by focusing on a research question, understanding the role of different types of sources in the research process, and knowing how to find and evaluate sources. Module 5: Engaging with Professors and Peers This module focuses on the value of connections with peers and professors, including skills on crafting effective discussion posts and engaging in productive group work. Module 6: Academic Writing at the Graduate Level You will develop your understanding of expectations for graduate students’ engagement in academic communication including organizing ideas in an essay, integrating sources with integrity, and using APA documentation style for citation. Course Overview Start date: Continuous Delivery: Online Who: Open (intended for students who are starting an onsite, blended or fully online graduate level program at a college or university, but anyone may participate) Fee: $95 Time: Approximately 12 hours Certificate of completion: Yes Registration This learning package is housed within Laurier’s online learning platform, MyLearningSpace. Once you gain access, you will have 60 days to complete the six modules. - [Course 0017: CRM55 - Risk Assessment and Treatment](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1018690): The 12-week course (36 hours) will be mostly self directed. Each week you will be expected to read and review concepts both in a textbook (see note below about options) as well as through extension content and activities in Laurier’s learning management system (MyLS).   Additionally, learners will   participate in optional 2-4 Zoom sessions (recorded for those who can’t attend), which allow you to further develop authentic connections between theory and practice facilitated by a Risk Manager  contribute to cohort-based discussions in MyLS related to core concepts  complete 2-3 assignments/case studies where knowledge is applied to instances relevant to the working world AND 1 final exam that mirrors the requirements of the RIMS exam that many will complete  Courses follow a weekly structure, and though material can be reviewed at your own pace, assessments need to be completed according to deadlines.    Required Textbook  Choose EITHER an online version OR a physical textbook . Both provide identical content.  The online version (accessible through the Institutes link below) includes practice quizzes at the end of units, while the physical textbook does not. To allow everyone the opportunity to test their knowledge and get real time feedback, optional ungraded practice quizzes are included in MyLS.  It’s important to note as well that if you choose the online textbook version that you will only have access to it for 12 months after purchase.    54 – Risk Management Principles and Practices  55 - Risk Assessment and Treatment   56 – Risk Financing  All textbooks are available through the Institutes Knowledge Group site and are priced in USD.  - [Course 0018: Gladue Principles: Indigenous Peoples and the Canadian Criminal Justice System *Part 1](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1018712): Offered by the FHSS Laurier Brantford Centre for Professional Development - FHSSPD@wlu.ca This asynchronous, work at your own pace course is perfect for the working professional. For the full description of this certificate, please refer to  Gladue Principles: Indigenous Peoples and the Canadian Criminal Justice System Certificate. Cancellation and Refund Information Refunds and withdrawals will be subject to fees based on the following schedule. The administrative fees cover registration, credit card and administration fees. Up to 15 days before start of the course:  Refund less 10% administrative fee. One to 14 days before start of the course: Refund minus 20% administrative fee. First day of the course: Once the course has been accessed, no refund. Extensions are $50.  Please contact FHSSPD@wlu.ca for further information. - [Course 0019: CRM56 - Risk Financing](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1018813): The 12-week course (36 hours) will be mostly self directed. Each week you will be expected to read and review concepts both in a textbook (see note below about options) as well as through extension content and activities in Laurier’s learning management system (MyLS).   Additionally, learners will   participate in optional 2-4 Zoom sessions (recorded for those who can’t attend), which allow you to further develop authentic connections between theory and practice facilitated by a Risk Manager  contribute to cohort-based discussions in MyLS related to core concepts  complete 2-3 assignments/case studies where knowledge is applied to instances relevant to the working world AND 1 final exam that mirrors the requirements of the RIMS exam that many will complete  Courses follow a weekly structure, and though material can be reviewed at your own pace, assessments need to be completed according to deadlines.    Required Textbook  Choose EITHER an online version OR a physical textbook . Both provide identical content.  The online version (accessible through the Institutes link below) includes practice quizzes at the end of units, while the physical textbook does not. To allow everyone the opportunity to test their knowledge and get real time feedback, optional ungraded practice quizzes are included in MyLS.  It’s important to note as well that if you choose the online textbook version that you will only have access to it for 12 months after purchase.  54 – Risk Management Principles and Practices  55 - Risk Assessment and Treatment   56 – Risk Financing  All textbooks are available through the Institutes Knowledge Group site and are priced in USD.  - [Course 0020: CRM54 - Risk Management Principles and Practices](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1018852): The 12-week course (36 hours) will be mostly self directed. Each week you will be expected to read and review concepts both in a textbook (see note below about options) as well as through extension content and activities in Laurier’s learning management system (MyLS).   Additionally, learners will   participate in optional 2-4 Zoom sessions (recorded for those who can’t attend), which allow you to further develop authentic connections between theory and practice facilitated by a Risk Manager  contribute to cohort-based discussions in MyLS related to core concepts  complete 2-3 assignments/case studies where knowledge is applied to instances relevant to the working world AND 1 final exam that mirrors the requirements of the RIMS exam that many will complete  Courses follow a weekly structure, and though material can be reviewed at your own pace, assessments need to be completed according to deadlines.    Required Textbook Choose EITHER an online version OR a physical textbook . Both provide identical content.  The online version (accessible through the Institutes link below) includes practice quizzes at the end of units, while the physical textbook does not. To allow everyone the opportunity to test their knowledge and get real time feedback, optional ungraded practice quizzes are included in MyLS.  It’s important to note as well that if you choose the online textbook version that you will only have access to it for 12 months after purchase.  54 – Risk Management Principles and Practices  55 - Risk Assessment and Treatment   56 – Risk Financing  All textbooks are available through the Institutes Knowledge Group site and are priced in USD.  - [Course 0023: Positive Psychology - Module 1: Exploration of the Fundamentals of Positive Psychology](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1020755): This course is offered by the Centre for Public Safety and Well-Being - CPSW@wlu.ca Please visit our main page for further information about this module. - [Course 0024: Positive Psychology - Module 2: Signature and Character Strengths](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1021019): This course is offered by the Centre for Public Safety and Well-Being - CPSW@wlu.ca Please visit our  main page  for further information about this module. - [Course 0025: Positive Psychology - Module 3: Self-Care](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1021056): This course is offered by the Centre for Public Safety and Well-Being - CPSW@wlu.ca Please visit our  main page  for further information about this module. - [Course 0026: Positive Psychology - Module 4: Quality Connections](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1021092): This course is offered by the Centre for Public Safety and Well-Being - CPSW@wlu.ca Please visit our  main page  for further information about this module. - [Course 0027: Positive Psychology - Module 5: A Pathway for Resilience: Growth Mindset](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1021119): This course is offered by the Centre for Public Safety and Well-Being - CPSW@wlu.ca Please visit our  main page  for further information about this module. - [Course 0030: Essential Self-Care and Resilience](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1021557): This special edition module was created to help support your positive mental well-being. The Essential Self-Care and Resilience course is designed to be readily accessible so you can see the benefits of your learnings immediately. Topics include the value of self-care, psychological self-care, physical self-care and spiritual and social self-care as well as a resilience component specifically focused on stress. A certificate of completion is presented upon successfully completing the module. Course Details This course is based on select material from our Self-Care and A Pathway for Resilience: Growth Mindset modules within our Positive Psychology Certificate.  There are five lessons in this course, each taking between one and two hours. This special edition of our course is uninstructed so you can work at your own pace and spend more time on the sections that are most relevant to you. The course includes relevant videos, readings and reflections which could contribute to the ability to thrive and flourish during difficult times. To gain access to your course, please log into this website after you have purchased your course.  On the home screen, you will see "Access My Learning Space" on the bottom left hand side. Once inside My Learning Space, please click on the small 9 squares icon to select your course.  If you are interested in pursuing any of our certificates, see our Positive Psychology Certificate page for more information about how you can enroll. - [Course 0031: Gladue Principles: Indigenous Peoples and the Canadian Criminal Justice System *Part 2](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1022532): This is Part 2 in the Gladue Principles Certificate.  For the full description of this certificate, please refer to Gladue Principles : Indigenous Peoples and the Canadian Criminal Justice System Certificate. Cancellation and Refund Information Refunds and withdrawals will be subject to fees based on the following schedule. The administrative fees cover registration, credit card and administration fees. Up to 15 days before start of the course:  Refund less 10% administrative fee. One to 14 days before start of the course: Refund minus 20% administrative fee. First day of the course: Once the course has been accessed, no refund. Extensions are $50.  Please contact FHSSPD@wlu.ca for further information. - [Course 0090: Fundamentals of Addiction](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1029074): Hours: 12 This Professional Development course offers an overview of addiction and addiction treatment to assist you in developing a holistic understanding of the bio-psycho-social nature of this universal phenomenon. Participants will examine what addiction entails, be introduced to distinct theories of why addiction arises, the range of treatment options available to assist those with an addiction issue including an introduction to harm reduction and the stages of change model along with an overview of the addiction treatment continuum of care.  Learning Outcomes Upon completion of this training, participants will: Have a holistic understanding of the phenomenon of addiction. Be able to explain why addiction arises from three distinct lenses. Be aware of the interventions that are currently in use with people with addiction issues in Canada. Understand the stages of change model. Have an understanding of the treatment continuum in the addiction field including harm reduction options, methadone maintenance, withdrawal management, outpatient counselling, residential treatment, addiction supportive housing, relapse prevention and self-help/mutual aid support groups. Have an understanding of the association between oppression and addiction. CACCF: 12 continuing education hours - [Course 0091: Level I: Fundamentals of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1029086): Hours: 36 This foundational course will provide you with an in-depth understanding of the core tenets, tools and interventions used within the cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) model. The interventions introduced will give you a beginner's edge in how to best harness the power of this widely recommended and evidence-based psychotherapy. You will learn the structure, session format and cognitive and behavioural interventions necessary to begin treatment across populations and presenting issues. The course will provide handouts and techniques to use with all ages, including children and adolescents, and has countless client examples woven throughout. Through a variety of teaching methods, including lecture (self-read lecture for online courses), intervention delivery and use demonstrations, clinical practice worksheets and role play, you will learn which CBT interventions to use and how to best provide psychoeducation for, and apply, these interventions across varying client issues. You will finish this course with a comprehensive beginner's knowledge about CBT and a set of interventions from which to start helping others restructure their cognitions and behaviours. Upon completion of this course, you will be able to: Identify and use every core CBT intervention. Complete thorough case conceptualization/formulation using a CBT model. Identify and use CBT session structure, components and therapist evaluation. Use a variety of core cognitive techniques to restructure thinking. Identify cognitive styles and distortions and best techniques to help develop balanced thought patterns. Identify behavioural responses to distressing situations and how to use behaviour interventions to increase feelings of hope, self-worth and happiness. Competently deliver exposure response prevention therapy. Use CBT across age populations, with adults, adolescents and children. READINGS AND ASSIGNMENTS Participants in the online CBT courses should plan on four to seven hours per week dedicated to readings, discussions and assignments. Participants in the remote CBT courses will be required to complete readings prior to the beginning of the course and assignments throughout the duration of the course. Assignments can include pre-readings, clinical worksheets, discussion questions and quizzes. Assignments will receive a pass/fail designation. TEXTBOOKS You are responsible for purchasing the following textbooks. Both are usually available through Indigo and Amazon. If you are registered for a remote weekend or summer intensive course, please read these texts before the course starts. For the online course, readings will be assigned each week. Beck, J. (2020). Cognitive Behavior Therapy: Basics and Beyond . New York: Guilford Press. Third edition. Greenberger, D. & Padesky, C. A. (2015). Mind Over Mood: Change How You Feel by Changing the Way You Think . New York: Guilford Press. Second edition. - [Course 0094: Complex Trauma](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1032243): Hours: 12 In light of the ongoing challenges within our social and political climate, deepening our understanding of complex trauma is more important than ever. While the literature continues to debate the nature, diagnosis and treatment of complex trauma, one thing is clear: its impact is distinct from that of isolated traumatic events. Unlike single-event trauma, experiences of repeated, chronic or prolonged traumatization can disrupt neurobiological and emotional development making it difficult to integrate sensory, emotional and cognitive experiences into a cohesive whole. The effects of complex trauma are often pervasive and multifaceted, leading to increased contact with a wide range of systems, including medical, correctional and social services. This two-day professional development course offers participants a deeper, more nuanced understanding of complex trauma and will:  Examine how complex trauma fundamentally shapes a person’s sense of self and their experience of the world. Explore its influence on neurobiology and developmental processes. Build awareness of the factors contributing to its etiology. Identify approaches and strategies that support effective treatment and compassionate care. Increase sensitivity to the unique ways complex trauma affects vulnerable groups.   Please be advised that although this course is designed for mental health professionals, it may be challenging to navigate on a personal level. This training is not recommended for anyone who is currently experiencing their own trauma as some of the content may be activating. - [Course 0095: Trauma-Centred Psychotherapy Techniques](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1034182): Hours: 12 (across four 1/2 days) This workshop will introduce the use of trauma-centered psychotherapy principles and techniques when working with individuals. This approach, created by Johnson and Lubin (2015) 1 , integrates psychodynamic, exposure-based, cognitive behavioural, and humanistic approaches to trauma treatment for individuals who have experienced a wide range of traumatic events. This approach and set of techniques will provide participants with concrete tools for how to help clients who have experienced trauma to process these memories and their impact on their current lives.  This is practical introductory workshop that focuses on how to: Set a trauma-centered frame with a client. Conduct a direct and detailed trauma inquiry. Help clients understand the connections and differences between traumatic events and present-day behaviours. Handle avoidance and common disruptions in trauma work and the therapeutic relationship. Trauma for the purposes of this workshop will include interpersonal and familial trauma, as well as systemic, intergenerational and state violence forms of trauma (e.g., war, racism, poverty, heterosexism, etc.). The workshop will address the use of arts to promote healing and activism in response to the personal and political aspects of harm.  Rather than “telling”, this workshop will focus on learning through “doing”. It is designed to be experiential, allowing participants to actively engage in role plays and practice the techniques being taught. In addition, information will be provided throughout the workshop using case examples, conversation and handouts.  Participants will: Gain an introductory understanding of trauma-centered psychotherapy principles and techniques. Learn how to set a trauma-centered frame with a client. Practice effective methods for conducting a direct, detailed trauma inquiry. Rehearse how to decode the connection between present-day behaviours and traumatic memories with clients and help them begin to differentiate. Gain tools for effectively addressing common disruptions in trauma work and the therapeutic relationship. Obtain a handout of core techniques and practice examples. Please note: This training is designed for advanced helping professionals who currently practice psychotherapy. Other professionals are welcome to attend, but many of the techniques may be outside your scope of practice.  Participants will engage in direct discussion and experiential work about difficult and traumatic subject material throughout the training.  1  Johnson, D. R. & Lubin, H. (2015). Principles and techniques of trauma-centered psychotherapy . Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing. - [Course 0096: Building Resilience in Children Who Have Experienced Trauma](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1034187): Hours: 12 This Professional Development course focuses on building resilience in children who have experienced trauma by briefly reviewing foundational knowledge to start, which includes the various definitions of childhood trauma, including racial trauma, and exploring how trauma impacts the brain and areas of development specifically in a child or youth. The Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACES) is reviewed to demonstrate how trauma interrupts development and presents itself through behaviours, reactions, responses and symptoms that often mimic or contribute to the development of mental health disorders. Research on relationship and environmental factors that can mitigate this impact of trauma are also reviewed. Concepts from positive psychology and the narrative approach are integrated into this workshop, along with the recent research on resiliency, well-being, post traumatic growth and self-regulation. Pathways to resilience and protective factors in childhood are emphasized so that participants feel hopeful and have concrete strategies to help. Identity affirming strategies on creating a safe place for children and youth who have experienced trauma, that specifically attends to their needs, will be explored, along with the key elements involved in helping to create the context to shift a trauma story into one that focuses on resilience.  Information is provided throughout the course using video, activities and discussion. Many resources will be shared to provide participants with tools to further integrate building resilience in their work with children and youth who have experienced trauma. Learning Outcomes Participants will learn:  Definitions of trauma. What the research is telling us on how trauma impacts childhood development and the elevated risks of unresolved trauma. How the research from positive psychology, resiliency, well- being, post traumatic growth and self- regulation can help us in our work with children who have experienced trauma. Eight resilience based story shifters that can make a difference for someone who has experienced trauma. - [Course 0097: Traumatic Bereavement](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1034192): Hours: 12 When a death is sudden, unexpected or violent, trauma often acts as a "gatekeeper", interrupting the natural fluidity of mourning. Traumatic bereavement is not merely the presence of two separate experiences; it is a complex, bidirectional interaction where the trauma response and the mourning experience become inextricably linked. This intersection can create an overwhelming sense of fragmentation, where the intrusive nature of the death event obstructs the bereaved person's capacity to orient themselves within their new reality. This Professional Development course explores the physiological and psychological impact of traumatic death, including how evocative cues become embedded within neural pathways, creating a state of high autonomic arousal that challenges the adaptive process of grieving. Moving beyond traditional, linear frameworks, we will utilize non-death-phobic, grief-literate language to examine the recent inclusion of Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) in the DSM-5-TR and its implications for clinical practice in Canada. Participants will gain a robust understanding of trauma-integrated support, moving from "informed" care to active, skilled intervention that prioritizes nervous system stabilization and the reconstruction of meaning. Learning Objectives By the conclusion of this course, participants will be able to identify and apply best practices regarding: Complex Mourning Dynamics : Differentiating between integrated and traumatic bereavement. Neurobiology of Sudden Death : Understanding the impact of trauma on the grieving brain. Assessment and Prolonged Grief Disorder : Understanding the DSM-5-TR diagnostic criteria for Prolonged Grief Disorder. Stigmatized Death : Supporting individuals through deaths involving suicide, homicide or overdose. Trauma-Integrated Intervention : Clinical modalities for treating the intersection of grief and trauma. Ceremonies and Rituals : Using ceremonies to support post-traumatic integration. Sustaining the Clinician : Strategies for vicarious resilience and ethical self-attunement. - [Course 0100: Secondary Traumatic Stress, Compassion Fatigue and Resilience](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1034204): Hours: 6 An informative and interactive workshop designed for service providers in order to understand the conceptual impact of the helping field on personal and professional selves. Skills, theories and practical applications will be explored and practiced on both an individual and organizational level.  Note: There is significant overlap between this workshop 0686 - Navigating the Weight: Secondary Traumatic Stress, Compassion Fatigue and Moral Injury in Practice . It is not recommended that you take both workshops as the content will be quite similar.   - [Course 0101: Foundations of Trauma](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1034208): Hours: 12 Understanding the impact of crisis and trauma on peoples’ lives and being able to respond in meaningful ways are crucial skills for those working in the helping professions. This professional development course will provide both a conceptual framework and practical skills for assessment and interventions when working with those who have experienced a range of crisis and/or traumatic experiences. This course will leave participants with: An understanding of the meaning of crisis and practical crisis intervention skills. A conceptual framework for understanding trauma. Practical and applicable therapeutic tools for responding to trauma and traumatized individuals. Specific counseling techniques that are proven effective for people with lived trauma experiences. An understanding of the impact of vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue, as well as skills to manage the impact of the work on ourselves. Instructors Sue Gallagher and Sandy Jardine use a relaxed, interactive teaching style with lots of discussion and time to reflect on the material. Come to the course prepared to interact and practice the skills! - [Course 0102: Working with Refugees and Survivors of War](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1034215): Hours: 12 In this Professional Development course, we delve into the complex intersection of trauma and refugee experiences, exploring the multifaceted challenges faced by individuals forced to flee their homes due to persecution, violence or conflict. As the global refugee crisis continues to unfold, understanding the psychological impact of forced displacement and trauma on individuals and communities becomes increasingly vital. This course will introduce participants to the following: The experiences of individuals with refugee backgrounds and the stages of migration and acculturation.   Potential range of effects from trauma related to refugee experiences. Reflexive practice to enhance cultural responsiveness, effective therapeutic use of self, and recognize the systemic context when working with refugee clients. Techniques for establishing a therapeutic alliance and conducting assessments with refugee clients. Current research to adapt psychotherapy models for working with trauma-affected refugees. Knowledge and skills necessary to effectively support with case management and advocate for refugees in diverse contexts. Development of self-care strategies for any occupational stress and/or vicarious trauma to sustainably support both clients and ourselves. This course is designed for mental health professionals, social workers, frontline workers, service providers, and anyone interested in gaining a deeper understanding of trauma among refugee populations. Participants can learn how to adapt their current trauma training and experience to clients with refugee backgrounds. Join us as we embark on a transformative journey of learning and empowerment, equipping participants with the knowledge and skills needed to make a meaningful difference in the lives of refugees affected by trauma.   - [Course 0104: Structural Dissociative Theory: A Therapeutic Approach to Working with Trauma Parts](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1034224): Hours: 12 This course was previously called Working with Parts: Healing the Child(ren) Within This Professional Development course introduces an understanding of how trauma can result in varying degrees of dissociation and fragmentation of one’s inner experience. This course draws elements from different parts work/ego state models such as structural dissociation, transactional analysis, internal family systems (IFS) and others. The presentation will introduce:  Conceptualizing inner states. Singular verse split subconscious states. Dissociation as a division of the personality. Dissociative parts of personality. The role of ‘phobic reactions’ within parts. Understanding the ‘self-protective’ roles of different parts or ego states including shame. Tools to support relationship with fragmented ego state/parts of one’s inner world, foster a means to integration, inner coherence, regulation and the capacity for self-soothing.  Treatment interventions for overcoming the phobia of dissociative parts. Specific interactive strategies and exercises working with ego state parts.  This course offers a review and comparison of different parts work models and does not constitute formal training in any specific approach to parts work. - [Course 0106: Mindfulness for Trauma](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1034488): Hours: 6 Combining mindfulness to strengthen emotional regulation with existing empirical supported post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatments can improve outcomes through: Increasing engagement. Increasing compliance. Decreasing the level of ruminations in PTSD. Several psychotherapeutic interventions incorporating training in mindfulness are clinically relevant to traumatic stress. PTSD treatment could benefit from including mindfulness into the therapeutic process. This would include areas such as the neuroscience of mindfulness, assessment instruments for mindfulness, mechanism of mindfulness and the relation between mindfulness and other techniques. Evidence suggests that mindfulness can improve the therapeutic results and the outcome of PTSD clients. Mindfulness can be used in two ways: As an emotional regulation support technique for existing empirically supported PTSD treatments. As a stand-alone treatment (mindfulness based cognitive behaviour psychotherapies). - [Course 0107: Crisis Intervention and De-Escalation](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1034494): Hours: 12 Helping professionals, clinicians, educators, first responders, public works staff and those encountering vulnerable populations may regularly encounter conflict and the need to de-escalate and manage crisis situations in their work environment. These circumstances can seem overwhelming and taxing, even for the most seasoned professional. However, managing conflict and crisis effectively can dramatically decrease individual, family and a community’s possible traumatic and/or mental health reactions, increase coping strategies, reduce the possibility of chronic or less adaptive symptoms and re-establish pre-crisis equilibrium. The emphasis of this workshop will relate to mental health crises in a variety of possible settings with various populations.   Upon completion of this workshop, participants can expect to: Increase their knowledge base related to conflict resolution and crisis intervention theory, as well as models of practice and their application. Become more familiar with early and danger warning signs related to escalations. Gain valuable verbal, non-verbal and non physical de-escalation skills for individuals with varying presentations (including individuals with disorganized thoughts, alcohol-related behaviours, etc.). Increase one’s awareness regarding personal and organizational safety considerations.  Increase their awareness of personal reflexivity, triggers, values and beliefs related to conflict and crisis themes. Review skills in assessing for suicidality. Increase familiarity with mental health care plans and their application.  Review  the role of broader systemic influences in working with diverse populations/social locations and the possible role of spirituality as it relates to crises. And..... so much more! This workshop will offer numerous practical skills and interventions, case examples, practice exercises, video clips and rich discussions as experiences are shared by the instructor and participants. In addition, there will be useful handouts for future referencing.    Please Note:  As themes for review are quite varied and are all important, there is room for flexibility around the workshop themes, depending on the experiences and interests of the participants. Hope to see you there!   - [Course 0108: Trauma and Addictions](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1034498): Hours: 12 Recent research has confirmed what addiction treatment providers already knew to be true: the large majority of people who suffer from addiction issues also have a history of trauma and/or victimization. Experiences of trauma can cause lasting psychological and physiological effects, including deficiencies in emotional regulation, problem solving and impulse control. This, in turn, can lead to the use of alcohol, drugs and/or addictive behaviours as a "functional fit" to cope with overwhelming emotions, physical dysregulation and other post-traumatic symptoms. This two-day (remote)/6-week (online) course explores the connection between trauma and addiction with a focus on providing knowledge, tools and resources to effectively serve clients who are dealing with both trauma and addiction issues. Learning Outcomes Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to: Explain the link between trauma and addiction, including the neurobiology, physical and emotional responses of trauma and how they intersect with addictions. Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences on future substance use dependency. Understand the impact of compassion fatigue when providing treatment to individuals with trauma/addictions. Being FULLY with the client, supporting connection, attachment and safety. The importance of integrating a trauma-informed care within organizations and service delivery model for addiction treatment. The impact of stigma, either visibly and invisibly, and how it operates within the structures of treatment for addictions and mental health. Understand addiction as a survival/coping strategy for traumatic memories and symptoms. The understanding and role of structured dissociative approach within substance abuse treatment. Teach clients tools and practical strategies to regulate autonomic arousal and trauma-related emotions and body sensations without resorting to addictive behaviours. Explain and demonstrate strategies for flashback management. Review the of seeking safety model and ATRIUM Model, supporting a trauma-informed care approach. CACCF: 12 continuing education hours - [Course 0111: Polyvagal Theory: A Bottom-Up Approach for Trauma Treatment](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1034529): Hours: 12 The polyvagal theory (PVT) has been enthusiastically heralded by trauma therapists worldwide as a game changing framework with which to understand client symptoms and intervene more effectively in treatment. Developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, the PVT offers a more nuanced explanation of what happens to the nervous system when we experience a neuroception of safety, danger or life threat, and practical tools to guide client work in a variety of contexts. From a trauma perspective, understanding the body’s response to trauma, and the role of the autonomic nervous system, assists clients in being able to tune into somatic sensations, expand the window of tolerance, and physiologically ground themselves in and out of sessions, ensuring they can safely process.  This two-day educational and applied professional development course will draw on the work of Dr. Stephen Porges and Deb Dana to translate the complex neuroscience model into easy-to apply concepts that participants can explore in relation to their own lives, their workplaces, and their clients.    - [Course 0113: Calming the Storms of Anxiety and Depression in Children and Adolescents](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1035140): Hours: 12 Clinicians are experiencing a rise in children, youth and their families struggling to cope with debilitating symptoms that are affecting their day-to-day lives. There is a growing need for therapists to expand their understanding as to the complexity of potential influences, including recent events, as well as develop effective interventions for anxiety and depression across childhood to adolescence. In addition, therapists are increasingly being called upon to work collaboratively with communities, such as schools and extra-curricular organizations, to assist in better serving struggling young people. Childhood and adolescent anxiety and depression must consider the relationship between the larger systemic context of the 21st century and individual and family stress related to challenges with diminished internal and external resources, culture, developmental transitions, etc. Discussions will also focus on individual and family resiliency within a strength-based perspective. Participants can expect lively discussions, a multi-media presentation and hands-on practical applications and exercises. With the focus on anxiety and family interventions, over the course of two days we will explore: The various forms of anxiety with an emphasis on generalized and social anxiety as well as school avoidance. The characteristics of anxiety and depression and associated developmental frameworks in understanding symptoms on a continuum. Individual, family and broader systemic influences, including parenting and family dynamics,  the role of social media, societal demands and expectations. Various models of practice and strategies to assist children, youth and their families (i.e. attachment, CBT, ACT, Narrative, CPS). This workshop will offer numerous practical skills and interventions, case examples, practice exercises, video clips and rich discussions as experiences are shared by the instructor and participants. In addition, there will be useful handouts for future referencing. Hope to see you there!  - [Course 0115: Expressive Arts Therapy with Children and Adolescents](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1035239): Hours: 12 This Professional Development course will introduce the use of expressive arts when working therapeutically with children and adolescents with a variety of needs and goals.* Rationale for, and examples of, using the arts for expression, wellness and healing with youth will be provided. Basic concepts from drama therapy, art therapy, music therapy, dance/movement therapy and the use of writing, poetry and play will be explored. In addition, intermodal approaches that use numerous arts-based methods will be demonstrated. The course will provide information about working from childhood through adolescence in a developmentally appropriate manner.  Rather than “telling,” this course will focus on learning through “doing.” It is designed to be highly experiential, allowing participants to actively engage in arts-based methods as both a participant and a facilitator.** In addition, information will provided throughout the course using video, conversation and handouts.  Learning Outcomes Participants will: Gain an introductory understanding of expressive arts therapies and each of the modalities. Experience activities and exercises in each of the arts modalities across a developmental spectrum. Learn how to use arts in an intermodal way. Practice effective facilitation of arts-based methods for expression and wellness. Obtain a handout of useful articles, books and websites with additional resources. Required Materials Because this course is happening remotely, all participants will need to have access to basic arts materials at home in order to participate n the course. In addition, a couple days before the course you will be sent handouts that you will need to print and have ready to use during the course, so you will need to ensure you have access to a printer.  For the course, please prepare the following materials: 5-10 sheets of blank letter-size paper basic set of crayons basic set of markers pen or pencil 2-3 magazines to cut up scissors glue stick small sealed container filled with something you can make a noise ‘shaker’ with e.g. yogurt container with dried beans, glass jar with pasta small to medium size container e.g., shoe box, jar, small cardboard box, etc. optional (while you don’t need to buy these materials, if you are crafty and have any of these items at home having them available will give you more creative options): string, yarn, hot glue gun, tissue paper, paint, beads, etc.  * Please note that this is an introductory course and calling oneself an arts therapist is a protected term. If you are interested in becoming certified in expressive arts therapy or one of the specific modalities, further information about official training programs and national organizations can be provided in the training.  ** Experiential activities will differ from other courses being run by Christine Mayor.  - [Course 0118: Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) Assessment and Case Conceptualization](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1037981): Hours: 12 In dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT), case conceptualization uses the principles and the protocols of the treatment to assess client goals and behaviours, develop a targeted treatment plan, and provide accurate interventions that ultimately bring the client closer to their worth living goals. Case conceptualization in DBT is an iterative process, starting with the initial orientation sessions and continuing to be refined throughout the entirety of treatment.  The purpose of this Professional Development course is to guide participants in conducting comprehensive DBT assessment during the first four orientation sessions, using the core principles and dialectical strategies to develop an initial case conceptualization.   At the end of the course you will be able to: Understand stages of treatment. Develop target hierarchy. Apply biosocial theory to assessment procedures. Conduct behaviour chain analysis. Identify key controlling variables that are maintaining the pervasive dysregulated behaviour. Develop targeted treatment interventions using DBT solution analysis and change strategies. It his highly recommended that participants complete DBT Case Conceptualization AND DBT Individual Therapy together as knowledge from case conceptualization is directly applied to individual therapy and will maximize learning. - [Course 0123: Human Resource (HR) Management](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1042949): Hours: 12 This two-day day workshop is devoted to covering all the major areas of human resources for non-profit managers, supervisors and leaders. This will be an interactive and practical session covering the basics of each topic area below: strategic versus operational HR strategy HR planning and culture, mission, goals job descriptions/analysis effective recruitment strategies and practices human rights and basic HR laws, new developments in employment law effective performance management, discipline practices and termination basics effective compensation plans and practices employment contracts and letters of offer benefits, pension overview AODA, health & safety/WSIB, mental health in the workplace, workplace violence onboarding and orientation and professional development importance of policies, record keeping and documentation current issues in HR – different generations, workplace harassment, diversity and inclusion - [Course 0124: Resource Development](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1043004): Hours: 12 This workshop is focused on resource development (primarily fundraising) for not-for-profit and registered charitable organizations. Participants will gain an understanding of the fundamental approaches to fundraising, and the complexities of resource development in non-profit organizations. In addition to a focus on generating revenues from diverse sources, the role of managers and leaders related to risk, stewardship and implementation of fundraising plans will be covered.   Participants in this workshop can expect to: Recognize the relationship between successful resource development and strong leadership, vision and strategic plans. Recognize the relationship between demonstrated outcomes and resource development. Identify diverse sources of revenue – government and philanthropic, as well as entrepreneurial. Gain insight into differential strategies for approaching various funders. Improve skills in writing grant proposals. Evaluate the role of special fundraising events. Identify the role of risk analysis in resource development planning and activities. Understand the unique role of managers and leaders in organizational resource development. - [Course 0125: Program Evaluation](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1043008): Hours: 12 People who run programs and organizations in the public sector are not normally accountants but they do need to have a good basic understanding of how financial management works. In the same way, managers who are not professional researchers can benefit from a solid understanding of how program evaluation works. The tools of the program evaluation trade can be useful in a variety of surprising ways. Anyone who wants to make more strategic use of data when planning or making other decisions is, in a way, doing informal program evaluation. This two-day professional development course on program evaluation is organized around simple, practical steps involved in conceiving, designing and implementing an evaluation project. It is designed for managers who are responsible for initiating and overseeing evaluation projects with limited resources, but it is also an excellent introduction for someone who expects program evaluation to be a more central component of their work. We will focus on clarifying theories of change, developing evaluation questions, identifying indicators for measurement, designing data collection tools, using data strategically for planning and decision-making and communicating results in a persuasive way. We will also discuss how different evaluation approaches, such as developmental evaluation, may be appropriate in your work when traditional program evaluation doesn’t seem like a good fit. - [Course 0127: Fundamentals of Management](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1043018): Hours: 18 Great managers, whether managing in human services or elsewhere, make it look easy. It is not.  This professional development course will focus on the importance of being an "intentional" manager, being explicit about all that one does as a manager. Theories, perspectives, styles and strategic approaches of managing within the specific context of nonprofit human services will be explored. Some of the topics of discussion will include: You, your role and the organization. Peak performance and your accountability to create it. The Social Sector: Good to Great. Organizational culture, structure and processes. Power and influence.  Analyzing an issue of importance to you and creating an action plan. Pre-Course Assignments Participants are to think of a situation, challenge or issue they would like to address and strategize with colleagues throughout the course. Several online self-assessments will be completed. Details to follow closer to the start date. - [Course 0128: Leadership Coaching: Guiding Conversations Towards Transformation](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1043025): Hours: 12 Leadership coaching is an excellent way to help manage tough conversations, to think strategically and perhaps, most importantly, to enhance personal emotional intelligence. This professional development course is designed for those who come alongside leaders to encourage and support their growth. Attention will be given to common leadership dilemmas, coaching strategies, and a vision for coaching that both supports and challenges would-be leaders in a variety of contexts. - [Course 0129: Managing Conflict with Confidence and Compassion](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1043048): Hours: 12 This engaging professional development course invites participants to examine the dynamics involved in conflict within the workplace, and the elements that contribute to its entrenchment, management or resolution. Through the use of case studies, conversation and reflection this workshop offers practical tools and skills to address conflict in productive ways with compassion and confidence. - [Course 0130: Introduction to Clinical Supervision](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1043481): Hours: 12 Excellent clinical supervision is the backbone of effective social work practice. In this two-day course, participants will learn the fundamentals of clinical supervision. Emphasis will be placed on ethical postures and pragmatic practices that contribute to supervisory relationships that build social worker competence, confidence, accountability and professionalism. Participants will be exposed to current debates and best practices in the field of clinical supervision, as well as concrete strategies for structuring supervisory relationships, implementing supervisory interventions through a range of practices (such as direct observation, video, audio, case note and verbal summary reviews), responding effectively to legal and ethical issues in supervision and in supervisees’ clinical work, and ensuring sensitivity to diversity, context, oppression, justice. - [Course 0132: Community Consultation and Needs Assessment](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1043490): Hours: 12 Whether you are starting up something new or working to keep an established project relevant and sustainable, it is no longer sufficient to show that you have good intentions or a new program idea. In today’s nonprofit environment, it is important to be able to show that your plans respond to the issues that matter most to the people you serve, the residents of your community, your partners and your funders. This course will help you do that better.  Community consultation and needs assessments help you understand your community, and they can also set the stage for good strategic planning. They are very helpful for proposal development and for marketing campaigns. There are many models for consulting with the community. Where should you start and how far should you go? Should you begin by pulling together local statistics? Consult the research literature? When, how and who should you talk with in the community? How do you make sense of what you learn and what you hear? This course will focus on an approach that is based on the idea that a healthy organization is always looking outside itself in order to set its direction.   You will have a hands-on experience of what this approach looks and feels like. In this course, you will be encouraged to reach beyond your usual contacts and sources of information in order to develop a deeper and more well-rounded understanding of your community. The course will include an overview of the Harwood Institute’s approach to community engagement. We will talk about how to interpret the information that you gather, and what to do with the answers once you get them. We will offer suggestions on how to incorporate the knowledge you gather through community consultations to reframe your needs assessment work so that your planning and program proposals have greater relevancy and impact for communities and funders. - [Course 0133: Introduction to Motivational Interviewing (MI)](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1043495): Hours: 12 Motivational interviewing (MI), developed by clinical psychologists William Miller and Stephen Rollnick, is a directive, client-centered approach used to strengthen clients’ motivation for positive behaviour change by exploring and resolving feelings of ambivalence. Research has shown that the MI approach, first developed for working with those who demonstrated problems with drinking, is effective in activating positive behaviour change for a wide range of concerns including other substances of abuse, mental health problems, unhealthy relationships, diabetes management, smoking cessation, weight loss, unemployment, and health care improvement. This interactive Professional Development course will introduce participants to the fundamental principles and techniques of motivational interviewing. Upon completion of this training, participants will be able to: Describe the basic concepts of motivational interviewing, including its spirit and essential principles and processes. Strengthen empathic engaging skills described by the OARS acronym. Redefine “resistance” including strategies for responding to discord in the clinician-client relationship. Identify “change talk” in their clients including strategies for evoking “change talk.” Implement motivational interviewing strategies to explore and resolve clients' feelings of ambivalence including strategies for responding to “sustain talk.” Assess clients’ readiness for change. Describe the Transtheoretical Model of Change and explain the relationship between motivational interventions and the stages of change. Practice applying MI to address difficult situations. CACCF: 12 continuing education hours - [Course 0134: Solution Focused Brief Therapy: 'Slicing it Thin'](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1043551): Hours: 12 Solution focused brief therapy (SFBT) is an evidence-based, brief psychotherapy approach that provides interviewing tools and techniques that practitioners can use to identify and amplify people’s strengths and viable solutions to problems. “Rather than looking for what is wrong and how to fix it, we tend to look for what is right and how to use it” (Berg and Miller, 1992). This course will provide participants with clinical training in solution focused brief therapy, focusing on the three key components of competency: clinical thinking, clinical stance and clinical practice (techniques and specific applications). A solid foundation on the systemic background and philosophy of SFBT will set the stage for mastering the main interventions: advanced micro-skills micro-questions the specific SFBT techniques step-by-step guidelines (including the ‘Therapist Checklist’ and ‘micro-analysis’) for conducting effective SFBT Didactic presentation, video-recorded examples of SFBT sessions, and experiential exercises will be used to provide a comprehensive, fun and challenging training experience. Learning Outcomes  Suppose tonight, while you’re sleeping a miracle happens – and tomorrow when you awaken you find that you’re an even more efficient solution-focused brief therapist than before! How will you know? What will you notice? Specifically, what will you be doing differently? By the end of this course participants will: Know the research supporting SFBT. Understand the tenets, assumptions and stance necessary to provide effective SFBT, including the influential theories that guide SFBT. Know techniques for discovering the abilities, skills and virtues of their clients and the rationale behind doing so based on Seligman and Peterson’s research on character strengths and virtues. Understand and be able to implement the five main treatment interventions. Master techniques specific to SFBT. Utilize micro-questions and the ability to ‘slice it thin’. Use micro-analysis to develop therapeutic skills. Know how languaging skills, such as being tentative, pre-suppositional, and metaphorical, enhance the work. Understand the application of SFBT to specific presenting issues such as anxiety and depression. - [Course 0135: An Overview of Narrative Therapy](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1043555): Hours: 12 Narrative therapy is a collaborative and deeply respectful approach to therapeutic practice that positions people as the experts in their own lives. Rather than locating problems within individuals, narrative therapy seeks to understand how problems are shaped by broader social, cultural, economic and political contexts.   This two-day course will provide an introduction to the theory and practice of narrative therapy. Participants will explore key narrative ideas and practices, including externalizing conversations, deconstruction, re-authoring conversations and ways of identifying and building upon people's unique responses to adversity. Throughout the course, participants will have opportunities to engage in discussion, experiential exercises and skill development activities designed to support the integration of narrative practices into their own work contexts.  - [Course 0136: The Private Practice Roadmap](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1043560): Hours: 12 You know you have the clinical skills, but you aren’t sure what steps to take to move into private practice. You have always practiced ethically and responsibly, and you are not about to compromise those professional values. The sheer volume of information and things to consider when opening your practice is daunting. You have planned your private practice in your head since you started graduate school. You have dreamed about it, read blogs, listened to podcasts, and received countless free tip sheets from programs that are created to help you. Putting your faith in these resources scares you. It feels like a risk. Legalities, ethics, and financial considerations all run through your head and cause you to feel overwhelmed with unanswered questions.   The Private Practice Roadmap is a course designed to answer your questions about private practice and give you a structured, sensible and practical plan to help you lay a solid foundation for your practice. Over the two days, we will cover such topics as motivation, ethics, set-up, expenses, administration, marketing and cultivating referral and client relationships. By the end of the course, you will have achieved clarity on your vision for your practice, have created a concrete plan to launch your practice and will develop confidence in your ability to sustain it over the long term.  - [Course 0138: Brief Single Session Therapy](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1043572): Hours: 12 Brief therapeutic services have emerged as a core component of an agency's modern diverse service menu. As such, single session therapy, often provided through quick-access (walk-in) clinics or by call ahead appointment, provides a viable alternative to long waitlists, offering a venue for people to address various life problems at their time of need. This two-day course will immerse participants in the thinking and skill set of brief single session therapeutic practice.  Drawing from contemporary 'brief therapies' we will explore concepts and practices that support a collaborative, competency-based, person-centred approach that builds pathways forward drawing from people’s lived experience. You will learn to hear several 'entry points' to possibility that foreground people’s preferences for life and the many skills of living they bring with them to these conversations. A structure for conceptualizing the single session conversation will be provided.  The application of brief therapies theory will be grounded in practical skills that you can use the very next day. Ideas will be explored through didactic presentation, group discussion, skills exercise and video review of conversations with children, and adults. This course is well suited to all service providers, beginning and experienced, working in time-constrained contexts with people describing various problems.  