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Human Services Network of Colorado

Upcoming events

  • Motivational Interviewing - Feb 24,26 & Mar 3,5

    • 02/24/2026
    • 03/05/2026
    • 4 sessions
    • Zoom webinar
    • 0
    • 33 registrants
    Join waitlist

    This evidence-based approach has consistently shown positive outcomes in dealing with resistance and defensiveness. Motivational Interviewing is a collaborative conversation style for strengthening a person's own motivation and commitment to change. It has been successfully used with populations where resistance is prevalent, including adults and adolescents who deal with legal problems, substance abuse and mental health issues. 

    Motivational Interviewing provides a “tool box” of techniques and strategies which will help you to be more effective in working with clients who bring a wide range of challenges. This is a four-day online training with a four-hour session each day. A broadband Internet connection and working webcam are required for participation. You must be on-camera during the event to receive a certificate of completion.

     Attendees will: 

    • Understand the basic principles and skills of Motivational Interviewing

    • Experience a collaborative versus an authoritarian communication style and see how you can effectively decrease defensiveness in clients​;​

    • Learn and practice resistance skills​;

    • Learn and practice directive skills that help move a client towards positive behavior change​;​

    • Be able to elicit commitment language from a client that is correlated to positive outcomes​;​

    • Explore proven implementation strategies that help improve your Motivational Interviewing skills in the field​.

    _____

    Presenter: Avani G. Dilger, MEd, MA, LPC, BC-DMT, CAS 
    Avani specializes in substance abuse prevention and treatment with adults, teens and their families. She is the founder and director of the “Natural Highs – Healthy Alternatives to Drugs & Alcohol” nonprofit program. Avani has been training professionals in in Motivational Interviewing and other evidence-based practices worldwide for over 20 years. Find out more about Avani HERE.

    Eligible for 16 hours MINT Certificate of Completion, valid worldwide.

    Show details

  • From Policy to Practice: Navigating Change in Refugee and Immigrant Communities

    • 02/25/2026
    • 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
    • Zoom Webinar
    • 13 registrants
    Register

    For those working in social, medical, mental health, and legal services, understanding how immigration impacts our clients is imperative. Ten percent of Coloradans and 12% of Denver-metro residents are immigrants. Nearly 175,000 (25%) children in Denver and 276,000 (20%) children in Colorado have at least one parent who is an immigrant. 329,000 residents of Colorado are at risk of detention and deportation.

    Working with refugees and immigrants in changing environments requires flexibility and adaptability from human service providers.This training will explore the impact of macro-level policy changes and micro-level clinical interventions.

    Participants will gain a deeper understanding of current policy shifts while exploring the psychosocial impacts of displacement on refugee and immigrant communities. Through hands-on world scenarios, attendees will practice navigating clinically sensitive conversations with cultural attunement and trauma stewardship.

    KEY TAKEAWAYS

    • Analyze the impact of recent federal and Colorado-specific policy changes on mental health access and psychosocial stability.
    • Understand the compound impacts of trauma, displacement, and systemic oppression in resettlement.
    • Gain a deeper understanding of trauma stewardship during shifting social climates.
    • Synthesize knowledge through hands-on practice with complex client scenarios.
    • Implement tools that allow a deeper sensitivity during nuanced sensitive clinical conversations.

    ____

    P R E S E N T E R

    Osmara Medrano, LCSW, PsyD, is a bilingual clinician specializing in trauma-informed, culturally-responsive mental health care for immigrants, refugees, and individuals with severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI). With a background in clinical social work and psychology, she seeks to promote healing and resilience in marginalized communities. Currently she serves as a therapist at Aurora Mental Health & Recovery, where she delivers individual and group therapy to refugees and immigrants from diverse cultural backgrounds.

    Eligible for two hours Certificate of Completion

    Show details

  • A conversation in ECONOMIC ADAPTATION™

    • 03/10/2026
    • 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
    • Zoom Webinar
    • 43
    • 7 registrants
    Register

    THE CHALLENGE

    AI, automation, and continuous economic volatility are fundamentally reshaping how people work and earn. Our communities need the capacity to navigate uncertainty, maintain agency through disruption, and adapt to conditions that change faster than any plan can accommodate.

    ________________________________________

    THE SOLUTION

    Economic Adaptation (EA) is a comprehensive framework that builds the core competencies people need to thrive in an era of continuous change. Rather than teaching people to optimize for stability, EA develops adaptive capacity—the ability to make sound decisions under stress, leverage diverse resources, and maintain psychological resilience when everything around them is shifting.

    EA recognizes that people move through stages of economic well-being (from disconnection to security to stability to agency) and that their ability to navigate those stages depends on learnable skills.

    THIS CONVERSATION

    Through this conversation, Participants will develop:

    • A deeper understanding of the prevailing and potential economic shocks and disruptions we are facing.
    • Ability to recognize the emotional and psychological toll these disruptions can cause.
    • Awareness of how Economic Adaptation enables mobility through the stages of economic well-being.
    • A basic understanding of the Economic Adaptation Framework, including the five competencies that will improve a person’s ability to navigate uncertainty and change.


