David Haddad, Ed.D., et al., instructors

Including families in home-based, residential, and community practice, can be incredible challenging. Given the competing demands of individual family members, how can providers engage families in a way that allows them to feel heard, as well as supported as partners in treatment? The conference format is designed to provide participants with practical examples, describing innovations in family engagement, particular aspects of the clinical work with families from minority and immigrant groups as well as challenges, and opportunities for working with families in home-based, residential, and community practice. The day-long conference will include the voices of families, clinical staff, and educators, as they consider best practices, as well as the skills needed to translate a collaborative, and strength based and culturally-sensitive curriculum into real world practice. Morning plenary is designed to create a context in which participants learn from families, caregivers, and each other. Panels will address multiple questions including: How can higher education and behavioral providers collaborate to create the next generation of clinicians?  How does real world experience translate into training? The morning session is designed to provoke discussion and reflection, followed by an afternoon with 3 skill-building sessions. These include:

1. Addressing cultural complexities in the clinical work with minority and immigrant families.

2. GROW: Adapting the Attachment Self-Regulation and Competency (ARC) Framework as a Caregiver Skill Building Intervention.

3. Collaborative and Strategic Treatment Planning with Multi-stressed families.

Specific learning objectives:

• Identify and describe the basic principles of collaborative, strength based family treatment

• Describe and discuss the intersection of culture and trauma in the clinical work with families.

• Discuss the Affect, Regulation, and Competency model (ARC) as a resource for family treatment.

Program Code: HCB6
6 CE Credits (MFT CE Credits available)
Location: at William James College, Newton

Jacqueline Gagliardi, MEd, LMFT, is a clinical supervisor, consultant, and co-author of Study-Guide for the Marriage and Family Therapy National Licensing Examination. She holds a MEd in Counseling and a CAGS in Family Systems from Northeastern University. She has a private practice in Cambridge Massachusetts specializing in individual, couple, and family therapy. She has run numerous parent groups and teacher workshops over the past 25 years as well as consulting to school systems, family owned businesses, and community agencies. She is a clinical member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, an AAMFT approved supervisor, a member of the Massachusetts Board of Allied Mental Health, and a past board member for the Massachusetts Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (MAMFT).

Marta Casas, LMHC, MEd,, graduated from Javeriana University in Bogotá, Colombia, as a Clinical Psychologist in 1981. In 2002, Marta moved to Boston to become part of the clinical team at the Trauma Center at Justice Resource Institute, where she continues providing clinical consultation for DCF-involved families. In 2007 Marta was trained and now part of the alumni of the Harvard Refugee Program in Global Mental Health. Since 2007, Marta has been a longstanding and active member of the NCTSN Culture Consortium and is the chair of the Translations Review Committee. Between 2007 and 2011, Marta was the team leader of the Latino Child Traumatic Stress Initiative, a SAMHSA/NCTSN-funded program at the Latin American Health Institute in Boston. Between 2011 and 2014, Marta worked at the Child Witness to Violence Project at Boston Medical Center, where she did clinical dyadic work and was member of the training team and cultural liaison of the Massachusetts Child Trauma Project, an ACF-funded initiative.. At the present, Marta is the Director of Clinical Services at the Justice Resource Institute.  She has done extensive work on the topic of the interplay between psychological trauma and cultural identity of both therapist and patient in the clinical work.

Kristine Kinniburgh, LICSW, has worked with complexly traumatized children in a range of therapeutic settings, including state funded residential & after school program, hospital settings, alternative educational settings, transitional living program, and he Boston Public Schools. She is the originator and co-developer of the Attachment, Self-Regulation, and Competency (ARC) treatment framework, and co-author of the text, “Treating Traumatic Stress in Children and Adolescents, published by Guilford Press. She has consulted on this framework with agencies across the U.S.

Kari Beserra, LMHC, is a Senior Vice President at the Justice Resource Institute, (JRI).  In this role, she oversees the Massachusetts Residential and Group Home Programs, as well as their Intensive Foster Care and FOCUS programs that supports homeless and foster families. In addition, Kari also oversees Training, Staff Development, and Quality Management, while also leading JRI’s Trauma Response and Psychological First Aid Initiative. In her current role Kari works closely with state partners, funders, families, and youth to create strong programming, to oversee clinical model development, and to support the development of strategic, and collaborative treatment planning Since joining JRI, Kari has served in a variety of senior leadership positions including, Clinical Director, Program Director, Division Director, Vice President, and now Senior Vice President. She has extensive experience and training in the treatment of traumatic stress and trauma, and has provided training throughout the Northeast.

Anthony Irsfeld, PhD, is Director for the Families and Communities Together (FCT) collaborative at Community Healthlink, a large scale wraparound program serving approximately 300 youth and families in the Central Massachusetts area. He is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the UMASS Medical School. He holds a doctorate degree in psychology from St. John’s University, where he specialized in child-clinical and family therapy. Since 1996, Anthony has run a variety of community based programs, during which he has had the good fortune to supervise a diverse group of human service professionals which have included, youth support workers, family partners, and case managers. For nearly 20 years, he has taught and mentored psychologists through Community Healthlink’s psychology internship program. Anthony has served as a CSA statewide Wraparound Coach, and currently serves on the MA CBHI Practice review team. Anthony has conducted numerous state and regional workshops, trainings, and consultations on a variety of topics related to collaborative and community based work with families and youth.

David Haddad, EdD, Associate Professor at William James College, where he directs the Behavioral Health Initiative. He is a psychologist, and counselor educator with over 30 years of practice in the public and private sectors. Dr. Haddad doctoral degree is in Counseling Psychology with advanced training in couples and family therapy, as well as larger systems.  Dr. Haddad has an active consultation practice, working with community health centers, hospital systems, behavioral health programs, and has been an active counselor educator for over 25 years. In addition, Dr. Haddad has considerable international experience working in the former Soviet Union, as well as an ongoing project in East Africa. He is a member of the American Counseling Association, the international Positive Psychology Association (IPPA), as well as the International Association for Marriage and Family Counselors. He is also a member and approved supervisor in the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), and the Taos Institute. Dr. Haddad has presented his papers and workshops at a variety of national and international conferences.