SHA Denver Director, Taylor Spaziani, interviews psychologist and licensed marriage and family therapist, Dr. Melody Brown, PhD, LMFT! Catch her teaching at SHA's day-long virtual workshop on Saturday, February 27th on African American couples, sexuality, and becoming a culturally competent practitioner while gaining 8 AASECT/state CEs. Workshops are open to all professions.
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
The last year has highlighted how critical it is to create space for the realities of marginalized communities. This workshop will teach you how to connect with African American couples in therapy particularly with regards to their marginalized experiences and to work with them from a culturally respectful clinical lens. Our ability to connect with our clients is often more important than the theory through which we practice. Such is the case when working with marginalized clients. Too often our clinical training with regards to working with diverse communities is surface at best. Couple inadequate clinical training with a society where subjugated people are constantly being systemically erased, and you find African Americans less likely to attend therapy. Further, should they pursue treatment, they are less likely to remain in therapy. In this training, you will learn ways to set the tone for an inviting and accepting therapeutic environment. You will enhance your ability to explore the experiences and contexts of African American clients. Lastly, you will improve your skills by engaging with clients through a process designed to meet the therapeutic needs of marginalized clients.
Over this day you will dive into:
The phenomenon of shame from a privileged point of view | What are the lived experiences of African Americans?
The impacts of White privilege on African American couples
Discretion for preservation/Cultural Mistrust (Ex. COVID-19 Vaccinations)
Infractions in working with African American couples
In our own words: what clients say about working with White or other non-marginalized clinicians
Defining and working from a culturally responsive clinical practice
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Create a culturally respectful therapeutic environment
Develop an understanding of the lived experiences of African Americans
Identify missteps in practicing with African American clients
Creating a path to difficult dialogues in therapy
Assess for the impact of marginalization on the couple relationship
Integrate self of the therapist privileged context into clinical practice with African American couples
Apply cultural awareness to case conceptualization
Identify and use the client’s cultural resilience to assist in resolving presenting problems in therapy
WORKSHOP AGENDA (ALL TIMES ARE CENTRAL STANDARD TIME):
SATURDAY, FEB 27TH, 2021, 10AM - 6PM CST
10:00AM - 10:55AM CST:
Welcome & Introductions
Setting the intention for the coming process,
Locating the presenter within the topic for the day (i.e., my identity as a person of color in relation to this work),
Review presenter style and participant needs given presentation content/set community norms (I present/practice/teach from a place of vulnerability and want to set the stage for a similar expectation of the audience). This same perspective needs to be incorporated into their work with clients.
10:55AM – 11:00AM CST
Break
11:00AM – 12:20PM CST
Experiences of the African American community (film, client perspectives, other media and breakout groups)
12:20PM – 12:30PM CST
Break
12:30PM – 1:00PM CST
Group Process
1:00PM – 2:00PM CST
Lunch on your own with an activity to complete
2:00 – 2:10PM CST
Temperature check/questions
2:10PM – 2:40PM CST
Infractions in therapy with African Americans (client perspective)
2:40PM – 4:00PM CST
The Path to a Culturally Responsive Practice-Defining cultural awareness, knowledge and skills
4:00PM – 4:05PM CST
Break
4:05PM – 5:30PM CST
Breakout groups for practice
5:30PM – 6:00PM CST
Group Process
Q & A
Closing
Dr. Melody Brown is a licensed marriage and family therapist with both her M.A. and PhD in Marriage and Family Therapy. Her clinical training began nearly thirty years ago where her studies included a concentration on working with systems while addressing issues of power, privilege, and oppression. After completing her master’s degree, she began working in child welfare in long term foster care. While in this position, she witnessed the trauma children experienced both within their homes and at the point of being removed from their families. She collaborated to develop models for what is now called concurrent planning in foster care. She later became a foster care placement specialist. Prior to completing her doctorate, Dr. Brown held several positions at Denver Children’s Home, a treatment center for traumatized children and families. In her initial work as a residential therapist, she was trained by the Sex Offender Management Board (SOMB) to work with sex offending youth. She also participated in training and case consultation with the Child Trauma Center where she learned to work with families using trauma informed treatment. She transitioned to work in community organizing as the Site Coordinator for the East Denver Collaborative of Family to Family. Through these experiences, she maintained her focus on highlighting the importance of understanding cultural norms and differences in marginalized communities.
She joined the counseling center at the University of Colorado Denver where she returned to clinical work, supervision and training in 2011. In 2019, she joined the Counseling Program at CU Denver specializing in couple and family therapy through a multicultural lens. She maintains a private practice offering consultation, clinical supervision, and individual, couple, and family therapy.
Dr. Brown is a clinical fellow of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy. She presents and trains both locally and nationally on clinical supervision through a social justice lens and on the complexities of working with oppressed and marginalized communities.
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