A SAMHSA sponsored webinar presented by the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors took place Thursday, August 8, 2024 from 2:30-3:30pm Eastern Time titled “Understanding Community Trauma: Systemic Challenges in Black and Brown Communities”.
Description: Understanding Community Trauma: Systemic Challenges in Black and Brown Communities is a webinar that took a culturally specific trauma informed educational and experiential approach to understand oppression and its impact on maneuvering systems. It explored the relationships between systems (individual, institutional, and societal). Covering systemic connections within and between behavioral health, housing, legal, and education. The complexities of trauma contribute to Serious Emotional Disturbance (SED) and Serious Mental Illness (SMI). This training explored and utilized a trauma-informed and resilient approach which is one where communities, organizations, programs and systems (1) recognize the impact of trauma and understands the potential paths for recovery, (2) recognize the signs and symptoms of trauma in individuals, families and groups, (3) responds by integrating the knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and practices, and (4) resists practices that could cause more harm(SAMHSA,2018) . This training focuses revolutionary community care to aid healing with individuals and the collective while utilizing trauma informed techniques that are embedded in truth, justice, empowerment, safety, transparency and collaboration.
Goals and Objectives:
- Education provided and awareness increased on the impact of oppression(as trauma) and anti-Blackness in everyone’s lives.
- Increased and explored the understanding of the relationship between systems (individual, institutional, and societal) and Serious Emotional Disturbance (SED) + Serious Mental Illness (SMI)
- Introduced and increased knowledge of culturally specific trauma informed theoretical approaches and move theory to practice.
- Increased understanding the impact of trauma and the importance of utilizing a trauma-informed resilience approach.
- Explored and enhanced utilization of holistic service delivery model to support full humanity of community members.
- Engaged in collective community care to reduce recidivism, provide culturally specific wellness services, prevention and treatment.
- Participants were able to recognize the signs and symptoms of trauma in individuals, families, and groups.
- Participants were able to understand practical and evidence-based techniques and skills for developing trauma-informed and resilient communities
- Participants increased their knowledge of key terms/concepts necessary for promoting and integrating the multicultural and social justice competencies as helping professionals.
- Participants increased their knowledge of attitudes, beliefs, and skills, techniques, and interventions for promoting and integrating the multicultural and social justice competencies and challenging oppression* as helping professionals and become/sustain being agents of social change
Speakers:
- Marcel McDaniel, CVI & Reentry Expert. CEO of NonStop Growth
- Mar-quetta Boddie, Executive Director of Summit County Continuum of Care
- John Morgan Jr., Founder and CEO of Live Your Purpose Media
- Ciara Dennis-Morgan, PhD, PCC-S, Chief Clinical and Wellness Officer of Minority Behavioral Health Group
If you have any questions, please contact Kelle Masten via email at kelle.masten@nasmhpd.org or Paige Thomas at paige.thomas@nasmhpd.org.
Thank you!