FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC; 1 CEU AVAILABLE; REGISTRATION REQUIRED!
1 CEU available for licensed social workers (nominal fee)–scroll down for more information.
With the change in the political climate in Washington, mental health professionals around the country, especially those working in Democratic strongholds, have been noticing high levels of politics-induced emotional distress in their clients—particularly those from vulnerable groups.
One of our alumni, an experienced clinical social worker/therapist, and one of our leading professors, a world expert on grief, discuss how to respond to clients’ politics-induced distress.
At this online event, we will address:
- What impact are unwanted political changes having on the mental health of individuals and their families?
- How are individuals managing their activated emotions like shock, anger, and fear?
- What is the role of loss and grief in explaining the response to unwanted political change?
- Given that the political climate is collective, therapists are also affected; what steps can they take to manage their own responses?
About the Presenters
SPEAKER: A 2004 graduate of Columbia University’s School of Social Work, Walter Vega has built his clinical social work practice around a commitment to serving families, particularly in communities of color. He began his social work career providing case management and counseling services to low-income families in Brooklyn, many of whom were recent immigrants to the United States. After completing a post-graduate training program at the Ackerman Institute for the Family, a leading training institute for family therapy, he joined the Ackerman faculty and now serves as Dean of Admissions. Likewise, Mr. Vega has played key administrative leadership roles at CSSW and the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He regularly teaches as an adjunct professor at both of these institutions. He has a private practice in Brooklyn and Manhattan, seeing families, couples, and individuals. Go to Walter Vega’s bio page.
DISCUSSANT: Dr. M. Katherine Shear is the Marion E. Kenworthy Professor of Psychiatry and the founding director of the Center for Complicated Grief at Columbia School of Social Work. Dr. Shear is a clinical researcher who first worked in anxiety and depression. For the last two decades she has focused on understanding and treating people who experience persistent intense grief. She developed and tested complicated grief treatment (CGT), a short-term targeted intervention, and confirmed its efficacy in three large NIMH-funded studies. CGT is strength-based and focused on fostering adaptation to loss. Dr. Shear is widely recognized for her work in bereavement, including both research and clinical awards from the Association for Death Education and Counseling and invited authorship of articles for Uptodate and the New England Journal of Medicine. Go to Dr. Shear’s bio page.