Together we will explore: Ways of thinking about people, problems and change that relate well to exploring possibility and outline an ethic of practice. A design for single session therapy sessions that brings focus, coherence and completion to the process. How to listen with a 'brief ear' to quickly hear entry points to possibility. Several questions to elicit difference and possibility that foreground competency. Practices for co-crafting various 'take-home' documents. Ways to co-develop culturally and contextually relevant 'next steps' and extend the conversation well past the session into everyday living. - [Course 0139: Creating Secure Relationships: An Introduction to Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFCT)](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1043581): Hours: 12 Couples therapy is most effective when it focuses on the healing power of emotional connection. Emotionally focused couples therapy (EFCT) aligns perfectly with attachment theory, as it provides proven techniques for treating couple and family distress as well as anxiety, depression and other emotional difficulties in individuals. In this Professional Development course, an overview of emotionally focused couple therapy will be presented. This two-day course will include didactic presentations accompanied by record client sessions and experiential exercises to demonstrate how the EFCT approach explores both the intrapsychic and the interpersonal worlds of the couple in distress. EFCT integrates experiential and systemic theories and offers a unique combination of empirically supported change processes and techniques informed by an explicit theory of adult love. As partners engage in typical, reactive ways (the negative cycle) we look to slow down and deepen emotional experience and begin to frame these reactions as understandable, predictable responses to attachment related fears and needs. The aim of this workshop is to offer an overview of the interventions used by EFCT therapists that deepen the exploration of underlying, previously unexpressed attachment-related emotions, in order to help couples to develop more secure and deeply satisfying connections. Emotionally focused individual therapy (EFIT) and emotionally focused family therapy (EFFT) models will also be touched upon. In her new book, Attachment Theory in Practice, Sue Johnson states the EFCT tango is the basic intervention that the therapist employs again and again in all stages and forms (individual, couple, family) of EFT (Johnson – 2019). Learning Objectives This course is designed to help you: Explain the emotionally focused couples therapy model, including the basic assumptions and theoretical foundations. View relational distress from an attachment perspective. Assess clients appropriate for EFCT. Identify the clinical techniques and skills used in EFCT. Recognize how the EFCT therapist elicits and deepens client’s attachment longings and fears to create change. Identify how EFCT shapes new interactions and key bonding events. Learn the key intervention in all modalities of EFCT: the Tango. - [Course 0141: Redeveloping Secure Adult Attachment: A Journey of Awareness and Change](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1043702): Hours: 12 Relationships with caregivers in the early years have a profound influence on an adult’s self-perceptions, perception of others and their capacity for intimate relationships. Adults with secure attachments and healthy mutual adult relationships usually have had consistent nurturing and care from parents or caregivers. Yet adults with a history of inconsistent parenting, rejection or even severe neglect and abuse can redevelop their capacity for secure attachments in adulthood. By understanding the impact of early childhood experiences on their personality development and present relationships, mourning the losses and longings from these early child/parent relationships and developing a non-judgmental stance in exploring their patterns, adults can develop greater security. This course will present a model of therapy and interventions for therapists to help clients recognize their unconscious models of relationships, to develop greater security through the therapeutic relationship and to risk new and healthy interactive patterns in present relationships. The therapist/counsellor’s awareness of their own attachment is important in the work with clients. This course will be of interest to: experienced service practitioners working with adults in individual therapy, marriage and family and parent work, such as counsellors, social workers, social service workers, psychologists and other professionals providing psychotherapy. The course will include information on: a brief review of attachment theory adult attachment categories assessing adult attachment  the neurobiology of adult attachment mental health categories from attachment theory perspective attachment based model of individual adult therapy mourning early longings and losses the reparative process of the therapeutic relationship risking change in everyday life Case examples, videos and role playing will be presented to demonstrate the interventions.  - [Course 0143: Mindful Self-Compassion](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1043717): Hours: 6 This one-day introductory, educational and experiential workshop will provide information on how practices based on mindful self-compassion can prevent burnout and cultivate wellness and resiliency.  This day consists of lecture-style teachings on compassion fatigue, the physiology and research supporting mindful self-compassion and the differences between mindfulness vs. self-compassion, empathy vs. compassion, and self-esteem vs. self-compassion. It is said that mindful self-compassion is ‘caught more than taught.’ Accordingly, this course also includes multiple guided practices using intentional use of breath, attention and visualization, touch and phrases followed by guided inquiry and small and large group discussions. You will leave with practical approaches and tips on how to integrate mindful self-compassion into your professional and personal life.  Please wear comfortable clothing, bring any needed props (i.e. mat or pillow) and find a quiet and confidential space (if possible) to support your engagement in mindful self-compassion practice. - [Course 0144: Breathe In and Play: Mindfulness Practice with Children and Adolescents](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1043721): Hours: 12 Today’s fast-paced, ultra-stimulating, achievement-driven world is placing unprecedented stress and pressure on children, teens and families. Even after coming out of pandemic isolation, feelings of loneliness abound in young people. Fears around racial injustice, climate crisis and global instability are but a few of the realities families face daily. Add to the mix, the fact that we live in an emotion-avoidant society, so many of us are bereft of opportunities to explore and process our emotions. How can young people and families thrive, let alone survive, when faced with so much and not necessarily having practice or support with processing emotions?   Mindfulness and self-compassion practice provide one way to not only navigate this challenging terrain but build resilience as well. Research shows that mindfulness practice with children and adolescents can reduce stress, improve emotion regulation, strengthen interpersonal relationships, foster academic learning, reduce anxiety, increase executive function, and promote overall well-being. With all these known benefits, it is understandable why adults would want children and teens to practice mindfulness … but young people often don’t feel the same way. By sharing mindfulness in fun, creative and developmentally appropriate ways, seeds of mindfulness and compassion can be planted with young people- seeds that they can then cultivate throughout their lifetime.  In this experiential workshop we will explore: Practical and playful ideas for sharing mindfulness, self-compassion, emotion-processing and nervous system regulation with children, adolescents, and families.  Creative and developmentally appropriate ways to share mindfulness and neuroscience information – i.e. through story, art, music, movement, nature and ‘formal’ mindfulness practices. Considerations for sharing mindfulness and self-compassion in a way that is trauma sensitive and holds a deep appreciation for differences in people’s lived experience. Ways we can apply an attachment lens to mindfulness and self-compassion practice; drawing on our inherent drive to connect. In addition to didactic teaching and small group discussions, participants will have the opportunity to lead mindfulness-based practices and inquiry intended for children and families. With step-by-step scaffolding, participants will have the opportunity to further develop their skills and confidence in sharing mindfulness with children and adolescents.   - [Course 0145: Grieving Children and Youth](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1043727): Hours: 12 The dying and death of a family member or loved one has complex, profound and lasting effects for children and youth. Fearing that children were "too young" to understand or to cope with death, adults have often tried to protect them from the devastating, yet unavoidable and natural, experience of grief. Growing recognition of young people’s capacities, needs, and rights has highlighted the importance of, and opportunities for support from parents, professionals and community members, through open communication, inclusion, and engagement to nurture children and young people’s wellbeing and belonging amidst adversity.  This interactive workshop will explore relevant theories, research, clinical implications and concrete strategies for supporting young people from infancy through adolescence, who are facing their own death or that of a family member or other important person in their lives. Knowledge and strategies will be relevant to adults who are parents or caregivers, educators, health or mental health professionals, volunteers and other community members. Discussions will also explore how various concepts and strategies may be transferrable to children grieving non-death losses. Participants in this interactive workshop will: Develop a foundation of knowledge about children and young people’s perceptions, and capacities to understand dying and death.  Examine common and unique elements of grief in relation to child and adolescent development. Explore effective communication strategies and the implications of language in discussions about illness, dying, death and grief with children and youth. Reflect on the complexities, necessary sensitivities and flexibility in working with various family members, structures and dynamics in support of grieving children and adolescents.  Engage in hands-on creative activities to encourage legacy and continuing bonds, remembering, emotional literacy and expression, caregiving and self-care with young people of all ages.   - [Course 0146: Level II: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) for Anxiety Disorders and Depression](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1043738): Hours: 36 First practiced in the area of clinical depression, cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) is now recognized as a highly effective therapy for most mental health disorders, such as depression, anxiety, suicidality, bipolar disorders, ADHD and trauma. In this advanced level II course, you will learn how to apply the CBT interventions learned in Level I to clinical (DSM-5) and sub-clinical issues relating to anxiety and depression. The course works to further your skills in assessing the symptoms of these disorders, apply the most effective CBT interventions to treat the presenting symptoms and understand and use step-by-step CBT protocols. A specific focus on culturally responsive CBT and group CBT is also incorporated to provide you with a well-rounded scope of practice for CBT application.  Upon completion of this course you will be able to: Establish a non-medical but sophisticated understanding of the most prevalent mental health disorders across the lifespan. Understand responsible, interdisciplinary care of mental health disorders, including the breadth of professional scope. Become competent using proper screens and measurements for initial assessment and ongoing symptom surveillance. Gain knowledge of CBT protocols for the most commonly experienced anxiety and depression-related disorders (grief, depression, suicidality, bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety, OCD, phobias, panic disorder, social anxiety, health anxiety, etc.) Develop tactical skills that will allow the helping professional run sessions suited to various disorders with a solid rationale as to why. Be able to recognize when therapy is moving along successfully. Gain an effective understanding of CBT clinical supervision models and be able to employ use of self throughout the therapeutic relationship. Become competent in applying culturally responsive CBT  Establish an understanding of group CBT application.  READINGS AND ASSIGNMENTS Participants in the online CBT courses should plan on four to seven hours per week dedicated to readings, discussions and assignments. Participants in the remote CBT courses will be required to complete the readings prior to the beginning of the course. Assignments can include pre-readings, clinical worksheets, discussion questions and quizzes. Assignments will receive a pass/fail designation. TEXTBOOK You are responsible for purchasing the following textbook, available through Indigo and Amazon. If you are registered for a remote weekend or summer intensive course, please read the text before the course starts. For the online course, readings will be assigned each week. Leahy, Holland, and McGinn (2011). Treatment Plans and Interventions for Depression and Anxiety Disorders , 2nd edition. New York: Guilford Press. - [Course 0147: Level II: The Essentials of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) with Children and Youth](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1043743): Hours: 36 In this course you will learn strategies to unlock the power of the CBT model for the often more challenging and cognitively diverse clients ranging in ages from two to seventeen. Specifically, you will learn to tailor and apply the CBT techniques and interventions acquired in Level I to a subset of mental health and subclinical issues across various stages of development in children and youth. Creative CBT delivery methods and techniques, such as the use of play, games, object lessons, sand-trays, and popular culture will be explored and ideas given and demonstrated so you leave with a broad range of interventions you can begin using in child and youth mental health, school and community-based settings. This course is designed to be both educational and fun! Upon completion of this course you will be able to: Understand the importance of cognitive behavioural play therapy and have ideas and tools you can begin using immediately in sessions with clients of all ages and stages of cognitive development. Complete thorough case conceptualization/formulation using a CBT model with children, adolescents and the entire family system.  Become competent using proper screens and measurements for initial assessment and ongoing symptom surveillance with clients, caregivers and secondary supports.  Gain knowledge of CBT protocols for the most commonly experienced DSM5 disorders and a variety of subclinical issues children and adolescents experience, including depression, suicidality, anxiety disorders, OCD, anger, ADHD, self-harm and self-identity, etc., all within a play-based and creative framework of application.  Conceptualize mental health symptoms in terms of behavioural presentation and apply a variety of behaviour modification interventions. Gain an effective understanding of the various attachment styles and how caring behaviours can be used to foster secure attachments and further mental health coping in children and adolescents.  Understand the influence of caregivers on the maintenance of mental health symptoms in their children, and what roles caregivers can take within the therapy process. Readings and Assignments Participants in the online CBT courses should plan on four to seven hours per week dedicated to readings, discussions and quizzes. Textbooks You are responsible for purchasing the following textbook, available through Indigo and Amazon. Readings will be assigned each week. Chu, B., C. & Pimentel, S., S. (2023). CBT Treatment Plans and Interventions for Depression and Anxiety Disorders in Youth . Guilford Publications: New York, NY.  Young, S & Smith, J. (2017). Helping Children with ADHD: A CBT Guide for Practitioners, Parents and Teachers . John Wiley & Sons, Inc: Hoboken, NJ. - [Course 0148: Level II: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) for Trauma](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1043765): Hours: 36 + 3 Peer Supervision Hours In this innovative course you will learn not only the neurobiological, psychosocial and emotional impacts of trauma but also the specially engineered cognitive behavioural interventions to help your clients process, recover and even grow from their traumatic experiences and history. Based on the most forefront trauma research and knowledge, this course will guide you through assessment, in-depth cognitive behaviour treatment techniques and post-traumatic recovery and growth for adults, children, adolescents and their caregivers. Special topics will include recovery techniques for the most common types of trauma in a Canadian context, including traumatic grief, interpersonal trauma, profession related trauma and Indigenous historical trauma experiences. Handouts and tailored homework assignments and examples will enrich your learning, as well as additional peer supervision sessions following the completion of the course. PEER SUPERVISION At the beginning of the course you will be assigned to a small peer supervision course. Upon completion of the 36-hour course, each group will meet monthly for three months for a one-hour peer supervision session through Zoom (for a total of three hours of peer supervision). These peer supervision sessions are mandatory and make up sessions are not available. The focus of the sessions will be case conceptualization. Each week one participant will be responsible for presenting a case that the group will then discuss and analyze from a CBT trauma perspective. Each participant will be required to present one case during the supervision sessions. An instructor will be assigned to each peer supervision group to moderate and lead the discussion. Prior to the start of the course, you will be able to select the timeslots that are most convenient for you to participant in the peer supervision (i.e. morning, lunch, afternoon, evening, weekend). READINGS AND ASSIGNMENTS Participants should plan on four to seven hours per week dedicated to readings, discussions and quizzes.  TEXTBOOKS There are no required textbooks for this course. All required material will be provided during the course. - [Course 0149: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): The Model, the Practice, the Application](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1043773): Hours: 12 Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a psychotherapy model considered to be a more modern version of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and one of the “third wave” of behavioural therapies. ACT encourages us to let go of emotional struggles and live our lives according to our values, regardless of unwanted or uncomfortable thoughts, feelings, memories or physical sensations. Its goal is the development of psychological flexibility, achieved through the use of mindfulness, metaphors and experiential exercises. It is an interactive treatment approach that can be creative and inspiring! This two-day course will be suitable for those who are new to the model, those who have only had some preliminary exposure to ACT as well as to those who are better versed in the model and are looking to expand their confidence in its clinical application. Day 1 will include an overview of the model, its six processes and a sampling of its interventions to ensure we are all on the same page, presented as interactively as Zoom will allow! Day 2 will place a greater focus on practical application and honing of skills. To reflect the interactive spirit of ACT, this course will move beyond PowerPoint, and will include demonstration, experience and rehearsal of ACT strategies. Come prepared to deepen your understanding, expand and polish your clinical repertoire and become enthused by a user-friendly, down to earth model that speaks to us all regardless of our circumstances. - [Course 0150: Addiction and the Family](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1044050): Hours: 12 Addiction affects everyone in the family. Family system theory suggests that individuals in families cannot interact without impacting the whole. This Professional Development course will explore just how each member may be impacted by addiction. At times, loved ones may resort to using coping skills that are maladaptive and not helpful to them or to their family members struggling with addiction. Family members who have lived with addiction may learn not feel, not trust and not talk. Working with both family members and the person struggling with addiction can be a challenge. This course will provide various tools to help facilitate this process in an interactive and practical manner. Learning Outcomes Upon completion of this training, participants will: Be able to discuss various family theories, including family roles and rules and how addiction can interfere. Have insight into the various treatment modalities and tools to help support families. Know how to assess substance abuse/dependence in families and provide treatment planning. Understand how family involvement and recovery can help prevent relapse for both the family members and the person struggling with addiction (including how to support families when their loved one is pre-contemplative about changing). Have an increase in knowledge about the various supports and resources available for family members. CACCF: 12 continuing education hours - [Course 0151: Understanding Relapse Prevention](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1044054): Hours: 12 Relapse prevention (RP) is a broad term that refers to a wide range of therapeutic techniques that aid in the prevention of slips, lapses and relapses. The term relapse was initially used in the medical field to refer to those people who re-experience a disease stage (Marlatt and Donovan, 2005). In the addiction field, this term is commonly associated with returning to addictive behaviours/substances after a period of abstinence. Relapse prevention is essentially cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and has three main goals: Prevent a return to addictive behaviours/substances. Prevent a slip or lapse from turning into a relapse. Stop relapse quickly should it occur. Relapse prevention aims to increase the client’s awareness of high-risk situations and increase coping skills, self-efficacy and control of internal and external triggers that may make the client more vulnerable to relapse.  Learning Objectives By the end of this course, you will be able to:   Define and describe relapse, the relapse process and a variety of relapse terminology. Summarize theoretical perspectives and explain the contributions each has made to further our understanding of relapse prevention. Identify and describe common high-risk situations that precipitate relapse. Describe a variety of coping strategies that can help manage high-risk situations and urges/cravings.  Explain the role of seemingly irrelevant decisions (SIDS) in the relapse process. Explain how the clinician’s attitude and approach can impact the relapse process in a positive and negative manner. Explain common myths associated with relapse. Supplementary Resources Structured Relapse Prevention: An Outpatient Counselling Approach (2nd Edition) by Marilyn A. Herie and Lyn Watkin-Merek   Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention for Addictive Behaviors , Second Edition: A Clinicians Guide by Sarah Bowen, Neha Chawla, G. Alan Marlatt     Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention for Problem Gambling , Second Edition Peter Chen, Farah Jindani and Nigel Turner 2021 Note: This course was designed for helping professionals or those pursuing a career in the helping field. For those in recovery, the content and discussions may be triggering. CACCF: 12 continuing education hours - [Course 0154: Pharmacology](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1044300): Hours: 12 This Professional Development course will provide you with a broad foundation on the unique attributes of the range of psychoactive drugs from alcohol and cannabis to bath salts, crystal meth and oxycontin and how each in turn affects the brain and human behavior. The four groupings of psychoactive agents: depressants, including opioids, stimulants, hallucinogens and psychotherapeutic agents will be examined including the active effects on a user along with withdrawal. The social context of drug use will also be discussed providing a frame regarding how drugs are deemed licit or illicit in Canada. CACCF: 12 continuing education hours - [Course 0156: Concurrent Disorders](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1044308): Hours: 12 The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the lives of all people living in Canada. The ongoing economic hardships, disruptions to daily routines, feelings of loneliness and disconnection have all contributed to the increased levels of stress, anxiety and uncertainty. The factors have been closely association with the decline in mental health and a rise in substance use among many individuals.   Co-occurring substance use and mental health problems present a challenge for people in accessing comprehensive support and services. Historically, treatment options have been largely compartmentalized – where people go one place for addiction treatment and then must go somewhere else to address their mental health concerns. This was further exacerbated by the limited access to services and support during the pandemic. To address this, this Professional Development course is designed to increase the number of professionals who are CD informed across diverse fields of practice. Participants will gain the fundamental skills and knowledge to provide an integrated treatment approach, ensuring a more positive and effective experience for clients. Learning Outcomes In this course, participants will: Develop an understanding of the complex nature of concurrent disorders. Truly meet people where they are at by developing a compassionate screening process and appreciating the function of addiction in their life. Learn to practice from a no wrong door approach when working with concurrent disorders.  Consider the role stigma and shame plays in keeping people stuck and how to work with it more effectively. Explore strategies to facilitate recovery and maintain optimal mental health. Be informed of best practices and increase clinical knowledge. CACCF: 12 continuing education hours - [Course 0157: The Essentials of Harm Reduction](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1044314): Hours: 12 This professional development course will take an expansive view of harm reduction, allowing you to gain insights into why, despite the controversy that still swirls around the topic, it is fundamental practice within the addiction field. By the conclusion of the six weeks you will gain the ability to explain to individuals inside and outside of the addiction field why claiming that harm reduction strategies promote drug use in the same as stating that wearing a seat belt promotes automobile collisions.     Learning Objectives Develop an understanding of the philosophy of harm reduction and how it is a response to Canadian drug policy. Develop an understanding of harm reduction principles. Understand harm reduction within the context of the social determinants of health. Become knowledgeable about health issues that arise due to unsafe drug using practices. Learn about core education and prevention programming initiatives in the addiction field. Develop an awareness of the range of harm reduction programming options available in Canada. Develop an appreciation for the intersection of drug use, sex and safe sex practices. CACCF: 12 continuing education hours - [Course 0158: Counselling Techniques in Addiction Practice](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1044319): Hours: 12 This interactive Professional Development course explores counselling techniques for treating addiction in an individual counselling setting. The way we think about addiction will impact the way we treat addiction and so we will learn about the ways addiction has been conceptualized over time and consider our own experiences and views that shape our approach. Participants will have an opportunity to augment their counselling skills with practice in a variety of techniques using solution focused therapy (SFT) and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). The focus of this course is on the application of these strategies to the counselling setting while providing many opportunities for participants to practice skill development. Note: This course is designed to be inclusive of all levels of skill and experience in the counselling field and is intended to increase personal awareness while enhancing our approach in working with those with addiction.     Learning Outcomes Become aware of personal beliefs of addiction and understand how this has an impact on treatment. Learn what matters in therapy and the importance of tailoring treatment to the individual. Provide an overview of SFT and CBT and the use of interventions in treating addiction. Practice, practice, practice various counselling techniques. This course will not include detailed information on Motivational Interviewing or Relapse Prevention as these topics are covered in other courses offered in the Addictions Certificate program. CACCF: 12 continuing education hours - [Course 0165: Palliative and End-of-Life Care](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1044444): Hours: 12 This Professional Development course will provide an overview of grief and loss inherent to palliative and end-of-life care. Living with – and dying from – a life-limiting illness is made up of multiple, accumulated losses: from the point of diagnosis, throughout an illness, when death becomes more imminent, and after death happens. Participants will learn about these losses through the lenses of the patient and family/caregiver, and will gain clinical practice guidance on how to provide psychosocial support to patients and families within the unique context of anticipated dying/death, including how to work with non-physical suffering. As palliative care includes support to families after death happens, an overview of bereavement support needs specific to the first year of bereavement – and clinical practice guidance on how to work with the newly bereaved – will also be provided. Clinical/case examples will be incorporated throughout, including opportunities for small and large group discussion. The impact of this work on the practitioner/clinician will also be discussed, including clinician grief. Please note: this course focuses on social work practice with adults 18+ in the context of palliative and end-of-life care. - [Course 0166: Grief Counselling](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1044448): Hours: 12 The grief counselling Professional Development course will take an in-depth look at both past and current models of grief counselling with an approach of learning new skills. This course will explore how to support the grieving person in their search for meaning and purpose related to their loss. Contemporary approaches such as attachment-based and narrative models that support continuing bonds, as well as  non-pathologizing assessment and intervention choices will be presented. Case studies will facilitate the application of theory and interventions for use in bereavement work. The use of expressive art, ritual, and storytelling will be discussed. Significant time will also be devoted to the importance of therapist self-awareness and supervision while providing grief counselling and support. Participation is encouraged through exploration of personal loss histories and small group work using case studies. - [Course 0167: Supporting Bereaved Parents After a Pregnancy Loss or the Death of a Child](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1044452): Hours: 12 This Professional Development course will examine many aspects and needs of parental grief following the death of a child. Regardless of age and/or gestation, the death of a child tends to be a devastating experience for the parent(s), the surrounding family and the community at large. Navigating grief and heartbreak in a society that struggles with both mortality and emotional expression presents additional challenges for bereaved parents. We will examine parental grief following pre- and post-natal death, and death of a dependent child. Discussions will include the experience of disenfranchised grief. The course will provide participants with strategies for supporting the individual, couple and family (including siblings) following the death of a child. This course was designed for helping professionals or those looking to get into the helping field. It is not a support group for bereaved parents. For those who are navigating their own loss, the content and discussions may be triggering. - [Course 0168: Foundations of Grief](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1044456): Hours: 12 This foundational Professional Development course covers a wide range of topics related to dying, death, bereavement and grief. This course is designed for those who would like to expand their grief literacy and explore various areas of grief and bereavement, such as theoretical approaches, contemporary issues, developmental considerations, barriers to a healthy grief process, resources and more. Practical strategies for supporting those who are grieving will be woven throughout the two days. This course will provide a broad foundation from which participants can determine which topics they may want to explore in more depth in subsequent workshops.   Topics covered include: grief literacy  grief and bereavement theory  grief support strategies  common barriers to a healthy grief process  developmental considerations  grief-specific resources   - [Course 0169: Spirituality, Religion and Self-Care](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1044461): Hours: 12 Dying, death and bereavement are universal experiences that call us into profound connection with questions of meaning, purpose and the human spirit. And yet for those both within and without traditional religious orthodoxy, questions of spirituality in death and grief are too often marginalized, with death being managed as a primarily medical event. How do we reintegrate the personal and transpersonal aspects of dying and grieving back into the experience? And how do we tend to our own deepest selves as we sit with suffering? In this interactive two-day workshop, we will explore ways of relating to and reclaiming soulfulness in the work of spiritual care in end-of-life and bereavement, both for our clients and ourselves. In day one, through a mix of didactic and contemplative, experiential, non-denominational practices of presence, reflection and inquiry, we will explore: our own spiritual and/or religious orientations in working with the dying and bereaved various approaches to assessment, intervention and the essential art of bearing witness practices to support meaning-making with the dying and bereaved considerations supporting an anti-oppressive orientation when working across difference and in complex conditions In day two, again through both didactic and contemplative, experiential practices, we will investigate how to care for ourselves as we carry the work of being with dying and grief. Through a centering of our own experiences, explorations of the personal impacts of our work, reviewing the neuroscience of empathy and empathic distress (commonly called compassion fatigue), understanding the resilience-enhancing role of compassion and self-compassion, and learning new strategies to strengthen our resources, we will each build a concrete plan for self-care that can be used to enhance or revise our existing self-care practices. - [Course 0170: Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) Individual Therapy](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1044468): Hours: 12 *It is highly recommended that participants take the DBT Assessment and Case Conceptualization course prior to DBT Individual Therapy as key strategies taught and practiced in the Assessment and Case Conceptualization course will not be reviewed in depth here In DBT, individual therapy is one of the four modes of treatment delivery. Its primary functions are to maintain and improve client motivation and commitment to treatment, individualize change strategies to specific client’s case conceptualization, and effectively respond to suicidal crises and therapy interfering behaviours -- all while maintaining a strong therapeutic alliance. Individual therapy requires the therapist to be adept at applying the principles of acceptance and change in a balanced way to maintain an effective rhythm and flow of the session. Additionally, understanding how to prioritize targets within the session, balance client and therapy needs in the session, and effectively assign home practices. At the end of this Professional Development course you will be able to: Effectively use DBT commitment to develop and strengthen client motivation and commitment. Structure individual therapy sessions. Collaboratively identify and prioritize session agenda using the Diary Card. Understand and implement dialectical strategies to respond to client behaviour throughout sessions. Apply change strategies to variables identified from the diary card/behaviour change analysis or apply change strategies to behaviour displayed within the therapy session itself.   Understand how to use data to refine case conceptualization and assign meaningful between session practice. - [Course 0171: Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) Phone Coaching and Consulting](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1044472): Hours: 12 Two key issues while working with high risk and highly complex clients is how to ensure generalization of therapeutic change within the client’s natural environment and how to reduce the likelihood of burnout within the therapist. The primary function of phone coaching, one of the four modes of DBT intervention, is to assist clients in putting new skillful behaviours into practice when they are needed in the context of their everyday lives. The DBT consultation team is what is affectionately (and accurately) referred to as “therapy for the therapist,” whereby all the same tenets of DBT individual therapy are integrated into a team meeting format that effectively supports DBT clinicians in maintaining their own commitment, motivation and adherence to the principles and protocols of the treatment.  By the end of this Professional Development course participants will be able to: Explain the purpose and principles of phone coaching to clients Develop their own limits around phone coaching. Understand how to use various DBT acceptance and change strategies in short-term coaching applications. Understand the structure, roles and agreements that guide consultation team. Learn how to adequately prepare for consultation team. Implement the core strategies of acceptance and change in DBT within the consultation team format. It is highly recommended that this course be taken near the end of the certificate program instead of at the beginning as it assumes that participants understand the change strategies within DBT and how to assess and formulate hypotheses for ineffective behaviours which are commonly taught in DBT Individual Therapy and/or Core Change Strategies in DBT.  - [Course 0178: Positive Psychology: The Science of Well-Being, Resilience and Flourishing](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1044530): Hours: 12 Positive psychology is the scientific study of optimal human functioning and the conditions that lead to this. While traditional psychology has focused on discovering the causes and effective treatments of mental illness, and has made great advances to this end, positive psychology posits that we can do more. People come to us wanting to achieve more than simply "the absence of depression"; they want to be happy and fulfilled. Research in positive psychology has found that the interventions that lead to this latter state are distinct from interventions that treat mental illness. Positive interventions can be taught for different purposes: they can be a supplement to other therapy interventions, they can be taught in their own right, and/or they can be taught for the purpose of prevention of later psychological problems by building resilience. Topics studied in positive psychology include factors and interventions that lead to optimism, resilience, well-being, fulfillment, success and authentic happiness. In this interactive Professional Development course, we will review the research findings and the evidence-based interventions of positive psychology that can be applied in counselling and education settings as well as in our own lives.  Participants will learn: The fundamental concepts of positive psychology and their practical applications. The five pillars of psychological well-being and authentic happiness. How to identify and use "signature strengths" to increase well-being. The "broaden and build" model of positive emotions. Evidence-based interventions that lead to flourishing. - [Course 0180: An Introduction to Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1048562): Hours: 12 Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) was initially developed for individuals with complex mental health problems and engaging in suicidal behaviour and comorbid substance use issues. It is the only evidenced-based intervention for borderline personality disorder, though this is not what it was initially developed to treat. In the last 20 years, DBT has been adapted to a wider range of severe emotional dysregulation disorders (bipolar, binge eating disorder) and effectively applied within a wide range of clinical settings (forensic, school, hospital, residential). DBT focuses on improving clients’ ability to tolerate intense emotions, manage distressing situations without making them worse, improve interpersonal effectiveness and increase mindfulness skills all within a comprehensive, multi-mode treatment modality.  The overarching objective of this Professional Development course is to provide participants with exposure to different aspects of DBT: structures, principles, communication style and key skills so that participants can decide whether to pursue further comprehensive training in DBT.    At the end of this two-day course, participants will be able to: Explain the main theories that inform DBT. Describe the structure and modes of treatment of DBT. Review the five modules of DBT skills group. Explain dialectics and validation and its role within the treatment. Describe stylistic strategies of DBT and their functions.  - [Course 0183: Program Evaluation](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1055105): Are you running a program or service and want to know whether it is effective, meeting the needs of people, or maximizing a limited budget? Program evaluation can help you find the evidence you need to strengthen your program or service! The Program Evaluation Certificate will introduce you to different evaluation approaches, designs, methods, and the skills to apply this knowledge to your own work. Each week, you will be asked to apply your learnings to create an evaluation plan for a program within your organization or local community.   WHAT IS THE PROGRAM EVALUATION CERTIFICATE? There is a substantial body of knowledge on the practice and theory of program evaluation which this program will address. The program will also explore emerging issues and topics in evaluation relating to its ability to decrease inequities in society and uphold ethical standards, social justice values, and decolonial and anti-oppressive practices. We welcome learners who can contribute lived experiences and offer real-world challenges that can enhance the learning experience for everyone in the program.  Our certificate is designed for those who need to evaluate, analyze and improve upon programs and/or services within the workplace . The certificate program is offered in partnership with the Centre for Community Research, Learning and Action (CCRLA). CCRLA is a community-engaged research centre located within Laurier's Faculty of Science.    PROGRAM EVALUATION CERTIFICATE - KEY LEARNINGS Develop a strong program theory of change and logic model Know what evaluation approach and type suits your needs Conduct effective interviews and focus groups Design surveys Analyze survey and interview data Create a knowledge mobilization strategy  Apply findings to improve programs and services Integrate evaluation approaches into organizational learning and development   HOW WILL YOU LEARN PROGRAM EVALUATION SKILLS? This certificate is offered completely online and remotely   84 hours of synchronous and self-paced learning   Apply weekly learning to develop an evaluation plan for a program at current organization   One-on-one expert consultation , 30 hours of   live group coaching sessions  and ongoing support from an experienced program evaluator instructor   WHY TAKE THIS COURSE? Receive a Continuing Education certificate from Laurier Gain an in-demand skillset for a fast-growing applied field.  Get the skills to immediately apply your knowledge within your organization.  Connect with a community of peers   COMPLETION REQUIREMENTS All course work including the final project must be completed within the scheduled time to be considered complete towards the certificate. If an extension is required, you must communicate with the course instructor prior to the scheduled course end date, to discuss an extension. Extensions will not be given longer than three weeks after scheduled course end date.    WHAT PAST LEARNERS ARE SAYING: "The applied focus of this certificate was very relevant to my non-profit work, the schedule fit with my work and the final project was structured to facilitate me creating a deliverable for work." - Ruth Cameron, Executive Director, ACCKWA   "The course did certainly help me advance my career. PEC has really helped me transition to more technical work at my current job and I am very grateful of my learnings." - Nicole Heaney, Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) Refunds Up to 10 days before the start of course: Full refund less 15% administrative fee. One to nine days before start of course: Full refund less 30% administrative fee. No refunds will be issued as of the first day of the course. - [Course 0187: Bereavement Support Groups: Advanced Facilitator Training](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1086063): Hours: 6 For decades, support groups have been an integral part of the healing process for mourners seeking guidance, healing and a feeling of normal. Group work is designed to provide an outlet for strong emotion, as well as an opportunity to learn how to regulate those emotions. The degree of crises and trauma associated with the loss of a loved one is unique for each circumstance. A group facilitator must ensure that the risk associated with emotional expression is balanced with intellectual insight. Using a variety of therapeutic techniques, bereavement support groups are designed to encourage a trusting, mutual aid approach to support, while preventing the risk of re-traumatization. The emergence of trauma informed care has prompted a revision of standards for best practice in bereavement support groups. The new guidelines for group facilitation add a layer of knowledge to the traditional approach to group work. Learning Outcomes In this Professional Development course, participants will learn: What mourners need from a group. Types of groups best suited to support mourners. Role of the facilitator. Creating safety.     Sequencing topics for discussion. - [Course 0203: Luther Clinical Supervision](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1505628): The course will run online primarily in an asynchronous format. Students will complete weekly readings and engage in the online discussion forums. Students can expect to spend a minimum of four hours per week online. There will be two synchronous chats in the course to provide opportunities for discussion of the course material together (4 hours/week plus 2 synchronous chats = 36 hours).  - [Course 0204: Working with Trauma and the Body: The Fundamentals of Somatic Therapy](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1507724): Hours: 12 Trauma is often misunderstood as merely a psychological experience, but in reality, it is deeply physiological in nature. The impact of trauma on our body can lead to a variety of physical, emotional, psychological and behavioral symptoms that are often confusing and debilitating. Body-oriented modalities, such as Somatic Experiencing ®, help individuals release traumatic shock that becomes trapped in the body, transforming the wounds caused by trauma. These approaches provide relief from symptoms and promote healing without the need for extensive therapy, reliving painful memories, or relying on medication. This two-day professional development course is designed to help participants understand trauma from the perspective of the autonomic nervous system and the body. Using experiential activities, demonstrations and group discussions, this course will: Explore the key concepts of Polyvagal Theory, activation cycles, and incomplete self-protective responses. Learn how the body can serve as a powerful resource for healing. Discover ways to use verbal narrative to explore and understand the body’s story. Examine the role of attunement and co-regulation in trauma healing. Develop skills to increase awareness of bodily sensations and other aspects of inner experience. Given the experiential nature of somatic modalities, this course will be highly interactive . Participants should be prepared to engage in activities that foster embodied awareness, allowing them to directly experience the material covered. Although this course is designed for mental health professionals, it may be challenging to navigate on a personal level. This training is not recommended for anyone who is currently experiencing their own trauma as some of the content may be activating. Please note that becoming a somatic therapist requires extensive training through an official program such as Somatic Experiencing®. This course is independent of Somatic Experiencing International (SEI), and continuing education hours earned do not count toward official SEI training programs. - [Course 0208: Laurier Summer Institute of Research Methods (LSIRM) 2026 Workshops](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1594738): The Laurier Summer Institute of Research Methods (LSIRM) is pleased to offer a variety of workshops this July 2026! Registration is open to everyone! EARLY BIRD PRICING - Save 20% if you register by June 30th Refunds Up to 10 days before the start of course: Full refund less 15% administrative fee. One to nine days before start of course: Full refund less 30% administrative fee. No refunds will be issued as of the first day of the course. Software Required NVivo participants - Free - read term details, and ensure you have access to software for the workshop. Please ensure software is loaded on your device at least 48 hours prior to class. Visit lsirm.ca for more details about discounts, instructors, or accessing discounts. Email l sirm@wlu.ca with any questions.   - [Course 0210: Strategies for Academic Success (SAS)](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1628978): The program runs over two academic terms (Fall/Winter, or Winter/Spring) and includes the following schedule:  Term 1: SASP-001 (first mandatory course) + 0.5-elective course  Term 2: AF 224 (second mandatory course) + 1.0 elective courses  This is a program fee, covering participation in the program and the non-credit SASP-001 course. You will be required to pay standard tuition and fees for all for-credit courses you register in during the program. In term 1 students will register in one (1) for-credit class; in term 2 students will register in three (3) including the 2nd mandatory SAS class for a total of 1.5 credits, thus qualifying for application to OSAP. Students will pay standard incidental fees each semester, providing access to all on-campus student resources.    - [Course 0211: TriAGe: Preparation for University Calculus](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1684268): TriAGe is a non-credit course designed to help prepare students who plan to enrol in an entry-level university calculus course by reinforcing fundamental skills in Trigonometry, Algebra, and Geometry. Topics include: algebraic manipulations used to simplify expressions and solve equations and inequalities; analytic geometry; polynomial, rational, exponential, logarithmic, and trigonometric functions. An experienced instructor will guide you through these topics and discuss specific learning strategies to help you with the transition from high school mathematics to university expectations. A final assessment will be provided to students who complete a set of assignments and an end-of-course evaluation. Visit the TriAGe webpage  for more information. Refunds Before the start of course: Full refund less 15% administrative fee. No refunds will be issued once the course information has been accessed in MyLearningSpace. - [Course 0220: Project Management](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1771970): Hours: 12 This professional development course is aimed at people who need to use project management skills and tools but who aren’t project managers. Participants interested in learning about project management at an introductory level, or who have been asked to manage a project but don’t really know how, will benefit from this course. This course provides an introduction to the components, processes, tools and activities for planning, implementing and managing a project. We will emphasize the use of practical approaches and tools for participants to be able to use once they have completed the course. Participants will be expected to incorporate a mix of group and individual work throughout the two-day course.  To maximize relevance, participants are encouraged to bring examples of projects they have managed and/or current/future projects.   Learning Outcomes At the conclusion of the course the participants will understand: The difference between project management, program management and operations. Key success factors for successful project. Key characteristics of successful project teams. Project management lifecycle. Key process, tools and activities in each project cycle. How to track, monitor and ensure your project is implemented successfully. - [Course 0224: When the Marriage/Partnership Ends: Families in Transition](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1775785): Hours: 12 There is a high rate of marriages/partnerships that dissolve and/or end in divorce in Canada; many of these families include children and youth. This clinically-oriented course will deconstruct the transition from relationship breakdown, to post-relationship parenting and family restructuring models including co-parenting, single parenting and blended/recoupling. There will be a focus on important considerations and common issues for parents and children/youth navigating the dissolution of the couple partnership, as well as the post-relationship adjustment and well-being. The course will engage participants through the use of lecture, case studies and videos, as well as small and large group discussions and the active engagement of  participant’s perspective and experiences. Learner Outcomes Over the course of the two days, participants will develop an increased understanding and informed approach related to the following:  The challenges associated with the “divorce narrative”. The risk and protective factors of post-relationship parenting and children’s and adult adjustment. Exploring challenges with parent-child contact (i.e. rejection and alienation). The development of parenting plans. An awareness of the unique issues related to varying social locations. Approaches to legal separations/divorces in Canada, including judicial and alternative dispute resolution models. Incidents of interpersonal/domestic violence during the separation.  The grieving process and trauma-informed considerations. The inter-play between family members and various influential systems. Post-separation growth and resilience.  The complexities associated with blending families/recoupling. The application of strategies and approaches in assisting families, children and youth with the above-mentioned issues. Hoping to see you! - [Course 0225: Expressive Arts with Trauma](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1776580): Hours: 12 This Professional Development course will introduce the use of expressive arts when working therapeutically with those who have experienced trauma.* Rationale for, and examples of, using the arts for expression, healing and activism in response to trauma will be explored. Exercises and interventions using drama, art, music, dance/movement, poetry and play will be explored in individual, family and group contexts. In addition, intermodal approaches that use numerous arts-based methods will be demonstrated.  Trauma, for the purposes of this workshop, will include interpersonal and familial trauma, as well as systemic, intergenerational and state violence forms of trauma (e.g., war, racism, poverty, heterosexism, etc.). The course will address the use of arts to promote healing and activism in response to the personal and political aspects of harm.  Rather than “telling,” this workshop will focus on learning through “doing.” It is designed to be highly experiential, allowing participants to actively engage in arts-based methods as both a participant and a facilitator.** In addition, information will provided throughout the course using video, conversation and handouts.  Participants will: Gain an introductory understanding of the use of the arts and the range of expressive arts therapies. Experience activities and exercises in each of the arts modalities across a variety of forms of trauma and with different age groups.  Practice effective facilitation of arts-based methods for expression, healing, and activism following trauma. Obtain a handout of useful articles, books and websites with additional resources. Required Materials Because this course is happening remotely, all participants will need to have access to basic arts materials at home in order to participate in the course. In addition, a few days before the course you will be sent handouts that you will need to print and have ready to use during the course, so you will need to ensure you have access to a printer.  For the course, please prepare the following materials: 5-10 sheets of blank letter-size paper basic set of crayons basic set of markers pen or pencil 2-3 magazines to cut up scissors glue stick small sealed container filled with something you can make a noise ‘shaker’ with e.g. yogurt container with dried beans, glass jar with pasta small to medium size container e.g., shoe box, jar, small cardboard box, etc. optional (while you don’t need to buy these materials, if you are crafty and have any of these items at home having them available will give you more creative options): string, yarn, hot glue gun, tissue paper, paint, beads, etc.  * Please note that this is an introductory course and calling oneself an arts therapist is a protected term. If you are interested in becoming certified in expressive arts therapy or one of the specific modalities, further information about official training programs and national organizations can be provided in the training. ** Experiential activities will differ from other courses being run by Christine Mayor. - [Course 0226: A Neuroplasticity Approach in the Treatment of Substance Abuse and Mental Health](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1776930): Hours: 12 The adult brain is much more changeable and modifiable than had previously been believed or even understood. There is now a large amount of evidence to show that damaged neural (brain) circuitry resulting from adverse childhood experiences and trauma can be corrected, reshaping our brain anatomy and consequent behaviour, with the right kind of therapeutic interventions. In other words, it is now clear that brain architecture continues to change throughout adulthood, and this can be manipulated in highly beneficial directions.  