DEADLINE EXTENDED TO MONDAY, APRIL 25TH!

Register today! We have reduced our registrations rates for this year's Symposium event!

Our virtual Social Work Symposium 2022 is scheduled on Thursday, April 28 and Friday, April 29, with the theme “Focusing on the Future: From Social Change to Climate Change”, and featuring 50+ workshops. All conference participants will have the opportunity to connect with experts in the field, be inspired by highly regarded speakers, and gain new skills at innovative workshops. 

Up to 13.5 CEUs available for social workers!

CEUs are also approved for LMHC! Contact us at chapter.naswma@socialworkers.org to request the necessary forms.

Day of event: All workshops will be hosted in Zoom Meeting rooms, offering a more open interaction between our speakers and participants. Days prior to the conference, registrants will receive instructions on how to set up a participant portal on our conference website, to access your workshops links, breakfast and lunch Q&A sessions, virtual exhibit hall, and more! 

Online registrations are officially open! Register now here

Up to 13.5 CEUs available for social workers!

Click here to download Symposium's workshop listing (PDF)

Click here to download Symposium's mail-form (PDF)

8:00 - 9:00 AM 

BREAKFAST ROOM: Q & A SESSION 

This Q&A room session will be sponsored by Commonwealth Care Alliance (Gold Sponsor). We welcome participants to join our Breakfast room if you have questions/comments about the conference or direct questions to our sponsor. Please note it is not mandatory for participants to attend this room.

9:00 - 11:00 AM 

KEYNOTE SESSION WITH DR. RENÉE LERTZMAN (1.5 CEUs)

Please note this workshop is automatically included in your “Thursday-only” or “Both-days” registration tickets. 

From Anxiety to Aspirations: Enabling Change from the Inside Out: Confronting climate crisis is a new kind of challenge, particularly for those on the front lines of helping professions. How can we stay grounded and resilient, while enabling change at the individual, social, and collective levels?

In this interactive session, we will explore the complex dimensions of climate change and how we can best support ourselves and each other, as well as: 

• Understand the unique psychological dimensions of climate change.
• Apply motivational interviewing techniques to climate change.
• Gain awareness of the growing field of climate psychology.

11:30 - 1:00 PM 

PANEL DISCUSSION (1.5 CEUs)

Please note this workshop is automatically included in your “Thursday-only” or “Both-days” registration tickets. 

The Intersection Of Social Work And Environmental Justice: a 90-minute panel discussion focused on the disproportionate impact of climate change on communities of color and the role of social workers in rooting out systems of oppression that contribute to this. This panel will be moderated by Dawn Belkin Martinez, PhD, MSW, with speakers Dimitra-Dora Teloni, PhD, MA, and Tara Venkatraman, LCSW. More information is coming soon. 

1:00 - 2:00 PM 

LUNCH ROOM: Q & A SESSION 

This Q&A room session will be sponsored by Mass General Brigham (Platinum Sponsor). We welcome participants to join our Lunch room if you have questions/comments about the conference or direct questions to our sponsor. Please note it is not mandatory for participants to attend this room.

2:00 - 3:30 PM 

SESSION 1 WORKSHOPS (1.5 CEUs)

2: Social Work And The Medical Model: This presentation reviews the emergence and controversy of the medical model and argues for the use of a biopsychosocial medical model that facilitates interdisciplinary teamwork for best treatment outcomes. Speaker: Amanda Nieliwocki, LCSW, DSW-c, 2022. 

3: Embodying A Coaching Mindset For Social Workers: Coaching is one of the fastest ways to improve client-centered care. Are you interested in coaching but want to do it ethically? Are you ready to expand your skills and keep up with current trends to meet client needs? A foundation of being a good coach is being able to embody a coaching mindset. Speaker: Elizabeth Lasky, PhD, MSW. 

5: Getting The Whole Story: How To Take A Comprehensive Sexual History: Comprehensive sexual histories are not just about sex!  They are about helping to understand the whole person.  Learn the ins/outs of taking a sex history to develop a full picture. Speaker: Elliott Kronenfeld, PhD, LICSW, CSTS. 

11: Navigating The Challenges Of Remarriage And Stepfamilies: The tips and tools Terry Gaspard offers have directed countless remarried couples and stepfamilies toward lasting happiness. Her presentation will highlight the common blunders of remarried couples and teach clinicians how to help them develop realistic expectations and manage the flames of conflict. Individual, couples, and family therapists, will find crucial insights for helping their clients. Speaker: Terry Gaspard, LICSW, ISW01254. 

