Walking Together: Culturally Responsive CBT with a Focus on Indigenous Communities

Although cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) has its roots in Western culture, it is currently used throughout the world to address a wide range of mental health challenges – with an even wider range of cultural groups and diverse peoples. In this dynamic 60th anniversary lecture, registered social workers Thomas Brown (he/him) and Anangkwe Charity Fleming (she/her), will explore the ways in which CBT can be enriched and modified so that it is broadly culturally adaptive and sensitive. They will then focus on how CBT can adapted so that is relevant and impactful in Indigenous communities. 

Speaker: Anangkwe Charity Fleming (MSW '09, RSW) and Thomas Brown (MSW '10, RSW)

The New Clinician: Confidence Without Certainty in a Trauma-Shaped World

The world our clients are moving through is faster, heavier and more overwhelming than it used to be, and it is reshaping the work we do as clinicians. Many helping professionals are finding themselves caught between increasing complexity and the quiet fear of not knowing enough or not doing enough. The old expectations of neutrality and expertise no longer match what clients actually need, yet few clinicians feel fully prepared for the realities of a trauma shaped world.

This lecture offers a grounded and hopeful look at what it means to do this work today. We will explore how trauma and shame appear in everyday life, why self doubt is so common among helpers, and how confidence can grow from presence, humanity, and relational safety rather than from having all the answers. Participants will leave with a stronger, steadier sense of who they are in this work, a clearer understanding of what supports healing in the realities of 2026, and a renewed confidence in their ability to stay present when conversations feel uncertain, layered, or emotionally charged.

Speaker: Melissa Pyne (MSW '07, RSW, PCC)

Pathways to Leadership: Transformative Transitions in Social Work Practice

Entering leadership in social work is both rewarding and challenging. New leaders must navigate paradoxes such as autonomy versus oversight, transparency versus confidentiality and immediate needs versus strategic planning (Walters, 2024). Sector-specific pressures -- organizational mandates, political requirements and resource scarcity -- often conflict with social work ethics, creating disorientation and stress (Ratcliff, 2024; Venning et al., 2025; Ylvisaker & Rugkåsa, 2022). Many social work schools do not offer courses on leadership, leaving new leaders to cobble together their own approaches. Consequently, many leaders assume roles without formal preparation, making transitions destabilizing yet formative (Bond & Naughton, 2011; Hill, 2007).

This lecture will help participants understand that imposter syndrome is a normal part of leadership transitions, even for experienced professionals moving into senior roles. Using a social work-centered leadership model grounded in professional values -- dignity, social justice, service, integrity, competence and confidentiality -- participants will explore phases of the leadership journey and develop practical skills to act as guideposts. Emphasis is placed on applying nine guiding leadership qualities to navigate complex social work environments with confidence.

Speaker: Cheri Bilitz (MSW, RSW, PhD '26)

Joy on the Journey: Lessons from Positive Psychology to Increase Balance, Well-Being and Happiness -- and Protect Against Burnout

Helping professionals are often deeply committed to caring for others, yet many struggle to extend that same care to themselves. Drawing on research from positive psychology – the science of what helps people thrive – this lecture explores practical, evidence-based strategies to build resilience, increase fulfillment and protect against burnout. Through relatable stories, humour and real-world examples, participants will learn key principles for cultivating joy, balance and well-being in both their personal and professional lives.

Speaker: Angela Rolleman (MSW '07, RSW)

Islamophobia and Anti-Muslim Racism in Canada: What’s Social Work Got to Do With It?

On January 29, 2017, 46 people attending evening prayers at the Great Mosque of Quebec were attacked. Six people were killed and five were seriously injured. On June 6, 2021, four members of the Afzaal family were murdered in a targeted terror attack that took place while they were out for an evening walk in London, Ontario. Despite our claims of being a peaceful and multicultural society, Canada leads G7 nations in the targeted violence and murders of Muslims, motivated by Islamophobia. In the context of escalating genocidal violence in Palestine and rising anti-immigrant sentiment in many Western nations, there has been a documented increase of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim racism in Canada (Zine, 2022). This lecture explores Islamophobia, tracing its history and impact within Canada and beyond. Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of the structural, political and ideological roots of Islamophobia, and will be able to consider the role of social work in addressing anti-Muslim racism.
 