Besides trauma, neuroplasticity has proven to enable people to recover from stroke, injury, improve symptoms of autism, ADD and ADHD, learning disabilities and other brain deficits, pull out of depression and addictions, and reverse obsessive-compulsive patterns. Many people who suffer extreme childhood trauma go on to develop personality disorders as adults; one hallmark of these disorders is rigid, destructive behavioral patterns. Research is now showing, however, that certain therapeutic interventions can change those behaviors to become more flexible and adaptive (helpful in creating a more successful life). The brain is arguably the most fascinating and impressive organ in the human body. Medical and scientific professionals alike are only beginning to mine its vast complexities. Of particular interest to those involved in the field of trauma recovery is the area of neuroplasticity. This refers to how the brain is wired and its extraordinary capacity to rewire neural pathways. New pathways can be created through changes in behavior, environment and neuro processes. Not only is the brain capable of creating new pathways, it is designed to do so. The brain is highly resilient and desires flexibility. The incredible thing is that the human brain has a very real desire to heal itself. This Professional Development course will focus on the use of neuroplasticity as a treatment modality for working with trauma, anxiety, depression and addictions. CACCF: 12 continuing education hours - [Course 0229: Engaging Individuals and Their Support Systems in Navigating the MAiD Journey](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1778517): Hours: 12 A decision to pursue Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) doesn't happen in isolation. It ripples outward, touching family members, communities and the healthcare professionals who walk alongside them. This workshop equips participants with the knowledge and skills to meaningfully engage individuals and their support networks across the MAiD journey. Through real stories, informative videos and practical frameworks, you'll come away with a grounded understanding of MAiD, the psychosocial dimensions that shape the decision to request and access it, and the grief and bereavement experiences that run through it, alongside concrete strategies for navigating the challenges this work brings.   - [Course 0232: The Art of the Clinical Note](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1779088): Hours: 12 This two-day course will focus on how to write excellent clinical notes. Day one will focus on the regulatory, legal and agency requirements of notes, as well as the pragmatic aspects of clinical documentation including: What needs to be included in a clinical file. How to write notes that meet the needs of various bodies. How to write clear, succinct and focused notes in a timely manner. Ethical considerations of note taking, including AI programs. We will also focus here on what does NOT need to be included in a note. Day two will focus on the power of the clinical note: considerations for its use, and more importantly, how to use it as a tool that aids in change. This day will explore collaborative note taking practices, therapeutic letters and other creative uses of clinical documentation. - [Course 0233: Level I: Sacred Circle CBT -- Mikwendaagwad: “It is remembered, it comes to mind”](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1780007): This course embraces the vision of Etuaptmumk – Two Eyed Seeing. Culturally adapting cognitive therapy techniques for Indigenous populations, this innovative course will teach all the foundational techniques of cognitive behaviour therapy within cultural content, such as cultural legends, stories, values and traditional knowledge (nature based, experiential, Indigenous spirituality). The focus of adaptation will be Anishinaabe (Ojibwe), Nehiyawak (Cree) and Haudenosaunee (Iroquois). This course has been developed by an Anishinaabe cognitive therapist. TEXTBOOKS There are no required textbooks for this course. All required material will be provided during the course. - [Course 0238: Level II: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) for Women’s Reproductive Mental Health](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1792379): Hours: 36 Women play an essential role in society – in the workplace, within families and as caregivers. Unfortunately, biology alone can often increase risk of mental health struggles across the lifespan, like hormone-related anxiety, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, prenatal and perinatal anxiety and depression, perimenopause related depression and more. Hormone-related mood changes and insomnia, reproductive-related health anxiety, infertility, miscarriage and traumatic births and postpartum experiences can all contribute to bereavement, depression, anxiety and symptoms of PTSD. In this highly specialized course, you will learn not only about reproductive related changes that impact women’s mental health throughout the lifetime, but how to identify and best respond to these in the most evidence-based ways. Comprehensive in its review of reproductive mental health, research, conceptualization, cognitive restructuring, exposure therapy, and behaviour change interventions will focus very specifically on how to best support women through their lifetime. Additional lessons will include mindfulness and self-compassion for motherhood and caregiving, and couples counselling for lesbian and transgender moms. All CBT techniques will be taught as well as resources provided, with a focus on delivery, examples, adaptation and homework assignments for these specific presenting issues. READINGS AND ASSIGNMENTS Participants should plan on four to seven hours per week dedicated to readings, discussions and quizzes.  TEXTBOOKS There are no required textbooks for this course. All required material will be provided during the course. - [Course 0245: First Nations, Metis and Inuit Peoples: Understanding Traditional Teachings, Histories, Current Issues and Cultures - Part 2](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1862454): Building on the foundation established in Part 1, this engaging Additional Qualification course empowers educators to deepen their understanding of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples’ histories, cultures, worldviews, and contemporary realities while strengthening their capacity to create respectful, culturally responsive, and reconciliation-focused learning environments. Through inquiry, reflection, collaboration, and authentic connections to Indigenous voices and communities, participants will develop practical strategies to meaningfully integrate Indigenous perspectives across the curriculum and into school culture.  Throughout the course, participants will explore: Deepening understanding of First Nations, Métis and Inuit identities, cultures, traditions, histories, and worldviews. The ongoing impacts of colonization, residential schools, the Indian Act, the Sixties Scoop, and other historical and contemporary policies. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Calls for Justice. Indigenous pedagogies, ways of knowing, and holistic approaches to teaching and learning. Treaty education, sovereignty, Indigenous rights, governance, and relationships to land, water, and community. Strategies for embedding Indigenous perspectives authentically and respectfully across all curriculum areas. Culturally responsive, anti-oppressive, and anti-colonial teaching practices that foster belonging, equity, and inclusion. Building meaningful partnerships with Elders, Knowledge Keepers, Métis Senators, Indigenous families, and local communities. Designing inquiry-based, cross-curricular learning experiences that honour Indigenous voices and contemporary realities. Assessment, instructional practices, and learning environments that respect Indigenous knowledge systems while supporting the success and well-being of all learners. Reflective professional inquiry that strengthens leadership, ethical practice, and commitment to reconciliation in Ontario schools.  Join a community of educators committed to advancing truth, reconciliation, and educational equity.  Leave this course with practical classroom resources, renewed professional confidence, and the knowledge to create authentic learning experiences that honour First Nations, Métis and Inuit perspectives while making a meaningful difference for all students. Discounts This $50.00 discount applies to Laurier Waterloo BEd graduates only. Use discount code ALUMNI50 during checkout to have discount applied. Refunds Up to and including the first day of course: Full refund less 15% administrative fee. No refunds will be issued after the first day of the course. If course is cancelled due to insufficient registration: 100% refund - [Course 0253: Religious Education in Catholic Schools Part 1](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=2836285): This course provides ongoing adult faith formation and increased religious literacy for Catholic teachers in support of the delivery of religious education curriculum in Ontario Catholic schools.  The vocation of the teacher is explored through in-depth scripture study, personal and communal prayer, and ethical studies within the context the salvation history in Catholic Tradition.  Teachers will explore resources and strategies for effective evangelization and catechesis in the delivery of curriculum and in the building of inclusive classroom and school communities of faith. Discounts This $50.00 discount applies to Laurier Waterloo BEd graduates only. Use discount code ALUMNI50 during checkout to have discount applied. Refunds Up to and including the first day of course: Full refund less 15% administrative fee. No refunds will be issued after the first day of the course. If course is cancelled due to insufficient registration: 100% refund - [Course 0255: Religious Education in Catholic Schools Part 2](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=2993436): This course supports the adult faith formation of Catholic teachers with a special emphasis on discipleship and the pursuit of justice. With an in-depth study of the prophetic voice in Catholic Tradition, teachers will make connections between their baptismal call and the work of evangelizing and catechising children and youth in the delivery of religious education curriculum, and in the nurturing of Christian community in schools. Through the study of sacred scripture, personal and communal prayer, and the social justice teaching of the Church, teachers will learn to align their classroom practices to support all students for overall wellbeing and academic achievement, mindful of the inviolate dignity of each student. The combination of informed faith with effective pedagogy supports teachers in addressing the goals outlined for Ontario Catholic School Graduates. Discounts This $50.00 discount applies to Laurier Waterloo BEd graduates only. Use discount code ALUMNI50 during checkout to have discount applied. Refunds Up to and including the first day of course: Full refund less 15% administrative fee. No refunds will be issued after the first day of the course. If course is cancelled due to insufficient registration: 100% refund - [Course 0257: Play Therapy Interventions for Helping Children with Mental Health Challenges](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=3038272): Hours: 12 The two-day workshop is designed for professionals working with children and families facing mental health challenges, such as anxiety, ADHD, relational difficulties or life transitions. Participants will learn to use play therapy approaches for conducting initial evaluations that identify strengths and challenges, as well as for implementing play therapy interventions to support these children and families. The workshop incorporates visual representations, hands-on activities and video clips to translate theory into practice. Participants will be introduced to simple, practical activities that they can immediately implement with the children and families they serve. Learning Objectives Understand the power and value of play, therapeutic play and play therapy. Learn to conduct initial evaluations to identify strengths and challenges using play therapy approaches. Learn to develop play therapy intervention plans for common mental health challenges in children. Learn to use play therapy interventions and activities to support children and families.   - [Course 0290: Trauma-Informed Approaches to Working with Those Impacted by Gender-Based Violence](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=3268788): Hours: 12 This workshop is designed for practitioners who are new to regularly working with survivors of sexual violence or who may be already working with survivors and would like to more deeply inform their practice. Grounded in a liberatory, abolitionist and trauma- and violence-informed approach, this workshop will introduce and explore assessments, theories and ethical frameworks, principles and practices associated with working with adult survivors (all genders) of intimate partner violence, stalking, sexual assault and childhood sexual abuse.   The training outcome is to develop ethically grounded and effective responses to victims/survivors who disclose experiences of gendered and sexual violence that will guide support and intervention. This workshop will leave participants with: A conceptual framework for understanding sexual violence, intimate partner violence, stalking and online harassment. An understanding of the complexities of responding to the effects and impacts of gender-based violence. A consideration of liberatory and community-led approaches to healing and accountability. Deeper awareness and intentionality in their own ethical frameworks that guide their practices with survivors. The ability to draw from a number of approaches to work collaboratively with adult survivors of sexual violence, addressing the relationship issues that may be specifically meaningful to them such as: opportunities and risks in accessing the legal system non-punitive accountability options being in relationship to their perpetrators intimacy after trauma An understanding of the general principles of risk assessment and imminent risk. Practical and applicable tools for safety planning and risk assessment. Basic skills in working with those who have caused harm. A high level awareness of counseling modalities and techniques that are effective for adult survivors of gender-based violence.   - [Course 0300: Positive Psychology and Resilience Corporate Training](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=3455107): The Centre for Public Safety and Well-Being is now offering corporate training in Positive Psychology and Resilience! Looking for individual workshops ? Visit this page. We are proud to offer the following corporate workshops for up to 15 participants: The Power of Positive Emotion to Foster Resilience  This program will illuminate the importance of emotions in building resilience and well-being. The session will explore the science of positive emotions and the important role they play in cultivating creativity, resilience and connection. The role negative emotions play in fostering a healthy environment will also be explored. Participants will be taught about the core facets of emotional intelligence adn how to cultivate emotional intelligence at work and in life. Delivery: Virtual Length: 3 weeks,1 hour per week Building Resilience During Challenging Times This program will identify key areas to support well-being and resilience during intensely stressful times. The program will focus on the role of strengths, emotions and mindfulness to reduce stress. Delivery: Virtual Length: 3 weeks, 1 hour per week Discover Your Strengths When individuals use their strengths there is an increase in overall engagement, productivity and wellbeing. Discover Your Strengths program will help employees understand the power of working in their strengths.  The program will allow individuals to identify their strengths, develop strategies to leverage their strengths, and unique ideas on how to find flow at work. This program is a critical step to help individuals and organizations realize their full potential. Delivery: Virtual Length: 3 weeks, 1 hour per week Mindfulness at Work The Mindfulness at Work is focused on cultivating mindfulness to enhance the experience at work and in all facets of life. We will examine the facets of mindfulness; the role mindfulness plays in reducing stress and strategies to cultivate it in your life.  Delivery: Virtual Length: 3 weeks, 1 hour per week   Please email CPSW@wlu.ca for a quote   Faciliator Meghan Kirwin (MSc, MBA, CAPP) Meghan’s mission is to empower individuals, teams and entrepreneurial organizations to thrive. Meghan is passionate about facilitating positive change with the individuals and organizations she works with. Meghan founded her own business in 2004 and in her role as mentor, coach and facilitator has focused on building thriving workplaces. Meghan has developed her businesses with a single focus of supporting individuals and organizations to realize their full potential through the application of positive psychology. Meghan has instructed in our Positive Psychology program since its inception in 2016 and is currently our lead facilitator for our Positive Psychology Certificate. Meghan has completed a Masters of Science in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of East London, England, one of the leading universities in the field of positive psychology and a Master of Business Administration from Laurier specializing in Leadership and Organizational Behaviour. She also completed a Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (CAPP) from the Wholebeing Institute, where she studied under Dr. Tal Ben Shahar from Harvard University.   - [Course 0306: Working with Neurodiverse Children and Youth: An Anti-Oppressive Approach](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=3774080): Hours: 12 This Professional Development course will help professionals understand and learn how to therapeutically support neurodivergent children and youth, including young people with ADHD, ASD and/or dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia. The workshop takes the neurodiversity rights movement perspective and challenges stigma related to neurodiversity in our culture and systems. Space will be created to have an open and honest conversations about disabling environments, discrimination and stigma in our systems and culture and how professionals who are directly involved with supporting the mental health of neurodiverse folks can integrate these approaches into their work.   The training will include the exploration and implementation of therapeutic approaches for children, and youth using diverse approaches. The ways to support parents/caregivers who struggle with managing their own views and experiences of neurodivergence as well as how to support parents/caregivers who engage with systems that their children are a part of will also be explored. Throughout the workshop there will be discussion and integration of the intersectionality of neurodiverse folks and their families. The concept of neuro-affirming care will include discussion and conversation around what it is, how to engage in being neuro-affirming, and important considerations. Reflexivity and positionality will be used throughout the course.  This is an interactive workshop where active participation is required, as meaningful engagement from all participants enriches the learning experience for everyone. - [Course 0307: Advanced Structural Dissociative Theory: A Therapeutic Approach to Working with Trauma Parts – Part 2](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=3779640): Hours: 12 This Professional Development course will focus on three key learning components of different levels of structural dissociation within treatment for chronic traumatization. This includes working with clients having a primary, secondary (complex trauma, DESNOS, BPD without dissociative identity disorder (DID)) and tertiary (complex trauma with DID) structural dissociation.  The focus of the course will be on: Advancing knowledge of the structural dissociation of the personality. Understanding chronic traumatization from Pierre Janet psychology of action systems and tendencies. Treatment of chronically traumatized clients, including:          a. assessment         b. promoting adaptive actions         c. general treatment principles         d. phase one:                 i. overcoming the phobia of attachment and attachment loss                 ii. overcoming the phobia of trauma-derived mental actions                 iii. overcoming the phobia of dissociative parts         e. phase two:                 i. overcoming the phobia of traumatic memory         f. phase three:                 i.  Integration of personality and overcoming normal life phobias - [Course 0310: When a Few Sessions is All we Have: ACT as a Brief Intervention](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=3794108): Hours: 12 This two-day course will focus on providing the skills necessary to apply the core ACT processes that will enable the delivery of effective interventions with clients on the very first encounter. The course structure utilizes a blend of didactic presentation, case scenarios, small group work, video demonstrations and a series of interactive experiential exercises to reinforce the learning objectives. The covered topics will include: Understanding the myths and realities surrounding "brief therapy". Exploring the research evidence supporting the efficacy of brief ACT interventions. Maximizing ACT as an accessible catalyst for profound change. Learning how to conduct a focused interview and completing a rapid case formulation while simultaneously enhancing your client’s motivation to implement change. On the second day, emphasis will be placed on the application of specific ACT interventions to heighten awareness, openness and engagement. Why Choose This Course? In today's climate of constrained resources and extended waiting times for government-funded mental health services, therapists are often expected to provide effective treatments in a limited number of sessions. Proficiency in delivering evidence-based brief interventions is an asset for all practitioners. With its transdiagnostic approach and focus on mindfulness strategies and committed value-driven behaviour change, ACT is ideally positioned to meet this rising demand. - [Course 0312: Substance Use and Youth](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=3799031): Hours: 12 This two-day course will help participants broaden their understanding of the unique considerations when working with youth who experience substance use disorder. This course explores how substance use and misuse can influence the developmental stages from adolescence to young adulthood. We will begin by considering how to build a therapeutic alliance with youth through a diversity, equity, and inclusion lens. We will also discuss how to build inclusive spaces that foster stability and structure. Over the two days, we will cover the continuum of care beginning with harm reduction approaches and ending with abstinence models.  This course is being held remotely, which means participants from across Canada will be joining us. You are encouraged to bring information about local resources and treatment options available to youth in your area. Please come prepared to share these resources and discuss potential gaps in youth services.   This is an interactive learning course! There will be opportunities to practice what we are learning through small discussion groups, class debriefs, role plays, and case scenarios.   Learning Outcomes Understand the difference between youth substance use, misuse, and abuse.   Describe the developmental stages from adolescence to young adulthood. Understand harm reduction approaches. Understand different treatment modalities. Understand the stages of change model including tasks for youth and family members. Understand biopsychosocial assessments. CACCF: 12 continuing education hours - [Course 0314: Cannabis and Mental Health](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=3800129): Hours: 12 This course will help participants understand how cannabis affects mental health while identifying options for supporting cannabis users in social service settings. Cannabis is more available across Canada than ever before and there are many misconceptions about the effects of this drug on mental health. Participants will receive an advanced overview of the research examining the relation between cannabis and stress, trauma, common health difficulties, and a variety of mental health concerns. This overview will lead into material on mental health assessment, education, treatment and harm reduction strategies with cannabis consumers. Day one will cover topics including the effects of cannabis use on stress, anxiety, trauma, depression, sleep disturbance, pain, anger, psychosis, and more. Day two will explore the common barriers to accessing services among cannabis users, engagement strategies, educational materials, how to apply the stages of change, evidence-informed therapies for cannabis use disorder, and the importance of harm reduction.  This course will be interactive. Participants will have opportunities to learn through didactic presentation of material, breakout rooms, group discussions, role plays and case scenarios. The material will emphasize practical application and ‘news you can use’ to help cannabis users with a variety of psychosocial problems. I encourage you to bring your questions and curiosity about cannabis so the information can be tailored to meet your specific learning needs.  Learning Outcomes Understand the psychosocial effects of THC and CBD based cannabis in a legal context. Explore the connections between cannabis, stress, anxiety and trauma. Examine the relation between cannabis and common health and psychological problems.  Learn how to educate cannabis users while assessing cannabis use patterns/preferences. Identify evidence-informed treatment and harm reduction approaches. CACCF: 12 continuing education hours - [Course 0316: The ACT Matrix: A Powerful Framework for Living Meaningfully](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=3811827): Hours: 12 Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) represents one of the more contemporary, transdiagnostic models of psychotherapy, one that incorporates mindfulness and acceptance processes. ACT has a particular focus on the function of a client’s behaviour in a specific context, exploring the purpose of that behaviour and whether it is moving clients towards or away from a life that reflects what truly matters to them.  Enter the ACT Matrix (developed by Polk, Hambright and Webster), a simple, effective and layperson-friendly method for delivering the ACT model for any concern that presents in therapy (or in life in general)! This course will aim to expand your clinical repertoire by exploring how to: introduce the Matrix to clients coach clients to use the Matrix’s key skills model use of these skills as the therapist incorporate client accountability develop the Matrix over the course of several sessions by weaving in classic ACT exercises and metaphors This two-day course will assume participants have some familiarity with the six processes of the ACT Hexaflex (acceptance, defusion, present-moment contact, self as context, values and committed action) which represent the foundation of the Matrix. In the spirit of ACT as an interactive model, experiential exercises and practice will accompany PowerPoint and demonstration to guide our exploration of the applicability of the Matrix. - [Course 0317: Disability and Grief](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=3815781): Hours: 6 This Professional Development course will explore experiences of disability and grief throughout the lifespan. Losses related to diagnosis of a disability (i.e., at birth, acquired), living with a disability, and end-of-life issues will be examined. These losses will be explored in the context of family, social circles, systems, and communities. To engage in this topic, we will learn about how disability is framed in the social construction model and in critical disability studies. We will discuss relevant grief theories and how they apply to disability – physical and intellectual developmental disabilities (IDD). The course will include exploration of inclusion and exclusion from death-related events, and how either might affect grief, mourning, and coping. Findings from Cara’s dissertation research with people living with intellectual disabilities and their grief experiences after a death will provide context and practice ideas related to this important topic. Please prepare to participate in this course through sharing, asking questions, and engaging in small group work. - [Course 0318: ACT and Self-Compassion](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=3815927): Hours: 12 Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and compassion-focused approaches in psychotherapy have both been gaining interest and traction in recent years, as has the relationship between them. There is a clear compatibility between the ACT model of psychological flexibility and the experience of self-compassion. Both involve mindfulness, flexible perspective-taking, and a somewhat counterintuitive acknowledgment of, and opening of space, to hold pain and suffering. While compassion is implicit in the whole ACT model, ACT researchers and practitioners have increasingly been exploring the role of self-compassion in psychotherapy, and self-compassion work is becoming increasingly explicit in the ACT approach. ACT originator, Steven C. Hayes, has noted that compassion is now understood as being integral to psychological flexibility, and compassion work as central to ACT practice. ACT also offers powerful strategies for training and increasing self-compassion. Compassion is increasingly understood to be a key element in therapeutic change, not only in the therapeutic relationship, but also as a powerful skill and orientation to the self for both client and practitioner. This two-day course will: Discuss self-compassion – what it is and why it matters. Discuss the relationship between ACT processes/psychological flexibility and the experience of self-compassion. Explore the use of ACT processes to address barriers to self-compassion. Share tools, strategies and practices for the assessment and training of self-compassion in ACT (for both clients and practitioners). As ACT is a highly experiential and interactive model, the course will emphasize direct experience, skill-building and practice of ACT strategies for fostering self-compassion. - [Course 0320: ACTing, Grooving and Shaking in Groups](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=3820469): Hours: 12 This interactive course offers a practical introduction to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) as an evidence-based approach for group treatment. Participants will explore: The core principles of ACT and its relevance to group therapy settings. Key distinctions and overlaps between ACT and traditional group therapy approaches. The unique stance and role of the ACT therapist in a group context. Application of the ACT hexaflex processes within group dynamics. Practical group-based ACT interventions and facilitation techniques. Opportunities for experiential learning through guided exercises. Whether you're new to ACT or looking to deepen your group therapy skills, this course will provide valuable tools and insights to enhance your practice. - [Course 0321: Trauma-Informed ACT](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=3820498): Hours: 12 “Not all wounds bleed” speaks loudly about the psychological or soul-wounding trauma many of our clients carry around with them. These clients want pain relief as quickly as possible. Learn how to approach this process with openness, curiosity and compassion so you can teach your clients practical skills that they can practice in their daily lives. The overall goal that applies to all trauma-related issues is to help clients live in the present, experience healing of the past and build for a better future. This requires of us as therapists to be aware and address with much psychological flexibility the common barriers of hooks, avoidance of discomfort, remoteness from values and doubtful goals that clients present in our work with them.  This two-day course will require you to be flexible in your participation and contribution to others’ learning so you can leave our time together with the beginnings of your own Intervention Toolkit. - [Course 0322: Developing an Expanded Understanding of a Polyvagal-Informed Practice](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=3820727): Hours: 12 This level two professional development course will build on prior knowledge and skills from the introductory polyvagal course ( 0111-Polyvagal Theory: A Bottom-Up Approach for Trauma Treatment ). This training will provide an expanded understanding of the following areas within a polyvagal-informed approach, including: Overview of the three principles of polyvagal theory. The how-to’s of bringing polyvagal theory to your clients. The role of vagal tone and physiological regulation of emotions. The vagal pathway as a means towards compassion. The role of polyvagal-informed group psychotherapy. The neurophysiological mechanisms of ‘feeling safe’ within the therapeutic relationship. A new understanding of psychological disorders and somatopsychological problems from a polyvagal-informed practice.  A significant component of this training will cover many practical hands-on exercises for applying polyvagal-informed techniques to your practice. - [Course 0326: Prolonged Exposure](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=3913228): Hours: 12 Prolonged exposure (PE) is an evidence-based practice for the treatment of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PE shares some theoretical overlap with cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT). It is a structured, time limited intervention that has demonstrated efficacy in individuals who have experienced a range of traumas including, but not limited to, sexual assault, physical assault, accident, military and first responder related trauma. This two-day Professional Development course will expose participants to theory and practices that underpin PE. Participants will learn essentials of PE such as: How to discuss with a client the problematic role that avoidance plays in the development and maintenance of PTSD.  Teaching a client to participate in breathing retraining.  Developing a hierarchy of feared situations to address in the therapy. How to introduce and conduct in-vivo exposures.  How to introduce and conduct imaginal exposures.  How to use Socratic and other questioning styles to help clients process traumatic experiences. - [Course 0327: Theories, Models and Methods of Clinical Supervision](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=3914234): Hours: 12 Supervision is a dynamic and evolving process. Understanding what directs our clinical practice with clients and supervisees is critical to the development of each supervisor’s philosophy and processes of supervision. In this two-day course, participants will explore the theories that are foundational to clinical supervision and the models that provide a pathway of how to intervene. The course will engage participants in identifying the clinical theories that direct their practice and how these theories are used to support the processes of supervision connected to various models of therapy and supervision such as: systems, transgenerational, emotion centered, integrative and post-modern. Participants will be invited to engage in a variety of collaborative, interactive and reflective activities and discussions using supervision processes and case scenarios to support their learning. - [Course 0329: The Supervisory Relationship](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=3915710): Hours: 12 This course is built on the premise that, “...above all, a trusting human relationship is essential to supervision’s various teaching and learning functions...", (Bernard et Al., 2014, pg. 64). Participants in this course will explore key concepts in the development and maintenance of strong supervisory relationships and how to leverage and maintain these concepts while building the relationship, giving feedback, managing conflict and navigating change. This course is highly engaging and relies heavily on live demonstration, video observation, case work and large and small group conversation. - [Course 0330: Ethical Issues in Clinical Supervision](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=3916266): Hours: 12 This workshop focuses on common ethical and legal issues in the practice of clinical supervision, including supervisor and supervisee rights and responsibilities, informed consent and confidentiality in supervision, dual relationships and conflicts of interest, supervisor liability, documentation in clinical supervision, and ethical and legal issues in College mandated remedial supervision. Consideration will also be given to the potential ethical implications related to the integration of AI into practice and supervision. Emphasis will be placed on the development of strong, detailed supervision contracts, and equally strong supervisory relationships. - [Course 0331: Challenges in Supervision: How to Get 'Unstuck' in Supervision](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=3916350): Hours: 12 Clinical supervision has two central purposes. One is to foster, build and advance the supervisee’s professional development (skills, knowledge, attitudes). The other is to improve and ensure client welfare (gatekeeping). The supervisor has the privilege of guiding and leading the supervisee to collaboratively meeting these goals and the specific additional goals of the supervisee. Creating a safe and open supervision relationship and environment is crucial. The supervisor must be intentional in creating a safe space for open dialogue, growth, addressing power dynamics and asking for feedback. This course will explore potential challenges in supervision and ways to transform them into opportunities for growth. Issues such as supervisee anxiety, the need to feel and appear competent and competency issues will also be explored. The course will additionally focus on discussing and articulating the structures and conditions that can proactively prevent and effectively deal with challenges. - [Course 0332: Safe and Effective Use of Self in Clinical Supervision](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=3916592): Hours: 12 As supervisors, we are trained to examine and discuss how our supervision clients utilize themselves when doing their therapy work. We are inquisitive around their choices, blind spots, motivations and confidence as we provide them with support and guidance to do good work. But what about our use of self as supervisors? Even though we are not using therapeutic techniques to treat our supervisees, we are using our skills to listen, communicate and give feedback, and are constantly making choices as to where we place our focus during our supervision sessions. Cultivating awareness as to how information we receive makes us feel, and how that impacts our choices and direction is critical. This course will explore personal factors impacting our role as supervisors, including how our knowledge, skills and attitudes influence our work, how we can address our responses to differences, exploring biases and values conflicts, and how we can effectively manage reactivity, countertransference and parallel processes so that we can remain aware of our own blind spots and identify how our own humanity and self-awareness can enrich the work we do. - [Course 0333: Promoting Cultural Competence in Clinical Supervision](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=3916688): Hours: 12 This two-day course is grounded in three complementary traditions of supervision literature: The Person-of-the-Therapist tradition , emphasizing the supervisor's role in helping clinicians understand how personal history, emotional themes, biases and vulnerabilities influence clinical work (Aponte et al., 2014). Psychoanalytic and relational supervision , emphasizing supervision as a reflective space for understanding transference, countertransference, enactments, resonance and unconscious dynamics (Scharff, 2014). Culturally humble supervision , emphasizing the creation of a "cultural third" where culture, identity, power, oppression and difference can be examined collaboratively rather than defensively (Watkins & Hook, 2016). Throughout the course, participants will examine how supervisors can help clinicians develop greater awareness of themselves, their clients and the social contexts in which treatment occurs while remaining clinically grounded and therapeutically effective. Learning Outcomes By the end of the course, participants will be able to: Analyze the influence of culture, identity, power, privilege and oppression in supervision and psychotherapy. Apply culturally humble approaches to discussions of race, difference and power in supervision. Evaluate the role of self-awareness, emotional reactions and countertransference in supervisory practice. Develop supervisory interventions for therapists working with oppression, prejudice and identity-based challenges. Integrate anti-oppressive, relational and psychodynamic approaches in the supervision of complex clinical situations. - [Course 0335: Mental Health Skills for Educators: Mood Disorders in Children and Youth](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=3929738): This micro credential equips educators and those who work with children with much needed tools to support young people experiencing mood disorders like depression, seasonal affective disorder and bipolar disorder.  You will develop new skills, practices, and ideas for supporting positive student mental health from a proactive and preventative perspective.  Each of the six micro credentials in this series prepares you to support children and youth experiencing the most common and serious mental illnesses and disorders.  Why are educators taking these micro-credentials? Public and private school educators are often the frontline responders to growing mental health needs  among children and youth:    1.2 million children and youth are affected by a mental illness, but less than one-third connect with a mental health professional.     Studies in Canada indicate a $6-$16 return per $1 invested in school mental health. Investments in school mental health also yield cost savings in other sectors like health and justice.    Research shows supporting mental needs through early intervention is associated with social, emotional and academic student success.      *Source: Student Mental Health Ontario   About the Mood Disorders in Children and Youth module  Mood disorders (like depression) are one of the most common types of mental health challenges experienced by children and youth. Often mood disorders can be difficult to notice. Learn to recognize and proactively support this mental health concern. This skills-based micro-credential covers three topics: The Fundamentals of Mood Disorders  Responding to Distress  Building Support and Skills  By the end of the micro-credential, participants will:  Recognize mental health challenges and behavioural warning signs related to mood disorders.    Learn to teach the proactive skills and competencies to support your students’ well-being and awareness of mood disorders from mental health and education experts.  Participate in discussion and idea exchange with other teachers, workers, and childcare professionals to discover how to apply preventative mental health approaches to your classroom.  Engage in video analysis and case studies for applied practice and learning and take-away resources to continuously apply your learning.  Join our supportive community of hundreds of educators and youth mental health advocates who have already received their credentials.  Start supporting better youth mental health today! Participants are required to complete the content within four weeks from the start date.   Typically, this micro-credential can be completed in less than 15 hours.   Upon completion, you will receive a Mental Health Skills for Educators micro-credential from Laurier Continuing Education and Faculty of Education .  Start learning with our free introductory module Explore all six micro-credentials in this series   - [Course 0336: Mental Health Skills for Educators: Anxiety in Children and Youth](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=3930015): This micro-credential equips educators and those who work with children with much needed tools to support young people experiencing anxiety. You will develop new skills, practices, and ideas for supporting positive student mental health from a proactive and preventative perspective.  Each of the six micro-credentials in this series and certificate program prepares you to support children and youth experiencing the most common and serious mental illnesses and disorders.  Why are educators taking these micro-credentials? Public and private school educators, administrators youth program workers, and others who work with children  are the frontline responders to growing mental health needs among children and youth:     1.2 million children and youth are affected by a mental illness, but less than one-third connect with a mental health professional.     Studies in Canada indicate a $6-$16 return per $1 invested in school mental health. Investments in school mental health also yield cost savings in other sectors like health and justice.     Research shows supporting mental needs through early intervention is associated with social, emotional and academic student success.      *Source: Student Mental Health Ontario   About the Anxiety in Children and Youth micro-credential  Anxiety is one of the most common mental health concerns among children. Since the pandemic, rates of anxiety experienced by children and youth are on the rise. This skills-based micro-credential covers three topics: The Fundamentals of Anxiety Disorders Responding to Distress Building Support and Skills  By the end of the micro-credential, participants will:    Recognize mental health challenges related to anxiety and how to best support children and youth experiencing anxiety.   Determine how to differentiate between normal fluctuations in behaviour and signs of more serious issues.   Learn to identify anxiety and teach children and youth the proactive skills and competencies needed to support mental health and well-being from mental health and education experts.  Participate in discussion and idea exchange with other teachers, workers, and childcare professionals to discover how to apply preventative mental health approaches to your classroom.  Engage in video analysis and case studies for applied practice and learning and take-away resources to continuously apply your learning.  Join our supportive community of hundreds of educators and youth mental health advocates who have already received their credentials.  Start supporting better youth mental health today! Participants are required to complete the content within four weeks from the start date.   Typically, this micro-credential can be completed in less than 15 hours.   Upon completion, you will receive a Mental Health Skills for Educators micro-credential from Laurier Continuing Education and Faculty of Education .  Start learning with our free introductory module Explore all six micro-credentials in this series - [Course 0337: Mental Health Skills for Educators: Suicide and Self-Harm in Children and Youth](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=3930049): This micro-credential equips educators and those who work with children with much needed tools to support young people at risk of self-harm and suicide. You will develop new skills, practices, and ideas for supporting positive student mental health from a proactive and preventative perspective.  Each of the six micro-credentials in this series and certificate program prepares you to support children and youth experiencing the most common and serious mental illnesses and disorders.    Why are educators taking these micro-credentials? Public and private school educators, administrators, youth program workers and others who work with children are the frontline responders to growing mental health needs among children and youth :    Suicide is a leading cause of death among young people in Canada, and suicidal ideation among youth has increased globally since the pandemic. 1.2 million children and youth are affected by a mental illness, but less than one-third connect with a mental health professional.   Studies in Canada indicate a $6-$16 return per $1 invested in school mental health. Investments in school mental health also yield cost savings in other sectors like health and justice.   Research shows supporting mental needs through early intervention is associated with social, emotional and academic student success.      *Source: Student Mental Health Ontario   About the Suicide and Self-Harm in Children and Youth micro-credential Suicide and self-harm are frightening and serious issues for those who work closely with children. Understandably, many educators want to support those in distress. However, many are afraid to do the wrong thing  and make matters worse. This micro-credential equips educators with a skill set to gain confidence and understanding across three topic: The Fundamentals of Suicide and Self-Harm  Responding to Distress Building Support and Skills  By the end of the micro-credential, participants will:   Begin to recognize and respond safely and supportively to indicators of suicidality or self-harm. Learn to teach the proactive skills and competencies to reduce children and youth’s risk of suicidality and self-harm. Participate in discussion and idea exchange with other teachers, workers, and childcare professionals to discover how to apply preventative mental health approaches to your classroom.  Engage in video analysis and case studies for applied practice and learning and take-away resources to continuously apply your learning.  Join our supportive community of hundreds of educators and youth mental health advocates who have already received their credentials.  Start supporting better youth mental health today! Participants are required to complete the content within four weeks from the start date.   Typically, this micro-credential can be completed in less than 15 hours.   Upon completion, you will receive a Mental Health Skills for Educators micro-credential from Laurier Continuing Education and Faculty of Education .  Start learning with our free introductory module Explore all six micro-credentials in this series   - [Course 0338: Mental Health Skills for Educators: Body Image and Eating Disorders in Children and Youth](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=3930223): This micro-credential equips educators and those who work with children with much needed tools to support young people experiencing body image challenges and eating disorders. You will develop new skills, practices, and ideas for supporting positive student mental health from a proactive and preventative perspective.  Each of the six micro-credentials in this series prepares you to support children and youth experiencing the most common and serious mental illnesses and disorders.  Why are educators taking these micro-credentials? Public and private school educators, administrators youth program workers, and others who work with children  are the frontline responders to growing mental health needs among children and youth:     1.2 million children and youth are affected by a mental illness, but less than one-third connect with a mental health professional.     Studies in Canada indicate a $6-$16 return per $1 invested in school mental health. Investments in school mental health also yield cost savings in other sectors like health and justice.     Research shows supporting mental needs through early intervention is associated with social, emotional and academic student success.      *Source: Student Mental Health Ontario   About the Body Image and Eating Disorders in Children and Youth Module  The amount of children and youth seeking help for eating disorders in Canada has increased significantly. People are often diagnosed with eating disorders later in adolescence. However, many children and youth show early warning signs. Often it falls to educators to recognize these signs. This skill-based micro-credential equips educators with deeper understanding across three topics: The Fundamentals of Body Image and Eating Disorders Responding to Distress Building Support and Skills By the end of the micro-credential, participants will:   Begin to recognize and respond supportively to early indicators of eating disorders.  Learn how to help children resist negative messaging and social pressure to engage in unhealthy eating and weight-loss behaviour.  Participate in discussion and idea exchange with other teachers, workers, and childcare professionals to discover how to apply preventative mental health approaches to your classroom.  Engage in video analysis and case studies for applied practice and learning and take-away resources to continuously apply your learning.  Join our supportive community of hundreds of educators and youth mental health advocates who have already received their credentials.  Start supporting better youth mental health today! Participants are required to complete the content within four weeks from the start date.   Typically, this micro-credential can be completed in less than 15 hours.   Upon completion, you will receive a Mental Health Skills for Educators micro-credential from Laurier Continuing Education and Faculty of Education .  Start learning with our free introductory module Explore all six micro-credentials in this series - [Course 0339: Mental Health Skills for Educators: FASD and Substance Abuse in Children and Youth](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=3930248): This micro-credential equips educators and those who work with children with much needed tools to support young people experiencing challenges with substance abuse and FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder). You will develop new skills, practices, and ideas for supporting positive student mental health from a proactive and preventative perspective.  Each of the six micro-credentials in this series and certificate program prepares you to support children and youth experiencing the most common and serious mental illnesses and disorders.  Why are educators taking these micro-credentials? Public and private school educators, administrators youth program workers, and others who work with children  are the frontline responders to growing mental health needs among children and youth: Since the pandemic began, rates of psychological distress among young people have increased. 39% of students feel the pandemic negatively affected their mental health "very much" or "extremely." 1.2 million children and youth are affected by a mental illness, but less than one-third connect with a mental health professional.   Studies in Canada indicate a $6-$16 return per $1 invested in school mental health. Investments in school mental health also yield cost savings in other sectors like health and justice.   Research shows supporting mental needs through early intervention is associated with social, emotional and academic student success.      *Source: Student Mental Health Ontario   About the FASD and Substance Abuse in Children and Youth Module  Substance use is one of the most pervasive mental health issues. However, this mental health concern is rarely addressed directly in schools. Many educators are left with more questions than answers surrounding the best ways to support and teach young people learn about the risks of substance use. This skill-based micro-credential equips educators with deeper understanding of three topics: The Fundamentals of FASD and Substance Abuse Responding to Distress Building Support and Skills By the end of the micro-credential, participants will:   Begin to recognize signs of substance abuse and learn how to prevent substance abuse by encouraging healthy choices among students from mental health and education experts.  Learn best practices and skills for supporting learning needs of students with FASD (fetal alcohol spectrum disorder). Participate in discussion and idea exchange with other teachers, workers, and childcare professionals to discover how to apply preventative mental health approaches to your classroom.  Engage in video analysis and case studies for applied practice and learning and take-away resources to continuously apply your learning.  Join our supportive community of hundreds of educators and youth mental health advocates who have already received their credentials.  Start supporting better youth mental health today! Participants are required to complete the content within four weeks from the start date.   Typically, this micro-credential can be completed in less than 15 hours.   Upon completion, you will receive a Mental Health Skills for Educators micro-credential from Laurier Continuing Education and Faculty of Education .  Start learning with our free introductory module Explore all six micro-credentials in this series   - [Course 0340: Mental Health Skills for Educators: Psychosis and Disruptive Behaviour Disorders in Children and Youth](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=3930304): This micro-credential equips educators and those who work with children with much needed tools to support young people experiencing early signs of psychosis and disruptive behaviour disorders. You will develop new skills, practices, and ideas for supporting positive student mental health from a proactive and preventative perspective.  Each of the six micro-credentials in this series and certificate program prepares you to support children and youth experiencing the most common and serious mental illnesses and disorders. Why are educators taking these micro-credentials? Public and private school educators are often the frontline responders to growing mental health needs among children and youth:    Since the pandemic began, rates of psychological distress among young people have increased. 39% of students feel the pandemic negatively affected their mental health "very much" or "extremely." 1.2 million children and youth are affected by a mental illness, but less than one-third connect with a mental health professional.   Studies in Canada indicate a $6-$16 return per $1 invested in school mental health. Investments in school mental health also yield cost savings in other sectors like health and justice.   Research shows supporting mental needs through early intervention is associated with social, emotional and academic student success.      *Source: Student Mental Health Ontario   About the Psychosis and Disruptive Behaviour Disorders in Children and Youth Module  Psychosis and behaviour disorders are the most misunderstood mental illnesses among the public. It can be a struggle for those working with children to find factual and accurate information on how to best recognize, address and prevent these serious mental illnesses.  This micro-credential equips educators with the latest research-based information across three topics: The Fundamentals of Psychosis and Mood Disorders Responding to Distress Building Support and Skills By the end of the micro-credential, participants will:    Begin to recognize early signs of psychosis and disruptive behaviour disorders for early and preventative interventions.  Learn best practices and skills for supporting learning needs of students with psychosis and disruptive behaviour disorders, and how to educate your classroom skills and competencies to manage illnesses like psychosis.  Participate in discussion and idea exchange with other teachers, workers, and childcare professionals to discover how to apply preventative mental health approaches to your classroom.  Engage in video analysis and case studies for applied practice and learning and take-away resources to continuously apply your learning.  Join our supportive community of hundreds of educators and youth mental health advocates who have already received their credentials.  Start supporting better youth mental health today! Participants are required to complete the content within four weeks from the start date.   