16: From Racial Oligarchy To Abolition Democracy (Anti-racism CEUs): This presentation will invite participants to explore social work as Abolition and implications for health justice. This will include understanding racial oligarchy, racial capitalism and how to disrupt, dismantle and replace them. Speaker: Phillipe Copeland, PhD. 

36: Women Growing Older: Our Bodies Ourselves: With increased longevity diverse, women over 60 are facing new opportunities and challenges. This presentation will explore some of the aspects that affect women's health, sexual, social and emotional well being and the need for planning and living fully in the second half of life. Speaker: Joan Ditzion, BA, MA, MSW.

41: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder - The Common Disability You Know Nothing About: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is more prevalent than is commonly known. Are your clients misdiagnosed with other mental health disorders? Become educated about the often-invisible FASD and promising interventions. Speakers: Leslie S. Leff, MSS, LICSW, Laura Bedard & Kristen Eriksen, RN, MA FASD State Coordinators, and Nathalie Brassard, Executive Director of FASCETS. 

42: Managing Shared Trauma In The Hospital Within The COVID-19 Pandemic: This presentation will seek to explore the complex factors in both provider and patient/family experience of trauma secondary to this pandemic and how these impacts linger on. The goal of this presentation is ultimately to characterize the impact of this trauma and future interventions that will be necessary to enhance patient and provider recovery moving forward. Speaker: Jaclyn French, LICSW.

58: Mothers Of Gay Sons In The Advancement Of LGBTQ+ Acceptance: Mothers of Gay Sons have been overlooked and misrepresented regarding the role they play in the wellbeing of their sons. This moving workshop provides models of resiliency for LGBTQ+ acceptance from a multicultural and multi-racial perspective. Lectures and videos from an upcoming documentary will be shared. Bring Kleenex!. Speaker: Rick Miller, LICSW.

4:00 - 5:30 PM 

SESSION 2 WORKSHOPS (1.5 CEUs)

4: Demystifying The Process Of Professional Writing: Social work practitioners have much to contribute to the professional knowledge base. This workshop describes the process of writing for publication and suggests practical steps for aspiring writers. Speaker: Ashley Davis, MSW, EdD, and April Berry-Fletcher, MSW, LICSW, EdD.

9: Social Work And Cancer Care: The Essentials: Given the pervasiveness of cancer, we’re all oncology social workers sometimes. We explore this role, along with interventions to mitigate distress in those we serve. Speaker: Lauren DeMarco, MSW, LICSW, ACHP-SW.

22: Avoiding Client Criminalization For Self-Managed Abortion: Social workers seek to support the reproductive autonomy of clients. This presentation will use reproductive justice and harm reduction frameworks to explore social workers' role and practice around self-managed abortion. Speaker: Susan Yanow, LICSW, and Lauren Paulk, JD.

24: Child Trauma In Context: An Integrative Treatment Model: A tight focus on trauma alone, rather than the whole of a child's difficulties and circumstances, constrains current treatments. Interventions should incorporate contextual factors that influence traumatic responses and resilience. Speaker: Karen Zilberstein, LICSW. 

32: Are You Ready To Become An Anti-Racist Organization? (Anti-racism CEUs): This workshop presents a model of developing a Racial Justice Council within an organization to document evidence of racial/ethnic injustices and provide data-driven recommendations for change and racial justice. Speakers: Susan Yi-Millette, ABD, MSW, BSW, Taylor Hall, PhD, and Nasreen Shibli, MSW.

34: Divorce And Family Mediation 101: Helping Families Divorce And Resolve Conflicts: Mediation is an effective and complementary intervention to therapy that social workers are uniquely qualified to practice. This session provides an introduction to the practice of family and divorce mediation. Speaker: Ben Stich, MSW, M.Ed.

50: Beyond Self-Care Clichés: Integrating Self-Compassion Into Social Work Practice: As Kristen Neff shares, "with self-compassion, we give ourselves the same kindness and care we'd give to a good friend. Let's operationalize self-care; nurturing ourselves and the community together. Speaker: Jenn Reed, MSW, LICSW, IMH-E.

54: Treating Perinatal Distress And Supporting The Motherhood Journey: Pregnancy and childbirth should be a joyous, blissful event. But what if it's not? Learn about what influences, and what protects, maternal mental health. Speaker: Danielle Kenney, LICSW. 

57: Why Men Stop Sex After 60-Couple Sexuality And Aging: This workshop explores why men stop sex after 60 and promotes a new model of male and couple sexuality with aging. A psychobiosocial model is utilized to assess and treat sexuality in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. Speaker: Barry McCarthy, Ph.D.

