VTC Academy: Webinars
The information you need right on your screen
Webinars On Demand
Technical Assistance Training Series: VTC Roles and Responsibilities
Presenter:
Judge Mary Jane Knisely
Description:
This session outlines the basic concepts of team development and discusses the unique, nonadversarial roles that team members play in treatment court settings. This presentation introduces the roles for each team member and explains why it is important to hold a pre-case conference and what can be discussed during that meeting.
Identifying, Preventing, and Managing Professional Burnout in Working With Justice-Involved Veterans
Presenter:
Meghan Geiss, Ph.D., L.C.P.
Description:
Self-care has perhaps never been so clearly necessary as it is within our current societal circumstances. Serving justice-involved veterans brings its own unique risks of developing compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress, vicarious traumatization, and professional burnout, which can negatively affect personal and professional well-being. This webinar will help you better identify these conditions, including their related signs and symptoms, and will provide practical steps to prevent and mitigate their impact.
Emerging Topics: More Than Just PTSD: The Other Traumatic Aftereffects of Combat - Survivor Guilt, Traumatic Grief, and Moral Injury
Presenter:
Brian L. Meyer, Ph.D., L.C.P.
Description:
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) have been called the "invisible wounds of combat." However, there are other invisible wounds of combat, and this presentation will discuss their effects on veterans and their social circles. Participants will learn about assessment instruments developed to assess such wounds and the treatments available to address and heal these injuries.
Emerging Topics: Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and the Justice-Involved Veteran Population
Presenter:
Meghan Geiss, Ph.D., L.C.P.
Description:
This webinar covers the epidemiology of TBI and the clinical and psychosocial characteristics of justice-involved veterans with TBI. Presenter Dr. Meghan Geiss will describe the Department of Veterans Affairs' Polytrauma System of Care and collaborative efforts between the Department of Defense and the VA to identify, assess, and treat TBI survivors. She will also discuss the research and clinical and care coordination initiatives to provide lifelong care and support for this population.
Emerging Topics: Effectively Engaging Participant Families and Primary Support Networks in Veterans Treatment Courts
Presenter:
Christa Marshall, Phy.D.
Description:
Drawing on evidence from various treatment court models, intentional family engagement leads to better outcomes for participants and the family unit. In addition, evidence from related systems such as schools, substance use treatment programs, and mental health treatment programs reveals that integrating family and friends into the recovery model has benefits all around.
Emerging Topics: Sleep Hygiene
Presenter:
Brian L. Meyer, Ph.D., LCP, is a Clinical Psychologist and the Psychology Program Manager for Community-Based Outpatient Clinics at the Central Virginia VA Health Care System and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Description:
Imagine a life in which you slept only 2-3 hours a night: how would that change you? Insomnia is a symptom of almost every significant mental health problem found in Veterans Treatment Courts, including Substance Use Disorders, PTSD, Depression, and chronic pain. Nonetheless, it often goes unaddressed until later in treatment, even though treating insomnia would improve every one of those diagnostic problems. This presentation addresses the links between insomnia and other mental health disorders. It then provides a systematic approach to sleep hygiene that can dramatically improve sleep and decrease insomnia by 30-50% in just two sessions. So take off your shoes, pull up your blankets, and learn how to help your clients sleep better – and maybe you will sleep better, too.
Strength at Home: A Trauma-Informed, Evidence-Based Intimate Partner Violence Intervention for Veterans and Civilians
Presenter:
Casey Taft, Ph.D., staff psychologist at the National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System
Description:
The webinar discusses common risk factors for intimate partner violence, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, head injury, substance use, and other core themes that may underlie trauma and lead to abusive relationship behavior. The webinar also details the scientific evidence behind Strength At Home and how it enhances client motivation for change and facilitates personal responsibility.
Military Leadership Principles in Veterans Treatment Courts
Presenter:
Major General Clyde "Butch" Tate (retired), chief counsel, National Association of Drug Court Professionals
Description:
This webinar addresses the core principles of military leadership and how to apply them successfully to veterans treatment court teams and participants. Attendees will learn to identify and describe leadership do's and don’ts when working with justice-involved veterans and how to apply these principles in treatment courts.