Typically, this micro-credential can be completed in less than 15 hours.   Upon completion, you will receive a Mental Health Skills for Educators micro-credential from Laurier Continuing Education and Faculty of Education .  Start learning with our free introductory module Explore all six micro-credentials in this series     - [Course 0343: FREE - Introduction to Children and Youth Mental Health: Skills for Educators](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=3951274): This series of micro credentials equips educators and those who work with children with much needed tools to support young people experiencing mental health challenges.  You will develop new skills, practices, and ideas for supporting positive student mental health from a proactive and preventative perspective. Each of the six micro credentials (and this free intro module) in this series prepares you to support children and youth experiencing the most common and serious mental illnesses and disorders.  Why these micro-credentials? And why now? Public and private school educators are often the frontline responders to growing mental health needs among children and youth*:   Since the pandemic began, rates of psychological distress among young people have increased. 1.2 million children and youth are affected by a mental illness, but less than one-third connect with a mental health professional.   Studies in Canada indicate a $6-$16 return per $1 invested in school mental health . Investments in school mental health also yield cost savings in other sectors like health and justice.  Research shows supporting mental needs through early intervention is associated with social, emotional and academic student success .    *Source: Student Mental Health Ontario In this free introductory module, participants will:   Gain a foundational understanding of the current state of youth mental health in Canada   Discover the role teachers, administration, and support staff can play in recognizing and supporting student mental health needs  Join other educators and discuss adapting learning and creating preventative approaches for the specific mental health needs of your classroom  Leave with takeaway PDFs and resources to solidify learning and share with your colleagues and principals    Register anytime and complete the module at your own pace (most complete in under 6 hours). Explore all 6 micro-credentials in this series   Explore more Professional Development from Laurier Faculty of Education - [Course 0357: Schema Therapy: An Effective Way to Support Clients Who Have a History of Trauma, Attachment and Personality Disorders](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=4179743): Hours: 12 This model evolved from cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) in combination with various psychotherapeutic approaches. Schema therapy, as compared to cognitive therapies, has a greater emotional focus on exploring childhood and adolescent origins of psychological problems. These current re-enacted problems are integrated into cognitive information processing and have become part of the personality structure, creating patterning thoughts and behaviours known as schemas. Participants will learn to use this model to assist their clients to: Alter their coping reactions to schema activations. Become mindfully aware and disengage from unhelpful patterns of relating from earlier past experiences to thrive. Build and enhance the healthy, well-balanced adult self. Learning Outcomes Gain an overview/introduction to schema therapy, origins, domains, and effective techniques. Understand and update maladaptive coping modes. Explore conditional versus unconditional schemas. Examine the neurobiology of maladaptive schemas. Review four schema modes, schema therapy assumptions. Outline schema mode mapping and monitoring. Learn altering behavioural patterns of the child, inner critic and coping modes. Understand the role of chair work in schema therapy. Analyze imagery, experiential strategies and behavioural experiments. Learn to reparent the self along with gentle, empathic confrontation. - [Course 0371: A Compassionate Approach to Working with Addictions](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=4337991): Hours: 12 In the words of Gabor Maté, “addiction begins with solving a problem, and the problem is that of emotional pain. The first question is not why the addiction; it's why the pain?”. In this IFS-informed course, we will move away from the pathologizing model of addiction to explore the adaptive function of a seemingly negative behaviour (whether that is drinking, drug use, overeating, porn addiction or even doomscrolling social media). Together we will get to the heart of why so many of our clients say they want to make a change but find themselves unable to take the leap to make it happen.    Through discussion and experiential exercises, you will learn:  How compassion-oriented therapies work, the research behind what makes them effective and how to integrate them into your work. How to get out of the power struggles with clients and work more collaboratively. How to help people get unstuck and move forward by disrupting the cycle of addiction. How to work with and befriend the inner critic. CACCF: 12 continuing education hours - [Course 0385: Uncovering the Truth: Indigenous Peoples in Canada](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=4487105): Introduction Self-Location & Introduction to Indigenous Peoples in Canada Historical and Contemporary Context This course is asynchronous (work at your own pace). There are no set days or times you are required to be online. Please email FHSSPD@wlu.ca with any questions with regard to delivery. Start date: Continuous Delivery: Online Fee: $175 Time: Approximately 15 hours Certificate of completion: Yes - [Course 0393: Foundational Skills for Government Report Writing](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=4546126): This course is offered by the Faculty of Human and Social Sciences Laurier Brantford Centre for Professional Development - FHSSPD@wlu.ca Are you looking to ensure your staffs’ report writing skills meet the needs of your Council, committee, board or taskforce, as well as the public?  Whether they need an introduction to report writing and an opportunity to develop foundational writing skills, or are seasoned writers looking to approach report writing through a writing lens, this workshop will level up all participants’ report writing skills. This one-day, virtual workshop will cover topics such as: Strategies for technical writing and structuring reports Writing Executive Summaries Strategies for clear and concise writing Revision and proofreading techniques How to write for diverse and varied audiences Cost: $249 per individual participant Please contact FHSSPD@wlu.ca if you have 25 members to register. - [Course 0401: Advanced Motivational Interviewing](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=4901594): Hours: 12 The training will cover phase one and two processes of motivational interview (MI), including the principles, skills, evocation and deepening of the awareness of sustain/change talk in session, with emphasis on moving more towards change talk as the session progresses. This training will include an educational review of key concepts from MI phase 1 and 2 therapy approaches and following this, a practical interactive learning experience of these key concepts linking theory to practice. This advanced MI session will focus on enhancing the applied skills regarding: four processes of MI. traps that promote disengagement. developing the skills of effective reflective responses. integrating values to achieving desired goals. four styles of ambivalence. choosing neutrality to explore ambivalence. four subtypes of preparatory change talk. mobilizing activation change talk. effective ways to respond to discord. eliciting change talk. identifying ‘hidden’ embedded change talk. moving from evoking to ‘planning.’ strengthening the commitment plan. the importance of process, not just content. CACCF: 12 continuing education hours - [Course 0406: Developing Skills for Couple Work](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=4909759): Hours: 12 Working with couples requires a range of clinical skills. This two-day introductory course will provide a framework for couple work, including the evolution of systemic thinking. We will explore the basic couple skills necessary for effective couple work, and the nuanced art of engaging and building rapport, increasing hope, and discovering the wish behind the frustration. Evidence-based theories and popular models of couple therapy will also be introduced. The emphasis of this course will be on learning the most effective interventions and skills, and how to integrate them into practice for successful couple work. By the end of this Professional Development course, participants will: Understand systems theory and how to think systemically when working with couples. Develop rapport building and hope building skills. Be able to identify the common couple patterns and strategies to interrupt them. Be knowledgeable about attachment theory. Know how to de-escalate and regulate clients. Know how to co-construct a common goal with the couple and keep the session on track. Be able to provide effective communication skills to couples. Have acquired practical couple interventions and techniques. Have a basic introduction to at least three of the most popular and evidence based couple models. - [Course 0407: Intimate Partner Violence](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=4909906): Hours: 12 Intimate partnerships are an important social context that offer a vital space for growth and intimacy, but violence within these relationships creates an unsafe environment that stifles both personal development and connection.   While there is a wealth of research on intimate partner violence (IPV), including debates over definitions, causes and outcomes, one truth remains: IPV has profound and lasting impacts on individuals, families and communities. As intimate partner violence continues to be a significant personal, social and political issue, it is essential to understand the nuances and challenges that underlie this widespread concern.  This two-day professional development course aims to deepen participants’ understanding of intimate partner violence and will: Explore the impact of IPV on individuals and families, with a focus on the historical and social contexts that shape current understandings. Review the range of outcomes resulting from violence within intimate relationships. Highlight common approaches used in addressing IPV. Examine how IPV intersects with special populations and their unique experiences. Enhance awareness of complexities specific to accountability and change. Please be advised that although this course is designed for mental health professionals, it may be challenging to navigate on a personal level. This training is not recommended for anyone who is currently experiencing their own trauma as some of the content may be activating. - [Course 0409: Introduction to the Foundations of Sex Therapy](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=4910076): Hours: 12 Introduction to the Foundations of Sex Therapy is a two-day intensive professional development training that introduces participants to contemporary psychosexual therapy frameworks, assessment approaches and intervention strategies. Grounded in a bio-psycho-social and relational understanding of sexuality, this course explores how desire, arousal, orgasm, pain, intimacy, shame, culture and relational dynamics shape sexual experiences across the lifespan. Participants will examine both traditional and alternative sexual response models, including willingness-based, responsive desire and dual-control frameworks, in order to better understand the complexity and variability of human sexuality. The course emphasizes reducing shame, expanding definitions of pleasure and intimacy, and moving beyond narrow performance-based understandings of sex. Through case-based learning, clinical formulation exercises, and practical intervention planning, participants will develop foundational skills for assessing and responding to common psychosexual concerns, including desire discrepancy, erectile difficulties, orgasm concerns, sexual pain, and ejaculation-related concerns. The training also highlights the role of cultural narratives, attachment, trauma, body image, aging, and relational safety in psychosexual functioning. This course is designed for helping professionals seeking an introductory, yet clinically grounded, framework for engaging clients in conversations about sexuality with greater confidence, curiosity, and compassion. Learning Outcomes By the end of this course, participants will be able to: Describe foundational concepts and contemporary frameworks used in psychosexual therapy, including bio-psycho-social, relational and contextual approaches to sexual functioning. Differentiate between traditional and alternative sexual response models, including linear, willingness-based, responsive desire and dual-control frameworks. Analyze how shame, culture, gender norms, relational dynamics, trauma histories and societal narratives influence sexual experiences and sexual distress. Apply formulation-based thinking to common psychosexual concerns, including desire discrepancy, erectile difficulties, orgasm concerns, sexual pain and ejaculation-related concerns. Identify biological, cognitive, emotional, relational and cultural contributors that may maintain sexual difficulties. Demonstrate introductory intervention strategies used in psychosexual therapy, including psychoeducation, cognitive restructuring, mindfulness-based approaches, graded behavioural exercises, communication support and sensate-focused interventions. Explore ways to expand definitions of pleasure, intimacy and sexual connection beyond penetration, performance and orgasm-focused frameworks. Develop greater confidence using non-pathologizing, trauma-informed and shame-reducing language when discussing sexuality in clinical settings. - [Course 0415: Trauma-Informed Leadership: Transforming Your Agency into a Trauma-Informed Sanctuary of Care](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=4926073): Hours: 12 Organizations that provide mental health and substance abuse services understand the profound link between these areas and historical trauma. Creating an organizational culture of safety and sanctuary means that leadership approaches must align with creating this culture. Leadership plays a significant role in understanding and effectively supporting organizational stress as a contagion effect from providing care to those who have suffered from historical trauma. The effects of this directly impact the ‘worker’ and the organization. This Professional Development course will provide leaders with organizational leadership knowledge and skills for transforming their agencies into a ‘living’ committed trauma-informed organizational sanctuary of care.     This course will discuss: How to begin the trauma-informed care organizational journey. What is trauma-informed ‘treatment’? The crushed sanctuary effect on leadership. ‘Living’ your organizational trauma-informed system of care. Workplace stress, bad habits and parallel processes. We are all affected within our humanity. Organizational hyperarousal. Loss of emotional management. Miscommunication, conflict and organizational alexithymia. The use and abuse of ‘power’. Punishment and revenge in organizational injustice. Trauma-organized systems. Restoring healthy organizational attachment. Creating the ‘vision’ of organizational ‘health’. Understanding the role of organizational democracy. Creating a democratic workplace. Leading democratic groups. Democracy as an antidote to trauma. Becoming aware of the role of counter-transferences with leadership.  Forces that determine leadership. Leading trauma-informed ‘team’ and ‘community’ meetings. The role of sanctuary as ‘safety culture’. The freeing power of social safety. The freeing power of psychological safety. The freeing power of physical safety. Subscribed components of a nonviolent community. The power of ‘holding space’ in trauma-informed leadership. Components to emotional intelligence. Understanding types of conflict. When adaptive coping becomes maladaptive. Being an effective decision-maker. How emotions affect decisions . Effectively confronting negative behaviours. Creating a culture of organizational justice and just processes.  Creating the ‘Standards for Trauma-informed Care” – a means to organizational integration. - [Course 0417: Understanding the Specific Individualized Features of Trauma: The Importance of In-depth Trauma Screening Instruments](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=4926995): Hours: 12 As with all effective treatment plans, good treatment begins with clear clinical understanding of the client’s presenting issues. Trauma presentation is individualized and unique from one person to another; with this, so are the trauma specific symptoms and presentation itself. The epidemiology of trauma is influenced by ancestry, early development and attachment, culture, family systems, environment, and the degree of compounding exposures all implicating the inner and outer world of the client.  This Professional Development course will provide participants with detailed and practical explorations of current best practices in assessing and case formulation in working with adults with complex trauma. The course explores the importance of the therapeutic relationship in the assessment process and will review formal, standardized screening instruments as well as informal assessments, interviews and activities, while also applying a trauma-sensitive assessment process method. Participants will be able to summarize the collected trauma screening results, identifying target treatment areas for the development of an individualized (multimodal) treatment plan. This course will have an interactive learning component for incorporating all of the screening instruments for the development of a treatment plan and treatment summary report.  Learning Outcomes Supporting safety throughout the screening process. The role of the therapeutic attunement in the assessment process. The potential risks of trauma screening too early.  A structured assessment process for suicide risk and safety planning. Applying a trauma-informed method to the trauma screening and assessment process. Cross-cultural screening and assessment. Overview of a broad range of trauma screening instruments. Identify processes for selecting tools for trauma.  Incorporating Traumagram as part of the assessment process. Pulling all the collective data together to establish a case conceptualization and case formulation for a treatment plan.  Matching specific multimodal treatment approaches to the presenting areas identified from the trauma screening process. - [Course 0419: Foundations of Restorative Justice: Fostering Healing for People, Relationships and Communities](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=4927180): Hours: 12 This comprehensive two-day Professional Development course is designed to provide participants with a solid understanding of the principles, practices and applications of restorative justice, an approach to addressing harm and conflict that focuses on healing, accountability and community engagement. This course will equip participants with the necessary knowledge and skills to begin to implement restorative justice approaches in their professional and personal lives. Module 1: Introduction to Restorative Justice Defining trauma informed restorative justice and its core principles. Contrasting restorative justice with traditional punitive and rehabilitative approaches. Exploring the historical and cultural context of restorative justice. Module 2: Understanding Harm and Justice Needs Examining the nature and consequences of harm.  Recognizing the justice needs of individuals, relationships and communities. Identifying the need for healing and restoration Module 3: Restorative Justice in Practice Review of restorative justice practices. Applying restorative questioning. Module 4: Ethical Considerations and Implementation   Exploring the ethical implications of restorative justice practices. Overcoming barriers and resistance to restorative justice implementation. Learning Outcomes By the end of the Foundations of Restorative Justice course, participants will have gained a solid foundation in restorative justice theory, practice and options for implementation. They will be equipped with the necessary skills to contribute to the transformation of their communities by promoting healing, accountability and positive social change through restorative justice principles. - [Course 0420: Trauma and Neurodivergence](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=4927311): Hours: 12 In recent decades, research has underscored just how pervasive trauma is and how deeply it can impact every aspect of life. Yet despite growing awareness, conversations around trauma have largely centered neurotypical experiences. As our understanding of neurodiversity evolves, it is becoming increasingly important to explore the connection between neurologically based differences and experiences of trauma. While neurodivergence is not new, the rising recognition that people perceive, process and interact with the world in diverse ways brings fresh attention to the trauma that neurodivergent individuals often face. Trauma and neurodivergence can look similar, but they are not the same and untangling these differences is essential for more effective, sensitive support. This two-day professional development course is designed to deepen participants’ understanding of how trauma and neurodivergence intersect. Through experiential learning and group discussion this course will: Explore how the medical and social models influence our perceptions of trauma and neurodivergence. Build awareness of how ableism affects support and service delivery. Examine the unique forms of trauma often experienced by neurodivergent individuals. Identify approaches that best support neurodivergent people living with trauma. Increase sensitivity to the layered complexities faced by special populations. Please be advised that although this course is designed for mental health professionals, it may be challenging to navigate on a personal level. This training is not recommended for anyone who is currently experiencing their own trauma as some of the content may be activating. - [Course 0421: Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=4928075): Hours: 12  Dissociative identity disorder (DID), a common disorder resulting from severe early childhood trauma, is most typically associated with extreme and repeated episodes of physical, sexual and/or emotional abuse. Dissociation occurs along a continuum from mild to severe. The mildest forms generally fall within the range of normal human experience, while the more severe forms pose a range of problems that debilitate the individual experiencing them. Dissociation can be viewed as a mental strategy or cognitive process that involves the ability to escape stressful or harmful situations by creating another place for the mind to go. This course offers an introduction to dissociative identity disorder and will include an overview of its diagnostic criteria, etiology, treatment phases and key techniques. Learning Outcomes History of DID: Prior to, during, and post Freud.  Etiology: Four pathways to DID. Assessment and diagnoses.  Clinical features. DID and other co-occurring disorders. Principles of treatment for DID: Initial, middle, late phases of treatment.  Key techniques to working with DID. Explaining DID to a client. Therapeutic neutrality. Grounding techniques. Talking through the alters.  Orienting alters to the body and the present. Creating empathy with the host. Host resistance. Working with persecutor alters and identification with the aggressor. Increasing interpersonal communication and cooperation, co-participation and co-consciousness. Journaling and drawing.  Other strategies and approaches. - [Course 0423: Understanding OCD in Children and Youth: Early Intervention and Assessment Strategies](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=4928475): Hours: 12 Early recognition and intervention can significantly improve outcomes for children and adolescents experiencing obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This workshop equips clinicians with the knowledge and practical skills needed to recognize OCD early, differentiate it from typical developmental behaviours and other mental health concerns, and conduct comprehensive assessments with children, youth and families. Participants will explore developmental considerations, common pediatric presentations, family accommodation, school-related challenges, differential diagnosis and evidence-based assessment strategies. Emphasis is placed on recognizing OCD that is frequently overlooked or misdiagnosed, allowing clinicians to facilitate timely referrals and effective intervention. No previous ERP training is required. - [Course 0425: Suicidal or Self-Harming? Assessment and Treatment of "At Risk" Teens](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=4929033): Hours: 12 Adolescence is a time where impulsivity can lead to risky behaviours in the average teen. When impulsivity is added to mental health issues and/or troubling familial, peer, academic and/or cultural environments, the stage can be set for the increase of additional risk in the form of either suicidal thinking or behaviours, or self-harming behaviours that are not intended to be fatal. In spite of that, these behaviours frequently raise alarm bells in those associated or working with these youth, be they family members or friends, school personnel, counsellors or social service staff, as examples. Learning Outcomes By the end of this Professional Development course, participants will have information and resources on how to: Assess for safety risk when faced with a teen who is either suicidal or self-harming. Distinguish between these. Assess for protective factors as well as risk. Engage and approach the adolescent client as well as their support network. Implement crisis intervention strategies. Approach treatment. Implement self-care in the event of a suicide. Practice self-compassion when working with high-risk populations. - [Course 0426: An Introduction to Counselling for Infertility, Loss and Assisted Reproductive Technologies](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=4931863): Hours: 12 The World Health Organization (WHO) defines infertility as a disease of the reproductive system that affects millions of people, with significant individual, family and community impacts. Estimates suggest that approximately one in every six people of reproductive age worldwide experience infertility, and when we include people accessing fertility treatment due to sexual orientation, gender identity, relationship status and underlying medical conditions unrelated to reproduction, this number grows exponentially. Further estimates indicate that 15-20% of confirmed pregnancies end in miscarriage, yet individuals and couples often suffer alone due to stigma, society’s lack of awareness of reproductive realities and discomfort with grief, loss and reproductive trauma. The devastating impacts of infertility and loss should be of particular interest to mental health practitioners, as research suggests that people experiencing ongoing infertility and reproductive loss have similarly high rates of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress as those diagnosed with cancer and heart disease. With so many Canadians struggling to build their families, whether due to infertility or the need for fertility treatments (2SLGBTQ+, singles), it is essential that clinicians working closely with adults have a foundational understanding of reproductive technologies and options, industry terminology, and clients’ lived experiences. In this way, our clients can focus on accessing therapeutic support without the need for lengthy explanations to their clinician. This course is designed to help professionals in their understanding of and ability to connect more deeply with the issues faced by clients who are experiencing infertility and loss. Throughout this two-day course, participants will: Become familiar with differing classifications of infertility, common reproductive diseases and disorders, relevant terminology and treatment pathways. Develop an awareness and sensitivity to the fertility needs and challenges for 2SLGBTQ+ people, single individuals, BIPOC clients and others from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds. Learn about fertility preservation, gamete donation and surrogacy within a Canadian context. Gain a deeper understanding of the significant and complex impacts of infertility and loss on individuals, couples and families. Obtain practical and theoretical skills and knowledge in counselling clients dealing with infertility, loss and/or decision-making regarding fertility treatment options, costs and accessibility. Identify and combat myths about infertility and loss. Explore how stress reduction, anxiety management and boundary building are essential for fertility self-care and when and how these skills can best be utilized to foster resilience. And more! This course will be of interest to mental health practitioners, nurses and other clinicians working with adults who are actively trying to conceive or might consider doing so in the future.  Note that this course alone does not fulfill the requirements necessary to work as a fertility counselling specialist or to conduct third party assessments for gamete donation and surrogacy. - [Course 0444: Police and Public Safety Supervisor Certificate](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=5188177): This is the registration page for the Police and Public Safety Supervisor Certificate . Please note the in-person days are at our Brantford Campus. Please see our program page for details. Cancellation and Refunds Refunds available up to 14 days before start of first in-person workshop, less 10% administrative fee. Refunds 13 days to 48 hours before start of first in-person workshop, less 20% administrative fee. No refund less than 48 hours before start of first in-person workshop. Sessions are subject to cancellation based on low enrollment. The university will not be able to reimburse any travel costs associated with a cancelled session. **If you are looking to register up to 30 people and are able to host the training at your location, please email cpsw@wlu.ca for more information** - [Course 0447: Know this First: Necessary Knowledge for Mental Health Professionals Working with First Responders](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=5255114): Hours: 12 Demand for mental health services for first responders has increased rapidly in recent years. Overdue recognition of the potentially life-threatening traumas, as well as complicating and shifting organizational demands, on first responders are impacting a new generation of public safety personnel. At the same time, many clinicians lack a nuanced understanding of the myriad of unique stressors faced by first responders. Unique factors related to shift work, changes in assignment, limitations of the criminal justice and healthcare systems, addiction, mental health, poverty, race, shifting public expectations of what first responders “should” and “should not” do as parts of their job and other factors all contribute to a uniquely demanding career. First responders are also understandably reluctant to engage vulnerably with mental health clinicians. Well-meaning mental health clinicians who are skillful and effective in many parts of their jobs can lose perceived credibility with first responders when they do not engage first responders with a baseline knowledge of the unique cultures and challenges first responders experience. Common concepts that mental health professionals engage with such as “stress”, “relationships”, “work”, “health” and others function differently for first responders. First responder’s reluctance to engage meaningfully with mental health professionals can be compounded when they have disappointing experiences with mental health professionals. This makes it all the more important that mental health professionals provide their services in a way that is both effective and knowledgeable of some of the uniqueness of the first responder experience. This two-day Professional Development course will focus on enhancing the knowledge of mental health professionals related to their work with first responders. Specific topics that will be covered include but are not limited to: The shifting characteristics of those beginning careers as first responders. The shifting nature of societal expectations of first responders. The evolving expectations of the operational work of first responders. The changing characteristics of first responder organization policies. The experience of “moral Injury” amongst first responders and examples of situations in which first responders sometimes feel they may be forced to compromise their values. Basics of evidence-based interventions for first responder workplace trauma. - [Course 0481: Positive Education Certificate](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=5677762): This online certificate is a companion to the Positive Psychology Certificate and is intended to prepare front-line educators, administrators, parents and organizations with the knowledge and skills to support students and institutions to thrive. The combination of theoretical and practical approaches to resilience, optimism and well-being provides you with the background and necessary tools to inform and embed the principles and practices of strength-based interventions to promote flourishing learning environments. Certificate: Positive Education Course delivery: Online, asynchronous Time to complete: 16 weeks Pre-requisite: Positive Psychology Certificate Start dates:  May and September - [Course 0482: Positive Psychology and Resilience Workshops](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=5703112): The Centre for Public Safety and Well-Being is now offering Positive Psychology and Resilience Workshops! Each workshop session is delivered in a virtual learning environment (Zoom) and will meet once a week for three weeks. Each week's meeting is one hour in length. Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction This program will focus on the core elements of stress and stress reactivity during stressful events. The session will explore how to shift from stress reactivity to stress response at work and life. This session will provide strategies and practical tools to support in stress reduction. Delivery: Virtual Length: 3 weeks,1 hour per week Pricing: $199 Discover Your Strengths When individuals use their strengths, there is an increase in overall engagement, productivity and well-being. Discover Your Strenghts program will help employees understand the power of working in their strengths. The program will allow individuals to identify their strengths, develop strategies to leverage their strengths, and unique ideas on how to find flow at work. This program is a critical step to help individuals and organizations realize their full potential. Delivery: Virtual Length: 3 weeks,1 hour per week Pricing: $199 Facilitator - Meghan Kirwin Meghan Kirwin, MBA, MSc Meghan’s mission is to empower individuals, teams and organizations to thrive.  Meghan is passionate about facilitating positive change with the individuals and organizations she works with. Meghan founded her own business in 2004 and in her role as mentor, coach and facilitator has focused on building thriving workplaces.  Meghan is focused on supporting individuals and organizations to realize their full potential through the application of positive psychology.   Meghan has over 20 years of experience designing and delivering training programs for individuals, teams and leaders. Meghan has completed a Masters in Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier specializing in Leadership and Organizational Behaviour. She also completed a Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (CAPP) from the Wholebeing Institute, where she studied under Dr. Tal Ben Shahar from Harvard University. Meghan has also completed a Masters in Science in Applied Positive Psychology from University of East London, England, which is one of the leading Universities in the field of positive psychology. Meghan is also a certified Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Teacher. Looking to enrol a group of employees? Please visit our Positive Psychology and Resilience Corporate Training page. Please contact cpsw@wlu.ca with any questions. - [Course 0487: Change Management: What it Is and How to Use it In Your Projects and Operations](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=5742376): Hours: 12 It’s almost a cliché, but it is true: any broader public sector organization is undergoing constant change.  Internal financial and productivity pressures along with tight budget constraints, virtual settings and constant political pressures mean most organizations are operating in a constantly volatile, changing world. This Professional Development course is designed to equip students with a good insight into the basic theoretical underpinnings of change management, but the main focus will be practical, hands-on application. We will leverage the instructor’s 25 years of experience in change management, also weaving in the latest in applied neuroscience of change management so that we focus on what really matters in managing your projects and your day-to-day work. Participants will explore the core principles of change management, including models and strategies for effectively analyzing, designing and implementing change initiatives. The two-day course will delve into real-world case studies and practical exercises to develop the skills necessary for managing change in various organizational contexts. A unique aspect of this course is its focus on the neuroscience of change management. Understanding how the human brain responds to change can provide valuable insights into why people resist change and how to facilitate smoother transitions. It also will help demonstrate what does and doesn’t actually work with popular traditional models of change management. Participants will learn about the neural mechanisms underlying change resistance, stress and adaptation, and how to leverage this knowledge to enhance their change management practices. Learning Outcomes Understand the fundamental theories and models of organizational change management. Develop practical skills for planning, executing and sustaining change initiatives. Analyze real-world case studies to identify best practices and common pitfalls in change management. Gain insights into the neuroscience of change, including how brain function impacts behavior during organizational transitions. Learn strategies to mitigate resistance to change and promote positive adaptation. This course is intended for people at all levels of an organization. Though the emphasis will be on using change management within a project setting, it is ideal for anyone involved in planning and implementing change within organizations. It is also valuable for those interested in understanding the human aspects of change management. - [Course 0490: Part 1: Self, Protectors and the Foundations of IFS](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=5979461): This forty hour course will introduce you to the groundbreaking approach that views every person as a system of inner parts – both protective and wounded – guided by a central core Self. Discover how IFS embraces the natural multiplicity of the mind, recognizing it as a strength rather than a flaw. Much like members of a family, these inner parts can be pushed into extreme roles, but each holds inherent value. At the centre of it all is the Self – a resilient, unbreakable essence that knows how to heal the system and lead with wisdom. Your approach to supporting others will be transformed as you learn how to help individuals connect with their protective and wounded parts using the Self. You will practice a process of relating that fosters both inner harmony and external connection, enabling profound personal transformation. Discover how to better understand and heal parts, creating balance and fostering well-being. Learning Outcomes This course will introduce you to the fundamentals of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and the mindsets and skills needed by the practitioner. By the end of the course, you will be able to: Understand that each person is a system of parts Recognize and foster the qualities of Self -- the natural conductor of the system Discover the roles and qualities of Protector Parts: Managers and Firefighters Discover the 6Fs of connection; a journey of welcoming all parts Create environments where healing is client-led and the practitioner is present and focused Discover your own system as a practitioner Learn how to introduce IFS to clients   Upcoming Courses   Click each course to see detailed course schedule. Select the course from the menu on the right to register.  Please ensure you can attend all class sessions before registering. January 13 to March 10, 2027 June 7 to 25, 2027   Program Delivery   Part 1: Foundations of IFS Practice includes: A 90 minute live orientation where you will prepare for the course by: Meeting your instructors and peers. Discussing the assignments and evaluation process. Addressing psychological safety/bravery in the classroom. Asking questions to ensure you fully understand the requirements to successfully complete the course. 24 hours of live classroom learning (Zoom) demonstrations discussion instruction supervised practice groups 14.5 hours of self-directed study readings reflective assignments exercises final quiz Please plan time in your schedule for both the live classrooms hours, as well as the self-directed work. No extensions will be granted.   Completion Requirements   This is a non-credit professional development course; completion will be on a pass/fail basis. Evidence of successful completion will be demonstrated by: Attendance and participation in all mandatory Part 1 remote sessions, including orientation. Cameras should be turned on as much as possible, and are required during demonstrations and supervised practice groups. Completion of all online modules in Part 1. Submission of all reflective practice exercises for Part 1, including a final assignment. Achievement of 75% on a 15-question, multiple-choice test taken at the end of Part 1. For professional coaches: This course has been approved for 20 hours of Continuing Coach Education by the International Coaching Federation (ICF) . Your Continuing Coach Education certificate will be issued by Red Maple .   Textbook   Schwartz, R. (2021). No bad parts: Healing trauma and restoring wholeness with the internal family systems model .   - [Course 0491: Asking Good Questions](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=6020189): Hours: 12 The art of excellent clinical work lies in the ability to ask meaningful therapeutic questions — questions that create immediate movement, deepen reflection and continue resonating with clients long after the session ends. Effective questions do more than gather information; they uncover patterns, reveal context, challenge oppressive dynamics, invite new possibilities and engage clients in the process of change. Whether working with individuals, couples, families or groups, thoughtful questioning is one of the most powerful tools clinicians possess. This Professional Development course will explore and strengthen the art and skill of therapeutic questioning across a variety of clinical contexts and approaches. Participants will develop a broader repertoire of purposeful, effective questions that can be adapted to different therapeutic settings, client needs, and professional roles. Participants can expect to learn and practice questions drawn from the following frameworks: linear questions circular questions reflexive questions strategic questions The course will also explore the use of therapeutic questioning within the following approaches: narrative therapy solution-focused therapy - [Course 0494: Understanding the Role of Transference and Countertransference in Clinical Supervision](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=6038694): Hours: 12 Historically, our work within addictions and mental health tends to focus more on symptoms than causation. Clients seeking our services from these populations present a significantly higher trauma prevalence. The real architect of the intervention for our trauma-implicated clients is the 'worker'. Our personal wellness, insight and healthy attachment to our clients truly matter in their recovery process. As clinical workers, who want to be trauma-informed, we must reflect on our component of what we bring to the therapeutic experience. As our clients are triggered and react and re-enact historical trauma within our session, so are we as clinicians. Our history and experiences can be helpful, but they can also be harmful to therapeutic work. Our histories, especially when we are unaware, enter into the work with our clients. Having insight into our countertransference reactions is critical to a 'do no harm' approach for the highly vulnerable populations we service.    This training will explore the following: History and evolution of countertransference (CT) over time. Theoretical models of CT. Connection and attachment as a means to recovery.  Use of self as an approach and the challenges and even risks for use of self. Defining CT within the clinical work, including internal and external reactions. CT and treatment outcomes. Overview of transference reactions and potential risks. Overview of countertransference reactions from trauma - Type 1 and 2. Types of countertransference themes. Management of CT reactions. Use of self. Transference reactions and interpretation and risks. Two approaches to transference reactions. Client transference pulls leading to CT. The benefits of empathy and the messiness of empathy in clinical work. Empathic strain, including withdrawal, repression, enmeshment, disequilibrium and over-identification. Compassion fatigue and CTRs. Overview of strategies for the helping professional to recognize, contain and heal event countertransferences. Drama triangle (Eric Burne). Archetype of CTRs/TRs (Carl Jung). This Professional Development course will include videos, personal reflective exercises, breakout groups and a clinical knowledge overview of the above-stated topics.    This training is meant for participants who are authentically interested and willing to become internally vulnerable to better understand their clinical 'blind spots', which operate consciously and subconsciously during their sessions. This two-day course aims to gain insight and learn our countertransference reactions and how they operate in the therapeutic approach with clients. Once identified, we will challenge ourselves to address these counter-transferences so that we 'do no harm' to clients.    - [Course 0498: Part 2: Exiles, Unburdening and Deepening IFS Practice](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=6061525): This eight week (40 hour) course will provide a deeper look at using the IFS model across multiple themes. It will start with a look at how attachment wounds shape various parts of the system, and how to work with people who have experienced trauma. The course will further explore the body as a “trailhead” to exploring parts and experiencing inner harmony and leading with a specific exploration of polyvagal theory. As practitioners, you will strengthen your capacity to form a strong self-led connection with your clients, remaining connection, centred and present. Learning Outcomes By the end of the course, you will be able to: Use the 6Fs to build relationships with Exiles Discover how to unburden Exiles, as well as the system Build confidence in working with extreme protectors Effectively navigate polarizations within the system Create safety for clients through embodying Self-led presence and connection Explore the body as a trailhead for harmonizing the system Increase your capacity to be a Self-led practitioner   Upcoming Courses   Click each course to see detailed course schedule. Select the course from the menu on the right to register. Please ensure you can attend all class sessions before registering. November 23 to December 11, 2026 July 12 to July 30, 2027   Program Delivery   Part 2: Exiles, Unburdening and Deepening IFS Practice includes: A 90 minute live course orientation where you will prepare for the course by: Meeting your instructors and peers. Discussing the assignments and evaluation process. Addressing psychological safety/bravery in our classroom. Asking questions to ensure you fully understand the requirements to successfully complete the course. 24 hours of live classroom learning (Zoom) demonstrations discussion instruction supervised practice groups 14.5 hours of self-directed study readings reflective assignments exercises final quiz Please plan time in your schedule for both the live classroom hours, as well as the self-directed work. No extensions will be granted.   Completion Requirements   This is a non-credit professional development course; completion will be on a pass/fail basis. Evidence of successful completion will be demonstrated by: Attendance and participation in all mandatory Part 1 remote sessions, including orientation. Cameras should be turned on as much as possible, and are required during demonstrations and supervised practice groups. Completion of all online modules in Part 1. Submission of all reflective practice exercises for Part 1, including a final assignment. Achievement of 75% on a 15-question, multiple-choice test taken at the end of Part 2.   Textbook   Schwartz, R. (2021). No bad parts: Healing trauma and restoring wholeness with the internal family systems model .   - [Course 0499: Attachment in Adolescence: Theory, Assessment and Clinical Application](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=6073672): Hours: 12 A Two-Day Training for Mental Health Professionals Working with Children, Youth, and Families Adolescence is a pivotal period in human development – where early attachment experiences meet rapidly changing brains, identities and relationships. This two-day training is designed for mental health professionals who work with adolescents and their families and want to deepen their understanding of attachment theory and how it informs assessment and treatment. This interactive training combines neuroscience, case material and therapeutic strategies to equip clinicians with attachment-informed tools for working effectively with adolescents and their caregivers. We will begin by exploring the foundational concepts of attachment theory, including child attachment categories, internal working models and how these evolve through adolescence into adulthood. The day will include practical exercises to support integration of theory into clinical practice and reflection. On the second day, focus will shift to applied clinical work, examining the role of brain development during adolescence and its intersection with attachment. You will learn how to utilize results from tools such as the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) and explore goals and models of treatment. We’ll look at both individual and family-based approaches, with a focus on how therapists can foster secure attachment relationships and promote emotional regulation, resilience and trust.   - [Course 0501: Counselling Women Through Menopause](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=6079707): Hours: 12 Menopause, most commonly occurring between the ages of 45 and 55, represents a significant life transition for women, characterized by a range of physical, emotional and psychological changes. Counselling plays an important role in supporting women during this stage by offering tools to manage symptoms and promote overall well-being. Experiences such as hot flashes, mood fluctuations, anxiety and sleep disruptions can meaningfully affect daily functioning. A counselling space provides an opportunity for women to explore these changes, feel heard and validated and develop effective coping strategies. This workshop is designed to provide clinicians with the knowledge and practical skills needed to support women navigating menopause. Facilitated by experienced professionals, it will explore the physiological, psychological and emotional dimensions of this transition. Participants will be introduced to evidence-based counselling approaches, strategies for symptom management and holistic methods of care. Through case studies, interactive role-play and guided discussion, clinicians will strengthen their capacity to respond with empathy and clinical competence. This training aims to enhance both client outcomes and practitioner confidence in addressing this important stage of life. - [Course 0505: Working with Diverse Populations: DBT as a Principle-Based Intervention](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=6081464): Hours: 12 Individuals with marginalized identities (e.g. people who are racialized, neurodivergent, of gender or sexual minority status) too often experience the unique pain of discrimination and prejudice. This contributes to the pervasive emotional and behavioural dysregulation some individuals with mental health challenges already experience. Additionally, their invalidation can be compounded in the mental health space, including when therapists do not recognize their own biases and don’t practice from a place of humility and responsiveness. This training will explore how to assess, validate and address the trauma of discrimination, the impact of safety behaviours (e.g. masking, self-management), the role of environmental intervention and the need for adapted skills. Learning Outcomes By the end of this workshop participants will be able to:  Incorporate the rationale for anti-oppressive practice and intersectionality in the delivery of DBT.  Assess the impact of experiences of marginalization, prejudice, discrimination, etc. and integrate this into case conceptualization. Identify barriers to care and help clients set goals that are personally meaningful (i.e., rather than developing goals based on the expectations of the dominant population). Integrate examples of marginalization into teaching and adapting skills, especially skills aimed at strengthening self-advocacy and mental wellness. - [Course 0506: DBT-Kids: Part 1 – Introduction and Individual Work with Kids and Caregivers](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=6081468): Hours: 12 This course was previously named " DBT-K: Family-Based DBT "   Part 1 of this two-part training will provide an overview and introduction to DBT-Kids, an intervention developed by Drs. Alan and Armida Fruzzetti through the expansion of DBT strategies for use with families of kids (ages 12 and under) who struggle with emotion dysregulation. The intervention involves individual, family and group components. In this Part 1 workshop, participants can expect the use of didactics, role plays, exercises and resources to demonstrate: An introduction to the transactional model, describing conflict within families. An overview of structures and resources for implementing DBT-Kids interventions. Demonstration and practice of individual sessions for both kids and caregivers.  Adapted DBT skills for use with both kids and their caregivers. Learner Outcomes By the end of this workshop participants will be able to: Understand the theories informing DBT-Kids, as well as the structures and processes involved in full model intervention. Use the transactional model to conceptualize client-family transactions, namely emotion dysregulation and chaos in families. Adapt DBT skills to preadolescent children. Structure and plan DBT-Kids individual sessions for children with emotion dysregulation disorders. Work effectively with caregivers to build commitment and skillfulness prior to family sessions. - [Course 0507: Introduction to Radically-Open DBT](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=6081472): Hours: 12 Standard dialectical behaviour therapy was designed for individuals that struggle with under control of emotional regulation, meaning they often experience too much emotion with limited skills to respond effectively to it. Radically Open DBT, developed by Thomas Lynch, was developed to treat individuals whose primary struggle is with overcontrol of emotion regulation: Individuals struggling with depression, perfectionism, OCD symptoms or anxiety that has not responded to other treatment approaches. This Professional Development course will provide a broad overview of what Radically Open is, who would benefit from it, core aspects of the treatment from a theoretical and a practical application. Lastly, we will identify the ways in which it is different from standard DBT and why those differences are key in creating change with the RO-DBT population. Learning Outcomes By the end of this Professional Development course participants will be able to:  Explain what RO-DBT is and how it is different from standard DBT.  Describe overcontrol, how it develops and how it creates problems in our lives.  Understand and explain the RO-DBT adaptation of the biosocial theory and the role of biotemperament in the theory of RO-DBT. Identify the role of “silliness”, emotional experiencing and radical openness in sessions. Understand the structure and function of individual therapy and the RO-DBT target hierarchy. Learn the key change skills central to RO-DBT for clients and practitioners.   *This is an introductory workshop to Racially-Open DBT; similar to standard DBT, being able to fully implement RO-DBT into clinical practice will require more training!  - [Course 0508: DBT and Eating Disorders: What and How to Treat](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=6081475): Hours: 12 There is a growing rate of eating disorder diagnoses, however, relatively few mental health professionals or outpatient programs are available to meet the need. Additionally, clients with eating disorders may also present with other comorbid high-risk behaviours such as suicidal and self-harm ideation or behaviours which often exclude them for specialized eating disorder services. DBT has been adapted to treat multi-diagnostic clients with eating disorders and the focus of this Professional Development course will be on identifying and applying those adaptations. It will include the theoretical and practical adaptations of the individual therapy and skills modes of comprehensive DBT. Completion of a comprehensive DBT training is required, however in-depth training of eating disorders is not required. Learning Outcomes By the end of this Professional Development course participants will be able to:  Understand the strengths and limitations of DBT across the various eating disorder diagnoses and when other evidenced-based treatment models are recommended.   Understand the various symptoms of eating disorders and their relationship to the case conceptualization and treatment planning process.  Identify the core principles that are used to develop treatment plans for eating disorders.  Understand adaptations used in individual therapy sessions and DBT skills groups as well as how DBT skills can be applied specifically for clients with eating disorders. Identify how to develop individual therapy session agenda and treatment hierarchy that includes ongoing assessment of eating disorder symptoms.  - [Course 0509: Core Change Strategies in DBT: Behaviourism, Contingency Management, Cognitive Modification and Exposure](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=6081500): Hours: 12 Dialectical behaviour therapy sits on top of the foundation of behaviourism and cognitive behaviour therapy. As such, the primary change strategies used within DBT pull directly from these evidenced-based treatment interventions. DBT expects that all practitioners implementing DBT within their practice are well trained in these change strategies and have been using them with clients already in clinical practice; as such they are not explicitly taught in DBT trainings. This Professional Development course will focus on providing enough information on each of the change strategies so that practitioners may understand how these change strategies are then implemented within the modes of DBT (individual, skills, coaching, consultation team). This two-day course sets participants up to maximize the learning outcomes in DBT Assessment and Case Conceptualization, Individual Therapy and Coaching and Consultation Team; the change strategies will not be reviewed in the other workshops.  