6:00 - 7:30 PM 

FREE EVENING WORKSHOP (1.5 CEUS)

The Impact of Stigmatization on Substance Use Treatment: this online training will provide participants with an introduction to the principles of harm reduction both as a philosophy and a practical approach to our work, focusing particularly on its role in helping understand the impact and consequences of drug related stigma. Recognizing that not everyone is ready or able to stop risky behavior, harm reduction focuses on promoting ways to reduce the health risks associated with drug use and other high risk behaviors. Speaker: Tanagra M. Melgarejo, MSW, and Joe Pereira, LICSW, CAS. This workshop is a two-part series. Click here to register for part 2 on May 19.

You can select this workshop during your registration. If you’re not registering for Symposium, but want to register for these workshops for free: 

• Click here to register for part 1
• Click here to register for part 2 

This workshop is sponsored by RIZE and the Harm Reduction Coalition.

For questions, please our Symposium team at symposium.naswma@socialworkers.org.

7:30 - 8:30 AM 

BREAKFAST ROOM: Q & A SESSION 

This Q&A room session will be sponsored by Mass League of Community Health Centers (Silver Sponsor). We welcome participants to join our Breakfast room if you have questions/comments about the conference or direct questions to our sponsor. Please note it is not mandatory for participants to attend this room.

8:30 - 10:00 AM 

SESSION 3 WORKSHOPS (1.5 CEUs)

12: Misery Or Mastery: Progress Notes That Maintain Quality Of Care And Protect Your Practice: This workshop will help participants translate clinical intuition and skill into insurance friendly and clinically relevant documentation. Write effective progress notes that protect income, avoid legal nightmares, and reduce anxiety. Speaker: Beth Rontal, LICSW

20: Never Too Old: Sexuality, Intimacy, And Aging: There is sex after 60!  We’ll explore the role social workers play in preserving the right to sexuality and intimacy for all older adults, including those in the LGBTQ+ community. Speaker: Jessica Rowe, MSW, BA, LCSW-C

23: Adapting CBT For BIPOC Clients: This workshop seeks to highlight the inherent biases in CBT and demonstrate how to make cultural adaptations.  Integration of religious beliefs and alternatives to traditional homework will be provided. Speaker: Beth Craft, LICSW.

28: Intuition: The Inner Wisdom Of Social Work Practice: With fascinating case examples, this experiential workshop will explore creative uses of intuition in social work practice as it pertains to differential use of self. Speaker: Bette Freedson, LICSW, CGP.

37: Improving Outcomes: Listening To “War On Drugs” Survivors: Stigma, influenced by “War on Drugs” rhetoric, harms therapeutic relationships. Gender Responsive Care allows Social Workers to support women, while improving outcomes and reducing burnout. Speaker: Danielle Owen, LICSW, LADCI.

43: Facilitating Transitioning And Guardianship For Families Of Neurodiverse Young Adults: This presentation will help social workers to be an effective resource for neurodiverse young adults and their families while negotiating the challenges and opportunities posed by turning 18. Speaker: Adam Geyer, MSW and Kayla McOsker, LICSW.

44: How To Support Clients Through Divorce: Support clients before, during and after divorce. We will review the emotional and legal impact of divorce, explain divorce process options and resources, and describe common parenting and financial decisions.  This will be done by a combination of presenter lecture, small group exercises, and large group discussion. Speaker: Beth Aarons, JD/MSW, BBO/LCSW and Ben Stich, Med, LICSW.

48: A Body/Mind Journey: Depression & Anxiety To Vitality: Addressing both body and mind in bioenergetic therapy, offers a highly effective approach to anxiety and depression, with restoring vitality as an aim for therapy. Speaker: Laurie Ure, LICSW, Certified Bioenergetic Therapist

56: A Trauma-Informed Approach To Working With Individuals With Suicidal Thoughts And Behaviors: Trauma is a risk factor for suicidality. This presentation will use SAMHSA’s trauma-informed principles to describe trauma-informed strategies, approaches, and techniques for suicide assessment and intervention. Speaker: Rebecca G. Mirick, PhD, LICSW, Jim McCauley, LICSW, and Joanna Bridger, LICSW.

10:30 - 12:00 PM 

SESSION 4 WORKSHOPS (1.5 CEUs)

10: Assisted Reproductive Technology And Women's Body Image: This presentation will examine the relationship between Assisted Reproductive Technology and women's body image, given existing messages that women already receive about their bodies in the broader culture. Speaker: Katherine Walbam, PhD, LICSW.

