Trainings, Workshops and Seminars
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Trainings, Workshops and Seminars | Educational and Cross-Cultural Consultations
Culturally Competent Practices:
A Training Series for Educators and Service Providers
This program, offered by the Caring Across Communities Collaborative, has the goal of increasing utilization of mental health services among refugee and immigrant children, youth, and their families. One of the strategies to meet this goal is to provide cultural competency training to school-based social workers, counselors, clinicians, and other community service providers who work with children and adolescents and their families.
Cultural competency will offer Western providers a deeper knowledge and understanding of the worldviews of people from different cultures. Knowing more about what people of other cultures believe, how they put their world together, and how they heal from the challenges of past and present trauma can provide new and useful tools to be used in building therapeutic connections with new clients.
To register, mail or fax the registration form and payment to:
Multilingual and Multicultural Center
150 Ocean Avenue, Portland, ME 04103
Fax: (207) 756-8421
Kick-Off Workshop
Grant Overview and Progress: Reflections on Building Deep Relationships Within Our Community
Thursday, November 8, 2007
8:30-10:00 or 3:30-5:00
Presenter: CACC Steering Committee Members
Last spring, the project held Community Conversations (focus groups) representing various multilingual communities. Providers also completed a Provider Survey Form. Data and Findings from these activities will be presented. Implications on practice, services, and professional training will also be examined.
Cultural Competence Part I: Understanding Culture
Friday, November 30, 2007
8:30-11:30 or 2:00-5:00
Presenter: Don Bouchard, Professional Development Specialist, Multilingual and Multicultural Center, Portland Public Schools
Part 1 of this two-part series focuses on broad characteristics of culture: its dimensions, values, and manifestations in our daily lives. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in experiential activities as a way of understanding how the role of culture shapes our daily lives and how we can better understand those from different cultures.
Cultural Competence Part II:
Applying Cultural Competencies to One’s Personal Context
Friday, December 7, 2007
8:30-11:30 or 2:00-5:00
Presenter: Don Bouchard
Part II builds on the characteristics of culture and applies them in personal contexts through an examination of competencies for interacting in diverse settings. The role of perception, the importance of taking on an ethno-relative perspective, and an understanding of communication styles will be examined as building blocks of specific competencies for culturally sensitive interactions.
Issues of Acculturation Among Refugees and Immigrants
Thursday, December 13, 2007
8:30-10:00 or 3:30-5:00
Presenter: Blanca Gurrola, LCSW, Director Children’s Case Management Services, Community Counseling Center
This workshop examines the process of acculturation refugees and immigrants generally experience as they build a new life in the U.S. Factors impacting the level and speed of acculturation will be discussed along with the acculturative stresses one experiences in the process. Adult and children/youth acculturation will also be discussed.
Immigration Issues and Their Impact on Families
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
8:30-10:00 or 3:30-5:00
Presenter: Beth Stickney, Esq., Executuve Director, Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP)
This workshop will discuss existing immigration laws, the proposed immigration law reforms, the current national environment around immigration issues, and how families are affected by all three. Maine laws that uniquely impact immigrants to the State and their ability to access services will be discussed. Service providers will learn how immigration issues can cause stress in immigrant families and raise barriers to seeking help.
The Ties That Bind: Notions of Family and Kinship Systems
Thursday, January 31, 2008
8:30-10:00 or 3:30-5:00
Presenter: Matthew Ward, President, Matthew Ward Associates
This workshop explores how various cultures define family, its membership, and member roles. Kinship structures and their iimpact on the dynamics of family relationships will be examined. How recent immigrants and refugees create new family paradigms to adjust to the U.S. culture will also be discussed.
Cross-Cultural Healing Traditions
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
3:00-5:00
Facilitator: Paul Johnson, DSW, LCSW, Associate Professor, School of Social Work, University of Southern Maine
Traditional Western practice utilizes assessment, diagnosis and treatment to promote emotional well-being. In this workshop, healers from other cultures will share their notions of health and well-being as well as rituals and beliefs that support well-being in their families and communities. How these two different approaches could possibly be successfully integrated will also examined.
Navigating Through the Maze:
Support and Advocacy Options for Helping Newcomers
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
3:00-5:00
Facilitator: Michael Clifford, Director, Safe and Drug-free Schools, Portland Public Schools
Panelists, representing organizations that serve refugee and immigrant newcomers in Portland, will discuss successes and challenges in working with this population. Participants will learn about useful categories of support, share their experiences in advocacy, and find ways to provide culturally appropriate services.
Working With Interpreters
Thursday, May 8, 2008
1:00-3:00
Presenter: Dolly Hersom, Director, Language Access for New Americans (LANA)
This workshop focuses on strategies in effectively using interpreters with clients from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Issues relevant to provider and limited English proficient client communication, as well as ethical and legal requirements supporting use of professional interpreters, will be examined.
Support for these workshops is provided by a grant from Caring Across Communities, a national program of the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation.
Caring Across Communities Collaborative (CACC)
Caring Across Communities is a program designed to address the mental health needs of diverse children and youth. A national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, it is directed by the Center for Health and Health Care in Schools. Portland Public Schools’ Multilingual and Multicultural Center and its collaborating partner agencies received a CAC grant in March 2007. These agencies include: City of Portland’s School-based Health Centers and Office of Minority Health, Community Counseling Center, DayOne, Language Access for New Americans (LANA), Maine Medical Center’s Pier Project, State of Maine’s Office of Multicultural Affairs, University of Southern Maine’s School of Social Work, and Youth Alternatives.
CCAC Partner Agencies
City of Portland’s Office of Minority Health
City of Portland’s School-Based Health Centers
Community Counseling Center
DayOne
State of Maine’s Office of Multicultural Affairs
LANA (Language Access for New Americans)
Portland Public Schools’ Multilingual and Multicultural Center
University of Southern Maine, School of Social Work
Youth Alternatives