At the end of the workshop participants can expect to: Describe principles of behaviourism and how shaping, reinforcement and extinction are used within individual therapy and skills group formats.   Be able to develop and apply behavioural contingency management plans. Describe contingency management within a cognitive behavioural theory lens, and when they are most effective to be employed within individual therapy and coaching. Understand cognitive modification strategies commonly found in standard CBT and explain how and why they are modified within DBT. Understand the theory of exposure, the difference between formal and informal exposure and how/when it is best to apply with clients experiencing high emotional sensitivity and reactivity.  - [Course 0510: Moving from Self Criticism to Self-Acceptance with Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT)](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=6083375): Hours: 12 This Professional Development course introduces EFIT, Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy, the individual therapy version of the well-established EFT couple model. This attachment based, experiential model allows the therapist to confidently restructure the client’s habitual way of constructing moment-to-moment experience and regulating their most difficult emotions. EFIT focuses on helping clients shape a coherent, resilient, secure sense of self, able to explore and resolve the deeper emotional pain underlying depression, anxiety and the echoes of traumas. As in EFT for couples, attachment science offers the EFIT therapist a map that clarifies the nature of client problems and symptoms, specifying the steps in the journey towards emotional balance and the corrective emotional epiphanies that are the essence of significant and lasting change in psychotherapy. EFIT offers the therapist an empirically-based, on target, deeply meaningful pathway to growth and the development of aliveness, showing the therapist how to systematically attune to, and move the client into, new models of self and other – into a sense of belonging and becoming. Participants will: Discover the key elements of the attachment perspective on the development of a resilient self, and its significance for clinical intervention. Identify the five macro-intervention moves of the EFIT Tango and experiential micro-interventions. Describe an on-target map for the creation of transformative moments where vulnerabilities can be faced with balance and competence. Outline the path to shaping corrective emotional experiences which restructure negative ways of defining the self, organizing inner experience and engaging with others. Outline how to apply EFIT to clients suffering from a range of symptoms and post- traumatic issues. Adopt an attachment humanistic perspective on clients, problems and interventions. Discover and distil core emotional experiences and promote emotional balance. Outline protective, self-defining and interactional iatrogenic patterns. Implement the five moves of the EFT Tango to shape corrective emotional experience and EFT micro-interventions. Choreograph dramas that expand the self and open engagement with others. - [Course 0517: Dare to Lead™ 2.0](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=6089815): Dare to Lead™ 2.0 – Based on the research of Brené Brown Hours : 18 (14 class hours + 4 homework hours) Dare to Lead™ 2.0 is the ultimate playbook for developing brave leaders and courageous cultures. Daring leadership is a collection of four courage skill sets that are 100% teachable, measurable, and observable. It’s learning and practice that requires brave work, tough conversations, and showing up with our whole hearts. Join the more than 20,000 leaders who enhanced their leadership skills as Dare to Lead™ course alumni from Fortune 500 companies to public sector entities. This four-part series course is designed to teach the research-based skill sets of courage as the foundation to becoming a braver, more daring leader. Based on the grounded theory research of Dr. Brené Brown, this Dare to Lead™ 2.0 course is a highly engaging and an interactive leadership course designed to deliver meaningful and sustainable outcomes. It will teach you the skills of courage and provide operationalized tools that can change how you lead and live. Individuals who successfully complete the full 18-hour Dare to Lead™ 2.0 program will receive a certificate of completion and a Dare to Lead™ Trained badge on their LinkedIn account – an official designation from the Brené Brown Education and Research Group (BBEARG). Background Dare to Lead™ is an empirically based courage building program for corporations and leaders created by Dr. Brené Brown, TED speaker, five-time New York Times best-selling author, and research professor at the University of Houston. Brené has spent decades researching leadership and organizational cultures. One aspect of that research included interviewing 150 global C-level leaders on the future of leadership. When asked: “What, if anything, about the way people are leading today needs to change in order for leaders to be successful in a complex, rapidly changing environment where we’re faced with seemingly intractable challenges and an insatiable demand for innovation?” the response was resounding: “We need braver leaders and more courageous cultures.” Dare to Lead™ makes this imperative accessible and achievable. It helps enable brave leadership by building practical skills in areas where most leaders and employees struggle—areas that deeply impact organizational health and profitability in the near- and long-term—including how to: Have hard conversations Hold themselves and others accountable Give and receive tough, yet constructive feedback Lead with empathy and connection Take smart risks that lead to more innovation Build trust Build individual self-awareness Build resilience and reset quickly after disappointments and setbacks Homework and Attendance This is a 18-hour course: 14 class hours and four homework hours. There will be approximately one hour of homework required between each session. To receive the Dare to Lead™ Training certificate, you must attend all 14 hours of class time and complete all required homework. Learning Outcomes The Dare to Lead™ curriculum trains leaders to build four proven skills of courage in observable, highly practical ways. It equips participants with language, tools, and exercises to put these four skills into immediate practice with the following skill-building and learning outcomes. Embracing Vulnerability: “Psychological safety,” defined as “team members feel safe to take risks and be vulnerable with one another,” was identified as the #1 factor in top- performing teams in this groundbreaking study by Google. Mastery of this foundational skill helps leaders and teams face risk, uncertainty, and emotional exposure with courage and clarity. Success is defined as having the courage to show up, fully engage, and be seen when you can’t control the outcome. Living our Values: Identifying, operationalizing, and practicing our most important beliefs so they become reliable go-tos every day and particularly under stress, when we tend to fall out of alignment. Braving Trust: Creating/deepening connections in relationships and teams based on seven distinct elements. Trust is the glue that holds teams and organizations together. Learning to Rise: Mastering resilience to learn and grow from the failures, setbacks, and disappointments that are inevitable when we are brave with our lives. Registration No application is required. Select a course section to view the dates and cost or add the course to your cart. Complete your registration with payment.  - [Course 0518: Working with Individuals Who Have Caused Gender-Based Harms](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=6101401): Hours: 12 “Almost no one enters into violence for the first time having caused it” ( Sered, 2020) . Working with individuals who have caused gendered and sexual harm remains a sensitive topic across many practitioners and frontline workers – especially those of us that act from a place of solidarity with survivors. In reality, we are all knowingly and unknowingly supporting and working with individuals who have caused harm in different forms.   What would it look like to build up our ethical frameworks and practices to better support those who have caused harm in unpacking and healing the root cause of their actions, taking accountability, and transforming their behaviours? If we truly want to foster cultures of healing, respect, consent, accountability and repair we need more people in our communities leaning into the messiness of this important work. This workshop will help each participant explore the ethical frameworks and practical tools rooted in abolitionist, liberatory and community-based principles critical to meaningfully walk alongside folks who have caused harm. - [Course 0538: Perinatal Wellness: Navigating Prenatal and Postpartum Mental Health](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=6244076): Hours : 12 Perinatal Wellness: Navigating Prenatal and Postpartum Mental Health is designed for mental health professionals who want to enhance their understanding and expertise in supporting clients through the perinatal period. This course provides an in-depth exploration of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs), including postpartum depression, anxiety, psychosis, OCD, PTSD and perinatal grief and loss. Participants will learn to accurately identify these disorders, understand their risk factors and presentations, and develop effective intervention strategies tailored to the unique needs of perinatal clients. The course emphasizes a holistic approach to care, addressing both the emotional and psychological challenges that can arise during pregnancy and postpartum. By the end of the course, professionals will be equipped with the foundational knowledge and tools needed to support the mental and emotional well-being of individuals during one of the most transformative periods of their lives. This course is ideal for therapists, counselors, and other healthcare providers who wish to expand their competency in perinatal mental health and provide compassionate, effective care to those navigating the complexities of the prenatal and postpartum stages. - [Course 0539: Foundations of Family Therapy](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=6253778): Hours: 12 Become familiar with the major theories and central concepts that form the beginning foundations of family therapy. Explore the theories and methods of Bowenian family systems, structural, strategic, and experiential family therapy as well as some of the modern day practices that took inspiration from these founding theories.  This interactive Professional Development course uses a variety of teaching and learning processes including exercises, videos and discussion in order to effectively translate theories into practical methods. - [Course 0543: Brain Injury and Addiction: Understanding and Supporting Complex Clients](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=6378123): This Professional Development course explores the complex intersection of brain injury and addiction, equipping participants with a deeper understanding of dual diagnosis and its impact on client care. Participants will gain knowledge of brain injury types, the relationship between brain injury and substance abuse and effective strategies for supporting individuals with these co-occurring conditions. The course offers evidence-based approaches to screening and treatment. Key topics include: The neurophysiology of brain injury and addiction. Behavioral and cognitive changes post-injury. Screening and treatment tools for dual diagnosis. Treatment strategies, including trauma-informed care and relapse prevention. Through interactive modules, case studies and discussions, participants will develop the practical skills needed to enhance client outcomes and provide holistic, compassionate care. This course fosters a collaborative learning environment, encouraging participants to share experiences and explore the latest research in the field. Learning Outcomes By the end of the course, participants will be able to: Identify the interplay between brain injury and addiction. Implement effective screening and assessment protocols. Have greater confidence in supporting clients with this dual diagnosis. CACCF: 12 continuing education hours - [Course 0544: Introduction to Indigenous Matters](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=6476314): Lesson 1 - Indigenous People of Turtle Island: Whose land are we on? Lesson 2 - Early Colonial Contact: Columbus’ and other early colonizers Lesson 3 - Canada’s home on Native Land RCMP Lesson 4 - The Indian Act: Laws to govern Indigenous Peoples and their land Lesson 5 - Indigenous Women and Children: Addressing Historical Trauma and on-going Oppression Lesson 6 - On-going Colonization in Canada: Myth busting and re-educating settlers about Indigenous realities Lesson 7 - Indigenous Peoples Sovereignty and Rights in North America Lesson 8 - Indigenous Peoples Resiliency: Indigenous Peoples solutions - [Course 0558: What to Know: Domestic Abuse, Police Response and the Criminal Justice System](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=6566938): Hours: 12 This two-day course offers a unique perspective on domestic abuse, police response and the criminal justice system. Knowledge of these systems can help social workers and other mental health professionals understand the reasons behind decisions made by victims, police officers and the judiciary, as well as the implications for individuals that may be affected by domestic abuse and “the system”. Over this two day course, we will discuss: How to best provide support for individuals who are navigating domestic abuse (both criminal and non-criminal). Intimate partner violence. Police investigation (establishing reasonable and probable grounds). Police procedure (including mandatory charging policies). The criminal justice system. Court orders (and their implications). Available support services. Safety planning. Knowledge of these systems may provide you with clarity and understanding, better equipping you to confidently support your clients as they navigate police response to domestic violence and the criminal justice system. - [Course 0560: Discover the Transformative Power of Internal Family Systems (IFS): Free Online Information Session](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=6628320): Are you a therapist, coach or helping professional eager to deepen your practice with a holistic and empowering approach to healing? Join us for a free, one-hour online information session to explore our  Applied Internal Family Systems (IFS) Practice certificate, offered in partnership with Red Maple Coaching and Consulting .  This interactive session will introduce you to the philosophy and framework of IFS, a powerful therapeutic model that emphasizes self-leadership and inner healing by working with the various “parts” within each of us. You’ll gain insights into the structure and benefits of our 80-hour, two-part certificate program that is designed to equip you with the tools and guide clients towards lasting transformation. Why Attend? Learn how IFS integrates into your practice. Get a detailed overview of the program's content, format and workload. Meet world-class instructors and hear about their expertise in IFS. Discover program highlights like supervised practice groups, live demonstrations and downloadable tools. Have your questions answered in real time to help you make an informed decision. See our website for more information about our Professional Development program . - [Course 0562: Mental Health Crisis Response Education and Applied Training Program(MHCR) - Part 1: Online Modules](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=6659542): Module One: Mental Illness and Mental Health Crisis Focuses on understanding the current context of mental health calls made to police services, the nature of mental illness and mental health crisis, how to identify them and common misconceptions. Module Two: De-escalation and Relational Policing Focuses on approaches, tools, and techniques that can help de-escalate and safely resolve mental health crisis situations. De-escalation and non-escalation techniques are introduced. Module Three: The Context of Modern Policing Examines societal attitudes toward people with mental illness, and how beliefs, attitudes, and bias can impact interactions. Module Four: A Focus on Race Focuses on interactions between police and racialized persons in mental health crisis. Explores how citizens’ attitudes and beliefs about police can affect an encounter and how bias can impact risk assessment. - [Course 0563: Train-the-Trainer (MHCR-T3) Ontario Police](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=6660198): Module One: An introduction to the MHCR program highlighting community co-development and pedagogical features of the training program. Module Two: Completion of four online lessons that learners go through before attending the in-person training components (i.e. forum and evaluation scenarios). Module Three: Overviews each DePICT™ competency, how to score and use the tool to evaluate learners' performance during assessment scenarios, and how to use it to guide targerted learner feedback. Module Four: An overview of the forum method and demonstration of implementation, including the springboard scenario, discussion and implementation of alternative de-escalation strategies based on DePICT™ competencies, and delivery of subject matter expert materials. Module Five: An overview of the evaluation method and demonstration of implementation, including evaluation and feedback for the learner using DePICT™ tool. Module Six: Considerations for implementing the MHCR at the police service-level, including selecting a modality for implementation (e.g., live actor or virtual reality) and creating positive conditions for learners. - [Course 0567: Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST)](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=6799325): Hours: 14 PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS TRAINING IS BEING HELD IN-PERSON AT 120 DUKE STREET WEST IN KITCHENER, ON. A REMOTE OPTION IS NOT AVAILABLE.   The Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) workshop is for caregivers who want to feel more comfortable, confident and competent in helping to prevent the immediate risk of suicide. Over two million caregivers have received this training. Just as CPR skills make physical first aid possible, training in suicide intervention develops the skills needed for life assisting suicide first aid. ASIST is a two-day intensive, interactive and practice-dominated course designed to help caregivers learn how to intervene to prevent the immediate risk of suicide and provide safety-for-now.  The workshop is designed for all caregivers (any person over age 16 in a position of trust). This includes professionals, paraprofessionals and lay people. It is suitable for mental health professionals, nurses, physicians, pharmacists, teachers, counselors, youth workers, police and correctional staff, school support staff, clergy, and community volunteers. In ASIST, sophisticated helping concepts are translated into generic language so that different types of caregivers can learn together. ASIST is the most widely used suicide intervention training program in the world. Additional information is available www.livingworks.net. ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENT: Participants must attend 100% of the training both days in order to receive a certificate of completion.  Learning Objectives Over the course of the two-day workshop, ASIST participants learn to: Recognize that caregivers and people are affected by personal and societal attitudes about suicide. Provide life-assisting guidance to a person thinking about suicide in a flexible manner. Identify what needs to be in a person thinking about suicide’s plan for safety. Demonstrate the skills required to provide suicide first aid to a person thinking about suicide. Appreciate the value of improving community resources, including the way they work together. Recognize that suicide prevention is broader than suicide intervention and includes life promotion and self-care for people thinking about suicide and for caregivers. Instructors Kendra FitzGerald, RSW Kendra holds a Bachelor of Social Work from Wilfrid Laurier University and an Addictions and Mental Health certificate from Fanshawe College. She has been an ASIST trainer since March 2024 and oversees volunteers at Compass Community Services, supporting their work in social calls, medication reminders, wellness checks and distress line operations. Kendra collaborates with local partners to enhance support services and foster meaningful connections for service users in Guelph-Wellington County. Tina Ewen, RSSW Tina completed her Social Service Work certificate at Conestoga College and is currently in her final year of the Bachelor of Social Work program at Wilfrid Laurier University. Tina oversees staff operating on the 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline through Compass Community Services, ensuring compassionate and effective support is available to individuals in crisis. - [Course 0571: Understanding Autism and Mental Health: Tools for Effective and Affirming Care](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=6880683): Hours: 12 It is well-established that up to 70% of children and youth on the autism spectrum are diagnosed with a mental health disorder during childhood. Despite this significant prevalence, many mental health professionals have not received formal training in autism, which can lead to a lack of competence, confidence and comfort when providing care to neurodivergent clients. This two-day workshop aims to equip participants with an understanding of the intersection between autism and mental health and provide effective assessment and therapeutic strategies for supporting this population. Learning Objectives Understand the biological, psychological and social factors contributing to the elevated mental health risks for autistic individuals, including how marginalization contributes to mental health symptoms and creates barrier when accessing services. Gain knowledge of the signs and symptoms commonly observed in clients with dual diagnoses. Explore common treatment goals and psychotherapeutic interventions designed to support the mental health of autistic clients. Acquire practical strategies for adapting interventions to meet the unique needs of autistic clients, with an emphasis on providing neurodiversity-affirming practices. - [Course 0596: The Silent Struggle: Trauma, Burnout, and the Mental Health of Women](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7292551): Hours: 12 This course is tailored for helping professionals who are dedicated to understanding and addressing burnout in women. It provides a comprehensive framework to recognize and navigate the unique pressures women face, including emotional labor, societal expectation and gendered roles that contribute to burnout. Participants will explore how these factors lead to chronic stress, emotional exhaustion and overwhelm, all of which significantly impact women's mental health. The course offers trauma-informed interventions, equipping helping professionals with practical tools to help women recover from burnout and reclaim their sense of well-being, balance and agency. This course is essential for professionals who want to provide compassionate, targeted support to women navigating burnout in today's demanding world. Learning Objectives Learn to recognize and address the hidden pressures contributing to women’s mental distress, such as emotional labor, caregiving expectations and societal narratives, while integrating body-based and trauma-informed practices to help women complete the stress cycle and foster true healing. Understand how beliefs like “I should be able to handle this” or “My needs come last” contribute to burnout, and explore ways to challenge these internalized gender expectations with evidence-based and relational approaches, addressing shame, perfectionism, and people-pleasing. Equip women with practical tools to manage stress, regulate emotions, and heal from trauma, while creating culturally responsive treatment plans that empower them to reclaim pleasure, rest, and personal agency, rebuilding a sense of self and restoring emotional well-being through holistic, client-centered care. - [Course 0597: Rage and Resilience: Reclaiming Women's Anger in Mental Health Care](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7296305): Hours: 12 This course is designed for helping professionals who wish to deepen their understanding of women’s emotional lives and offer more attuned, empowering support. Rage & Resilience challenges both cultural and clinical narratives that pathologize women’s anger, reframing it instead as a powerful source of inner wisdom, boundary-setting and transformation. Participants will examine the roots of anger suppression, the role of gendered socialization, and the impact of trauma and systemic oppression on emotional expression. Through a blend of theory, clinical tools, case studies, and reflective practice, this course equips practitioners with trauma-informed, culturally responsive strategies to help clients safely access, express, and integrate their anger. Ultimately, this course invites clinicians to unlearn bias, disrupt burnout culture and support women in reclaiming their full emotional truth. Learning Objectives Recognize women’s anger not as a symptom to manage, but as a signal of unmet needs, violated boundaries, and inner intelligence, reframing it as a powerful source of wisdom and vitality. Examine how systemic and internalized misogyny shape both clients’ and clinicians’ responses to anger, and learn how to create space for its expression in therapeutic work, identifying and unlearning gendered biases in mental health treatment. Develop trauma-informed, culturally aware strategies to support clients in processing anger safely and with dignity, while considering intersectional identities and lived experiences. Guide clients in transforming anger into clear boundaries, restored self-trust, renewed vitality, and empowered action in their lives and communities, integrating anger as a portal for change. - [Course 0598: Better Together: Practical Integration of CBT and Attachment Theory in Therapy](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7296600): Attachment based interventions and cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) are often viewed as distinct or even contradictory due to their differing theoretical foundations. CBT emphasizes cognitive restructuring and present-focused skills training, while attachment-based interventions delve into relational history and emotional healing. This divergence often leads to debates about their compatibility and can create tension among clinicians. Clinicians who ascribe to one theoretical orientation may be reluctant to recognize the value of the other. Those who identify as integrative in their theoretical orientation may not know how to effectively integrate the two theories. This two-day training will review the core components of CBT and attachment theory and interventions. Key research findings about effectiveness of CBT and attachment-based interventions are also reviewed. Rana will demonstrate how these approaches have much in common and how that they can be integrated effectively in therapy for various clinical presentations. The workshop will highlight intersections of CBT and attachment-based interventions in terms of their underlying drivers of distress, mechanisms of change, value of therapeutic relationship, and even strategies. You will learn to draw on the strength of both theories to develop a comprehensive case conceptualization and use integrated strategies to address both symptomatic distress and deeply rooted attachment wounds. You will walk away with the knowledge, tools and confidence to support clients with strategies that emphasize cognitions and interpersonal connections equally. Learning Objectives Understand the historical roots and development of cognitive behaviour theory and attachment theory. Identify the underlying premise, components and therapeutic strategies associated with cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) and attachment-based interventions. Summarize the effectiveness research for various CBT and attachment-based interventions. Recognize shared principles and primary difference of CBT and attachment theory and interventions. Develop a comprehensive case conceptualization that integrates both CBT and attachment-informed approaches in the client treatment plan. Implement practical, integrative strategies in therapy for a range of clinical presentations, including depression, anxiety, and trauma-related disorders. Learn to incorporate integrative strategies with various populations, including working with children, adolescents, and parents. Notes This workshop includes didactic teaching, group discussions, as well as individual and group practice exercises. Participants are encouraged to participate accordingly. Although the course outline includes an overview of CBT and attachment-based interventions, participants are expected to be familiar with at least one of these theories and intervention models. - [Course 0600: Evidence-Based Strategies for Treating Sleep Disturbances and Insomnia](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7314276): Hours: 12 This workshop is designed for clinicians seeking to deepen their understanding and clinical skills in supporting clients struggling with sleep disturbances and insomnia. Participants will explore the science of sleep, common causes of disrupted sleep patterns and the psychological and physiological mechanisms underlying insomnia. Clinicians will learn effective behavioral and cognitive interventions grounded in evidence-based approaches including CBT-I (cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia). The course will offer practical tools, therapeutic techniques and tailored strategies to address a range of sleep-related challenges across diverse client populations. By the end of the workshop, participants will leave with greater confidence and a comprehensive toolkit to help clients achieve more restorative sleep and improved overall well-being. - [Course 0603: Human Trafficking: Hiding in Plain Sight](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7337302): Hours: 12 Human trafficking remains one of the most pervasive and underrecognized human rights violations in our society—often hidden in plain sight. Throughout this two-day interactive course, participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted nature of human trafficking, and learn practical ways to identify, support and advocate for those affected. Through a combination of case studies, real-world examples and evidence-based strategies, the course will cover: A foundational overview of human trafficking, including the scope and impact at local, national and global levels. Common tactics and methods of recruitment, grooming and exploitation used by traffickers. Insight into how trafficking can occur in everyday settings—and how to recognize the often subtle, easily overlooked signs. Key behavioral, emotional and environmental "red flags" that may indicate a client is currently being exploited or is at risk. Best practices for engaging and supporting clients who may be entangled in trafficking situations, including trauma-informed approaches and safety planning. An exploration of risk factors that increase vulnerability—especially among youth and marginalized populations. Strategies for proactive, community-based education and prevention to help mitigate these risks before exploitation occurs. Participants will leave this training with enhanced awareness, sharpened assessment skills and actionable strategies to intervene early and support survivors with empathy, sensitivity, and effectiveness. Learning Objectives By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to: Define human trafficking and distinguish between its various forms. Identify common recruitment tactics and patterns of coercion used by traffickers. Recognize indicators of trafficking that may present in clinical or community settings. Apply trauma-informed techniques when working with suspected or confirmed trafficking survivors. Assess key risk factors and implement prevention-oriented education with at-risk populations. Strengthen interprofessional collaboration and resource linkage to improve client outcomes. - [Course 0604: Integrating Journaling into the Treatment of Trauma-Related Disorders and Dissociation](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7346051): Hours: 6 Substantial research supports the importance of one’s personal narrative in overcoming challenging experiences, including life transitions and trauma. Multiple therapeutic modalities, including narrative therapy and trauma-focused CBT (TF-CBT) use the personal narrative as part of the healing process. In this one-day training, participants will learn the nuts and bolts of journaling and storytelling as a therapeutic tool, and how to integrate it into their psychotherapy practice. Participants will learn how journaling can be used to manage symptoms of depression, anxiety and trauma, help clients process distressing memories, make sense of their experiences and find resilience through self-reflection. With hands-on exercises and case discussions, participants will diversify their clinical toolbox to help enhance their client’s self-reflection, emotional awareness and personal resilience, through the development of a coherent personal narrative. Learning Objectives Review research literature on the effectiveness of journaling as a therapeutic tool and the role of personal narrative for mental health. Understand theoretical underpinnings of journaling. Identify and use different journaling techniques suited for various therapeutic stages and goals. Integrate personalized journaling interventions that align with a client’s needs, presentation, and cultural considerations. Address potential barriers to journaling engagement. The training combines didactic teaching, case discussions, and practice of various journaling strategies. Participants should arrive ready to practice various skills and be open to discussing their process. Note: This course is appropriate for clinicians with any level of experience and practice. - [Course 0605: Resourcing the Body: Somatic Practices for Cultivating Safety and Stability](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7352051): Hours: 12 A comprehensive understanding of somatic therapy requires more than cognitive knowledge; it necessitates embodied awareness and an openness to both being and doing. This offering is designed for those who have attended Working with Trauma and the Body: Fundamentals of Somatic Therapy and wish to deepen their understanding of the somatic techniques introduced in that foundational session.  This two-day professional development course is designed to support participants with translating core somatic concepts into embodied experience. It will explore practices designed to support safety, stabilization, and resilience: essential tools for creating a secure container for both clients and practitioners. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of how to use somatic practices to resource their clients and foster a grounded therapeutic relationship. Through a combination of experiential exercises, demonstrations and group discussions, participants will:  Hone skills to titrate and modulate activating experiences in clients. Explore containment strategies that foster groundedness and a sense of safety. Learn to attune to systemic coherence.  Increase awareness of merging and develop strategies for managing it effectively. This course will be entirely experiential. Participants must be willing to engage in activities that foster embodied awareness. Although this course is designed for mental health professionals, it may be challenging to navigate on a personal level. This training is not recommended for anyone who is currently experiencing their own trauma as some of the content may be activating. Please note this course serves as an introduction to practicing various somatic techniques. Becoming a somatic therapist requires extensive training through an official program such as Somatic Experiencing®. This course is independent of Somatic Experiencing International (SEI), and continuing education hours earned do not count toward official SEI training programs.   - [Course 0606: Deepening Embodied Resilience: Somatic Practices for Enhancing Interoceptive Awareness](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7352410): Hours: 12 A comprehensive understanding of somatic therapy requires more than cognitive knowledge; it necessitates embodied awareness and an openness to both being and doing. This offering is designed for those who have attended Working with Trauma and the Body: Fundamentals of Somatic Therapy and wish to deepen their understanding of the somatic techniques introduced in that foundational session.  This two-day professional development course is designed to support participants with translating core somatic concepts into embodied experience. It will invite participants to deepen their somatic practice by exploring the nuances of tracking activation cycles and interoception within the body. Participants will fine-tune somatic awareness by tracking and navigating sensation, felt sense, and posture in real time, enhancing their ability to support complex client experiences with clarity, presence and care. Through a combination of experiential exercises, demonstrations and group discussions, participants will:  Learn how to track activation cycles, increasing sensitivity to subtle shifts in the nervous system. Deepen the ability to sense internal bodily signals to enhance therapeutic attunement. Cultivate a deeper awareness of the felt sense and how to work with it effectively. Engage in playful exploration of posture and movement as tools for accessing and integrating somatic wisdom. This course will be entirely experiential. Participants must be willing to engage in activities that involve movement and foster embodied awareness. Although this course is designed for mental health professionals, it may be challenging to navigate on a personal level. This training is not recommended for anyone who is currently experiencing their own trauma as some of the content may be activating. Please note this course serves as an introduction to practicing various somatic techniques. Becoming a somatic therapist requires extensive training through an official program such as Somatic Experiencing®. This course is independent of Somatic Experiencing International (SEI), and continuing education hours earned do not count toward official SEI training programs. - [Course 0607: MHCR- White Glove Service- Ontario Police](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7354317): 1- Online Modules  Module One: Mental Illness and Mental Health Crisis  Module Two: De-escalation and Relational Policing  Module Three: The Context of Modern Policing  Module Four: A Focus on Race  2- Forum Scenario   This 90-minute, in-person scenario training engages observational, group problem-solving, and applied learning methods. Trainees move from being observers of the scenario to participants, engaging in stop, rewind, and playback techniques that provide repeated opportunities to test approaches and try alternative crisis resolution strategies. Trainees engage in competency-based rehearsal learning while guided by integrated, in-scenario video feedback from subject matter experts, ranging from people with lived experience of mental illness and clinicians to police trainers.  3- Evaluation Scenario   Assessing officers’ skills acquisition in 20-minute sessions (five-minute set up, a 10-minute scenario followed by a five-minute debrief) using the validated, observer-rater DePICT™ evaluation framework. This assessment tool captures 14 distinct competencies, and each item is scored on a four-point scale. The post-scenario debriefs ensure they serve as a formative learning exercise and an opportunity to identify specific competencies needing improvement and further practice. The trainee must achieve a score of “Satisfactory” in 11 of the 14 DePICT™ in the selected targeted competencies. If this minimum standard is not met, the trainee is required to repeat the scenario focusing on debrief feedback and competencies requiring attention.  - [Course 0613: Rural Women's Mental Health](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7380127): Hours: 6 This session addresses the critical, often overlooked, mental health needs of women living in rural, remote and northern regions. Grounded in a social determinants lens, the course explores how geographic isolation, stigma, scarcity of services, economic precarity and cultural norms intersect with gender to create unique challenges in accessing care. Participants will examine the persistent gaps between rural realities and urban-designed systems, including the emotional toll of invisibility and the practical implications of limited privacy, underfunded supports and siloed services. Through reflective dialogue and case examples, the training offers insight into place-based models, peer-driven approaches and grassroots innovations that have emerged from within rural communities themselves. Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of how to build trust, foster collaboration and advocate for mental health equity in underserved settings—all while honouring the strengths, resilience, and lived expertise of rural women.   - [Course 0614: Looking Beneath Food and the Body: Integrative Approaches for Working with Eating Disorders](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7380238): Hours: 12 This experiential workshop invites helping professionals to examine the intersection of women’s mental health, eating disorders and body image challenges through a trauma-informed and non-pathologizing lens. Together, we’ll explore how eating disorders emerge not solely from difficulties with food or appearance, but as protective responses to emotional pain, unmet needs or oppressive sociocultural expectations. Participants will learn how to work with common internal processes that arise in eating disorders, such as resistance, perfectionism and shame. Drawing from therapeutic modalities such as Internal Family Systems (IFS), ACT, mindfulness, and CBT/DBT, this workshop offers helping professionals practical strategies to support women in developing more compassionate relationship with food and their body.  We’ll explore how language, power dynamics and cultural messaging impact both the development of eating disorders and the recovery process. Through case examples, reflective discussion and clinical teaching, participants will leave with tools for treatment planning and intervention that are responsive, inclusive and empowering.  Learning Objectives Guide clients from self-criticism and confusion to clarity, confidence and connection. Identify the origins of unrelenting standards and the role of control in disordered eating/body image challenges. Apply trauma-informed, practical tools when supporting women with eating and body image concerns. Recognize when eating disorders may be present and develop intentional, responsive care plans. - [Course 0615: Women, Pain, and the Nervous System](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7380266): Hours: 6 This training explores the often-silenced intersection of chronic pain, trauma and women’s mental health. With a focus on conditions commonly experienced by women—including endometriosis, fibromyalgia, pelvic pain and autoimmune disorders—the course illuminates the mind-body connection and the emotional landscape of living with persistent, misunderstood pain. Participants will engage with insights from neurobiology, psychology and gender studies to understand how pain is shaped not just by physiology, but by personal history, cultural context and systemic bias. The session also explores how gendered assumptions in healthcare have contributed to misdiagnosis, dismissal and inadequate treatment for women and gender-diverse individuals living with chronic pain. This course offers practical tools for nervous system-informed care, trauma-sensitive practice and attuned therapeutic presence. It invites clinicians to hold both the emotional and physical dimensions of pain with compassion, curiosity and a deep respect for bodily wisdom. - [Course 0616: Foundations in Parent-Infant Mental Health](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7380297): Hours: 12 This two-day course provides a foundational understanding of parent–infant mental health through a trauma-informed, attachment-centered and developmentally sensitive lens. It examines the earliest building blocks of relational and emotional wellbeing, emphasizing the role of caregiving environments in shaping the nervous system, attachment security and stress regulation in infancy and early childhood. Participants will explore how a caregiver’s mental health, past trauma and access to support systems can profoundly impact early relational dynamics. Special attention is given to intergenerational patterns and the systemic barriers families may face when trying to access support during the perinatal and early parenting years. Ideal for professionals across perinatal, early years and family-focused disciplines, this course invites a shift toward prevention, relational repair and whole-family care. It blends theoretical knowledge with reflective practice to help providers recognize early signs of relational disruption and support resilience from the start. - [Course 0617: Female Adolescent Mental Health: Age-Specific Interventions](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7380523): Hours: 12 Adolescence is a time of profound psychological, emotional and neurological transformation—particularly for female-identifying youth. This two-day clinical workshop explores the complex and interwoven factors impacting female adolescent mental health and identity development in today’s world. Participants will gain a deep understanding of the developmental, social and cultural pressures facing female adolescents, including sexual orientation, gender expression, body image, social media, peer and family dynamics, substance use, sexual activity and future uncertainty. We will examine how these intersect with rising late-diagnosed neurodivergent conditions like ADHD and Autism, and how these diagnoses shape identity and mental health across the lifespan. Through case studies, evidence-informed interventions and collaborative discussion, we will explore age-specific clinical approaches—highlighting the contrast in working with adolescents versus adults presenting with similar concerns. - [Course 0618: SEEN in Full Colour: Applying the CULTURE© Framework to Support the Mental Health of Black and Racialized Women](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7380549): Hours: 12 A two-day immersive training for professionals committed to providing culturally responsive, trauma-informed, and equity-driven care for Black and racialized women. Grounded in the CULTURE© Framework and Africentric healing approaches. SEEN in Full Colour is a transformative professional development experience designed for those working with Black and racialized women in therapeutic, clinical and community care contexts. Participants will engage in a two-day, interactive training that weaves together evidence-based modalities, Africentric healing approaches and culturally grounded care strategies using the CULTURE© Framework — a proprietary model rooted in Community, Understanding, Liberation, Truth, Ubuntu, Restoration, and Equity. This workshop offers a healing-centered lens through which to understand and address how race, gender, intergenerational trauma and systemic oppression uniquely impact the mental health of racialized women. Participants will explore how to apply: ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy): to promote values-based action and psychological flexibility. EFT (Emotionally Focused Therapy): to support secure attachment and emotional responsiveness. IFS (Internal Family Systems): to address trauma through culturally affirming part-work. CBT and DBT: adapted for the lived realities of Black and racialized women. Polyvagal Theory and Somatic Techniques: to restore nervous system safety and body-based healing. Africentric principles such as Nommo, Nguzo Saba, and Ubuntu, to ground clinical practices in community, language, and cultural wisdom Learning Objectives By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to: Understand the intersection of race, gender, trauma and mental health as it relates to Black and racialized women. Apply the CULTURE© Framework to clinical and community-based mental health interventions. Integrate evidence-based tools (ACT, EFT, IFS, DBT, somatic) with culturally responsive and Africentric approaches. Engage in reflective practice to explore the impact of systemic barriers and clinician positionality on therapeutic relationships. Identify and address racial microaggressions, burnout and internalized oppression in both clients and care environments. Build a culturally affirming mental health toolkit that centers psychological safety, belonging and self-leadership. This training is ideal for mental health clinicians, social workers, community support workers, educators, nurses, clergy, and allied professionals who support — or seek to better support — the healing and mental health of Black and racialized women. No prior experience with ACT, EFT or IFS is required — only a willingness to engage deeply, reflect critically, and practice holistically. - [Course 0619: Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) Skills Training](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7386496): The two previous DBT Skills Training: Part 1 & Part 2 courses have been merged into one. If you have already taken Part 1 and/or Part 2, you should not take this course. Hours: 12 A core mode of intervention within DBT is the skills group, whereby clients are taught more skillful ways to regulate their emotions, effectively manage the distressing situations in their lives, and improve and maintain relationships with the people around them. These skills are taught in a weekly skills group for adults and in a multi-family skills group for the adolescent population. There is currently evidence that supports decreases in problematic behaviour and increases in adaptive coping by implementing skills group as a stand-alone intervention, when risk is not present; this has resulted with widescale implementation of DBT skills across a variety of populations and settings.    By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to: Understand the mode and function of skills training within the overall treatment framework. Understand the difference between “group therapy” and DBT skills group. Teach each of the core modules in DBT: Mindfulness Distress Tolerance Walking the Middle Path -- a review of principles of behaviorism, validation and dialectical thinking will be provided and are a review of these concepts that are covered in the Introduction to DBT workshop Emotion Regulation  Interpersonal Effectiveness - [Course 0621: Family Systems Crisis Management](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7387584): Hours: 12 Grounded in family systems theory, this two-day, interactive professional development course is designed for those who support families navigating high-stakes, emotionally charged, and ethically complex situations. Participants will examine key challenges, such as managing psychiatric symptomatology within the family system—including conditions like bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and eating disorders—as well as navigating therapeutic responses to anger, aggression, and escalating conflict. The course will also address best practices for handling disclosures of child and elder abuse, and will provide guidance on ethical dilemmas, such as duty to warn, within a family systems framework. A variety of experiential and collaborative learning methods—including case studies, video demonstrations, small group discussions, and role plays—will support participants in developing practical, real-world skills for managing family crises with confidence, clarity, and compassion. - [Course 0622: Group Supervision: Transforming Your Practice Through Collective Growth](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7447513): Hours: 12 Group supervision is a powerful catalyst for growth, resilience and professional development across social work and other helping professions. It creates a dynamic space where diverse perspectives come together, helping to combat practitioner isolation, deepen clinical insight and strengthen ethical decision-making (Bernard & Goodyear, 2019). Grounded in evidence-based models, group supervision empowers clinicians to collaboratively navigate complex cases with greater confidence, creativity and accountability. It is also an attractive option for organizations, offering a cost-effective way to support multiple staff members while enhancing quality of care, staff retention and ethical integrity. Over the course of this two-day Professional Development course, we will explore group supervision models and how they create supportive spaces for processing the emotional impact of trauma work. Group supervision fosters safety and connection while inviting deeper engagement with post-traumatic growth and vicarious resilience – the ways clinicians can evolve and draw strength from their clients’ healing journeys (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004; Hernandez et al., 2007). This shared reflection helps renew purpose, reduce burnout and sustain the empathy and stamina essential for long-term, trauma-informed care. We will also examine how group supervision provides a foundation for exploring use of self and maintaining ethical boundaries. Through guided reflection and peer feedback, clinicians deepen self-awareness by examining how personal values, emotional triggers and relational patterns influence their work. When approached intentionally, this process transforms self-awareness into a tool for accountability rather than risk (Reamer, 2018), strengthening ethical clarity and helping prevent boundary violations in complex clinical situations. Participants will also explore differences in outcomes across voluntary group supervision, agency-mandated supervision and paid supervision models, considering how power dynamics, expectations and psychological safety influence participation and learning. You will leave this course with practical strategies for designing and facilitating group supervision sessions, reflective handouts that can be used directly within your own group supervision contexts, and an Informed Consent Form template that can be adapted for group supervision settings. In today’s demanding clinical landscape, effective group supervision is more than a support tool – it is a vital practice for sustaining ethical, reflective and resilient helping professionals. - [Course 0623: Secure Functioning in Action: Using Neuroscience and Attachment through the PACT Method for Advanced, Experiential Couples Therapy](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7451897): Hours: 12 This two-day Professional Development course offers an experiential and theoretical introduction to the Psychobiological Approach to Couple Therapy (PACT), developed by Dr. Stan Tatkin. PACT integrates cutting-edge neuroscience, attachment theory and arousal regulation to help couples build secure-functioning relationships. Through lecture, discussion, clinical vignettes and practice-based activities, participants will explore key concepts of the PACT framework, including the two-person psychological system, moment-to-moment tracking, threat response cycles, and secure-functioning principles. This course is ideal for mental health professionals interested in attachment-based and somatic models of couple therapy and will provide both foundational knowledge and practical skills to integrate into existing clinical work. By the end of this course, participants will be able to: Describe the three domains of the PACT framework Attachment arousal regulation neurobiology Define "secure-functioning" and differentiate it from codependence, enmeshment, and insecure relating. Identify markers of threat response and misattunement in couple interactions. Use basic PACT techniques such as cross-tracking, staging, and using the therapist’s body as an instrument. Begin to conceptualize couples as a two-person psychological system. Apply select interventions to increase safety, repair ruptures, and improve emotional synchrony in sessions. - [Course 0628: Women, Criminalization and Mental Health](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7531925): Hours: 6 This participatory workshop will explore the impact of various forms of inequities and violence on the criminalization and imprisonment of women and mental health. It will be facilitated by a social work professor and trauma therapist who has worked in women’s prisons and by a social worker with lived experience of incarceration. Topics will include: Supporting criminalized women from a feminist abolitionist framework for mental health. Understanding imprisonment through a trauma-informed lens. Connections between childhood sexual abuse, gender violence, racism, colonialism and other forms of trauma and imprisonment. Issues of trust, confidentiality and re-traumatization. Creating community supports post-imprisonment. Meaningful involvement of people with lived experience in mental health supports. This workshop is conducted using collaborative adult learning practices to foster integrative and collective learning. It is hoped that participants will come prepared to engage in discussion and activities. - [Course 0645: Culturally Safe and Trauma-Informed Practice in Diverse Communities](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7802440): Hours: 12 This interactive workshop offers a blend of foundational knowledge and practical, real-world strategies to support culturally safe, trauma-informed care across diverse settings. Grounded in a human-centered and relational approach, the training focuses on building meaningful connection, responsiveness and trust in therapeutic and helping relationships. Participants will explore how cultural humility deepens engagement, while gaining a stronger understanding of how historical, systemic and migration-related experiences shape mental health and help-seeking for Indigenous, immigrant, newcomer and BIPOC communities. The workshop emphasizes moving beyond theory into practice, supporting participants to reflect on their own roles, identities and approaches within their work. Learning is brought to life through a mix of large and small group discussions, reflective activities and real-life case examples. Facilitators integrate both professional and lived experiences to support practical skill-building and meaningful application. By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to: Differentiate between cultural humility and cultural competence, and apply these concepts in everyday practice.  Understand trauma through systemic, historical and migration-related lenses, and how this impacts engagement and care.  Recognize how trauma may be expressed differently across cultures, including somatic experiences, silence, anger and mistrust.  Strengthen engagement by reframing behaviours (e.g. “resistance”) through a trauma-informed and culturally responsive lens.  Apply practical language shifts and relational strategies that foster safety, trust and connection.  Integrate culturally responsive, real-world tools and approaches into their work with diverse populations.  Reflect on their own identities, assumptions and positioning within helping relationships.     - [Course 0647: What Now? The International Olympic Committee, Tokyo 2020, and COVID-19](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7881306): In early 2020, the onset of COVID-19 posed a challenge for International Olympic Committee officials and Japanese organizers tasked to deliver the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.  