13: Bridging The Gap: Substance Use Disorders In Hospitals: We advocate for informed, compassionate and strategic treatment for patients with SUDs. Includes overview of treatment and obstacles to interventions, with focus on BIPOC. Speaker: Johnna Marcus, LICSW.

17: Culturally Responsive Acute Care For Transgender Patients: Workshop will define best practices for working with transgender individuals at higher levels of care and provide tools for mitigating risk and discursive experiences. Speaker: Meghan Joyce-Anderson, LICSW.

19: Our Federal And State Budgets: Good Or Bad News?: This presentation explores our Federal and State budgets and their impact on services. Does a Democratic President really make a difference? Funding priorities,  concerns and solutions will be discussed. Useful Internet Policy websites will also be shared. Speaker: Jeff Schrenzel, PhD, LICSW.

26: The Unspoken Word: Preventing Incest And Amplifying Survivor Voices: This presentation will explore the incest abuse dynamic in families and its unique and long-term impact on survivors. She will discuss effective ways to support incest survivors, as well as prevention strategies to reduce victimization and create sexually safe homes. Speaker: Suzanne Isaza, MS.

33: Strengthening The Social Care Toolbox With Legal Education: A conversation with DULCE and Housing Rx about why and how legal rights education is animating care redesign in communities across the country! Speaker: Kate Gannon, JD, Azieb Ermias, MPH, and Allison Bovell-Ammon, Mdiv.

47: Supporting Emotional Regulation In The Classroom And Beyond: A multi-faceted, wrap-around approach to better support neurodiverse students, including those with complex trauma histories, in accessing their academics and increasing their peer and adult relationships. The approach is grounded in multiple therapeutic frameworks. Speaker: Kate Kelley, MSW, and Susan Lee Tohn, MSW, LICSW.

51: No Voice, No Choice: Ageism In Everyday Life (Anti-discrimination CEUs): A common occurrence contributing to social injustice is the disregard for older voices and autonomy. Participants will learn how social work both supports ageism & holds the tools to dismantle. Speaker: Makieya Kamara, MSW, MNL, LCSW.

12:00 - 1:00 PM 

LUNCH ROOM: Q & A SESSION 

This Q&A room session will be sponsored by Riverside Community Care (Gold Sponsor). We welcome participants to join our Lunch room if you have questions/comments about the conference or direct questions to our sponsor. Please note it is not mandatory for participants to attend this room.

1:00 - 2:30 PM 

SESSION 5 WORKSHOPS (1.5 CEUs)

1: Men, Infidelity, and Disenfranchised Grief (part 1): Disenfranchised grief is unacknowledged or deemed unsupportable grief.  Such grief is often present for men in recovery for infidelity.  Learn how to identify and treat it for better outcomes. Speaker: Elliott Kronenfeld, PhD, LICSW, CSTS. Please note that you must attend part 2 in session 6 to receive full credit. 

21: Phoenix Project: Institutionally Based Re-entry Program For Currently Incarcerated Individuals: The doors slam behind you, the static intercom announces class, inmates stagger in, Correctional Officers leave the room, the pathway to freedom begins. The Phoenix Project re-entry prison program. Speaker: Kathleen Carty, PhD, MSW, ISW01152, and Stacey Wildenhain, BS. 

30: The Neurobiological Treatment Of Trauma: Trauma is structured and cleared in layers. It has neurobiological underpinnings that need to be accurately mapped to be successfully treated. Participants will learn the structure of trauma and an evidence-based technique from the field of Energy Psychology for rapidly clearing trauma from the conscious mind, unconscious mind and body. Speaker: Judith Swack, PhD, and Wendy Rawlings.

38: Yoga-CBT: A Mind Body Solution for Anxiety: Yoga Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (Yoga-CBT) is a research based 6 session group treatment model that blends traditional CBT strategies to target the content of thought, with the ancient practices of yoga and meditation, which offers calming effects on both the physical states and thought processes. Speaker: Julie Greiner-Ferris, MSW, LICSW, Jacqueline Vorphal, PhD, and Manjit Khalsa, EdD. 

40: Practicing Social Justice In An Era Of Racial Reckoning (Anti-racism CEUs): In this era of racial justice reckoning, social workers are called into action as social justice practitioners not just advocates: Shifting our racial justice paradigm. Speaker: Jibril Solomon, PhD

45: Now We Are All Grief And Loss Practitioners: After Covid, we and our clients are grieving. Let’s get comfortable talking about diverse forms of loss since we’re all now specializing in grief. Speaker: Ruth Pearlman, MEd, LICSW.

