Persistent and Committed Engagement: Practical Strategies for Difficult to Reach Clients

Managing Expectations and Goal Setting with Clients Who Display Resistance Behaviors

Presented by Danielle Cameron, LCSW.

The majority of behavioral health professionals can expect to face client resistance behaviors at some point in their careers. As commonly referred to in peer-reviewed literature, the term “resistance behaviors” can best be understood as the expression of apprehension and reluctance to engage in services and ambivalence around change, most often seen in cases with clients mandated to treatment. There are several factors that contribute to client resistance behavior and providers will receive a review on understanding, responding to, and processing distressing interactions with clients, especially around client motivation. Concepts from evidence-based frameworks such as motivational interviewing, solution-focused therapy, and trauma informed approaches will be examined to enhance providers’ skill base in working with clients exhibiting resistance behaviors. Additionally, this training will support behavioral health providers in understanding the importance of and how to collaboratively set person-centered goals with clients, especially as it relates to increasing engagement with clients who display resistance behaviors. Lastly, this training will educate attendees on concepts such as burnout, compassion fatigue, transference, and counter-transference to help them normalize and understand common experiences they may encounter when handling challenging dynamics with clients. This training is intended for field-based mental health and outreach workers in Los Angeles County.

Workplace Politics

Presented by Jennifer Wisdom, PhD, MPH, ABPP.

Workplace Politics defines politics as processes and behaviors between people to get things done and get needs met. Dr. Wisdom will solicit examples from the attendees about examples of "politics" that they have encountered and then will address four aspects to help address workplace politics: self-awareness, understanding power and influence, negotiating, and giving/receiving feedback. The workshop is focused on practical ways for people to think differently about politics and to navigate political workplaces. This training is intended for field-based mental health and outreach workers in Los Angeles County.

Intergenerational Communication Challenges

Presented by Jennifer Wisdom, PhD, MPH, ABPP

Intergenerational Communication Challenges introduces generations (from boomers to Gen Z) and identifies how each generation has its own experiences, worldviews, and perspectives. Dr. Wisdom will solicit ideas from attendees on how intergenerational challenges show up in their workplace and describe how these challenges in the workplace can be associated with generational perspectives, such as different views on what it means to show respect or display loyalty. Dr. Wisdom will provide strategies for communicating across the generations, both for older generations (boomers and Gen X) to communicate with younger generations (millennials and Gen Z), and vice versa. This training is intended for field-based mental health and outreach workers in Los Angeles County.

Self-Care for Field-Based Outreach Workers

Presented by Danielle Farmer, MSEd, LCSW. Studies show that 83% of U.S. workers suffer from work-related stress, with 25% naming their job as the number one stressor in their lives (The American Institute of Stress, 2022). These rates are even higher for individuals in social service settings due to factors such as emotional labor and the traumatic realities that clients may face. These factors place outreach workers at higher risk for work-related traumatic stress. Therefore, it is vital that field-based outreach workers are equipped with the knowledge and tools needed to understand how work-related stress develops and self-care practices to combat it. This training will define and explore concepts related to work-related stress such as burnout, vicarious trauma, and the physiological impacts of chronic and/or traumatic stress. Participants will discuss the history of self-care, its roots in radical community movements, and how it relates to field-based outreach workers. Participants will learn a plethora of self-care practices using a holistic approach and will have work time to create an individualized wellness plan for themselves using learned self-care practices. This training is intended for field-based mental health and outreach workers in Los Angeles County.

Care Coordination With Primary and Specialty Care for Field-Based Mental Health and Outreach Service Providers

Presented by Elizabeth Mackey, LMSW and Chelsea Simms, LCSW, MSW. This training will focus on models of integrated care, including integrated, coordinated, and co-located care models, and related skills for practicing care coordination across systems. The importance of coordinated care will be explained through the social determinants of health (SDOH) framework, highlighting integrated care/care coordination as an intervention that mitigates the impacts of SDOH. This training will teach providers how to identify key care partners within systems, as well as advocacy and collaboration best practices. Attendees will be given an overview of chronic health conditions common within populations experiencing serious mental illness (SMI) and being unhoused, and how non-medically trained providers can support access to and continued engagement in primary and specialty medical care.This training is intended for field-based mental health and outreach workers in Los Angeles County.