Social and Emotional Health Workshops

Going with the Resistance: A Creative Approach to Power Struggles
For Teachers, Dorm Staff, Mental Health Professionals, and Parents
(This workshop can be tailored to the needs of the audience. It can be offered as a two-hour exposure presentation, a three-hour workshop, and a six-hour experiential workshop.)

Anyone who has ever lived or worked with a teenager can attest to the frustration of dealing with oppositional behaviors. Authority figures often fail to be effective with oppositional students because they attempt to “win” the battle by forcing the student to capitulate. This workshop takes a closer look at these power struggles and identifies some creative and unorthodox techniques rooted in Jay Haley’s Paradoxical Theory that promote cooperation. This workshop also looks to eastern philosophy and martial arts training that postulates that momentum met with resistance will result in greater resistance. This same approach can be applied successfully to adolescent behavior. Simply stated, the key to avoiding power struggles is to stop meeting resistance with resistance. Participants will learn unique and practical solutions that will help them to be effective with their resistant students.

Participants will:

be able to identify when their own emotional reactions are feeding into conflicts with deaf and hard-of-hearing adolescents.
be able to identify when they are in a power struggle with a deaf or hard-of-hearing adolescent.
learn how to argue fairly in ways that promote resolution instead of escalation of the conflict.

Adolescent Sexuality Education: You Can Talk About It, Too
For Teachers, Dorm Staff, Mental Health Professionals, and Parents
(This workshop can be tailored to time and skill level of the audience. It can be offered as a two-hour exposure workshop, a three-hour interactive workshop, a six-hour intermediate workshop, and a 12-hour intensive workshop.)

This workshop provides participants with real strategies for discussing the often uncomfortable issues of human sexuality with deaf and hard of hearing adolescents in a way that fosters open communication, mutual respect, and responsibility. Participants will learn how to address issues of human sexuality from an unbiased, informative perspective while also learning how to identify when deaf and hard of hearing teenagers are exploring their sexuality and what to do to support and guide them in this process.

Participants in this workshop will learn the following:

How to address issues of human sexuality from an unbiased, informative perspective
How to identify when deaf and hard-of-hearing teenagers are exploring their sexuality and what to do to support and guide them in this process
How to handle awkward questions about one’s own sexuality or sexual experiences
How to keep the flow of communication open so that the adolescent will feel comfortable about returning for advice or information
Which signs are commonly used by deaf and hard-of-hearing adolescents in conversations about sexuality, and how to participate in these conversations using language that is age and culturally appropriate

Advisory: Please be advised that this workshop addresses provocative subject matter which some may find uncomfortable.

Keeping Them Safe: Insuring Internet Safety for Deaf Students
For teachers, counselors, administrators and parents
(2.5 to 3 hours)

This workshop explores the benefits and potential risks that technology and the internet have for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. As advancements in technology can make life easier and the world a smaller place, it can also create challenges for adults who oversee children’s use of the internet. Cyber-bullying, cyber-stalking, sexual predation are some of the dangers that lurk for the unsuspecting. A brief overview of filtering tools and bullying alert programs will also be included.

Participants will:

gain a cursory understanding of the latest advancements in technology and the respective benefits and potential risks associated with their use and abuse.
learn the risk factors associated with cyber-bullying and strategies to prevent it from happening in their classrooms and homes.
learn the risk factors associated with sexual predation and strategies to protect their students/children from online sexual predators.

This is a hands-on workshop and requires that participants have access to the internet.

EQ Roadmap: An Emotionally Intelligent Way to Educate Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students
For teachers, counselors, parents and administrators
(3 hours)

Research studies in recent years have found an undeniable truth—that students with higher self-actualizing skills do better academically. Emotional Intelligence (EQ) as it has become known, has become the focus of educational institutions and corporations and their development plans. Although EQ encompasses many areas of self-actualization, five areas have emerged as core competencies for primary and secondary students. Self-awareness, handling emotions, empathy, motivation, and social skills are the most applicable to school aged children. This skill set allows students to succeed in multiple arenas of their lives by teaching them how to manage their relationships, their emotions, and their futures. This workshop looks at the five key components of EQ and how they apply to deaf and hard-of-hearing students.Participants will take a close look at their own EQ skills and learn how they might be able to encourage development of these skills in their students.