52: The Impact Of COVID-19 On The Mental And Emotional Health Of Students In Racially Diverse Communities: COVID-19 has greatly impacted the mental and emotional health of both students and educators.  School disengagement and an increase in anxiety and depressive symptoms have been well documented. Racial inequities have been exposed. This presentation will share information on how we learn and engage us in a conversation regarding mental and emotional health. How to get it. How to keep it. Speaker: Denise Howley, PhD, LICSW.

53: Expanding Diversity To Actively Include the Disability Community (Anti-discrimination CEUs): This presentation will explore conscious and unconscious reactions to disability and will broaden our understanding of both diversity and what it means to be human. Speaker: Fanny Chalfin, BA, AM, LICSW. 

59: Making Private Practice Finances Work For You – Candid Strategies and Ethical Implications: Choosing to be empaneled with health insurance companies and public insurance provides advantages and yet significant financial drawbacks. We will be discussing some of the realistic financial implications of these decisions as well as the ethical implications of our current and potential clients. Speaker: Kevin Kozin, LICSW and Jen Erbe-Leggett, LICSW. 

3:00 - 4:30 PM 

SESSION 6 WORKSHOPS (1.5 CEUs)

1: Men, Infidelity, and Disenfranchised Grief (part 2): Disenfranchised grief is unacknowledged or deemed unsupportable grief.  Such grief is often present for men in recovery for infidelity.  Learn how to identify and treat it for better outcomes. Speaker: Elliott Kronenfeld, PhD, LICSW, CSTS. Please note that you must attend part 1 in session 5 to receive full credit. 

27: Radical Mind-Body-Spirit Self Care For Social Workers: A deep commitment to self-care is inextricably linked to the profession's social justice mission, as it encourages resiliency in the face of trauma and pervasive structural oppression. Speaker: Pamela Szczygiel, DSW, LICSW. 

31: Generating And Utilizing Evidence In Social Work Practice: Have concerns about “evidence-based” practice requirements? This workshop covers how to build and utilize evidence in order to provide the most impactful programs and policies for your clients and communities. Speaker: Laina Sonterblum, MSW, LCSW, and Kimberly Dadisman, PhD. 

39: Voting Is The Vaccine: Integrating Voter Recruitment And Engagement Into Social Work Practice With Vot-ER: What is the connection between voting and health? Come learn about how healthy communities empower healthy democracies. Then, we'll learn about tools from Vot-ER to increase voter participation and engagement. Speaker: Alberto Cifuentes, Jr., MSW, LMSW, Courtney White, MA, and Leigh Hardy, LICSW. 

46: IRL Self Care In The Age Of Instagram: A good self-care practice is a helpful foundation for all therapy work that comes afterwards. We will also discuss the importance of teaching these 4 categories to our clients, and will give some tips on where to begin in creating a sustainable and useful self-care practice with our clients. Speaker: Jessie Odegard, LICSW.

49: Helping Clients And Colleagues Confront Cultural Bias Against People With Disabilities (Anti-discrimination CEUs): This presentation serves as an introduction to disability as it relates to social work. Speaker: Diana Ventura, PhD

55: Got Conflict? Tools For Your Toolbox To Manage Difficult Conversations Effectively: This interactive workshop will improve your skills at handling conflict and managing difficult conversations, relevant for all aspects of social work practice, including staff management and client interaction. Speaker: Gail S. Packer, MSW.

60: Words Matter: Substance Use Disorders And The Importance Of Non-Stigmatizing Language: Terms like "addict" or "alcoholic" reflect implicit bias, perpetuate stigma, and impede people from seeking treatment, this workshop explores strategies for teaching and modeling the use of non-stigmatizing language. Speaker: Jess Lareau, LICSW and MaryRose Kline.

61: Motivational Interviewing: Motivational Interviewing has proven effective with clients who have become ‘stuck’ around behavior change such as substance misuse, eating disorders, smoking cessation, or weight management. This workshop will provide instruction, demonstration, and invite participants to pose case examples/questions in order to provide the technical skills needed to facilitate a therapeutic alliance that enables clients to identify and work through ambivalence about change.  Speaker: April Berry-Fletcher, MSW, LICSW, EdD.

For questions, please our Symposium team at symposium.naswma@socialworkers.org.

Online registrations are officially open! Register today here

Up to 13.5 CEUs available for social workers

Click here to download Symposium's workshop listing (PDF)

For questions, please our Symposium team at symposium.naswma@socialworkers.org.