While the managing parties thought it was possible to proceed on schedule in February and early March, the realities of the ravages of COVID-19 soon sunk in, while athletes decried their training circumstances and ability to prepare and perform in July and August, and voiced concern for their personal health and the risks entailed in a mass gathering.  Dr. Wenn will detail the path to postponement and the efforts required to ramp up for the Games in 2021, while also charting the fascinating Tokyo 2020 journey of Canada's gold medal-decathlete, Damian Warner.  Instructor Stephen Wenn is in his 33rd year as a member of Laurier's Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education having also served terms as its Chair and Undergraduate Advisor.  He obtained his BA (1982) and MA (1986) degrees at Western University, and then completed his PhD (1993) in Exercise and Sport Science at the Pennsylvania State University while focusing on the IOC's embrace of commercial revenue from the television industry.  Stephen is a co- or lead author of four books on Olympic history: A Games Changer: The International Olympic Committee, Tokyo 2020, and COVID-19 (2025); The Gold in the Rings: The People and Events that Transformed the Olympic Games (2020); Tarnished Rings: The International Olympic Committee and the Salt Lake City Bid Scandal (2011, rev.ed. 2022); and, Selling the Five Rings: The International Olympic Committee and the Rise of Olympic Commercialism (2002, rev.ed., 2004).  He is a past-President of the North American Society for Sport History (2007-2009).  Recently, Stephen entered the world of podcasting in an attempt to make sense of his lifelong dedication to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Location Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex,  Community Pavilion  (101 Father David Bauer Drive, Waterloo, ON) Parking is free. Download the facility  map  (PDF) to find facilities and parking lots. - [Course 0648: Dark History: True Stories of Grave Robbery and Murder in the Nineteenth Century](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7881308): This lecture will explore how and why bodysnatching became such a phenomenon that Victorians policed their graveyards and kept watch over dead bodies. Starting with the “Murder Act” of 1753, exploring the underside of the Victorian medical body trade, and concluding with the infamous Burke and Hare serial killers, when grave robbing shifted to actual murders. Instructor Amy Milne-Smith is Associate Professor of History at Laurier. Location Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex,  Community Pavilion  (101 Father David Bauer Drive, Waterloo, ON) Parking is free. Download the facility  map  (PDF) to find facilities and parking lots. - [Course 0649: Vintage Fashion: A Walk Down Memory Lane](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7881864): Please join us for an afternoon filled with fashion and the stories they carry. Enjoy this feast for the eyes and ears as we journey back in time through a curated collection of pieces from the late 19th century to present day. Discover how fashion trends repeat themselves and how they are a reflection of the times.  Instructor Always interested in the art of ‘dressing up’, Rachel Kaufman Behling opened Auburn Vintage Clothiers in 2014.  A degree in English Literature from the University of Guelph led her into the world of theatre which is where she has been involved for more than 20 years as actor, producer, director, playwright and wardrobe. Rachel sits on the board of the Fashion History Museum and the Grand Philharmonic Choir.  Location Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex,  Community Pavilion  (101 Father David Bauer Drive, Waterloo, ON) Parking is free. Download the facility  map  (PDF) to find facilities and parking lots. - [Course 0650: James Freer: Canada’s First Filmmaker and Immigration Pioneer](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7881866): Have you ever heard of a Manitoba farmer named James Freer? You're not alone; most people haven't. This lecture will shine a light on this little-known hero in Canadian history. He is not only "Canada's first filmmaker", but he single-handedly was responsible for stimulation a wave of immigration that saw millions from the UK and 750,000 from Ukraine come to Canada at the turn of the 20th Century. He also introduced film as a communications tool for governments creating an early model for the National Film Board of Canada and for other governments around the world. He did all this while bailing hay and raising eight children. Instructor Mark Terry, PhD, is a Faculty member of the Department of English and Film at Wilfrid Laurier University. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, and the Explorers Club. His innovative work in film has been recognized by Queen Elizabeth II with her Diamond Jubilee Medal; by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television with their Humanitarian Award; and by the Explorers Club with their highest honour, the Stefansson Medal. Location Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex,  Community Pavilion  (101 Father David Bauer Drive, Waterloo, ON) Parking is free. Download the facility  map  (PDF) to find facilities and parking lots. - [Course 0651: Relief on the Hoof: Animals and Postwar Humanitarian Aid](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7881868): In the immediate aftermath of World War II, the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) shipped thousands of horses and cattle from the United States to Europe as humanitarian aid for countries devastated by Nazi occupation; Poland received more animals than any other country. The animals were cared for on their trans-Atlantic voyages by men recruited by the Church of the Brethren. Known as "seagoing cowboys", they ensured the safe delivery of livestock that would help stimulate agricultural recovery and relieve hunger. This lecture will explore the many overlapping aspects of this little-known history, revealing how the animal aid shaped postwar reconstruction and reflected emerging Cold War tensions. Instructor   Eva Plach is Associate Professor of History at Wilfrid Laurier University and chair of the History Department.  A specialist in the history of Poland, she teaches courses in modern European history and the history of the Holocaust and leads field courses to Poland that explore memory, trauma, and the legacies of World War II. Her research weaves social, cultural, and political histories to examine how ordinary people and institutions responded to crisis . Location Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex,  Community Pavilion  (101 Father David Bauer Drive, Waterloo, ON) Parking is free. Download the facility  map  (PDF) to find facilities and parking lots. - [Course 0652: The Witch Craze](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7881870): From the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries, Europe was the scene of an extraordinary and unique historical phenomenon: the Witch Craze. In massive hunts and trials, state and religious authorities prosecuted and executed thousands of people, most of them women, for witchcraft. In this talk, you will learn who the witches were, why and how they were hunted, and what happened during a witch trial. Instructor Darryl Dee is an Associate Professor of History at Wilfrid Laurier University. He is a specialist on the history of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe. Location Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex,  Community Pavilion  (101 Father David Bauer Drive, Waterloo, ON) Parking is free. Download the facility  map  (PDF) to find facilities and parking lots. - [Course 0653: The Art of Protest in Germany](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7881872): Artist activism might well be as old as art itself. Artists observe and often critique what they don’t like about the societies in which they live, and the distance from critique to protest can be quite short. This presentation will take a closer look at present-day Germany where artists have felt compelled to use their art, and their positions as artists, to resist an anti-democratic shift in the country’s political culture. After briefly exploring the influence of art on the development of a national memory culture after the Third Reich, our attention will turn to more recent artist activism addressing the rise of anti-immigrant sentiment, the surge in popularity of the nationalist Alternative für Deutschland (= Alternative for Germany) party, and the controversy surrounding Germany’s support for Israel in its war against Hamas. Specific artistic interventions in the public discourse on Germany’s democratic stability will be examined with a view to answering a key question: does artist activism provide an effective defense of German democracy? Instructor  Prof. James Skidmore is the Chair of the Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies and Director of the Waterloo Centre for German Studies, a privately endowed research institute at the University of Waterloo. He always enjoys sharing his ideas with Laurier Lifelong Learners. Location Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex,  Community Pavilion  (101 Father David Bauer Drive, Waterloo, ON) Parking is free. Download the facility  map  (PDF) to find facilities and parking lots. - [Course 0654: That Lonesome Sound: Country Music’s Roots & Shoots](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7881874): This lecture will unpack country music’s roots in blues and folk, and trace its musical branches that span across the 20th and 21st centuries. These include whole new genres (bluegrass, rockabilly), subgenres (string band, honky-tonk), hybrids (Western swing, folk-rock), reactionary movements (Outlaw country, alt-country), neo-traditionist movements (old-time, Americana), and cross-overs (Dolly Parton, Shania Twain, Taylor Swift). We will also consider production aesthetics like the Nashville Sound, and country’s influence on instruments like the steel guitar. Instructor  Brent Hagerman teaches “Guitars, Hooks and Beats: Music since 1950” in the Faculty of Music, performs on guitar and mandolin in bands ranging from Irish Trad (Mighty Kin) to bluegrass (The Never Willbillies), and firmly agrees with that great 20th century philosopher, Bruce Springsteen, that “you can change someone’s life in three minutes with the right song.” Location Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex,  Community Pavilion  (101 Father David Bauer Drive, Waterloo, ON) Parking is free. Download the facility  map  (PDF) to find facilities and parking lots. - [Course 0655: Trivial Pastime or the Key to a Meaningful Life? Why Playing Games Can Help You Live Well](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=7881876): Scrabble, Chess, Euchre, hockey, baseball, World of Warcraft, escape rooms… What do these activities all have in common? Well, we refer to all of them as games. But what is it that makes them games as opposed to other activities such as doing our taxes or building a fence for the backyard? In other words, can we give a definition that covers all the different activities that we refer to when use the word game? The late Bernard Suits, who taught philosophy at the University of Waterloo from 1966 to 1994, proposed an influential definition of games in his book The Grasshopper: Games, Life, and Utopia. He also provided arguments for why games are an important part of what philosophers from Aristotle to the present day have called “the good life.” His book, as well as his other writings on games and sports have given rise to a multitude of responses. Philosophers of games, philosophers of sport, and others who study games have proposed alternative accounts both of what games are and what their value is. In this lecture we examine the question of what makes an activity a game and will look at what Suits and other philosophers have said about the value of games. All the philosophers we will discuss believe that games are good for us, but they disagree about how games make our lives better. Based on their work, I will offer up some reasons for why playing games helps us to live well. Instructor Dr. Gary Foster is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Wilfrid Laurier. He is the author of Alienation and Identity in Romantic Love (Lexington Books, 2024) and editor of Desire, Love, and Identity: Philosophy of Sex and Love (Oxford University Press, 2017). Additionally, he has published numerous articles in scholarly journals dealing with the relationship between love and personal identity. Recently, he has switched his research (and teaching) focus to the philosophy of sport and games. His 2024 article “VAR and Flow in Soccer (Football): Changes to the Fan Experience,” was published in the journal Sport, Ethics and Philosophy. Location Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex,  Community Pavilion  (101 Father David Bauer Drive, Waterloo, ON) Parking is free. Download the facility  map  (PDF) to find facilities and parking lots.   - [Course 0658: Faculty of Social Work -- Celebrating 60 Years of Impact: Monthly Lecture Series](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=8043767): Celebrating 60 Years of Impact In 2026, the Faculty of Social Work proudly celebrates its 60th anniversary, a milestone that reflects six decades of leadership, learning and unwavering commitment to social justice. To honor this legacy, the Professional Development Office is excited to present a free monthly lecture series throughout the year. This series will feature practitioners, Social Work instructors and community partners -- many of whom are alumni -- sharing insights on current issues, innovations in practice and the evolving landscape of clinical practice. These sessions are designed to inspire, inform and connect our community, whether you’re a student, graduate, professional in the field or community member. All lectures are free and will be held live through Zoom. Please note that sessions will not be recorded or made available for later viewing. There will be a maximum of 300 spots for each lecture. Join us as we celebrate 60 years of excellence and look ahead to the next chapter of transformative social work practice. Check back often for new topics and confirmed dates. We can't wait to celebrate with you. The Lectures August 25 -- The Therapeutic Kitchen: Reimagining Community Mental Health Through Social Work Practice September 25  -- Supporting Individuals Ineligible or Not Ready for MAiD: Finding Meaning When Choice is Constrained October 20  -- Enhancing Social Cohesion and Preventing Violent Extremism: A Social Work Framework November 27  -- Enhancing Social Cohesion and Preventing Violent Extremism: A Social Work Framework December 14  -- An Exploration of the Upstream Funding Model and its’ Impacts on the Lives of Equity-Seeking Populations in the Region of Waterloo: A Case Study for Health and Social Service Working Professionals - [Course 0660: Outside the Playroom: Working With Parents of Children in Therapy](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=8284560): Hours: 12 Outside the Playroom: Working With Parents of Children in Therapy is a two-day, in-depth training designed for child and family clinicians who want to strengthen their work with parents as a core driver of therapeutic change. Grounded in attachment theory, family systems, developmental neuroscience and behavioural science, this course moves beyond child-only interventions to focus on assessment, psychoeducation, co-regulation and practical parent coaching strategies. Participants will learn how to assess family dynamics, help parents better understand their child’s behaviour and emotional needs, regulate parents first to support co-regulation, and align caregivers around a shared parenting approach. The training offers concrete tools for proactive and reactive parenting strategies, supporting anxiety, navigating power struggles, setting effective limits and working ethically and confidently with separated or high-conflict families. Through case examples, scripts and hands-on tools, clinicians will leave with a clear framework for integrating parent work into child therapy in a way that is compassionate, structured and clinically effective. - [Course 0662: Someone Nicked my Tune: Stories of songs that sounded a bit too familiar, and how AI may change the songwriting game forever](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=8428890): From a time in the early 60s when radio from the North Sea broadcasted new sounds from North America to a British public hungry to step out of a black and white and into a technicolour world, repurposing of melodic, rhythmic and lyrical ideas has become more and more commonplace. It begs the question(s): Who owns a melody? Can a drumbeat be copyrighted? This lecture dives deep into the stories behind songs that may have borrowed too much, how popular music’s tendency to ‘nick’ has evolved with the technology involved in its creation, and how the rise of artificial intelligence may blur the lines to a point where it’s impossible to decipher human creations from mashups of the works of recorded history.  Instructor A self-identified music fanatic, Stuart Reed caught the bug around the time that Nirvana took over top spot from Michael Jackson in the charts in the early nineties.  A guitarist from 13, a drummer three years later, he is hardly a professional but rarely strays far from an instrument or a turntable.  In 2022, he co-authored (alongside music industry veteran Jackie Dean) a 4 course certificate program ‘Navigating the Music Industry Ecosystem’ at Laurier’s Faculty of Music, focusing on subjects such as copyrights, licensing, record deals, business planning and diversification.  He is lead instructor on these courses, as well as currently adapting them for a non-credit cohort.  Location Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex,  Community Pavilion  (101 Father David Bauer Drive, Waterloo, ON) Parking is free. Download the facility  map  (PDF) to find facilities and parking lots. - [Course 0663: When I was a kid, I thought quicksand was going to be a bigger problem than it is: How Popular Culture Shapes Our Fears About Risk](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=8428893): Many of us first learn about risks not through direct experience, but through what sociologist Ulrich Beck called “second-hand non-experience.” In other words, most of what we know about risks—whether nuclear war, pandemics, or new technologies—comes from news, film, television, books, and, today, social media. Communication scholars describe this as the mediation of risk: stories about danger are filtered through familiar narratives and repeated storylines. The way these stories are framed shapes how we interpret them and how seriously we take them. Media can even “pre-mediate” our expectations, priming us to anticipate certain threats and amplifying our fears. In this talk, I will focus on how popular stories both reflect and help create what cultural theorists call a “structure of feeling”: the shared mood or emotional atmosphere of a particular period. Looking back to the mid-20th century and moving forward to today, popular culture provides an archive of these changing emotional climates. For example, alien invasion films echoed of the 1950s and 60s reflected then-new Cold War fears. Disaster movies and strange phenomena books popular in the 1970s captured anxieties about environmental and technological breakdown. More recent popular culture reflects shifting concerns about climate change, pandemics, geopolitics, societal breakdown, and artificial intelligence, among other concerns. By examining popular cultural texts, my talk will illustrate the ways we can better understand how media shape our sense of what is risky—and why certain dangers feel especially urgent at particular moments in time. Instructor Dr. Penelope Ironstone is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, where she teaches and conducts research on risk communication, health and science communication, and the cultural dimensions of how societies understand and respond to hazards. Her academic work draws on cultural studies and media analysis to explore how pandemics, scientific knowledge, public health messaging, misinformation, and other risk-related narratives circulate through popular media and public discourse. Her research includes culturally grounded examinations of popular understandings of microbes —from influenza to COVID-19 to the human microbiome—and investigations into how media and cultural texts shape public perceptions of risk and uncertainty. A past recipient of the Laurier Award for Teaching Excellence, Dr. Ironstone offers courses that engage students with the production and interpretation of risk communication across historical and contemporary contexts, helping them critically assess how media and culture frame what we understand as danger and safety. Location Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex,  Community Pavilion  (101 Father David Bauer Drive, Waterloo, ON) Parking is free. Download the facility  map  (PDF) to find facilities and parking lots. - [Course 0664: Talking About Death Won’t Kill Us: Compassion, Connection, and Community](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=8428895): This lecture invites a gentle conversation about death, grief, and loss, and how compassionate communities can help us support one another. We’ll explore the value of talking openly, reducing isolation, and strengthening connection - no pressure to share, just a welcoming space to listen and reflect. Instructor Dr. Cara Grosset is a Registered Social Worker and a Fellow in Thanatology. Cara is a Lecturer in the Faculty of Social Work at Wilfrid Laurier University, and in the Thanatology and Disability Studies programs at King’s University College, Western University. Cara works in private practice where she supports grieving individuals and families of all ages and abilities. Location Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex,  Community Pavilion  (101 Father David Bauer Drive, Waterloo, ON) Parking is free. Download the facility  map  (PDF) to find facilities and parking lots. - [Course 0665: Is it time to regulate social media? What does the empirical evidence show and what are the policy challenges?](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=8428903): Social media shapes how we receive news, form political opinions, and interact with one another, yet there is little consensus on whether, or how, it should be regulated. This lecture examines empirical evidence on social media's effects on polarization, mental health, and public opinion, drawing on recent interdisciplinary research from economics, political science, and behavioral science. Central to the debate is whether researchers can identify causal effects of social media on behaviour and beliefs, or whether the existing evidence remains correlational and therefore open to competing interpretations. The lecture reviews how researchers attempt to establish causality and what their findings imply for public policy. It also considers the practical challenges governments face when considering social media regulation, including trade-offs between free expression and harm reduction, the limits of existing policy tools, and the potential unintended consequences of policy interventions. Instructor Juan S. Morales is an Associate Professor of Economics at the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University. He is an applied micro-economist working in the fields of political economy and development economics, with particular research interests in media, conflict, political communication, and legislative behaviour. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Toronto and a BCS (Computer Science) from the University of Waterloo. Location Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex,  Community Pavilion  (101 Father David Bauer Drive, Waterloo, ON) Parking is free. Download the facility  map  (PDF) to find facilities and parking lots. - [Course 0666: Why can't they keep their 'darn' promises? Politicians, Elections and Campaign Platforms.](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=8429011): Elections in Canada, federally and provincially, are often defined by bold campaign promises. Yet once in office, governments frequently struggle to deliver on them. Why does this happen? Have voters been intentionally misled, or is campaigning and governing more complicated than it appears? In this talk, former politician and political advisor John Milloy examines the realities of both election campaigns and governing, explaining why turning promises into policy is so difficult—and why governments sometimes fail to keep their “darn” promises. Instructor John Milloy is the Director of the Centre for Public Ethics and Assistant Professor of Public Ethics at Martin Luther University College.  He is also the inaugural Practitioner in Residence in Wilfrid Laurier’s Political Science Department. From 2003 to 2014, John served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for the riding of Kitchener Centre, holding several cabinet portfolios. John’s political experience extends to the federal scene where he worked for several senior Cabinet Ministers in the mid-90s, as well as spending five years in the office of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. Location Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex,  Community Pavilion  (101 Father David Bauer Drive, Waterloo, ON) Parking is free. Download the facility  map  (PDF) to find facilities and parking lots.   - [Course 0667: Why is it radical to co-exist with nonhumans? And what could a more-than-human future look like?](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=8429018): Urbanization and modern lifestyles have dramatically reduced human contact with nonhuman life, contributing to what scholars describe as an “extinction of experience” and a decline in environmental connection. This lecture will explore the reasons for this decline, and how designs for more-than-human futures could help to facilitate healthier relationships with nonhumans. Visual art, design and speculative methods will help to illustrate future scenarios for radical co-existence and sustainability.  Instructor Dr. Lauren Judge is an Assistant Professor in the department of Geography and Environmental Studies and an interdisciplinary artist. She uses arts-based methods to investigate Canadian landscapes and more-than-human futures.  Location Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex,  Community Pavilion  (101 Father David Bauer Drive, Waterloo, ON) Parking is free. Download the facility  map  (PDF) to find facilities and parking lots. - [Course 0668: What Canada Ate: Preserving and Teaching Canadian Culinary History](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=8429027): Canada's culinary history is an amalgam of ingredients, flavours, and traditions representing the nation's diverse population. What Canadians have eaten throughout time can tell us a great deal about politics, economics, religion, society, and culture. This presentation will explore how  the vast cookbook collection stored at the University of Guelph's Archival & Special Collections is being used by librarians, historians, and researchers as an innovative way to study Canada's vast history through the lens of food. Instructor Rebecca Beausaert is the Francis and Ruth Redelmeier Professor in Rural History at the University of Guelph. Her research explores food, agriculture, gender, and leisure in rural and small-town Ontario in the 19th and 20th centuries.  Ashley Shifflett McBrayne is the Rare Book Librarian at the University of Guelph's McLaughlin Library. She has worked with and catalogued cookbooks for over 10 years.  Location Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex,  Community Pavilion  (101 Father David Bauer Drive, Waterloo, ON) Parking is free. Download the facility  map  (PDF) to find facilities and parking lots. - [Course 0669: The Politics of Patience and Impatience](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=8429030): “Wait! Not so fast!” In our day-to-day lives there are many situations that call for patience – waiting for someone else to go first, moving more slowly, or enduring difficult circumstances. Patience is often regarded as a virtue.  But sometimes there’s a voice saying, “Come on! Get moving!” Whether the context is with work colleagues or family members or perfect strangers, the message becomes, “Be more productive!” or “Drive faster!” or “Stop lollygagging!”  Although this presentation will introduce some personal and everyday examples when we are called upon to be patient or impatient, the deeper goal is to make a connection with current political, social, and ecological issues. Within larger world issues, we show up with our individual personalities – perhaps more patient, perhaps more impatient – but we also cultivate patience and impatience as communities, even as nations.  On the one hand, the politics of patience means taking the long view and sometimes trusting in the power of social movements that are steadily chipping away, chipping away, chipping away toward a better world. On the other hand, the politics of impatience means getting appropriately worked up, getting exasperated, and hurrying to change the world for the better.  Therefore our leaders call out, “What do we want?” Millions of us answer: “Democracy! Peace! Ecological health!” The leader calls out again: “When do we want it?” And we reply: “Sometime next year!” Wait – is this one of those times when we must become much, much more impatient? Come to this presentation if you can’t wait to find out the answer. Instructor Matthew Bailey-Dick worked as an educator in both academic and non-academic settings, as a pastor in three Mennonite churches, and as a hospice volunteer. In his graduate studies Matthew looked into the connections between adult education, death education, and hope. Location Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex,  Community Pavilion  (101 Father David Bauer Drive, Waterloo, ON) Parking is free. Download the facility  map  (PDF) to find facilities and parking lots. - [Course 0670: From Concert Etiquette to Music Historiography: Assessing Beethoven’s Legacy](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=8429032): Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) looms large in narratives of Western music history. Typically viewed as a “transitional figure” between the Classical and Romantic eras, he was among the first composers to work in a freelance capacity, rather than relying primarily on a wealthy aristocratic patron or the church for his livelihood. Beethoven was also unprecedented in his historical self-consciousness, as expressed by Laura Tunbridge: “Beethoven and his contemporaries self-consciously cultivated an image of the composer for posterity, demonstrating a new awareness that as his music circulated more widely and was played and discussed with greater skill, his name might last beyond their lifetimes” (Tunbridge, 2020). This lecture aims to show that many aspects of the Western art music tradition that are routinely taken for granted actually stem from Beethoven and the cultural moment that he occupied, whether it be concert etiquette requiring audiences to sit in reverent silence at music performances or perceptions of musical composition as a protracted process necessitating great effort and deliberation. Outlining Beethoven’s three “creative” periods, the lecture will discuss the tendency in post-Beethovenian music historiography to prioritize innovation over an adherence to convention. It will also show how the case of Beethoven has often made listeners assume that a deep connection exists between a composer’s personal life and art. Looking briefly at some of the aesthetic trends that came after Beethoven, the lecture will conclude by considering the long shadow that he cast over the nineteenth century. Students will hopefully come away with a deeper understanding of Beethoven’s legacy and a fuller appreciation of the ways in which he has shaped how we think about art music today. Instructor Eva Branda holds a Ph.D. in musicology from the University of Toronto and teaches music history courses at Wilfrid Laurier University. With special attention to Dvořák, her research focuses primarily on issues of reception and genre in the late nineteenth century. Her work has appeared in the Journal of the Royal Musical Association, Music & Letters, Cambridge Opera Journal, Nineteenth-Century Music Review, and Acta Musicologica. She also has a chapter on Dvořák’s “Dumky” Trio in Chamber Music in Europe: 1850–1918 and a chapter on the nineteenth-century Czech symphonic tradition in the recently published book A History of Music in the Czech Lands. Eva will be contributing to the forthcoming Cambridge Companion to Antonín Dvořák. Location Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex,  Community Pavilion  (101 Father David Bauer Drive, Waterloo, ON) Parking is free. Download the facility  map  (PDF) to find facilities and parking lots. - [Course 0671: The Grim End of the Pacific War: Revisiting Battlefield Touring of Okinawa, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=8429034): While grim, 1945 was also a fascinating year in which we saw the war in the Pacific / Asia draw to a close and coming to an end quicker than some would have thought just a few years earlier. Why did the war in Asia end when it did? In this talk, Dr. Cyr discusses the Battle of Okinawa and the deployment of atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, plus other intersecting events like the Battle of Iwo Jima, the Red Army's invasion of Manchuria, and the release of CIA signal intelligence findings from the era, to help us understand why WWII in Asia drew to a rapid close in the late summer of 1945. Covering critical historical sources, debates within the study of history, and Dr. Cyr's own battlefield touring pictures from 2006, let's revisit the end of the war--and memories of the war--decades later to help our understanding of the dour yet seismic year that was 1945. Instructor Dr. Dylan A. Cyr obtained his Ph.D. in History from Western University in 2009, and since then has been instructing in university classrooms across Southern Ontario. Centered mostly at UW and WLU, Dr. Cyr specializes in a wide array of topics that largely boil down to geopolitics, environmental history, and, more recently, popular culture. His 2013 publication in Water History helped to innovate environmental and medical military history with four major conference presentations (including for The American Society of Environmental Historians and the Association of American Geographers) disseminating the findings that environmental factors did play major roles in the soldier experience and conduct of the Pacific War. Recently, Dr. Cyr has overhauled HI249: Second World War in Asia for Laurier's History Department and, as such, has been revisiting his original research on WWII. Dylan lives in Waterloo with his wife and daughter; has been researching pop culture of the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s; and is a fan of film, music, hiking, swimming, and Lego. Location Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex,  Community Pavilion  (101 Father David Bauer Drive, Waterloo, ON) Parking is free. Download the facility  map  (PDF) to find facilities and parking lots. - [Course 0679: Grant Writing for Nonprofits: How to find, prepare, and write successful grants](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=9096396): Start date: January, May and September each year Delivery: Online, asynchronous Duration: Approximately 6 hours Time to complete: 8 weeks Language: English Who: Open Assessments: Quizzes and a final written assignment Fee: $249 Certificate of completion: Yes - [Course 0680: Advanced Solution-Focused Brief Therapy: Deepening Practice and Expanding Possibilities](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=9324452): Hours: 12 This two-day advanced workshop is designed for practitioners who already have a foundation in solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) and are ready to refine and elevate their skills. Participants will deepen their understanding of core SFBT principles while exploring nuanced applications in complex clinical situations. Through live demonstrations, practice exercises and reflective discussions, attendees will strengthen their ability to facilitate meaningful, client-driven change with precision and confidence. Emphasis will be placed on advanced questioning techniques, micro-skills including micro-analysis, working with stuck cases and maintaining a collaborative, future-focused stance in diverse practice settings.   Participants will: Gain a deeper understanding of the philosophy of SFBT and how to go deep while staying on the surface. Understand how to engage in the co-construction process with clients and the art of ‘listen, select, build’. Develop micro-skills such as micro-listening, micro-slicing of questions and the importance of using client’s language. Sharpen their clinical precision when engaging in co-construction with clients. Master fluidity and go beyond ‘technique’ with the five main interventions. Learn how to stay solution-focused and avoid becoming solution-forced with complex or ‘stuck’ cases. Learn when and how to integrate other approached with SFBT. Participate in live practice, micro-analysis and feedback. - [Course 0681: Context Matters: ACT for Racialized and Marginalized Populations](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=9348274): Hours: 12 Clinicians are increasingly encountering: Race-based traumatic stress. Identity-based shame and internalized oppression. Chronic vigilance and exposure to systemic threat. Institutional betrayal and moral injury. Burnout among both clients and practitioners from marginalized communities. Although ACT has a strong empirical base across anxiety, depression, trauma and chronic stress populations, there is a clear gap in formal training on how to apply ACT processes responsibly and effectively within the context of racial trauma and systemic inequity. This course addresses that gap through a process-based, evidence-informed and clinically grounded approach. It integrates contemporary racial trauma literature with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, with a particular emphasis on Prosocial ACT and contextual behavioral science. Learning Outcomes By the end of this training participants will be able to: Conceptualize racial trauma using functional contextualism and psychological flexibility science. Differentiate acceptance from accommodation of injustice. Apply ACT processes to identity-based shame and internalized oppression. Integrate compassion and dignity-based interventions. Utilize Prosocial ACT to address relational and systemic dynamics. Develop case formulations and intervention plans specific to racial trauma presentations. Implement structured, immediately applicable ACT interventions in clinical practice. Course Structure The course progresses from theoretical foundations to advanced process-based case formulation to applied clinical strategy. Experiential exercises, case consultation and structured implementation planning are embedded throughout both days to ensure integration of learning. Participants will leave with: A clear ACT-based framework for racial trauma. Structured case formulation templates. Adapted ACT exercises specific to racial trauma and identity-based stress, including defusion and compassion strategies. Clinical language for addressing race and systemic factors explicitly in session. Micro-intervention strategies for rupture, activation, and shame. Ethical guidance for acceptance work in contexts of oppression. Case-based implementation plans and structured clinical decision-making tools for immediate use. Participants will gain both conceptual depth and practical strategies that can be applied immediately in a variety of practice settings. - [Course 0682: Trauma, Attachment and Relational Work with Clients](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=9348933): Hours : 12 Join us in this online Professional Development course as we explore the latest research and clinical applications in attachment, trauma and interpersonal neurobiology, emphasizing an integrative understanding and approach to working with clients in need of relational healing. We recognize the critical role that healthy attachment and relationships play as protective factors, and conversely, the deep impact on clients who struggle with relational capacity due to unresolved trauma.  In this course, we will examine attachment through a trauma lens and introduce participants to the following key areas: The impact of trauma on attachment formation and relational functioning. The neuroscience of attachment, trauma and the nervous system. How attachment styles and nervous system states interact (hyperarousal, hyperarousal and window of tolerance). Internal working models, schemas and implicit memories. Regulation through relationship and attunement (co-regulation). Clinical strategies for relational healing, including memory reconsolidation. Throughout this six-week course you will learn how to utilize the therapeutic relationship to help clients experience relational safety, where the client’s nervous system can begin to recognize and internalize cues of safety, connection and trust. You’ll explore how to integrate these insights into your existing therapeutic approach, enhancing your ability to foster healing in clients with complex relational trauma. - [Course 0684: Intimacy Under Pressure: Supporting Couple Connection Through Infertility and Reproductive Loss](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=9405230): Hours: 12 Infertility and reproductive loss are not only individual experiences, but deeply relational ones that can profoundly impact couple connection, communication and intimacy. While some couples report feeling strengthened by navigating fertility challenges together, many experience increased conflict, emotional disconnection, differences in coping styles and strain on both emotional and physical intimacy. The cumulative stress of treatment cycles, complex decisions, financial pressures and grief can leave couples feeling isolated from one another at the very time connection is most needed. Mental health practitioners working with couples must be equipped to understand both the medical and psychosocial contexts of infertility and loss, as well as the unique ways these experiences manifest within relational dynamics. This course focuses on strengthening clinicians’ ability to support individuals and couples in maintaining and rebuilding connection under the pressure of infertility and reproductive loss. Drawing on evidence-based approaches, participants will develop practical tools to help clients navigate emotional, relational and sexual challenges. Throughout this two-day course participants will: Gain a foundational understanding of infertility, reproductive loss and assisted human reproductive technologies. Better understand how infertility, reproductive loss and fertility treatments impact couple dynamics, including communication patterns, emotional regulation and attachment needs. Explore common relational challenges, including mismatched coping styles, differences in treatment decision-making and experiences of blame, resentment and withdrawal. Develop skills to support couples in navigating difficult and emotionally charged conversations related to fertility, loss and family-building decisions. Learn strategies to address changes in sexual intimacy, including performance pressure, avoidance and the medicalization of sex. Apply evidence-based interventions to foster connection, empathy and mutual understanding between partners. Identify ways to support couples in rebuilding trust and connection following reproductive loss or unsuccessful treatment. Strengthen confidence in working with diverse couples, including 2SLGBTQ+ partners and those navigating third-party reproduction or complex family-building pathways. Explore the clinician’s role in balancing individual and relational needs within couple work in the context of fertility challenges. And more! This course will be of interest to mental health professionals, nurses and other clinicians working with individuals and couples who are navigating infertility, reproductive loss and family-building. It is particularly relevant for those seeking to deepen their skills in couple therapy within a reproductive mental health context. Although it is recommended that participants have already completed An Introduction to Counselling for Infertility, Loss and Assisted Reproductive Technologies prior to registering for this course, this course will include a brief overview of key concepts, terminology and treatment pathways to support learners who are newer to this area. Note: This course provides specialized knowledge in supporting couples through infertility and reproductive loss but does not in itself qualify participants to work as fertility counselling specialists or to conduct third-party assessments for gamete donation or surrogacy. - [Course 0685: From Survival to Connection: Introduction to Attachment-Based Interventions for Children and Families](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=9408636): Hours: 12 This two-day professional development course provides therapists with a practical and relationally grounded understanding and integration of attachment and its impact on emotional development, behaviour, identity, nervous system regulation and family relationships across childhood. Grounded in attachment theory, interpersonal neurobiology, developmental psychology and trauma-informed practice, this training helps clinicians move beyond behaviour-focused approaches toward deeper understanding of the relational and emotional needs underlying children’s struggles. Participants will explore: How early caregiving experiences shape emotional regulation, identity and relationships.  The impact of trauma, loss, inconsistency and relational stress on children and families. Understanding behaviour as communication and adaptation. The role of co-regulation, safety and attunement in healing. Strengthening caregiver-child relationships as a central therapeutic goal. The course will provide practical tools and interventions for working with: emotional dysregulation.  anxiety and shutdown.  aggression and oppositional behaviour.  perfectionism and shame.  school refusal and social withdrawal.  attachment insecurity.  family conflict and disconnection.  Participants will learn how to: Recognize attachment needs beneath behaviours. Build emotional safety and trust with children. Support caregivers in responding with greater attunement and regulation. Use the therapeutic relationship as a corrective relational experience. Facilitate connection, emotional expression and relational repair within families. Work in developmentally sensitive and trauma-informed ways. Through experiential exercises, case examples, role plays, reflective practice and clinical discussion, therapists will deepen both their conceptual understanding and practical application of attachment-focused interventions. This course is ideal for: psychotherapists  social workers  psychologists  child and youth workers  school-based clinicians  family therapists  mental health professionals working with children and caregivers  Participants will leave with greater confidence, clarity and practical skills for helping children and families move from protection and disconnection toward safety, connection and secure relationships. - [Course 0686: Navigating the Weight: Secondary Traumatic Stress, Compassion Fatigue and Moral Injury in Practice](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=9409992): Hours: 12 The helping profession carries a profound, cumulative emotional and psychological weight. This interactive workshop is designed to help navigate the complex realities of those roles and empower service providers to recognize and address secondary traumatic stress, compassion fatigue and moral injury. Moving beyond traditional trauma-informed care, participants will explore practical tools to process the emotional toll of the helping field, enabling them to protect their personal well-being while advocating for meaningful structural change. Participants will be expected and encouraged to share, reflect and engage throughout the workshop. Note: There is significant overlap between this workshop and 0100 - Secondary Traumatic Stress, Compassion Fatigue and Resilience . It is not recommended that you take both workshops as the content will be quite similar. - [Course 0687: Therapeutic Presence and Attachment Dynamics in Clinical Practice](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=9413524): Time Zone: All listed class times are held in ET (Ontario, Canada) For more information contact the Faculty of Social Work Professional Development office: Email: fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca Phone: 548-889-4967 Cancellations and Transfers Be sure to carefully review our cancellation and transfer information before registering. Website: wlu.ca/fswpd - [Course 0688: Advanced Trauma-Centred Psychotherapy Techniques](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=9414177): Hours: 6 This session builds on fundamental skills learned in the introductory Trauma-Centred Psychotherapy (TCP) Techniques workshop. This Professional Development course will include a didactic portion on applying TCP to complex diagnoses as well as couples, families and groups. Participants will briefly review principles and techniques from Johnson and Lubin’s (2015) 1  exposure-based approach to trauma treatment before exploring advanced practices and applications of the method. Participants will have the opportunity to practice the techniques in a more intimate setting, getting real-time feedback to further hone their skills in guiding clients through detailed trauma inquiries.  This course will introduce TCP approaches for more complex cases, such as people who suffer from borderline personality disorder and dissociative identity disorder. Participants will learn how to conduct trauma inquiries and counter avoidance when working with these populations, who typically have extensive trauma histories and complex presentations. Participants will also explore how to expand TCP to couples, families and group work, including navigating challenging relational dynamics using a trauma-centred lens.  Trauma for the purposes of this course will include interpersonal and familial trauma, as well as systemic, intergenerational and state violence forms of trauma (e.g., war, racism, poverty, heterosexism, etc.).   Rather than “telling”, this course will focus on learning through “doing”. It is designed to be experiential, allowing participants to actively engage in role plays and practice the techniques being taught. In addition, information will be provided throughout the course using case examples, conversation and handouts.  Participants will: Further hone their skill in trauma-centred psychotherapy techniques and detailed trauma inquiry. Apply TCP to complex presentations such as borderline personality disorder and dissociative identity disorder. Apply TCP to work with couples, families and groups. Receive real-time feedback in an experiential setting. Have the opportunity to consult about current cases. Obtain a handout of core techniques and practice examples. Participants will engage in direct discussion and experiential work about difficult and traumatic subject material throughout the training.  1 Johnson, D. R. & Lubin, H. (2015). Principles and techniques of trauma-centered psychotherapy . Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing.  Please note: This training is designed for advanced helping professionals who currently practice psychotherapy. Other professionals are welcome to attend, but many of the techniques may be outside your scope of practice. Trauma-Centred Psychotherapy Techniques is a required prerequisite.   - [Course 0689: Seeing the Whole Child: Alternative Assessment Methods in Mental Health Practice](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=9414523): Hours: 12 This clinically focused workshop explores how child therapists and other pediatric helping professionals can move beyond standardized measures and symptom checklists to develop rich, relational and developmentally responsive assessments with children and families. Grounded in theory and practice, participants will learn how assessment begins from the very first contact with caregivers and continues throughout the therapeutic process through observation, play, relationship, symbolism and interaction. Using a combination of case examples, experiential activities and practical tools, this training examines how clinicians can gather meaningful clinical information through both directive and non-directive assessment approaches while maintaining a strong therapeutic alliance with children and caregivers. Special attention will be given to understanding the child in context, identifying strengths alongside areas for growth, and translating assessment observations into treatment goals that align with therapy modalities and developmental needs. The workshop also addresses practical and ethical considerations including rapport building, therapist authenticity, parent communication, self-disclosure, accessibility and navigating complex family systems. Participants will leave with concrete strategies, observation frameworks, assessment activities and treatment planning tools that can be immediately integrated into clinical work with children and families. - [Course 0690: Turning Toward Ourselves: Inner Relationship Focusing as a Practice of Embodied Listening](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=9418116): Hours: 12 In the helping professions, we are expected to listen deeply to others, yet we are rarely taught how to listen to our own inner experience with the same care and compassion. Our capacity to remain present, attuned and grounded with those we support depends on our own internal clarity and is intimately connected to the quality of our relationship with ourselves.  Inner Relationship Focusing offers a gentle, powerful way to cultivate this inner connection. Rather than analyzing or trying to change what is felt, the practice invites us to slow down, listen inwardly and meet our experiences with presence and respect. Over time, this way of relating helps us become the nurturing presence we may have long needed, creating an inner space where thoughts, feelings and sensations can be received with care. This two-day professional development course is designed to help participants understand how a compassionate relationship with self-in-presence can become a foundation for well-being. Using experiential exercises, demonstrations and group discussion, participants will: Explore the core principles of Inner Relationship Focusing. Examine how patterns of inner criticism, pressure or avoidance can shift through compassionate awareness. Learn how to bring gentle, non-judgmental attention to inner felt experience and cultivate a sense of presence. Practice embodied listening as a way of relating to thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations. Develop skills for integrating focusing-oriented awareness into personal and professional life. Please be advised that although this course is designed for mental health professionals, it may be challenging to navigate on a personal level. This training is not recommended for anyone who is currently experiencing their own trauma as some of the content may be activating. - [Course 0691: Psychodynamic Psychotherapy](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=9418147): Hours: 12 Psychodynamic psychotherapy is a form of talk therapy that focuses on understanding how unconscious thoughts, emotions, past experiences and relationship patterns influence a person’s current feelings, behaviours and difficulties. It is based on the idea that people are often shaped by experiences and emotional conflicts outside of their conscious awareness, particularly those formed in early relationships and throughout development. The goal of psychodynamic psychotherapy is to help clients gain insight into these underlying patterns so they can better understand themselves, improve relationships, increase emotional awareness and develop healthier ways of coping. The therapy pays close attention to recurring themes in a person’s life, emotional reactions, defense mechanisms, attachment patterns and the therapeutic relationship itself as sources of information about the client’s inner world. This two-day Professional Development course provides an in-depth exploration of psychodynamic assessment and intervention through the integration of theory, case analysis and experiential learning. On Day 1, participants will examine major comparative psychological theories through clinical case studies, including Drive Theory (Freud), Ego Development (Anna and Sigmund Freud), Object Relations and Attachment Theory (Bowlby, Ainsworth, Main) and Self-Psychology (Kohut). Emphasis will be placed on identifying the underlying psychological dynamics present within each case and determining how assessment informs treatment planning. Participants will explore how levels of ego functioning, attachment organization and defense mechanisms influence clinical decision-making, including when to utilize supportive versus uncovering interventions. On Day 2, participants will focus on treatment planning and intervention through applied roleplays and clinical practice exercises. The course will examine supportive techniques such as: advising collaborating encouraging instructing modelling naming providing practical support protecting redirecting reinforcing and discouraging behaviours soothing structuring supplying Participants will also explore uncovering techniques, including: affect exploration clarification confrontation constructing personal narratives working with countertransference dreams free association interpretation resistance transference unconscious conflict and defense. Through guided experiential learning, participants will develop greater confidence in selecting and applying interventions that are developmentally appropriate, clinically attuned and responsive to client capacity and psychological organization. - [Course 0692: From Protection to Connection: Introduction to Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) with Children, Youth & Families](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=9418296): Hours: 12 This two-day professional development course provides therapists with an introduction to Dan Hughes’s dyadic developmental psychotherapy (DDP), an attachment-focused and trauma-informed approach designed to support children, adolescents and families impacted by developmental trauma, attachment disruptions, loss, neglect and relational adversity. DDP is grounded in the understanding that healing occurs within safe, emotionally attuned relationships. Rather than focusing primarily on behaviour management, DDP helps clinicians understand the meaning beneath behaviours and create experiences of connection, co-regulation, emotional safety and relational repair. Participants will learn the foundational principles of DDP, including: Attachment and developmental trauma frameworks. The impact of early relational experiences on the nervous system, identity and behaviour. Understanding behaviours as adaptive survival strategies. Building safety and trust within the therapeutic relationship.  Supporting co-regulation between caregivers and children/youth.  Helping families move from shame and disconnection toward curiosity and connection. Participants will develop practical skills for: Working with emotionally guarded or reactive children and adolescents.  