_{Zine, J. (2022). The Canadian Islamophobia Industry: Mapping Islamophobia’s Ecosystem in the Great White North. Islamophobia Studies Centre: Berkeley, California. https://view.publitas.com/center-for-race-gender-uc-berkeley/irdp-report-the-canadian-islamophobia-industry/}

Speaker: Amilah Baksh (MSW, RSW, PhD (c))

The Embodied Self: How Presence Becomes the Somatic and Relational Foundation of Competence

True connection begins with presence, the quiet, embodied ability to stay with ourselves while meeting another person with steadiness and care. Presence is not something we perform or perfect; it is something we inhabit.

This lecture is an invitation to listen from the inside. To return to the body as teacher. When we settle into the body’s wisdom, something in us becomes clearer, kinder, and more available; we open the possibility for connection that is rooted in compassion. Drawing on Somatic Experiencing ® and Inner Relationship Focusing, we will explore how the body’s felt sense supports attunement, co-regulation, and ethical responsiveness, and why these embodied capacities form the foundation of safety and competence.

Participants will learn how attachment patterns, nervous system states, and embodied awareness weave themselves into every moment of contact. We will examine the internal conditions that foster safe, attuned, and transformative relationships, as well as consider how the performance of competence often pulls us away from ourselves and undermines connection. 

Together, we will explore the difference between managing someone and truly meeting them; between doing more and being available for what is; between knowing what should happen and listening for what wants to emerge. Participants will leave with a grounded understanding of how an embodied inner relationship becomes the heart of ethical, effective, and deeply human care.

Speaker: Stephanie Baker (PhD '18, MSW '07, RSW, SEP)

Supporting Individuals Ineligible or Not Ready for MAiD: Finding Meaning When Choice is Constrained

As MAiD has become embedded within the Canadian healthcare landscape, many individuals encounter MAiD not as an outcome, but as a context shaping how they understand their suffering, their future and their worth. While eligibility criteria and assessment processes are increasingly well defined, less attention has been given to the experiences of those who are found ineligible, uncertain or not ready for MAiD. For these individuals, suffering does not resolve when MAiD is unavailable. Instead, it often deepens and shifts, taking the form of prolonged uncertainty, erosion of identity, moral fatigue and existential loneliness. Many begin to internalize eligibility thresholds, questioning whether their suffering is “enough,” whether endurance is expected and whether continued life still merits care. Families and care teams are likewise affected, frequently experiencing frustration, grief and moral distress, particularly when care appears to retreat after a MAiD refusal.

Clinicians and volunteers often report uncertainty about how to remain present in these moments without escalating, minimizing or withdrawing. This lecture addresses a critical gap in contemporary practice, namely how to offer ethical, compassionate care when suffering persists and resolution is unavailable. We'll offer an ethics-informed, meaning-centered approach to supporting individuals who are ineligible or not ready for MAiD. Rather than focusing on provision or policy, the lecture reframes MAiD as a contextual influence on lived experience and explores how care can remain grounded when certainty, eligibility or outcome is absent.

Drawing on existential ethics, relational practice and lived experience, the lecture emphasizes presence without propulsion, recognition without endorsement and accompaniment without retreat. Participants will explore how suffering related to time, identity and endurance differs from crisis-based distress and how remaining present becomes a central ethical responsibility. The lecture integrates conceptual grounding, micro-examples from practice and guided reflection, recognizing that this work requires both ethical clarity and emotional capacity.

Learning Objectives

• Describe how MAiD functions as a contextual influence rather than solely an outcome
• Recognize forms of suffering rooted in time, meaning and identity that lack clinical recognition
• Distinguish reflective despair and moral fatigue from imminent risk
• Understand non-readiness as an ethical and relational state rather than avoidance
• Respond to expressions of despair, anger or uncertainty without minimizing, escalating or directing
• Identify and mitigate the ethical impact of abandonment following ineligibility or refusal
• Use language that affirms dignity, legitimacy and continued care when resolution is unavailable

This lecture equips professionals and volunteers with practical, ethically grounded approaches for remaining present in some of the most complex encounters in MAiD-related care. By strengthening relational capacity, clarifying ethical roles and normalizing uncertainty, the lecture supports improved patient experience, reduced moral distress and more sustainable care for those working alongside prolonged suffering.

When MAiD is unavailable, care does not end but it must change. This lecture invites participants to remain with suffering honestly and compassionately, affirming that when certainty fades and choices are constrained, presence itself becomes an ethical act.

Speaker: Lauren Clark (MSW, RSW)