The Melissa Institute 26th Annual Conference: Safety, Mental Health, and Healing During Uncertain Times
Peace & Harmony 2022
February 15, 2022Congressional Briefing by Dr. Etiony Aldarondo: Reinventing Interventions for People Who Use Intimate Partner Violence
September 26, 2022Join us on May 6, 2022 8:30am-4:30pm EST for our annual May Conference
The Melissa Institute 26th Annual Conference: Safety, Mental Health, and Healing During Uncertain Times
When:
May 6, 2022
8:30am-4:30pm EST
Where:
Zoom
Registration:
For Continuing Education: $60
Free general registration
6 Continuing Education Credit offered for LCSW, LMHC & LMFT
*Florida License Only
5 CE Credits for Psychologists
5 CE Credits for School Psychologists
About:
Experiences related to the pandemic have led to increases in anxiety and depression among youth, gun violence, and intimate partner violence, while highlighting important limitations of our mental health system to address the increased needs for services in times of crisis. What we do today to strengthen and help heal those in need has important implications for the safety, mental health, and overall stability of our communities for years to come. Thus, it is critical for mental health professionals and others to take stock of proven clinical strategies and sound research to assist those in need. Led by an international group of experts, The Melissa Institute's 26th Annual Conference offers proven clinical strategies, innovative frameworks, and research-based recommendations to mitigate the impact and promote growth and healing during these uncertain times. Participants will learn how to effectively assist distressed youth, how to prevent gun violence, and how to improve our mental health system's response during times of crises.
Victoria Banyard, Ph.D. and Rev. Gena Jefferson, LCSW will talk about strategies to build resiliency and mindfulness practices. Daniel Santisteban, Ph.D. will teach tools and the effective treatment for youth who engage in self-harm behaviors. Leena Augimeri, Ph.D. will discuss how to use technology to enhance mental health services. Wayne Rawlins will examine innovative gun violence prevention initiatives that have led to a reduction in gun violence in Miami-Dade County. And finally, Wendy Silverman, Ph.D. will talk about ways to reduce stress and anxiety in youth, particularly during times of big changes.
Learning Objectives:
Participant will be able to:
- Describe a strengths-based perspective for working with youth to promote well-being and leadership.
- List ways to create a comprehensive mental health framework.
- Implement evidenced-based tools to help youth who engage in self-harm behaviors.
- Explain ways to reduce gun violence.
- Apply evidenced-based practices for reducing stress and anxiety in youth.
Victoria Banyard, Ph.D.
Dr. Banyard has dedicated her academic career to finding better ways to help communities prevent and respond to interpersonal violence. Banyard – who received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology (and a Certificate in Women's Studies) from the University of Michigan – has worked with colleagues across the U.S. and abroad to help shape policy at the national, state, and local level through a rigorous examination of violence-prevention programs centered on a critical question: Do they work? Banyard uses multiple methods, both quantitative and qualitative, to understand how, where, and why prevention strategies and programs succeed or not. Her research, begun more than 25 years ago, underscores the importance of listening well to the strengths of survivors and empowering those in a position to help them – be they policy makers, practitioners, or bystanders – with the best practices available. Dr. Banyard regularly collaborates with practitioners and community agencies, centering community engaged approaches to research. She has authored nearly 200 articles and book chapters and regularly teaches courses on the causes, consequences, and prevention of interpersonal violence.
Rev. Gena C. Jefferson, LCSW
Rev. Gena C. Jefferson, LCSW, is the founder of Just As I Am (JAIA) YOUth Empowerment, a leadership program promoting mental wellness, mindful and moral development in youth. For three years, she served as the Sr. Prevention Manager at the NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault, previously in partnership with JAIA. Her work for over 30 years focuses on impacting youth, families, and professionals in the areas of positive youth development, mindfulness education, and fostering resilience in communities of color through healing justice and mental wellness education. Gena has Master’s degrees in Education, Social Work, and Educational Administration. She has lectured at the MSW programs of Fordham, Columbia, and Rutgers Universities. She is also the Co-Owner at Overture Wellness, LLC, Spiritual Life Coaching, and Consulting Services.
Leena K. Augimeri, Ph.D.
