Training Services

Consistent with the aims of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), Equilibrium Mental Health seeks to bolster the public’s general awareness of childhood trauma through education and training. Indeed, cutting edge research has underscored the complex nature of childhood traumatic stress, typical emotional and behavioral responses to trauma, and related secondary adversities. After a child experiences trauma, family systems share in the burden of managing emotional distress and prompting safety/stabilization. Several crucial learning elements are discussed in this training including core concepts of childhood traumatic stress, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and related symptoms, cultural considerations, and community involvement.

The Coronavirus pandemic is a stressful hardship for all people across the lifespan. Many parents or caregivers struggle to communicate about COVID-19 with their children while also maintaining activities of daily living. Indeed, at times it feels that the world has been turned upside down with distance learning adjustments, new family routines, and managing medical stress. This training is designed to help children, families, and helping professionals develop healthy ways of managing COVID-19 related stressors. Participants of this training will explore the interplay between COVID-19 and psychological distress, strategies to improve mental health during the pandemic, and procedures to obtain professional help.

Caregivers and parents of suicidal children/adolescents are often burdened with complex safety challenges. Potential stressors include childhood suicide prevention, psychiatric hospitalizations, parental vicarious traumatization, and daily behavioral challenges. Given these mounting stressors, a principal target of this training is to raise awareness around safety and stabilization. This training offers participants a brief introduction to suicidology in childhood including a review of current literature. Other related subtopics include ways to enhance safety planning, adopting a means reduction approach, and strategies to promote family stabilization.

Bullying refers to the intentional or unsolicited actions of a powerful entity over a less powerful individual in order inflict harm, whether it be psychological or physical. The National Childhood Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) designates bullying as a specific trauma type worthy of immediate attention. If ignored, children and adolescents who experience bullying may experience depressive and anxious symptoms, poor academic performance, and low self-love. Parents/Caregivers and helping professionals in many ways serve as critical protective factors in a child’s struggle against bullying. This training provides a basic introduction to the core tenets of bullying as an environment stressor, common behavioral/emotional warning signs, ways for families to support their children, and strategies to facilitate positive teamwork between families and community systems.

Vicarious traumatization, also known as secondary trauma, is a threat to anyone employed in the helping relationship, healthcare, law enforcement, or educational institutions. Even when the most well-trained professional hears of a trauma survivor’s story, the effects could potentially be harmful if left unchecked. Vicarious traumatization refers to a person’s direct exposure to a trauma survivor’s story, and then experiencing their own trauma-like responses despite not having been directly exposed to the traumatic event itself. Audience members will walk away from this training with a knowledge of vicarious trauma, typical emotional and behavioral responses, ways to self-monitor wellbeing, and vital self-care practices.

Suicide prevention and intervention is at the forefront of the mental health community’s agenda, especially for children, adolescents, and families. In 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identified suicide as the second leading cause of death for people ages 15-19. Unfortunately, it is common for school-aged children to experience suicidal behaviors and other self-harming concerns. Families and helping professionals deserve the knowledge to effectively identify and intervene with suicidal children/adolescents. This training will explore current research findings, behavioral and emotional warning signs of pediatric suicidal behaviors, ways to intervene, and strategies to facilitate community support.

Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD) is a relatively new category of psychiatric symptoms in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (5th Edition; DSM-5). Though commonly confused with the historical underpinnings of pediatric bipolar disorder, DMDD was created as a new diagnosis to better capture the core diagnostic feature: severe mood dysregulation. Cardinal symptoms of DMDD include severe and persistent temper outbursts and low-grade irritability that often escalate as verbal and physical aggression.  This training covers the history of the diagnosis, descriptions of symptomology, effective treatment options, and the role of community teamwork.

Selecting a mental health provider, either for yourself or a loved one, can be challenging. Finding a licensed mental health professional who keenly meets your behavioral needs must be a top priority. Often, even helping professionals struggle to connect their patients, students, or families to trusted mental health providers. The goal of this training is to help consumers and professionals navigate the mental health industry to optimize quality care. Participants of this training will to learn when to seek treatment, ways to identify a well-matched licensed mental health professional, and advocacy skills.