Engaging caregivers as central to the healing process. Responding to shame, anger, avoidance and relational rupture. Deepening emotional communication within families. Using attunement and reflective dialogue to foster secure attachment. Through case examples, experiential exercises, role plays, demonstrations and clinical discussion, therapists will gain practical tools to begin integrating DDP principles into their work with children, youth, caregivers, and families. This course is ideal for: psychotherapists  social workers  psychologists  child and youth workers  family therapists  school-based clinicians  foster care and adoption professionals  Especially relevant for clinicians working with: developmental trauma  attachment disruptions  foster and adoptive families emotional and behavioural challenges  relational conflict  neurodivergent children and adolescents  complex family systems  Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of how relational safety, attunement and connection can become powerful vehicles for healing and transformation. - [Course 0694: Exploring the Connection Between Eating Disorders and Attachment: Creating a Secure Attachment as the Foundation for Recovery](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=9428254): Hours: 12 Eating disorders rarely develop in isolation. They often emerge within the context of disrupted attachment experiences, difficulties with emotional regulation, unmet relational needs and challenges with self-worth and connection. Research consistently demonstrates a strong association between eating disorders and insecure attachment categories, highlighting the importance of understanding attachment as a central component of assessment, formulation and treatment. This two-day training explores the powerful relationship between attachment and eating disorders, providing clinicians with a deeper understanding of how early attachment experiences shape emotional regulation, view of self, coping strategies, interpersonal functioning, relational expectations and vulnerability to disordered eating and eating disorders. Participants will examine how eating disorder symptoms can be understood through an attachment lens and how attachment insecurity can contribute to the development and maintenance of eating disorder presentations. Participants will develop a greater understanding of the relational roots of eating disorders and how the development of secure attachment serves as the primary pathway toward recovery. Particular emphasis will be placed on understanding why the development of secure attachment – within the therapeutic relationship and beyond – is fundamental to recovery, resilience and lasting change. Clinicians will also explore how attachment-informed therapeutic strategies can be used to strengthen the therapeutic relationship, foster emotional regulation address attachment-related vulnerabilities and support movement toward greater security and recovery. "Explore how attachment categories shape the development and maintenance of eating disorders. Gain a deeper understanding of the attachment roots underlying disordered eating and why the development of secure attachment is essential for meaningful and sustainable recovery. Discover how attachment theory can deepen clinical understanding, strengthen case conceptualization, guide treatment planning, and inform therapeutic interventions that support lasting change. Learn how the creation of secure attachment can serve as a powerful catalyst for healing, resilience, and recovery." — Devra Igra, MSW, RSW Learning Outcomes Develop a comprehensive understanding of attachment theory and attachment categories. Explore the relationship between insecure attachment categories and the development and maintenance of eating disorders. Understand how eating disorder symptoms may serve attachment-related functions and adaptive coping strategies. Examine the impact of trauma on attachment, emotional regulation and eating disorder presentations. Understand why the development of secure attachment is a central treatment goal and a foundational component of eating disorder recovery and long-term well-being. Enhance the ability to conceptualize eating disorders through an attachment-informed lens. Explore attachment-focused therapeutic approaches that support the development of secure attachment and recovery from eating disorders. Participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of how attachment patterns influence the onset, maintenance and recovery of eating disorders in adults. They will learn to recognize attachment-related themes within eating disorder presentations and deepen their understanding of the relational and emotional factors and beliefs that contribute to symptom development. By viewing eating disorders through an attachment lens, clinicians will gain a richer framework for understanding their clients' struggles, eating disorder symptoms and attachment activations. Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of how the development of secure attachment serves as the foundation of recovery, supporting emotional regulation, healthier relationships, greater resilience and a more balanced and compassionate view of self. They will also gain practical insight into how attachment-informed therapeutic strategies can be integrated into treatment to facilitate earned secure attachment, strengthen emotional and relational security, and support lasting recovery. - [Course 0695: DBT-Kids: Part 2 – Working with Families](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=9434499): Hours: 12 This Part 2 training will deepen participants’ knowledge of DBT-Kids, an intervention developed by Drs. Alan and Armida Fruzzetti through the expansion of DBT strategies for use with families of kids (ages 12 and under) who struggle with emotion dysregulation. The intervention involves individual, family and group components. For Part 2, participants can expect the use of didactics, role plays, exercises and resources to demonstrate: Working with emotions in kids, caregivers and families. The use of Behaviour Chain Analysis (BCAs) in kids, caregivers and families. Structures, skills and strategies for family sessions in DBT-Kids. Coaching family members to apply adapted DBT skills in session. Learner Outcomes By the end of this workshop participants will be able to: Formulate client, caregiver and family challenges in terms of primary and secondary emotions and the transactional model of emotion dysregulation. Conduct DBT family sessions, including managing dysregulated family members. Conduct “double chains” (i.e. chain analyses with two or more family members simultaneously) to understand how family transactions evolve and contribute to problem behaviours. Utilize the double chain to weave in traditional and new skills as solutions, including accurate expression and validating responses relationship mindfulness collaborative problem-solving* * Collaborative problem solving referenced in DBT for families is not the same as the evidenced-based intervention named Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) by Greene and Ablon. - [Course 0697: When the Body Speaks: Metabolic Health, Nervous System Biology and Human Flourishing in Women’s Mental Health](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=9438847): Hours: 12 Women often carry chronic stress in their bodies. In clinical practice, this may present as persistent fatigue, disrupted sleep, changes in weight or appetite, inflammation, brain fog and heightened emotional reactivity – even when clients are engaged in therapy and doing “all the right things”. These experiences are not separate from mental health. They are biological expressions of prolonged nervous system activation and sustained physiological load. While many training programs address psychological, social and trauma-informed dimensions of care, the metabolic and nutritional aspects of mental health are often less explored. As a result, mental health professionals may not have a clear framework for understanding how chronic stress affects the body – or how these biological processes shape client experience and clinical outcomes. This two-day Professional Development course addresses that gap. Drawing on nutrition science, nervous system biology and applied positive psychology, participants will develop an accessible, evidence-informed understanding of how chronic stress manifests physically – and what it means for clinical practice with women across the lifespan. This is a course in biological literacy, equipping helping professionals with an additional layer of clinical insight that can be applied immediately within their existing scope of practice. Participants will leave with a practical framework for recognizing when physical symptoms and patterns are shaping a client’s experience, and how to respond in ways that deepen their work and support more effective, integrated care. What You Will Learn Participants will develop the knowledge and practical skills to: Deliver clear, accessible psychoeducation that helps clients understand the connection between their physical and emotional experiences, reducing self-blame and increasing self-compassion. Introduce accessible nervous system regulation strategies that can support both physiological stability and emotional wellbeing. Expand clinical assessment by integrating targeted, scope-appropriate questions related to sleep, energy, appetite, movement and physical symptoms into existing frameworks. Describe how chronic stress affects the body’s primary stress response system: the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis – including impacts on cortisol regulation, sleep, immune function, metabolism and emotional regulation, and apply this understanding to client presentation. Identify biological patterns in client experiences (e.g., fatigue, sleep disruption, weight changes, inflammation, brain fog, emotional reactivity) and consider how these may interact with psychological and social factors. Understand the gut–brain connection and its relevance to mood, cognition and stress regulation in a way that supports informed, non-prescriptive clinical conversations. Apply a framework for moving beyond coping and toward flourishing, understanding how biological regulation supports greater energy, emotional flexibility and engagement in life, and how this can be integrated into clinical work Make more specific and meaningful referrals, connecting client experiences to underlying biological processes to improve relevance, uptake, and follow-through. How This Will Impact Your Practice This course is designed with direct clinical application in mind. Each topic connects biological understanding to practical use, so participants leave not only with new knowledge, but with a clear sense of how to apply it within social work, counselling and psychotherapy practice. In practice, this means: More Comprehensive Assessments You will begin asking different, targeted questions that reveal important aspects of your clients’ lived experience that may otherwise remain unaddressed. Deeper Client Understanding and Connection Being able to name the biological aspects of a client’s experience can shift the narrative from personal failure to physiological response – often creating immediate relief and increased engagement. More Targeted and Effective Interventions You will be better able to recognize when biological factors may be influencing therapeutic progress, and how to respond within your role. Stronger, More Relevant Referrals Referrals grounded in a client’s specific experience are more likely to be understood, accepted and acted upon. Expanded Clinical Confidence and Scope of Understanding You will feel more equipped to work with presentations such as burnout, chronic stress, caregiving strain and complex health concerns with greater clarity and integration. Who This Course Is For This workshop is designed for social workers, psychotherapists, counsellors, and other helping professionals who work with women experiencing chronic stress, burnout, trauma, caregiving demands, chronic illness or life transitions. No prior background in nutrition or biology is required. Concepts are introduced in an accessible, clinically relevant way that builds confidence and practical understanding. - [Course 0698: Direct Interventions Using Seeking Safety Techniques](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=9438971): Hours: 12 Many Canadians struggle with unwanted behaviours, such as social media/doom strolling, online gambling, gaming/internet overuse, impulsive shopping habits, risky stock trading practices, pornography addiction, and so on. Often, these behaviours are not addressed by traditional therapy models and therapists report a lack of resources and clinical techniques to treat these behaviours. Seeking Safety is an evidence-based, structured treatment that provides concrete instructions for therapists on how to facilitate sessions with a trauma-informed lens. Each Seeking Safety therapy session consists of a specific topic or theme, along with instructions for therapists on how to guide individual and group sessions, implement in-session exercises, reinforce safe coping skills and introduce weekly commitment exercises. In this two-day Professional Development course, we will explore some of these topics and practice how to facilitate a session using worksheets and other learning tools to successfully run a structured Seeking Safety session. Topics covered in this training include: safe coping skills red and green flags coping with triggers grounding compassion honesty Note: This training will not provide participants with a Seeking Safety certification. This is an introduction to Seeking Safety techniques provided by a facilitator who is a certified Seeking Safety therapist. Upon completion of this course, you will be able to provide Seeking Safety therapy topics covered in this course with clients. To learn more about Seeking Safety visit seekingsafety.org . - [Course 0699: Supporting Clients with Reproductive Health Diagnoses: Validation, Advocacy and Body Trust](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=9439410): Hours: 12 Many individuals navigating reproductive health diagnoses (e.g. endometriosis, adenomyosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) and autoimmune-related reproductive challenges), face not only complex and often debilitating physical symptoms, but also significant psychological and relational impacts. These experiences are frequently compounded by delayed diagnoses, fragmented care and encounters within healthcare systems where physical and psychosocial impacts are minimized, misunderstood or dismissed. Over time, these dynamics can contribute to erosion of self-trust, internalized doubt, body disconnection and difficulty advocating for care. Individuals may begin to question their own experiences, feel alienated from their bodies and carry the cumulative emotional toll of navigating uncertainty, invalidation and repeated medical encounters. For mental health practitioners, it is essential to understand both the clinical realities of these diagnoses and the broader psychosocial context in which clients are seeking support. This includes recognizing the impact of medical and social gaslighting, supporting clients in rebuilding trust in their bodies and helping them develop the language and skills needed to advocate for themselves within complex healthcare systems. This workshop is designed to deepen clinicians’ capacity to provide informed, validating and trauma-aware care to individuals navigating reproductive health diagnoses. While a brief overview of relevant conditions, terminology and possible fertility impacts will be provided, the primary focus is on the lived experience of clients and the therapeutic approaches that best support resilience, self-trust and empowered decision-making. Drawing on evidence-based modalities and trauma-informed approaches, participants will gain practical tools that can be immediately integrated into clinical practice. Throughout this two-day workshop participants will: Gain a foundational understanding of common reproductive health diagnoses, including endometriosis, adenomyosis, PCOS, recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) and autoimmune-related fertility challenges. Explore the psychological, relational and identity-based impacts of living with reproductive health diagnoses, including effects on body image, relationships and future family-building decisions. Develop an understanding of medical, social and internalized gaslighting, including how these experiences shape client narratives, self-perception and help-seeking behaviours. Learn and apply evidence-based therapeutic tools to support emotional regulation, cognitive reframing, self-compassion and values-based coping. Learn strategies to support clients in rebuilding body trust, reconnecting with internal cues and navigating complex relationships with their bodies. Strengthen skills in validation, meaning-making and trauma-informed care when working with clients whose symptoms and experiences have been minimized or dismissed. Support clients in developing self-advocacy skills within healthcare systems, including preparing for medical appointments, communicating concerns and navigating power dynamics. Increase confidence in working with diverse populations, including those disproportionately impacted by barriers to diagnosis and care. Identify ways to support clients managing uncertainty, ambiguous loss, and evolving diagnoses or treatment pathways. And more! This workshop will be of interest to mental health professionals, nurses, and other clinicians supporting individuals navigating reproductive health conditions, associated fertility and mental health concerns, and related healthcare experiences. Note: This workshop provides specialized knowledge in the psychosocial aspects of reproductive health diagnoses but does not in itself qualify participants to work as fertility counselling specialists or to conduct third-party assessments for gamete donation or surrogacy. - [Course 0700: Helping Families Thrive with Emotionally Focused Family Therapy: An Introduction to EFFT](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=9444881): Hours: 12 Developed by the late Dr. Sue Johnson, emotionally focused family therapy (EFFT) is an evidence-based, attachment-focused approach that helps families strengthen emotional bonds, navigate conflict and build lasting resilience. Rooted in attachment science, EFFT helps therapists understand the emotional patterns that keep families stuck and provides practical interventions that foster connection, safety and healing. Families face many challenges – stress, conflict, transitions, loss, mental health concerns and life changes. While these experiences can strain relationships, they also present opportunities for growth when family members are supported in creating stronger emotional connections. EFFT offers therapists a clear roadmap for helping families move from cycles of disconnection to relationships characterized by accessibility, responsiveness and engagement. This engaging two-day workshop will introduce participants to the foundations of the EFFT model. Through interactive teaching, clinical video, case examples and experiential learning, you’ll gain a practical understanding of the EFFT framework. Whether you work with families with young children or families with adolescents or adult children, this workshop will help you better understand the emotional and attachment needs that shape family relationships and provide practical strategies for promoting healthier, more secure connections. By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to: Describe the foundations of the EFFT model. Understand family relationships through the lens of attachment science. Recognize the negative interaction patterns that maintain family distress. Use emotion as a guide for creating meaningful therapeutic change. Help parents and caregivers become more emotionally accessible and responsive. Begin applying EFFT interventions to strengthen connection and resilience within families. Whether you are new to emotionally focused therapy or are looking to expand your clinical practice into family work, this workshop offers a practical, compassionate and engaging introduction to one of today’s leading attachment-based approaches to working with families. “Families are remarkably resilient. When emotional safety and secure connection are restored, parents and children discover new ways of reaching for one another, responding with greater compassion, and creating relationships where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.” - Robin Williams Blake, RP - [Course 0701: Who Did I Need to Become?: Understanding Attachment Through an Internal Family Systems Lens](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=9446796): Hours: 12 At its heart, this workshop explores a simple but profound question: Who did I need to become to stay connected – and who might I become when those old adaptations are no longer necessary? Attachment theory helps us understand how our earliest relationships shape an internal map of ourselves, others and the world around us. Experiences of safety, delight, dependency, rupture and repair influence what we come to expect from relationships and what we learn is required to maintain connection. If attachment theory helps us understand the relational environment, Internal Family Systems (IFS) helps us understand how we adapted to it. Moving beyond attachment labels, this workshop explores the radical idea that we are not defined by a single attachment style. Different parts of us may carry different expectations, fears and strategies, each developed in service of safety and belonging. Drawing from attachment theory, Internal Family Systems, developmental trauma and relational neuroscience, participants will explore how these adaptations develop and how healing occurs through experiences of safety, attunement, rupture and repair, grief and self-leadership. Learning Outcomes By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to: Understand attachment as a process of relational learning rather than a fixed personality style. Describe how early experiences shape internal working models of self, others and relationships. Explore the question, "Who did I need to become to stay connected?" as a framework for understanding adaptation. Utilize the therapeutic relationship as a source of co-regulation, repair and earned secure attachment. Integrate attachment-informed and IFS-informed principles into assessment, case conceptualization and treatment planning. Move beyond labels and pathology toward a compassionate understanding of adaptation and resilience. - [Course 0702: Foundations in Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP): Four-Day Intensive](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=9446930): Hours: 24 Exposure and response prevention (ERP) is the gold-standard psychological treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), yet many clinicians receive limited formal training in its implementation. This comprehensive four-day intensive Professional Development course provides participants with a strong foundation in the theory, assessment, conceptualization and practical application of ERP across the lifespan. Participants will learn how to accurately assess OCD, develop individualized case conceptualizations, construct effective exposure hierarchies, implement imaginal and in vivo exposures, identify and reduce subtle compulsions, address family accommodation and navigate common treatment challenges. Through case examples, demonstrations, experiential exercises and discussion, clinicians will develop the confidence to begin integrating ERP into their clinical practice immediately. - [Course 0703: OCD Subtypes: Advanced Conceptualization and Treatment](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=9447026): Hours: 12 Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) extends far beyond contamination fears and checking rituals. This advanced workshop explores the unique presentation and treatment considerations associated with a wide range of OCD subtypes, including harm OCD, sexual obsessions, scrupulosity, relationship OCD, existential OCD, sensorimotor OCD, perfectionism and other less commonly recognized presentations. Participants will learn how to differentiate OCD from related disorders, identify subtle mental compulsions and reassurance seeking, refine case conceptualizations and adapt exposure and response prevention (ERP) interventions to address the complexities of each subtype. Special attention is given to common clinician pitfalls, treatment-interfering beliefs and strategies for increasing treatment effectiveness with complex presentations. Designed for clinicians with foundational ERP training who are seeking greater confidence in treating the full spectrum of OCD.  - [Course 0704: Trauma and OCD: Clinical Considerations](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=9447170): Hours: 12 The relationship between trauma and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is complex and often misunderstood. This Professional Development course examines the current evidence regarding trauma and OCD, while helping clinicians differentiate trauma-related symptoms from obsessive-compulsive processes. Participants will explore how traumatic experiences can influence OCD symptom development, maintenance and treatment planning. Topics that will be explored include: diagnostic clarification sequencing treatment when PTSD and OCD co-occur integrating ERP with trauma-informed care addressing safety behaviours managing emotional activation during treatment avoiding common clinical errors Through case discussions and practical decision-making frameworks, clinicians will gain greater confidence working with individuals presenting with both trauma and OCD. - [Course 0705: Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviours (BFRBs)](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=9447200): Hours: 12 Body-focused repetitive behaviours (BFRBs), including hair pulling (trichotillomania) and skin picking (excoriation disorder), require specialized assessment and treatment approaches that differ in important ways from traditional exposure and response prevention (ERP) for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This Professional Development course provides clinicians with a comprehensive understanding of the development, maintenance, assessment and evidence-based treatment of BFRBs. Participants will learn behavioural assessment strategies, functional analysis, Habit Reversal Training (HRT), stimulus control interventions, competing response training, emotional regulation strategies and approaches for addressing shame, relapse prevention and family involvement. Clinical demonstrations and case examples help translate evidence into everyday practice. - [Course 0706: OCD Across Neurodivergent and Complex Presentations](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=9447350): Hours: 12 As clinicians gain experience treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), they quickly discover that many clients do not fit neatly into textbook presentations. OCD frequently co-occurs with neurodivergence, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, tic disorders and personality factors, creating diagnostic complexity and unique treatment challenges. This advanced Professional Development course explores how OCD presents across a range of neurodivergent and complex clinical populations while maintaining fidelity to evidence-based treatment. Participants will develop greater confidence differentiating OCD from overlapping conditions, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), ADHD, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, tic disorders, perfectionism and other presentations where diagnostic clarity can be difficult. The course also examines how sensory sensitivities, executive functioning differences, cognitive rigidity, emotional dysregulation and family accommodation influence assessment and treatment planning. Through case conceptualization, clinical discussion and practical treatment adaptations, participants will learn how to modify exposure and response prevention (ERP) while preserving its core principles, allowing them to effectively treat clients with increasingly complex clinical presentations. Designed for clinicians who have completed foundational ERP training and are ready to expand their expertise with diagnostically challenging and highly nuanced cases. - [Course 0709: Engaging in Activism in Social Work](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=9503080): Hours: 18 Social workers are ethically obligated to pursue social, economic and environmental justice, and fight against discrimination and oppression. Given the increasing depth and breadth of local and global crises, swift action must be taken to mitigate these harms. One way social workers can achieve this is through activism; however, many social workers report they do not feel equipped to engage in activism in a meaningful way. This three-day course will demystify activism by providing participants with theoretical knowledge and practical skills for implementing activist strategies and tactics to bring about change. Participants will be introduced to theories and approaches at the micro, mezzo and macro-levels, including everyday activism, artivism, mutual aid, community organizing and direct action. The course also includes a practical component whereby small groups will be formed to create an activist strategy to address a specific social issue. Groups will develop all aspects of their activist project (e.g., advocacy letters, petitions, posters, etc.) but are not required to implement their activism as part of the course. Rather, groups will present their project on the final day. Day 1 – Gain an understanding of the various theories and components of activism and form groups. Day 2 – Working session for groups to develop their activist projects and consult with the facilitator. Attendance is mandatory. Day 3 – Group presentations and collective feedback. The course is highly experiential and participants are expected to come prepared to actively engage and contribute. This introductory course is designed for those who are new(ish) to activism and will not be meaningful for experienced activists/organizers. It will be facilitated by a professor of social work who has experience engaging in and teaching activism. * This course will be part of the Community Development and Advocacy certificate that is planned for January 2027. - [Course 0710: Evolution of Attachment: History, Core Concepts and Categories](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=9507477): This online, self-directed module provides a foundational introduction to attachment theory and its application to psychotherapy practice. Participants will explore how early caregiver-child relationships shape emotional regulation, relationship patterns, personality development and overall well-being across the lifespan. The course examines the origins and evolution of attachment theory, from its foundational concepts to its contemporary relevance in clinical practice. Participants will learn about attachment categories in childhood, adolescence and adulthood, and explore how attachment experiences influence brain development, emotional regulation and interpersonal functioning. The module also introduces the role of the attachment-focused therapist and highlights practical ways attachment theory can inform assessment, case conceptualization and therapeutic intervention. Upon completion of this module, participants will be able to: Define attachment theory and identify its key contributors. Differentiate between the four primary attachment categories. Explain how attachment influences emotional regulation, relationships and development across the lifespan. Recognize common attachment patterns and behaviours in children, adolescents and adults. Describe the principles and therapeutic conditions that foster secure attachment within the therapeutic relationship. This online module is a required prerequisite to the following workshops: Exploring the Connection Between Eating Disorders and Attachment: Creating a Secure Attachment as the Foundation for Recovery Therapeutic Presence and Attachment Dynamics in Clinical Practice Psychodynamic Psychotherapy From Protection to Connection: Introduction to Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) with Children, Youth & Families Who Did I Need to Become?: Understanding Attachment Through an Internal Family Systems Lens From Survival to Connection: Introduction to Attachment-Based Interventions for Children and Families Attachment in Adolescence: Theory, Assessment and Clinical Application Redeveloping Secure Adult Attachments: A Journey of Awareness and Change Completing the Module There is no set start date for this module, and you may begin at any time. The course is self-paced, allowing you to progress through the material and complete the module according to your own schedule. To successfully complete the module, you must achieve a score of 90% of higher on the quiz. Important: Upon successful completion of this module, please contact us at fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca so we can update our records and confirm your eligibility to register for the workshops listed above. ## Certificates Here is a list of the currently available certificates. - [Certificate GLADUE: Gladue Principles: Indigenous Peoples and the Canadian Criminal Justice System](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/public/category/courseCategoryCertificateProfile.do?method=load&certificateId=1019053): Offered by the FHSS Laurier Brantford Centre for Professional Development - FHSSPD@wlu.ca Please visit our main page for a full description of this certificate program. This program is for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people looking to learn more about Gladue Principles. Certificate Requirements: Part 1 and Part 2 Funding Opportunities Cancellation and Refund Information Refunds and withdrawals will be subject to fees based on the following schedule. The administrative fees cover registration, credit card and administration fees. Up to 15 days before start of the course:  Refund less 10% administrative fee. One to 14 days before start of the course: Refund minus 20% administrative fee. First day of the course: Once the course has been accessed, no refund. Extensions are $50.  Please contact FHSSPD@wlu.ca for further information. Please note: Part 1 of Gladue Principles and our Uncovering the Truth: Indigenous Peoples in Canada are similar courses. If you have taken Uncovering the Truth, please contact us BEFORE registering for Part 1 of this certificate.  FHSSPD@wlu.ca - [Certificate PosPsych: Positive Psychology: The Scientific Approach to Human Optimism and Change](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/public/category/courseCategoryCertificateProfile.do?method=load&certificateId=1021149): This program is offered by the Centre for Public Safety and Well-Being. Please email cpsw@wlu.ca with any questions. The Positive Psychology certificate focuses on the scienitifc approach to optimism and change. Learn the neuroscience behind why we think, feel and act the way we do, and the theoretical and practical approaches in positivity, optimism and well-being. Please visit our  Main Page  for more details about this program. Virtual Information Sessions (via Zoom) Our next Zoom info sessions are July 22nd and August 19th, 2026 at 6pm EST. Please email cpsw@wlu.ca to register. If you cannot make the info session and would like to make an appointment with the Program Coordinator, please email cpsw@wlu.ca Fall 2026 Dates Module 1: Exploration of the Fundamentals of Positive Psychology, Sept. 21 – Nov. 2, 2026 Module 2: Signature and Character Strengths, Nov. 16 – Dec. 14, 2026 Module 3: Self-Care, Jan. 4 – Feb. 1, 2027 Module 4: Quality Connections, Feb. 15 – Mar. 15, 2027 Module 5: Growth Mindset, Mar. 29 – May 3, 2027 Pricing Positive Psychology Certificate:  $4,150 (If learner registers for all 5 modules at the same time). Discount needs to be applied. Positive Psychology Modules 1-5 taken separately: $4,345 (not recommended) Refunds and Deferrals - [Certificate CE0001: Positive Education: Developing Strengths and Optimism in Others](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/public/category/courseCategoryCertificateProfile.do?method=load&certificateId=1021343): This program is offered by the Centre for Public Safety and Well-Being. Please email cpsw@wlu.ca with any questions. Please visit our Main Page  for more details about this program. Positive Education applies the science of positive psychology to learning environments to enhance well-being, develop peer relationships and improve academic success. This online certificate is a companion to the Positive Psychology Certificate and is intended to prepare front-line educators, administrators, parents and organizations with the knowledge and skills to support students and institutions to thrive. The combination of theoretical and practical approaches to resilience, optimism and well-being provides you with the background and necessary tools to inform and embed the principles and practices of strength-based interventions to promote flourishing learning environments. Pre-requisite: Positive Psychology Certificate Graduate Pricing Positive Education Certificate:  $899 Refunds and Deferrals - [Certificate RISK: Canadian Risk Management Certificate](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/public/category/courseCategoryCertificateProfile.do?method=load&certificateId=1026009): The world is getting riskier. Learn how to manage it! Laurier's FHSS Centre for Professional Development's Canadian Risk Management (CRM) program lays the foundation to navigate today’s financial, technological, environmental and organizational risks. Designed for financial and insurance pros, government analysts and more, our curriculum and expert instructors go beyond a simple prep course to equip you with the foundational knowledge and professional credentials to enter this exciting and growing field.   Register Today! Earn your CRM Designation with three required courses from Laurier!   In partnership with The Risk Management Society (RIMS) , Laurier's FHSS Centre for Professional Development offers the three required courses to obtain a CRM designation. A widely recognized credential to open you up to career opportunities and growth in Risk Management.  Complete three courses to become eligible to write your designation exam with RIMS. Register for all 3 courses at once to earn a 10% discount.  CRM 54: Risk Practices &  Principles CRM 55:  Risk Assessment &  Treatment CRM 56:  Risk  Financing   What is a Canadian Risk Management (CRM) designation ? A designation awarded by the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) indicating risk managers have foundational knowledge and skills needed to identify, assess, monitor and limit risks    A Canadian designation recognized by global risk management professionals and many of Canada’s leading government and financial institutions    CRM holders are better positioned to fulfill requirements for high-paying roles in project management, IT, cybersecurity and more across finance, government and other large organizations   Participants are required to take a standardized exam through RIMS after each completed certificate course to obtain the full designation. Additional exam fees from RIMS will apply.   Further details regarding eligibility can be found on the Canadian Risk Management website .     Laurier's  Canadian Risk Management (CRM) Certificate   Your first step to earn the CRM designation is to complete all three courses (36 hours each over 12 weeks) in the Laurier CRM Certificate program. The CRM certificate indicates a foundational understanding of risk management.  The approach of the Laurier CRM Certificate courses:  Utilize RIMS approved textbooks in tandem with extension activities and content within our learning management system (MyLS) curated by an experienced Risk Manager  Further the connections between theoretical knowledge and practical application through optional Zoom sessions (which are recorded for those who can’t attend) facilitated by a Risk Manager  Assessed components include:   Contributions to cohort-based discussions related to core concepts  2-4 assignments/case studies where knowledge is applied to instances relevant to the working world  1 final exam that mirrors the requirements of the RIMS exam that many will complete  Courses follow a weekly structure, and though material can be reviewed at your own pace, assessments need to be completed according to deadlines .  You will receive: - A letter of completion  after each completed course - A Canadian Risk Management Certificate from Laurier   upon completing all three courses - After each completed course, learners will gain access to RIMS corresponding designation exam (additional fee applies) Even if you don’t plan on writing a full designation exam with RIMS, the CRM certificate  from Laurier provides the best foundation for those entering the field of risk management.   - [Certificate DBT: Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) Certificate](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/public/category/courseCategoryCertificateProfile.do?method=load&certificateId=1049194): Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) was developed by Marsha Linehan for complex mental health clients engaging in suicidal behaviour; it is the only evidence-based intervention for borderline personality disorder. More recently, DBT has been adapted for adolescent and adult populations that struggle with other disorders of emotion dysregulation, such as substance use, bipolar disorder, binge eating disorder, and other mood disorders. DBT is focused on increasing people's ability to manage and tolerate their emotions more effectively, deal with distressing situations without making them worse, and forming and sustaining healthier interpersonal relationships. It accomplishes this through a comprehensive treatment modality that is housed within a strong and genuine therapeutic relationship. This certificate program offers an in-depth exploration of DBT's four independent, yet interconnected, modes of intervention: Individual therapy Skills training Coaching Consultation teams This program will help you understand the functional rationale for each of these modes of intervention, as well as provide an opportunity to practice the skills through role plays and group work and begin to apply this knowledge to real world examples and case studies. Prerequisites An Introduction to DBT , or an approved equivalent, is a prerequisite to all other courses. These courses are advanced-level trainings that build upon the foundational knowledge introduced in the introductory course. For information about approved equivalents, please contact  fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca . Completion Requirements To earn the DBT certificate, you must complete at least seven courses. The program is flexible – you can finish in as little as one year or take up to seven years. You do not have to be working toward the DBT certificate to take any of these courses. Participation and Attendance Full attendance and participation are required to complete these courses. You are required, as much as possible, to have your camera on. We know there are situations where this is not possible, so please send a message to your instructor or the Professional Development host to let them know that you are unable to turn on your camera. Our courses are interactive and include breakout rooms, role play, group discussions and other activities. Participation is required. Four + Discount Register for four or more courses at the same time to receive a 10% discount on each course. To qualify, you must complete registration and payment for all courses in a single transaction. The discount is non-cumulative and cannot be applied retroactively. If discount is not applied at time of registration, contact fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca for assistance before payment. Discounts cannot be applied after registration has been completed. DBT Certification After completing this certificate, you will not be allowed to identify yourself as a certified DBT therapist. The only approved DBT certification is through the DBT-Linehan Board of Certification. To meet the educational requirements for DBT certification -- and to help you prepare for the certification exam -- we recommend  the following five courses, as well as two courses of your choice: Introduction to DBT DBT Skills Training DBT Assessment and Case Conceptualization DBT Phone Coaching and Consulting DBT Individual Therapy For full details on the DBT certification process, please visit the  DBT-Linehan Board of Certification website . If you are not pursuing the DBT certification process, we recommend choosing the courses that will best support your work. Becoming a Therapist This DBT certificate does not qualify you for registration with any regulatory body (e.g.  Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers ,  College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario ) or to practice as a licensed therapist. To become a regulated therapist, please visit the website for the appropriate regulatory body in your province. Delivery Options The DBT certificate courses are available remotely through Zoom. Registration No application required. To register, choose a course and section to view the dates and cost. Add the course to your cart and complete payment. Please review the prerequisites above. Contact Information For more information about this certificate contact the Faculty of Social Work Professional Development office: Email : fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca Phone : 548-889-5128 See our website and  Frequently Asked Questions for more information. - [Certificate Addictions: Addictions Certificate](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/public/category/courseCategoryCertificateProfile.do?method=load&certificateId=1050276): This certificate is designed for helping professionals. For those in recovery, the content and discussions may be triggering and is not recommended. Strengthen your capacity to support individuals and communities impacted by substance use and addiction. This certificate is designed for helping professionals –  including those in mental health, social work, education, healthcare etc. –  who want to deepen their understanding and expand their skills in the complex and evolving field of addictions. Whether you're new to the field or seeking to build on existing experience, this program provides both foundational knowledge and specialized learning tailored to your professional goals.  Two required core courses offer a comprehensive introduction to substance use, misuse and addiction, including key frameworks, models of care and the bio-psycho-social dimensions of addiction. A range of elective courses allow you to tailor your learning to areas of interest or specific client populations. Topics explored in this program include: Understanding what addiction is and the range of factors –  bio-psycho-social and cultural –  that contribute to its development. The impact of trauma, family systems and concurrent mental health disorders on addiction. The effects of various substances on the body, brain and behaviour. Practical tools for assessment, intervention, harm reduction, relapse prevention and recovery support. Strategies for working with individuals, families and communities affected by addiction. Participants will leave the program with a stronger foundation in evidence-informed approaches to addiction, greater confidence in addressing substance use issues, and enhanced ability to support clients with compassion, insight and skill. Completion Requirements Complete the Addictions certificate by taking at least  7 courses : two required ( Fundamentals of Addiction and Pharmacology ) and 5 electives . Courses can be completed in any order. You can complete this certificate in as little as one year or take up to seven years. You may also take these courses without pursuing the certificate. Participation and Attendance Remote: Full attendance and participation are required to complete these courses. Participants are required, as much as possible, to have their cameras on. We know there are situations where this is not possible, so please send a message to your instructor or the Professional Development host to let them know that you are unable to turn on your camera. Our courses are interactive and include breakout rooms, role play, group discussions and other activities. Participation is required. Online: Read the course materials, complete quizzes and participate in all required discussions and activities. The estimated workload is approximately two hours per week. CACCF CEU Hours All courses in the Addictions certificate program are approved for 12 continuing education hours (CEUs) through the Canadian Addiction Counsellors Certification Federation (CACCF). For information about the CACCF or how to become a certified Addictions Counsellor, visit www.caccf.ca . Four + Discount Register for four or more courses at the same time to receive a 10% discount  on each course. To qualify, you must complete registration and payment for all courses in a single transaction. The discount is non-cumulative and cannot be applied retroactively. If discount is not applied at time of registration, contact fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca for assistance before payment. Discount cannot be applied after registration has been completed. Delivery Options The Addictions certificate courses are available remotely through Zoom and asynchronously online . Registration No application required. To register, choose a course and section to view the dates and cost. Add the course to your cart and complete payment. Please review the prerequisites above. Becoming a Therapist This Addictions Certificate does not qualify you for registration with any regulatory body (e.g. Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers or College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario ) or to practice as a licensed therapist. To become a regulated therapist, please visit the website for the appropriate regulatory body in your province. This certificate is not designed as a pathway to becoming a certified Addiction Counsellor. Contact Information For more information about this certificate contact the Faculty of Social Work Professional Development office: Email : fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca Phone: 548-889-4967 See our website and  Frequently Asked Questions for more information. - [Certificate CY& MH: Child and Youth Mental Health Certificate](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/public/category/courseCategoryCertificateProfile.do?method=load&certificateId=1050636): Deepen your knowledge and skills to better support the mental health of children and youth. Designed for professionals working with children, adolescents and families, this certificate program offers a comprehensive understanding of the complex and evolving field of child and youth mental health. Through a well-designed selection of professional development courses, you'll gain insight into some of the most prevalent mental health issues affecting young people today, including anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), substance use and trauma. You'll learn about evidence-based treatment approaches such as expressive arts, mindfulness, attachment and play therapy. The program gives special attention to the needs of grieving and neurodiverse children and adolescents. A central focus of the program is on collaboration – understanding the importance of working in partnership with families, schools and other professionals in the youth's support system. You'll come away with enhanced confidence, practical tools and a deeper awareness of how to provide compassionate, developmentally informed and inclusive care. Completion Requirements To earn the Child and Youth Mental Health certificate, you must complete at least 84 course hours. The program is flexible – you can finish in as little as one year or take up to seven years. You do not have to be working towards the Child and Youth Mental Health Certificate to take any of these courses. Participation and Attendance Full attendance and participation are required to complete these courses. You are required, as much as possible, to have your camera on. We know there are situations where this is not possible, so please send a message to your instructor or the Professional Development host to let them know that you are unable to turn on your camera. Our workshops are interactive and include breakout rooms, role play, group discussions and other activities. Participation is required. Four + Discount Register for four or more courses at the same time to receive a 10% discount on each course. To qualify, you must complete registration and payment for all courses in a single transaction. The discount is non-cumulative and cannot be applied retroactively. If discount is not applied at time of registration, contact fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca for assistance before payment. Discounts cannot be applied after registration has been completed. Delivery Options The Child and Youth Mental Health certificate courses are available remotely through Zoom. Registration No application required. To register, choose a course and section to view the dates and cost. Add the course to your cart and complete payment. Becoming a Therapist This Child and Youth Mental Health certificate does not qualify you for registration with any regulatory body (e.g.  Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers or the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario ) or to practice as a licensed therapist. To become a regulated therapist, please visit the website for the appropriate regulatory body in your province.  Contact Information For more information about this certificate contact the Faculty of Social Work Professional Development office: Email : fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca Phone : 548-889-5128 See our website and  Frequently Asked Questions for more information. - [Certificate CBT: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) Certificate](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/public/category/courseCategoryCertificateProfile.do?method=load&certificateId=1051922): Offered in partnership with Qualia Counselling Services . Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) is one of the most globally validated, recognized and recommended models of treatment for mental health and health disorders. Targeting neuropathway changes in the brain, CBT has been shown in thousands of studies to significantly improve mental health and health issues like mood disorders, PTSD, public health such as obesity and smoking cessation, and subclinical such as perfectionism and shame. CBT provides concrete techniques and interventions to help people change their thoughts, behaviours and lives. Our innovative CBT certificate will provide you with the skills, confidence and knowledge to bring this therapeutic model to your work, and empower you to help others transform their lives.  The CBT certificate is comprised of two levels. You must complete each level in succession to receive the CBT certificate. CBT Level I and Level II course dates cannot overlap. Level I will introduce you to the full set of core cognitive behaviour interventions to treat a broad array of presenting problems and disorders. This training will help you form professionally excellent cognitive behaviour therapy sessions, teaching about session structure and evaluation, assessment and treatment planning, cognitive restructuring and changing behavioural responses. You will learn interventions you can immediately begin putting into practice professionally as well as personally, across age populations (yes, including children and adolescents). There are two Level I course options. Choose ONE of the following 36-hour courses: Fundamentals of CBT Sacred Circle CBT -- Mikwendaagwad: “It is remembered, it comes to mind” Level II best prepares you to treat the most presenting mental health disorders expertly and masterfully from assessment to treatment completion, providing all the worksheets and interventions you will need in your practice. There are four Level II course options. Choose ONE of the following 36-hour courses: CBT for Anxiety Disorders and Depression CBT with Trauma Essentials of CBT with Children and Youth CBT for Women's Reproductive Mental Health Each level consists of 36 hours of instruction*, plus readings and assignments that are done outside the classroom. Courses are designed to fit into any busy professional's life. *CBT for Trauma also includes three monthly one-hour peer supervision sessions after the course ends. These peer supervision sessions are mandatory. Registration No application required. To register, choose a course and section to view the dates and cost. Add the course to your cart and complete payment. Please review the prerequisites below. Delivery Options Online The online CBT courses are completely asynchronous. At the beginning of the course you'll be introduced to the learning objectives and then watch a video called Learning in Context that explains how the learning fits into practice and why it's needed. You don't have to log on to the course at any particular time, but the course is broken into 12 separate weeks so you are required to log on and complete the work each week. Each weekly lesson includes: Written lectures for you to read. Recorded demos of the interventions being delivered for you to watch. Mandatory discussion boards in which you answer questions about how to apply that week's learning to two case examples. Submitted weekly assignments (Level I only). Assigned textbook readings. A quiz. In addition to the mandatory discussion posts, we also encourage you to network and share your thoughts and experiences about CBT with other participants in the course through the discussion board. Remote Course courses are held live through Zoom. We are in the Eastern time zone. Full attendance and participation are required to complete the remote courses. Participants are required, as much as possible, to have their cameras on. We know there are situations where this is not possible, so please send a message to your instructor to let them know that you are unable to turn on your camera. Our CBT courses are interactive and include breakout rooms, role play, group discussions and other activities. Participation is required. Admission Requirements The CBT certificate is open to professionals and graduate students across disciplines and worksites. To be eligible for the program, you must have completed a degree in a relevant field or have a minimum of three years experience working in mental health, education, healthcare or a related field. No application required. Contact us at fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca if you require additional information. To be eligible for Level II, you must have completed Level I (or an approved equivalent). To enhance your learning and ability to apply the material covered in this course, it is also highly beneficial to have past, current or anticipated experience working within a mental health setting. These courses focus on the protocols and application of cognitive behaviour therapy. Basic therapy skills (e.g. empathy, active listening, etc.), conducting assessments and setting and working with goals are required for success in this program but will not be covered in Level I or Level II. Completion Requirements To receive the CBT certificate you must successfully complete Level I and Level II .  You can complete this certificate in as little as one year or take up to seven years. You do not have to be working towards completing the CBT certificate to take a Level I course. Discounts Once you've completed the Laurier CBT certificate (both Level I and Level II) you are eligible to take other CBT Level I and Level II courses at a 50% discount. Contact the Professional Development office at fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca to request the discount code. The CBT certificate is not eligible for any other discounts. Becoming a Therapist This CBT certificate does not qualify you for registration with any regulatory body (e.g.  Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers ,  College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario ) or to practice as a licensed therapist. To become a regulated therapist, please visit the website for the appropriate regulatory body in your province. Contact Information For more information about this certificate contact the Faculty of Social Work Professional Development office: Email : fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca Phone : 548-889-4967 See our website and  Frequently Asked Questions for more information. - [Certificate Techniques: Counselling Techniques Certificate](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/public/category/courseCategoryCertificateProfile.do?method=load&certificateId=1053433): Expand your therapeutic toolbox to meet clients with confidence, flexibility and skill. Counselling is not one-size-fits-all. Each client has their own story, strengths and struggles – and as a psychotherapist, counsellor or social worker, your ability to adapt your practice to meet those unique needs is essential.  