Participants will:

gain a cursory understanding of the five key domains of emotional intelligence.
gain an understanding of their own emotional intelligence skills.
learn strategies to encourage emotional intelligence development in their students.

Fine Tuning Your Family: Family Dynamics Training for Families with Deaf Children
For parents of deaf and hard of hearing students
(2 or 3 hour exposure workshop or 6 to 12-hour interactive workshop)

Hearing families with deaf and hard-of-hearing children can face unique challenges related to family dynamics and communication. Communication strategies, family constellations and roles, and family values all impact the way a family operates as a system. External pressures such as advocating for their deaf or hard-of-hearing children in education settings can add another level of stress to the family system. This workshop explores some simple but effective strategies for hearing parents with Deaf or hard-of-hearing children to fine tune their family system.

Participants will:

gain an understanding of the ways that family roles, birth order, responsibilities, communication, and personality styles impact the functionality of their families.
gain insight into the kinds of factors that influence their families and what they can do to positively affect them.
learn and practice practical strategies to resolve conflicts, to communicate more clearly and effectively, to support each other, and to prioritize “family time.”

This workshop would work well in a Family Learning Vacation setting.

Practically Perfect Parenting: Parenting Strategies for New Parents of Deaf Infants and Toddlers
For new parents of deaf and hard-of-hearing children
(3 hours)

This workshop helps new parents of infants and toddlers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing learn strategies to deal with the demands of parenthood in a way that complements each other’s strengths. It addresses communication strategies, decision making, collaborative parenting, and other basic but essential strategies that can help parents sail through the early years of parenting their deaf and hard-of-hearing children. A strong emphasis on conflict resolution and open communication will be evident throughout this workshop.

Participants will:

understand how boundaries, roles, and responsibilities are programmed into us at early ages, and how these need to be reexamined throughout the parenting cycle.
be able to identify potential causes for conflicts arising from unmet expectations and will learn strategies to resolve these conflicts from a win-win perspective.
understand the importance of collaborative communication and open decision making in parenting deaf and hard-of-hearing children.

This workshop would work well in a Family Learning Vacation setting.

The Unheard Cry: Suicide Among Deaf and Hard of Hearing Adolescents
For Teachers, Dorm Staff, Mental Health Professionals, and Parents
(3 hours)

Participants will gain insight into this specific population whose emotional needs are often masked or easily overlooked. Participants will leave with real and practical 'take-out' skills that they can use immediately with deaf and hard of hearing adolescents so they can feel confident about approaching the topic of suicide, evaluating suicidal threats and gestures, and intervening safely and effectively.

Participants will:

explore their own attitudes toward suicide
recognize warning signs of someone with suicidal ideation
review effective communication skills
learn safe and effective intervention strategies

Safety First: A Workshop for Bus Drivers and Monitors of Deaf Students
For bus drivers and monitors who transport deaf and hard-of-hearing students.
(3 hours – first 90 min. takes place on a school bus)

This workshop looks at the issues of proximity, time, and activity and how these impact student behavior on the school bus. It offers insight into the motivations behind behaviors that could be perceived as threatening, intimidating, and potentially dangerous. It also addresses proactive strategies for placement of students, providing activities for them, and addressing primary concerns related to safety on the bus. Lastly, this workshop addresses the question of what to do when a student’s behavior becomes a threat to the safety of the other passengers. This workshop is designed to help bus drivers and monitors of deaf and hard-of-hearing students be aware of the etiology of school bus behavior problems and help them to strategize ways to make their busses safer and less chaotic places for the time their students are being transported. A strong emphasis on prevention will be evident throughout this workshop.