University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: March 30, 2006

By CHRISTINE VIDAL
Contributing Editor

The School of Social Work, in collaboration with the Child Trauma Institute, will offer a year-long certification program for mental-health professionals who work with children and adolescents who have been exposed to significant trauma or loss.

The Child & Adolescent Trauma Treatment Certification Program for Mental Health Professionals will consist of 18 day-long sessions held from September 2006 through May 2007. Attendance at all training days is required.

Primary instructor for the program will be Ricky Greenwald, an internationally respected practicing clinical psychologist and founder and executive director of the Child Trauma Institute, a Massachusetts-based organization that provides training, consultation, information and resources for professionals who work with trauma-exposed children, adolescents and adults.

The program will provide in-depth, extended training on child trauma theory, impact of trauma and loss, therapeutic relationships, self-care for counselors/therapists, identification and assessment of traumatized children, working with parents and other caregivers, and directly helping children to manage their symptoms, resolve their trauma/loss memories and prepare to cope effectively with future challenges.

Participants first will learn a foundational model and skills, and over time, add advanced interventions, such as motivational interviewing, anger-management training and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). The training program involves lecture, demonstration and in-class practice.

Before founding the Child Trauma Institute, Greenwald was clinical assistant professor and director of training for the child trauma program at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He also has served as senior psychologist with the Mokihana Project, a successful demonstration project providing child and family mental health services through the public school system in Kauai, Hawaii.

Greenwald is the author of five books on childhood trauma, including "EMDR within a Phase Model of Trauma Treatment" (in press). He has written numerous articles that have appeared in publications that include Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma and Journal of Clinical Psychology.

Participants who successfully complete the Child & Adolescent Trauma Treatment Certification Program will receive a certificate of completion from the Child Trauma Institute and will be eligible for EMDR certification. In addition, they will receive 116 continuing education units through the National Association of Social Workers.

For more information, course descriptions and registration forms, go to http://www.socialwork.buffalo.edu/conted, email sw-ce@buffalo.edu or call 829-3939, ext. 154.