This skill-based certificate is designed to deepen your understanding of a range of counselling theories and interventions, helping you grow as a responsive, client-centred practitioner. Through experiencing learning, you'll  explore a variety of evidence-informed therapeutic approaches and gain practical tools you can integrate into your work right away.   Key features of the program include: A broad overview of foundational and emerging counselling approaches. Opportunities to explore techniques such as narrative therapy, solution-focused approaches, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and more. Skill-building practice with peers in a supportive learning environment. A focus on essential skills to support and grow your clinical practice. By the end of the program, you’ll feel more confident in your ability to draw from multiple approaches, connect with clients where they are, and support meaningful change through compassionate, grounded and flexible practice. Completion Requirements To earn the Counselling Techniques certificate, you must complete at least 7 courses. The program is flexible – you can finish in as little as one year or take up to seven years. You do not have to be working toward the Counselling Techniques certificate to take any of these courses. Participation and Attendance Full attendance and participation are required to complete these courses. You are required, as much as possible, to have your camera on . We know there are situations where this is not possible, so please send a message to your instructor or the Professional Development host to let them know that you are unable to turn on your camera. Our courses are interactive and include breakout rooms, role play, group discussions and other activities. Participation is required. Four + Discount Register for four or more courses at the same time to receive a 10% discount on each course. To qualify, you must complete registration and payment for all courses in a single transaction. The discount is non-cumulative and cannot be applied retroactively. If discount is not applied at time of registration, contact fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca for assistance before payment. Discounts cannot be applied after registration has been completed. Delivery Options The Counselling Techniques certificate courses are available remotely through Zoom. Becoming a Therapist This Counselling Techniques certificate does not qualify you for registration with any regulatory body (e.g.  Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers ,  College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario ) or to practice as a licensed therapist. To become a regulated therapist, please visit the website for the appropriate regulatory body in your province. Registration No application required. To register, choose a course and section to view the dates and cost. Add the course to your cart and complete payment. Contact Information For more information about this certificate contact the Faculty of Social Work Professional Development office: Email : fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca Phone : 548-889-4967 See our website and  Frequently Asked Questions for more information. - [Certificate Bereavement: Death, Dying and Bereavement Certificate](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/public/category/courseCategoryCertificateProfile.do?method=load&certificateId=1053697): Develop the knowledge, skills and compassion to support others through profound loss. Death and grief are universal human experiences – yet they are often met with silence, discomfort and misunderstanding. How individuals experience death, dying and bereavement is shaped by many factors including culture, stage of life, spirituality, past trauma, and the nature of the loss itself. In many settings, death remains a taboo topic, leaving individuals and families without the language or support to process their grief. This certificate is designed for professionals who support individuals and families through the end-of-life journey and beyond. Drawing on current research and grounded in compassionate practice, the program offers a deeper understanding of the psychological, social, cultural and spiritual dimensions of death and bereavement. Participants will explore a range of topics including traumatic loss, end-of-life care, MAiD, and the diverse ways in which people mourn. Through a selection of Professional Development courses, participants will: Explore frameworks and tools for companioning the dying and the bereaved. Learn strategies for supporting grief in children, parents and individuals living with intellectual disabilities. Reflect on their own experiences, values and beliefs around death. Build confidence in having conversations around loss, suffering and meaning. Understand the importance of ritual, storytelling and presence in grief work. Whether working in healthcare, mental health, social work, education, pastoral care or community support, this certificate equips professionals with the insight and tools needed to walk alongside others with empathy, dignity and respect in times of deep vulnerability. Completion Requirements To earn the Death, Dying and Bereavement certificate, you must complete at least 84 course hours. The program is flexible – you can finish in as little as one year or take up to seven years. You do not have to be working towards the Death, Dying and Bereavement certificate to take any of these courses. You can complete these workshops in any order, but it is strongly recommended that you take the Foundations of Grief workshop first if you do not have previous training or experience in this field.  Participation and Attendance Remote : Full attendance and participation are required to complete these courses. You are required, as much as possible, to have your camera on. We know there are situations where this is not possible, so please send a message to your instructor or the Professional Development host to let them know that you are unable to turn on your camera. Our courses are interactive and include breakout rooms, role play, group discussions and other activities. Participation is required. Online : Read the course materials, complete quizzes and participate in all required discussions and activities. The estimated workload is approximately two hours per week. Four + Discount Register for four or more courses at the same time to receive a 10% discount on each course. To qualify, you must complete registration and payment for all courses in a single transaction. The discount is non-cumulative and cannot be applied retroactively. If discount is not applied at time of registration, contact fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca for assistance before payment. Discounts cannot be applied after registration has been completed. Delivery Options The Death, Dying and Bereavement certificate courses are available remotely through Zoom and asynchronously online . Registration No application required. To register, choose a course and section to view the dates and cost. Add the course to your cart and complete payment. Becoming a Therapist This Death, Dying and Bereavement certificate does not qualify you for registration with any regulatory body (e.g. Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers or College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario ) or to practice as a licensed therapist. To become a regulated therapist, please visit the website for the appropriate regulatory body in your province. Contact Information For more information about this certificate contact the Faculty of Social Work Professional Development office: Email : fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca Phone : 548-889-5128 See our website and  Frequently Asked Questions for more information. - [Certificate Management: Management and Leadership Certificate](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/public/category/courseCategoryCertificateProfile.do?method=load&certificateId=1053795): Many professionals in the social services sector step into leadership roles with little – or no – formal training in management. This certificate is designed to bridge that gap by equipping current and aspiring leaders with the essential knowledge and skills needed to be an effective, strategic leader in any organization.  Through two required Professional Development courses and a selection of focused electives , participants will build competencies in leadership, team development and strategic planning. The program emphasizes continuous learning, adaptability and creative problem-solving – key strengths for leaders navigating today's complex social service environments. Required Courses Fundamentals of Management Human Resource (HR) Management Electives (choose five of the following) Change Management: What it Is and How to Use it In Your Projects and Operations Community Consultation and Needs Assessment Introduction to Clinical Supervision Leadership Coaching: Guiding Conversations Towards Transformation Managing Conflict with Confidence and Compassion Program Evaluation Project Management Resource Development Trauma-Informed Leadership: Transforming Your Agency into a Trauma-Informed Sanctuary of Care The program is flexible – you can finish in as little as one year or take up to seven years. You do not have to be working toward the Management and Leadership certificate to take any of these courses. Participation and Attendance Full attendance and participation are required to complete these courses. You are required, as much as possible, to have your camera on. We know there are situations where this is not possible, so please send a message to your instructor or the Professional Development host to let them know that you are unable to turn on your camera. Our courses are interactive and include breakout rooms, role play, group discussions and other activities. Participation is required. Four + Discount Register for four or more courses at the same time to receive a 10% discount on each course. To qualify, you must complete registration and payment for all courses in a single transaction. The discount is non-cumulative and cannot be applied retroactively. If discount is not applied at time of registration, contact fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca for assistance before payment. Discounts cannot be applied after registration has been completed. Delivery Options The Management and Leadership certificate courses are available remotely  through Zoom. Registration No application required. To register, choose a course and section to view the dates and cost. Add the course to your cart and complete payment.  Contact Information For more information about this certificate contact the Faculty of Social Work Professional Development office: Email : fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca Phone : 548-889-5128 See our website and  Frequently Asked Questions for more information. - [Certificate Trauma: Trauma Certificate](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/public/category/courseCategoryCertificateProfile.do?method=load&certificateId=1054395): Build your capacity to understand, respond to and support healing from trauma. The Trauma certificate offers a comprehensive and practical foundation in trauma theory, assessment and intervention. Created for helping professionals across disciplines, this program delves into the complex and far-reaching impacts – on the body, memory and daily life. Participants will gain the skills to recognize and respond to trauma in diverse individuals, communities and systems. Grounded in current research and evidence-informed practices, the program explores both immediate and long-term effects of trauma through a multidisciplinary lens. Participants will examine various types of trauma – including complex, interpersonal violence, gender-based violence and displacement – and consider how intersecting issues such as addiction and loss may complicate trauma. The program also supports those who work closely with trauma survivors by offering tools for self-awareness, reflection and self-care – recognizing that caring for others begins with caring for ourselves. Completion Requirements To earn the Trauma certificate, you must complete at least 84 course hours. It is strongly recommended that you take 0101 - Foundations of Trauma if  you don't have extensive training or experience working with trauma. The program is flexible – you can finish in as little as one year or take up to seven years. You do not have to be working toward the Trauma certificate to take any of these courses. Participation and Attendance Remote : Full attendance and participation are required to complete these courses. You are required, as much as possible, to have your camera on. We know there are situations where this is not possible, so please send a message to your instructor or the Professional Development host to let them know that you are unable to turn on your camera. Our courses are interactive and include breakout rooms, role play, group discussions and other activities. Participation is required. Online : Read the course materials, complete quizzes and participate in all required discussions and activities. The estimated workload is approximately two hours per week. Four + Discount Register for four or more courses at the same time to receive a 10% discount on each course. To qualify, you must complete registration and payment for all courses in a single transaction. The discount is non-cumulative and cannot be applied retroactively. If discount is not applied at time of registration, contact fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca for assistance before payment. Discounts cannot be applied after registration has been completed. Delivery Options The Trauma certificate courses are available asynchronously online and remotely through Zoom. Registration No application required. To register, choose a course and section to view the dates and cost. Add the course to your cart and complete payment. Becoming a Therapist This Trauma certificate does  not qualify you for registration with any regulatory body (e.g.  Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers ,  College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario ) or to practice as a licensed therapist. To become a regulated therapist, please visit the websites for the appropriate regulatory body in your province. Contact Information For more information about this certificate contact the Faculty of Social Work Professional Development office: Email : fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca Phone : 548-889-5128 See our website and  Frequently Asked Questions for more information. - [Certificate PEC: Program Evaluation Certificate](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/public/category/courseCategoryCertificateProfile.do?method=load&certificateId=1055230): Are you running a program or service and want to know whether it is effective, meeting the needs of people, or maximizing a limited budget? Program evaluation can help you find the evidence you need to strengthen your program or service! The Program Evaluation Certificate will introduce you to different evaluation approaches, designs, methods, and the skills to apply this knowledge to your own work. Each week, you will be asked to apply your learnings to create an evaluation plan for a program within your organization or local community. In addition to coaching provided through group workshops, your one-on-one consulting session with an evaluation expert will give you detailed feedback on your plan and answer any questions you have. By the end of the program, you'll walk away with an evaluation plan that you can put into practice right away to conduct a successful program evaluation. While there is a substantial body of knowledge on the practice and theory of program evaluation which this program will address, the program will also explore emerging issues and topics in evaluation that relate to its ability to decrease inequities in society and uphold ethical standards, social justice values, and decolonial and anti-oppressive practices. We welcome learners that can contribute their lived experiences and offer real-world challenges that can enhance the learning experience for everyone in the program. Our certificate is designed for those who need to evaluate, analyze and improve upon programs and/or services within the workplace. The certificate program is offered in partnership with the Centre for Community Research, Learning and Action (CCRLA). CCRLA is a community-engaged research centre located within Laurier's Faculty of Science.   - [Certificate CE0003: Certificate in Disability, Inclusive Ministry and Christian Faith](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/public/category/courseCategoryCertificateProfile.do?method=load&certificateId=1740805):   Are you a congregational leader striving to create a more inclusive church community? Do you support people with disabilities in a faith-based setting? Luther’s Certificate in Disability and Christian Faith will provide you the opportunity to explore the intersection among disability, spirituality, mental health, and caregiving, with the specific goal of creating more diverse and welcoming communities.   Increasingly pastors, church leaders, and community workers, are called to welcome and support people of all ages with disabilities and mental health challenges, as well as family members who provide care (parents, spouses, adult children). It can be challenging to know how to respond. This certificate program explores the practical, theological, and ethical challenges many faith communities face as they strive to be inclusive and equitable. Together, along with experts in the field, we will explore ways communities of faith can welcome and celebrate the full participation and leadership of all members, particularly those who live with disabilities and mental health challenges. The Certificate in Disability, Inclusive Ministry, and Christian Faith allows adult learners the opportunity to participate in subject-focused, remote, part-time, non-credit seminars that can be completed in a concentrated timeframe. You are welcome to take as few as one or two courses based on your time and interest, or you can complete three courses and a capstone project focused on a topic or project of your choice to earn a Certificate in Disability, Inclusive Ministry, and Christian Faith. Who is this certificate for? You!  This certificate is geared for people who work in congregations and faith-based communities such as ordained clergy, youth pastors, non-ordained ministry personnel, and Sunday school teachers.   As well, those who are interested in the intersection of spirituality, disability, caregiving, and mental health such as health care providers and educators may find the certificate relevant.  Courses are non-credit and open access.  Anyone wishing to learn more is encouraged to contact continuingeducation@wlu.ca You’ll learn. Our certificate is grounded in adult learning principles.  We know that adult learners have very limited time and bring valuable experience to the learning environment.  You want courses that are interesting, relevant, focused, and allow you to balance learning with the demands of everyday life. Alongside experts in the field, classes will explore theoretical work and relevant research and explore meaningful and practical strategies to create more inclusive faith communities. Together we will:  Discuss the practical and theological reasons behind why faith communities may struggle to welcome people with diverse abilities.  Explore disability in the Bible.  Review the current research in the fields of disability theology, ethics, and inclusive ministry, and consider their relevance in the daily work and life of   faith communities.  Identify the important ways people with disabilities and mental health challenges contribute to the life and work of faith communities.  Rethink worship and ministry to celebrate the participation and leadership of all members.  Identify practical strategies to create more inclusive faith communities that welcome the contributions and leadership of all members.  Consider our personal calling in terms of the ongoing conversation and work of disability theology and inclusive ministry. *  10% Alumni discount available on all courses. Please contact continuingeducation@wlu.ca for discount code.  - [Certificate CE0004: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Certificate](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/public/category/courseCategoryCertificateProfile.do?method=load&certificateId=3820695): Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a cutting-edge, evidence-based approach grounded in the principles of modern cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT). Blending powerful behaviour change strategies with practices that foster mindfulness, acceptance and value-based living, ACT offers a compassionate, flexible framework for working with a wide range of mental health challenges. Rooted in functional contextualism and informed by relational frame theory –  a dynamic model for understanding how language and cognition influence human behaviour –  ACT invites both therapist and client to approach difficult internal experiences with openness and curiosity. Rather than aiming to eliminate distress, ACT empowers individuals to change their relationship with suffering, living a life that is meaningful and value-driven. This certificate program is designed for clinicians who want to bring more presence, purpose and emotional agility to their work. With ACT's transdiagnostic, experiential approach, you'll learn to move beyond rigid protocols and diagnostic categories, connecting more deeply with what matters –  to your clients and to yourself.  Through this training, you'll gain practical skills and conceptual grounding in: The philosophical and theoretical foundations ACT – and how to build creative, personalized interventions using those foundations. The six core therapeutic processes that promote psychological flexibility. The ACT Matrix -- a simple, powerful tool for assessment, intervention and shared understanding. Applying ACT effectively in brief interventions and group settings. Using ACT in treatment of trauma. Integrating ACT with self-compassion practices. The principles of positive psychology for both personal and professional growth. How to apply ACT processes responsibly and effectively within the context of racial trauma and systemic inequity. Prerequisite Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: The Model, the Application, the Practice , or an approved equivalent, is a prerequisite to all other courses*. These courses are advanced-level trainings that build upon the foundational knowledge introduced in the introductory course. For information about approved equivalent courses, please email fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca . * There is no prerequisite for Positive Psychology: The Science of Well-Being, Resilience and Flourishing . Completion Requirements To earn the ACT certificate, you must complete at least seven courses. The program is flexible – you can finish in as little as one year or take up to seven years. You do not have to be working toward the ACT certificate to take any of these courses. Participation and Attendance Full attendance and participation are required to complete these courses. You are required, as much as possible, to have your camera on. We know there are situations where this is not possible, so please send a message to your instructor or the Professional Development host to let them know that you are unable to turn on your camera. Our courses are interactive and include breakout rooms, role play, group discussions and other activities. Participation is required. Four + Discount Register for four or more courses at the same time to receive a 10% discount  on each course. To qualify, you must complete registration and payment for all courses in a single transaction. The discount is non-cumulative and cannot be applied retroactively. If discount is not applied at time of registration, contact fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca for assistance before payment. Discounts cannot be applied after registration has been completed. Becoming a Therapist This ACT certificate does not qualify you for registration with any regulatory body (e.g. Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers or College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario ) or to practice as a licensed therapist. To become a regulated therapist, please visit the website for the appropriate regulatory body in your province. Delivery Options The ACT certificate courses are available remotely through Zoom. Registration No application required. To register, choose a course and section to view the dates and cost. Add the course to your cart and complete payment. Please review the prerequisites above.  Contact Information For more information about this certificate contact the Faculty of Social Work Professional Development office: Email : fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca Phone : 548-889-4967 See our website and  Frequently Asked Questions for more information. - [Certificate Supervision: Clinical Supervision Certificate](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/public/category/courseCategoryCertificateProfile.do?method=load&certificateId=3916773): Clinical supervision is more than oversight – it's a dynamic, reflective and relational process that fosters growth, deepens clinical insight and elevates professional practice. As Hawkins and Shohet (2012) describe, it is “a joint endeavour in which a practitioner, with the help of a supervisor, attends to their clients, themselves as part of their client-practitioner relationship and the wider systemic context, and by doing so improves the quality of their work, transforms their client relationships, continuously develops themselves, their practice and the wider profession” 1 (p. 5). This certificate is designed for social workers, counsellors and psychotherapists who want to grow as clinical supervisors or who are preparing to take on supervisory roles. Whether you're newly stepping into supervision or looking to refine your approach, this program offers the theoretical foundation and practical tools to support ethical, effective and culturally responsive supervision. Through this experiential and reflective learning journey, you will: Explore a range of supervision theories and models to support diverse learning styles and clinical settings. Strengthen your understanding of the supervisor-supervisee relationship and how to navigate power, trust and role boundaries. Deepen your cultural humility and competence to support inclusive, equity-informed supervision. Examine the ethical responsibilities of supervision, including accountability, confidentiality and scope of practice. Reflect on your own use of self in supervision and how personal and professional identities influence your approach. Navigate common challenges in supervision, such as managing conflict, addressing burnout and supporting supervisees through complex work. But the end of the program, you'll be equipped to foster supervision relationships that are collaborative, ethical and transformative. 1 Hawkins, P., & Shohet, R. (2012). EBOOK: Supervision in the Helping Professions . McGraw-Hill Education (UK). Prerequisites Introduction to Clinical Supervision , or an approved equivalent, is a prerequisite to all other courses. For information about approved equivalent courses, please contact  fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca . Completion Requirements To earn the Clinical Supervision certificate, you must complete seven courses from the list on the right. The program is flexible – you can finish in as little as one year or take up to seven years. You do not have to be working towards the Clinical Supervision certificate to take any of these courses.  Participation and Attendance Full attendance and participation are required to complete these courses. You are required, as much as possible, to have your camera on. We know there are situations where this is not possible, so please send a message to your instructor or the Professional Development host to let them know that you are unable to turn on your camera. Our courses are interactive and include breakout rooms, role play, group discussions and other activities. Participation is required. Four + Discount Register for four or more courses at the same time to receive a 10% discount on each course. To qualify, you must complete registration and payment for all courses in a single transaction. The discount is non-cumulative and cannot be applied retroactively. If discount is not applied at time of registration, contact fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca for assistance before payment. Discounts cannot be applied after registration has been completed. Becoming a Therapist The Clinical Supervision certificate does not qualify you for registration with any regulatory body (e.g.  Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers ,  College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario ) or to practice as a licensed therapist. To become a regulated therapist, please visit the website for the appropriate regulatory body in your province. Becoming an Approved Clinical Supervisor Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA) College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario (CRPO) Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy Delivery Options The Clinical Supervision certificate courses are available remotely through Zoom. Registration This certificate is open to regulated mental health professionals (e.g. RSW, PR, psychologist, NP, RN, clergy, clinical counsellors etc.). No application required. To register, choose a course and section to view the dates and cost. Add the course to your cart and complete payment. Please review the prerequisites above.  Contact Information For more information about this certificate contact the Faculty of Social Work Professional Development office: Email : fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca Phone : 548-889-4967 See our website and  Frequently Asked Questions for more information. - [Certificate Family: Family and Couples Counselling](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/public/category/courseCategoryCertificateProfile.do?method=load&certificateId=4932351): 7 Courses Required Family systems theory teaches us that no individual exists in isolation – the thoughts, behaviours and emotional well-being of one member inevitably affect the entire family system. Whether you work primarily with individuals, couples or families, having a strong grasp of relational dynamics and systemic frameworks is essential to fully understanding and supporting your clients.  This certificate provides a comprehensive, skill-based introduction to key theories and evidence-informed approaches to family and couples counselling. You'll explore modalities such as emotionally focused couple therapy (EFCT), play therapy, attachment theory and the PACT method. Each model offers unique tools to help you navigate the complexities of relationship dynamics and intervene effectively at both the individual and systemic levels. In addition to theoretical foundations, the program delves into some of the most common challenges families and couples face, including addiction, separation and divorce, domestic violence, intimacy struggles and infertility. By the end of the program, you'll be equipped with practical strategies and a broader clinical lens to support your clients through the nuanced and often sensitive realities of family life. Completion Requirements To earn the Family and Couples Counselling certificate, you must complete a minimum of seven courses. The program is flexible – you can finish in as little as one year or take up to seven years. You do not have to be working toward the Family and Couples Counselling certificate to take any of these courses. Participation and Attendance Full attendance and participation are required to complete these courses. You are required, as much as possible, to have your camera on. We know there are situations where this is not possible, so please send a message to your instructor or the Professional Development host to let them know that you are unable to turn on your camera. Our courses are interactive and include breakout rooms, role play, group discussions and other activities. Participation is required. Four + Discount Register for four or more courses at the same time to receive a 10% discount  on each course. To qualify, you must complete registration and payment for all courses in a single transaction. The discount is non-cumulative and cannot be applied retroactively. If discount is not applied at time of registration, contact fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca for assistance before payment. Discounts cannot be applied after registration has been completed. Delivery Options The Family and Couples Counselling certificate courses are available remotely through Zoom. Becoming a Therapist This Family and Couples Counselling certificate does not qualify you for registration with any regulatory body (e.g.  Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers ,  College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario ) or to practice as a licensed therapist. To become a regulated therapist, please visit the website for the appropriate regulatory body in your province. Registration No application required. To register, choose a course and section to view the dates and cost. Add the course to your cart and complete payment. Contact Information For more information about this certificate contact the Faculty of Social Work Professional Development office: Email : fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca Phone : 548-889-4967 See our website and  Frequently Asked Questions for more information. - [Certificate MH Skills Educ: Mental Health Skills for Educators: Children and Youth](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/public/category/courseCategoryCertificateProfile.do?method=load&certificateId=4989220): 1.2 million children and youth are affected by a mental illness in Ontario, but less than one-third will connect with a mental health professional.  Developed in partnership with  Continuing Education  and the Faculty of Education , this series of micro-credentials  was created by Carolyn FitzGerald. Dr. FitzGerald holds an MA and a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Western Ontario. Prior to joining the Faculty of Education at Laurier in 2012, she worked with a number of different high schools and youth organizations as part of a project to help at-risk teens learn to develop healthy dating relationships. An expert in mental health in education, Dr. Fitzgerald’s research focuses on the training current and prospective educators need to effectively support students with mental health needs and promote positive mental health. She also studies and teaches about the mental health of educators and school administrators, as well as equity, diversity and inclusion in the classroom.  Join over 300 teachers, school administrators, school paraprofessionals and coaches who have learned how to respond, support, and appropriately refer students who may be struggling with these issues. Who can benefit from this certificate? This series of micro-credentials are for anyone who work with children, teens and youth: Educators Education assistants Administrators Others working in our school systems Child and youth care practitioners Those working with children in community roles Family support services What are micro-credentials?  A micro-credential is a widely recognized professional development credential for short and focused programs around specific teaching competencies. Each module in this series acts as it’s own micro-credential.  After each completed micro-credential, participants will be issued a letter of completion from Laurier Continuing Education and Faculty of Education.   Complete all six micro-credentials to earn the Mental Health Skills for Educators Certificate .    Micro-credentials are eligible for financial assistance through OSAP . Get started today: Free introductory online module. Register any time:    Introduction to Children and Youth Mental Health: Skills for Educators Earn all 6 micro-credentials for the Youth Mental Health certificate: Mental Health Skills for Educators: Mood Disorders in Children and Youth Mental Health Skills for Educators: Anxiety in Children and Youth  Mental Health Skills for Educators: Suicide and Self-Harm in Children and Youth Mental Health Skills for Educators: Body Image and Eating Disorders in Children and Youth Mental Health Skills for Educators: FASD and Substance Abuse in Children and Youth Mental Health Skills for Educators: Psychosis and Disruptive Behaviour Disorders in Children and Youth - [Certificate IFS: Applied Internal Family Systems (IFS) Practice Certificate](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/public/category/courseCategoryCertificateProfile.do?method=load&certificateId=5973860): A Training Program for Therapists, Counsellors, Coaches, Mental Health and Allied Health Professionals and Clergy. Offered in Partnership with Red Maple Coaching and Consulting .   Internal Family Systems (IFS) is an evidenced-based approach developed by Dr. Richard Schwartz in the 1980s. Unlike traditional therapies that often focus on a single aspect of the mind, IFS recognizes that each person is a system of "parts," each with their own emotions, perspectives and roles. At the heart of IFS is the concept of the Self. The Self is naturally calm, curious, compassionate and capable of leading your internal system. This non-pathologizing, holistic and empowering model emphasizes the client's innate capacity for self-leadership and healing, helping them to: Build a non-judgmental relationship with themselves. Uncover and release burdens that parts carry, leading to inner harmony. Empower the Self to lead with confidence and compassion. Ultimately, the goal of IFS is to empower the Self to lead, enabling individuals to live with greater inner peace, resilience and authenticity. The goal of this course is to transform the way you understand yourself as well as how to support others.   Program Overview   The Applied Internal Family Systems (IFS) Practice certificate is comprised of two parts. Both parts must be successfully completed to receive the Applied IFS Practice certificate: Part 1: Self, Protectors and the Foundations of IFS  (40 hours) Part 2: Exiles, Unburdening and Deepening IFS Practice  (40 hours) This two-part program will require 80 hours of learning through: synchronous lectures (remote through Zoom) demonstrations (remote through Zoom) supervised practice groups (remote through Zoom) self-directed study (asynchronous through MyLearningSpace) Learning Outcomes Understand the foundational concepts of IFS as a non-pathologizing model. Learn about the individual as a system of Parts (Managers, Firefighters & Exiles), each with their own roles and perspectives. Learn about the Self, which is designed to bring healing and harmony within the system through connection. Practice creating environments where healing is client-led and the practitioner is present and centred. Discover the mindsets, skills and steps that help others access the Self, foster connection within the system, and experience healing, breakthrough and growth (e.g. the six Fs of Connection with Parts, Unburdening, Self-Energy etc.). Program Highlights Live instruction from IFSI and IFSCA trained instructors  and seasoned practitioners. Supervised practice groups with small participant/instructor ratios (no more than five participants per group). Downloadable handouts to use with clients. Live demonstrations that will allow you to see IFS practiced in real-time. Workload Each 40-hour course is comprised of 25.5 hours of live, virtual engagement and 14.5 hours of self-directed learning, as well as assigned readings. Please ensure you can commit to the workload before registering for each course. There are no extensions granted. Personal Work In this course, your own personal work and your professional development will likely collide. Your commitment, however, must be to your professional development during your studies. You are strongly encouraged to work with an IFS therapist of your own to achieve the growth you desire in your own life. Course Expectations To make the most of our time together, we ask that everyone help create a safe, respectful, and engaging learning environment. Cameras – You will be required to keep your camera on for the full duration of each Zoom session. The IFS learning process requires a high level of self-awareness, presence and engagement. Given the intimate and often vulnerable nature of this training, your active participation is essential.  Privacy – Join from a private, quiet space where you will not be overheard or interrupted. Because conversations in IFS courses may include confidential and deeply personal experiences, maintaining privacy is essential for ensuring a safe and respectful space for all.   Admission Requirements   To be eligible for this course, you must have a minimum of three years' experience in a helping profession (e.g., social worker, therapist, counsellor, psychotherapist, psychologist, mental health practitioner, allied healthcare professional, professional coach, clergy). To be eligible for Part 2, you must have successfully completed Part 1 or an approved equivalent. Contact us at fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca if you require additional information. Discounts The Applied IFS Practice certificate is not eligible for any discounts.   Completion Requirements   Applied IFS Practice is a non-credit professional development program; completion of each course will be on a pass/fail basis. Evidence of your learning is evaluated by: Attendance, with participation, in all mandatory live sessions, including orientation. Cameras should be turned on as much as possible, but are required during demonstrations and supervised practice groups. Completion of all asynchronous, online modules. Submission of all reflective practice exercises. Achievement of 75% on a 15-question, multiple choice quiz at the end of each course. Note: You do not have to be working towards completing the Applied IFS Practice certificate to take the Part 1 course. For professional coaches: Part 1: Foundations of IFS Practice has been approved for 34 Continuing Coach Education credits (17 core competencies and 17 resource development) by the International Coaching Federation (ICF) . Your Continuing Coach Education (CCE) certificate will be issued by Red Maple .   Becoming a Therapist   This Applied IFS Practice certificate does not qualify you for registration with any regulatory body (e.g.  Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers ,  College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario ) or to practice as a licensed therapist. To become a regulated therapist, please visit the website for the appropriate regulatory body in your province. Upon completion of the Applied IFS Practice certificate you can refer to yourself as an IFS-informed practitioner.   Registration   No application required. To register, choose a course and section to view the dates and cost. Add the course to your cart and complete payment. Please review the prerequisites above.   Cancellations and Refunds   Please carefully read all of our cancellation and transfer information before registering for an Applied IFS Practice course.   Contact Information   For more information about this certificate contact the Faculty of Social Work Professional Development office: Email : fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca Phone : 548-889-4967 See the  Frequently Asked Questions for more information.   More Information   Is this program approved by the IFS Institute? This certificate is neither endorsed by, nor in partnership with, the IFS Institute. It is a distinct training on its own. Equivalency with the IFS Institute’s courses is not the goal of this program; it was developed to prepare you to integrate IFS into your practice. Do I need to be a regulated mental health professional to take this course? No. Worldwide, coaches, clergy, allied health professionals, and others are using the IFS model in their work with clients, systems and organizations. Effectiveness with IFS is determined less by credentials and more by the presence and self-leadership you learn to keep in your practice. Can other courses I've taken qualify as equivalent to the IFS courses? Potentially. Each IFS Instructor emphasizes different things in different courses. There is great diversity of thought about how to teach IFS. Our instructors have carefully considered what will be taught where throughout these courses. If you have previously completed IFS training, please contact us at fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca so we can determine if the training is equivalent to our Part 1 course. Are the instructors certified? The instruction team is comprised of professionals who are certified by the IFS Institute, as well as IFSCA.  - [Certificate Mental Health: Women's Mental Health Certificate](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/public/category/courseCategoryCertificateProfile.do?method=load&certificateId=7387144): Between puberty and midlife, women are twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. 1 Many young women report feeling powerless when seeking mental health support. 2 Despite these and other gender-based disparities, only 3% of health research globally focuses specifically on women’s health 3 , and, until 1993, women were largely excluded from clinical research. 4 Today, the design and delivery of mental health services continue to reflect – and often reinforce– gender-based inequities. 5   Women’s mental health is shaped by a complex intersection of biological, psychological, social and cultural influences. This certificate program is designed to equip mental health professionals with the knowledge, insight and tools to provide effective, compassionate and empowering care to women across the lifespan. Participants will explore a broad range of topics, including: Reproductive and perinatal mental health Intimate partner violence Eating disorders and body image Menopause and hormonal transitions Burnout, anger and emotional expression  The program also addresses how mental health is impacted by race, geography and age – examining the unique experiences of  adolescents, Black and racialized women, and those living in rural or isolated communities. Critical attention is given to systemic barriers, gaps in clinical knowledge and the societal narratives that continue to shape women’s experiences of distress and recovery.  Grounded in current research and evidence-informed practice, this certificate is ideal for anyone who want to deepen their understanding of women’s mental health and expand their capacity to provide gender-responsive care. Through interactive learning, real-world case studies, and a focus on both individual and systemic considerations, professionals will be empowered to support the mental wellness, resilience and agency of women in all their diversity. Completion Requirements To earn the Women's Mental Health certificate, you must complete at least 84 course hours. The program is flexible – you can finish in as little as one year or take up to seven years. You do not have to be working toward the Women's Mental Health certificate to take any of these courses. Participation and Attendance Full attendance and participation are required to complete these workshops. Your are required, as much as possible, to have your camera on. We know there are situations where this is not possible, so please send a message to your instructor or the Professional Development host to let them know that you are unable to turn on your camera. Our workshops are interactive and include breakout rooms, role play, group discussions and other activities. Participation is required. Four + Discount Register for four or more courses at the same time to receive a  10% discount on each course. To qualify, you must complete registration and payment for all courses in a single transaction. The discount is non-cumulative and cannot be applied retroactively. If discount is not applied at time of registration, contact fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca for assistance before payment. Discounts cannot be applied after registration has been completed. Delivery Options The Women’s Mental Health certificate workshops are available remotely through Zoom. Registration No application required. To register, choose a course and section to view the dates and cost. Add the course to your cart and complete payment. Becoming a Therapist This Women’s Mental Health certificate does not qualify you for registration with any regulatory body (e.g.  Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers ,  College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario ) or to practice as a licensed therapist. To become a regulated therapist, please visit the website for the appropriate regulatory body in your province. Contact Information For more information about this certificate contact the Faculty of Social Work Professional Development office: Email : fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca Phone : 548-889-5128 See our website and Frequently Asked Questions for more information. 1 Facts (n.d.). Anxiety and Depression Association of America: Triumphing Through Science, Treatment, and Education. Retrieved June 30, 2025 from https://adaa.org/living-with-anxiety/women/facts.  2 CMHA testimony before FEWO: young women and girls mental health study (October 25, 2022). Canadian Mental Health Association. https://cmha.ca/news/cmha-testimony-before-fewo-young-women-and-girls-mental-health-study/. 3 womenmind™: Women’s Mental Health Matters. CAMH. Retrieved June 30, 2025 from https://www.camh.ca/en/get-involved/join-the-cause/womenmind. 4 NIH Inclusion Outreach Toolkit: How to Engage, Recruit, and Retain Women in Clinical Research (April 24, 2024). National Institutes of Health: Office of Research on Women’s Health. https://orwh.od.nih.gov/toolkit/recruitment/history. 5 CMHA testimony before FEWO: young women and girls mental health study (October 25, 2022). Canadian Mental Health Association. https://cmha.ca/news/cmha-testimony-before-fewo-young-women-and-girls-mental-health-study/. - [Certificate CE0005: Relational and Attachment-Focused Practice Certificate](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/public/category/courseCategoryCertificateProfile.do?method=load&certificateId=9442136): Attachment is an innate biological and psychological system that develops from birth and plays a central role in emotion regulation, human connection and psychological well-being. Through early relationships with caregivers, children develop internal working models of safety, connection, emotional expression and self-worth. These relationship patterns often continue to influence coping strategies, relationships and mental health throughout the lifespan. In an increasingly disconnected world, many clients seek support to better understand, strengthen, repair and sustain their relationships. Relational and attachment-focused approaches offer powerful frameworks for understanding how early experiences shape emotional well-being, relationship patterns and psychological functioning across the lifespan. By deepening their understanding of attachment theory and relational practice, clinicians can create greater emotional safety, strengthen therapeutic relationships and support meaningful, lasting change for the individuals, couples and families they serve. The Relational and Attachment-Focused Practice Certificate provides a comprehensive exploration of attachment and relational practice, equipping clinicians with practical, evidence-informed approaches for understanding and addressing attachment-related concerns in diverse clinical settings. This certificate explores four key areas: Attachment across the lifespan : Understanding attachment from infancy through adulthood and its impact on development, relationships and well-being. Viewing clinical concerns through an attachment lens : Exploring how attachment dynamics influence presenting concerns, including trauma, eating disorders, anxiety, depression and relationship difficulties. Attachment-focused therapeutic approaches : Learning how attachment principles inform interventions such as emotionally focused therapy (EFT), internal family systems (IFS), psychodynamic therapy, and other relational approaches. Developing self-awareness as a clinician : Reflecting on your own attachment patterns to strengthen clinical presence, therapeutic attunement and professional effectiveness. Prerequisite The certificate begins with a free, 90-minute online self-directed module: Evolution of Attachment: History, Core Concepts and Categories . This introductory module provides a foundational understanding of attachment theory and its relevance to contemporary clinical practice. Topics include: The history and evolution of attachment theory Core attachment concepts and categories How early caregiver-child relationships influence emotional regulation, personality development, relationship patterns and overall well-being The role of attachment across the lifespan While this module is a required prerequisite for select courses within the certificate, it is strongly recommended for anyone interested in developing a deeper understanding of attachment theory and attachment-informed practice. Completion Requirements To earn the Relational and Attachment-Focused Practice certificate, you must complete at least 84 course hours. The program is flexible – you can finish in as little as one year or take up to seven years. You do not have to be working toward the Relational and Attachment-Focused Practice certificate to take any of these courses. Participation and Attendance Full attendance and participation are required to complete these courses. You are required, as much as possible, to have your camera on. We know there are situations where this is not possible, so please send a message to your instructor or the Professional Development host to let them know that you are unable to turn on your camera. Our courses are interactive and include breakout rooms, role play, group discussions and other activities. Participation is required. Four + Discount Register for four or more courses at the same time to receive a 10% discount on each course. To qualify, you must complete registration and payment for all courses in a single transaction. The discount is non-cumulative and cannot be applied retroactively. If discount is not applied at time of registration, contact fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca for assistance before payment. Discounts cannot be applied after registration has been completed. Delivery Options The Relational and Attachment-Focused Practice certificate courses are available remotely through Zoom. Becoming a Therapist This Relational and Attachment-Focused Practice certificate does not qualify you for registration with any regulatory body (e.g. Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers or College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario ) or to practice as a licensed therapist. To become a regulated therapist, please visit the website for the appropriate regulatory body in your province. Registration No application required. To register, choose a course and section to view the dates and cost. Add the course to your cart and complete payment. Please review the prerequisites above. Contact Information For more information about this certificate contact the Faculty of Social Work Professional Development office: Email : fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca Phone : 548-889-4967 See our website and Frequently Asked Questions for more information. - [Certificate CE0006: Advanced Certificate in Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)](https://continuingeducation.wlu.ca/public/category/courseCategoryCertificateProfile.do?method=load&certificateId=9443027): Offered in partnership with True North Psychotherapy . Rates of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are on the rise, yet there remains a well-documented gap between the number of individuals experiencing OCD and the availability of clinicians trained to provide effective, evidence-based care. On average, individuals with OCD wait approximately seven years before receiving an accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment.  At the same time, clinicians across a wide range of practice settings – not only those specializing in OCD – regularly encounter symptoms of the disorder. Without adequate training, OCD is frequently misidentified, leading to ineffective treatment approaches and missed opportunities for early intervention. Strengthening foundational competencies in recognizing and responding to OCD can significantly improve the speed and quality of client care.  Exposure and response prevention (ERP) is widely recognized as the gold standard for OCD and has also demonstrated strong effectiveness in treating various anxiety and phobia-related disorders. Through ERP, clients are gradually exposed to their obsessions or feared stimuli – either physically or through visualization – while learning to tolerate the associated distress without engaging in compulsive or safety behaviours.  The Advanced Certificate in ERP is designed to help you: Accurately recognize a broad range of OCD presentations Understand common OCD subtypes and symptom dimensions Differentiate OCD from other conditions with overlapping features Apply evidence-based ERP strategies with greater confidence and skill Adapt your approach to support children and neurodiverse populations Make more informed referrals when appropriate Prerequisite Foundations in Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP): Four-Day Intensive , or an approved equivalent, is a prerequisite to all other courses*. These courses are advanced-level trainings that build upon the foundational knowledge introduced in the introductory course. For information about approved equivalent courses, please contact  fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca . * There is no prerequisite for Understanding OCD in Children and Youth: Early Intervention and Assessment Strategies . Completion Requirements To earn the Advanced Certificate in ERP, you must complete all six courses. The program is flexible – you can finish in as little as one year or take up to seven years. You do not have to be working towards the Advanced Certificate in ERP to take any of these courses. Participation and Attendance Full attendance and participation are required to complete these courses. You are required, as much as possible, to have your camera on. We know there are situations where this is not possible, so please send a message to your instructor or the Professional Development host to let them know that you are unable to turn on your camera. Our courses are interactive and include breakout rooms, role play, group discussions and other activities. Participation is required. Four + Discount Register for four or more courses at the same time to receive a 10% discount on each course. To qualify, you must complete registration and payment for all courses in a single transaction. The discount is non-cumulative and cannot be applied retroactively. If discount is not applied at time of registration, contact fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca for assistance before payment. Discounts cannot be applied after registration has been completed. Becoming a Therapist The Advanced Certificate in ERP does not qualify you for registration with any regulatory body (e.g. Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers , College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario ) or to practice as a licensed therapist. To become a regulated therapist, please visit the website for the appropriate regulatory body in your province. Delivery Options The Advanced Certificate in ERP courses are available remotely through Zoom. Registration This certificate is open to regulated mental health professionals (e.g. RSW, PR, psychologist, NP, RN, clergy, clinical counsellors etc.). No application required. To register, choose a course and section to view the dates and cost. Add the course to your cart and complete payment. Please review the prerequisites above. Contact Information For more information about this certificate contact the Faculty of Social Work Professional Development office: Email : fswprofessionaldevelopment@wlu.ca Phone : 548-889-4967 See our website and Frequently Asked Questions for more information. LAST_UPDATED: 2026-08-15