For the past 35 years, Dr. Augimeri has developed a comprehensive mental health and crime prevention model being adopted around the world for young children engaged in antisocial and disruptive behaviour that includes community referral mechanisms, risk/need assessments and evidence-based gender sensitive programs. A key focus of her work has been development, research, dissemination and implementation of one of the longest and most fully developed evidence-based intervention for children under 12 years of age in conflict with the law and/or disruptive behaviour problems – the SNAP (Stop Now And Plan) Model. She has authored numerous publications, has conducted hundreds of presentations and participated in U.S. national demonstration projects. Dr. Augimeri has also received several prestigious awards including being a National Recipient of the CAMH Difference Makers of 150 Leading Canadians for Mental Health, Child Welfare League of Canada’s inaugural Outstanding Achievement Research and Evaluation Award, Prime Minister’s Regional Social Innovation Award and Elizabeth Manson Award for exemplary contributions to the promotion of children’s mental health. She is currently leading a multi-million dollar 5-year national implementation strategy to bring SNAP to 100 communities across Canada using an innovative venture philanthropy model to help create massive social change and help change the landscape of children’s mental health in Canada.
Wayne Rawlins
Wayne E. Rawlins, President of Ummah Futures International, is a strategic planning consultant who has assisted rural and urban communities nationwide in developing, implementing and evaluating successful community revitalization strategies. Rawlins is the Project Manager for Miami-Dade County’s Anti-Violence Initiative, a four-year $7 million strategy, that includes “Group Violence Intervention” and the nationally acclaimed “Walking One Stop,” which has shifted the paradigm on how services are delivered to Miami-Dade’s most challenged neighborhoods by bringing a one-stop victim services center to the doorstep of residents traumatized by gun violence. He also serves as the Director of the South Florida Reentry Task Force. From 1995-1997, Rawlins served as the executive director of Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC) and increased the organization’s funding by 500% in 15 months while increasing the job placement rate from 22% to over 90%. During his tenure as the executive director of Miami-Dade Weed & Seed (1997-2002), Rawlins developed several nationally recognized initiatives and was honored with the Director’s Community Leadership Award from the Federal Bureau of Investigations in Washington, D.C. He served as the lead executive consultant for Project Safe Neighborhoods (2003-2012), a law enforcement and human services coalition that included scores of federal, state and local criminal justice agencies and more than 150 social and economic service providers all working together to reduce gun and gang violence in the Southern District of Florida.
Daniel Santisteban, Ph.D.
Dr. Santisteban was a tenured professor at the University of Miami and is now the Director of Research and EBT Implementation with TIA International. He has published 50 scientific articles and book chapters on family therapy outcomes, family processes, cultural competence, adolescent co-occurring disorders, and the blending of research and practice. He is the co-editor of the book Family Psychology: Science-Based Interventions. In addition, he has received numerous awards including the 2020 Distinguished Career in Research Award. American Psychological Association – Division 45 (Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity and Race) and the 2004 American Family Therapy Academy award for Distinguished Contribution to Family Systems Research. He has been a contributor to national NIH grant review committees, treatment guidelines panels, journal editorial boards, and consults with State agencies focused on bridging research and practice.
Wendy Silvermain, Ph.D., ABPP
Before Yale, Dr. Silverman developed and directed the Child Anxiety and Phobia Program (CAPP) housed within the Department of Psychology at FIU. Dr. Silverman has developed and evaluated evidence-based assessment and treatment procedures for use with children who have anxiety disorders. She has received numerous research grants including a mid-career development award from the National Institute of Mental Health. She has published extensively in the area of childhood anxiety disorders including five books. She is current co-editor of Clinical Psychology Review and past editor of Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, associate editor of Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, president of the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, and past chair of a NIMH grant review panel.
Register here:
Continuing Education Registration:
For payment for CEs:
Following registration, you will be sent the zoom link.
*CEs for Florida license only. Upon request, the Melissa Institute will provide a certificate of completion that can be self-reported to other boards. We cannot guarantee that it will be accepted by other boards for approval.
The Melissa Institute for Violence Prevention & Treatment is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Melissa Institute for Violence Prevention & Treatment maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE: None of the planners and presenters for this educational activity have relevant financial relationship(s)* to disclose with ineligible companies* whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.
*Financial relationships are relevant if the educational content an individual can control is related to the business lines or products of the ineligible company.