    THE PRESENTERS




    Shawn B. Young is a nationally recognized leader in behavioral economics, financial education, and human service innovation. With over 17 years of experience designing and delivering programs that address the intersection of money, stress, and health, Shawn has become a trusted voice for agencies, nonprofits, and individuals navigating the complexities of personal economics in today’s world. Shawn founded the Financial Health Institute (FHI), a forward-thinking organization focused on Person-Centered Financial Education (PCFE), a methodology he co-developed that honors individuals as experts in their own lives and prioritizes practical, contextual, and trauma-aware approaches to change. Building on his past work, Shawn is now developing a unifying framework called Economic Adaptation (EA), a new lens for understanding how individuals, organizations, and communities respond to economic complexity, disruption, and change. EA integrates his research and insights across financial behavior, health, scarcity, and resilience, and provides tools for navigating uncertainty and cultivating agency. Through EA, Shawn is redefining how we teach, measure, and support economic well-being—not just through information, but through adaptation.






    Dr. Joanne McLain facilitates stories through writing, art, curriculum design, coaching and counseling, working with people to help them gain skills to create the life they want to live. She is a financial therapist and she designs and facilitates curriculum for online, in person, and blended courses. Her experience includes six years with a rural Department of Human Services, where she was the Deputy Director and managed family programs including services for families involved in child welfare, adult protection, and all benefits programs.

    She has been a behavioral health counselor in a variety of settings, including community mental health centers, private practice, nursing homes, a volunteer fire department, emergency rooms, and inpatient units. Joanne has a Master’s Degree in Psychology, is a Licensed Professional Counselor, a Licensed Addictions Counselor and an Accredited Financial Counselor who is certified in the Trauma of Money method. She also earned a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Innovation from the University of Colorado Denver.

    Eligible for TWO hours Certificate of Completion.

    Show details

  • Healing Vicarious Trauma

    • 03/17/2026
    • 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM
    • Zoom Webinar
    • 56
    • 4 registrants
    Register

    When working with people who are in the midst of personal crisis, trauma, or emotional distress, it is common to eventually exhaust yourself from vicarious trauma (aka secondary trauma or compassion fatigue). This workshop is focused on ways to exercise self-care and self-compassion for human services professionals. Self-compassion involves treating ourselves with the care that you would offer a close friend. We will discuss the benefits of self-compassion and how to cope with caregiver fatigue. We will also talk about how to incorporate self-compassion into everyday life. We encourage you to fight caregiver fatigue by taking this time to learn to care for yourself at this enjoyable, interactive workshop.

    Participants will learn about the impact of traumatic stress on the brain and on the body. Concepts of vicarious trauma, secondary trauma, compassion fatigue, and burnout will be addressed. Finally, we will explore organizational and personal strategies that can be employed to mitigate the effects of secondary traumatic stress.

    Causes of vicarious trauma

    Your clients may have experienced trauma associated with childhood abuse, domestic violence, sexual assault or other violent crimes, disasters, war, forced migration, or even political torture. Vicarious traumatic stress is now recognized as an occupational hazard of providing direct services to populations with histories of trauma. Vicarious trauma involves a transformation which occurs in the inner experience of the human services practitioner as a result of empathetic engagement with their clients' traumatic experiences. The emotional costs of caring for clients with histories of trauma can be significant, including the loss of personal and professional resiliency. A growing body of research evidence has demonstrated that secondary traumatic stress has the potential to erode work performance, undermine motivation and morale, and adversely impact the personal health of the practitioner.

    Healing (Trauma) Informed Self-Care (HISC) is an important best practice model for all direct care workers to understand. Understanding Healing Informed self-care is at least as important in the direct care field. Research in trauma, neuropsychology, positive psychology and other disciplines identify several approaches to self-care that help mitigate stress, trauma, secondary trauma, compassion fatigue and burn-out. Understanding how we are affected, as well as how we can care well for ourselves and others, will undoubtedly help us lead and shape the future together. Learning objectives include the following.

    By the end of the training, learners will be able to:

    • Describe Stress, Trauma, Secondary Trauma, Burn-Out, Compassion Fatigue, Zoom Fatigue, Moral Fatigue &/or Comparative Suffering;
    • Be able to identify symptoms in yourself and others and know how to access help;
    • Understand what predicts Vicarious Trauma;
    • Become aware of causes and consequences in order to help decrease vulnerability;
    • Practice self-administered stress reduction relaxation techniques
    • Identify at least one way to insulate themselves from Vicarious/Secondary Trauma, Burn-Out &/or Compassion Fatigue
    • Identify at least one thing they will do for better Self-Care.

    Presenter: Melinda Marasch, LCSW
    Aspire Training & Consulting

    It is my honor to do exciting work with the amazing, compassionate people in the nonprofit world! It has been my life’s passion to help others, first as a psycho-therapist and now as a consultant. I specialize in clinical supervision in the form of training (in-person and online), as well as individual and group sessions. We serve licensed and unlicensed individuals, as well as programs and organizations. I have expertise in many areas, including HIV/AIDS, domestic violence, mental illnesses and much more. I also provide coaching to clients who are motivated to maximize their assets. 

    Eligible for 3 hours Certificate of Completion

    Show details

  • Working with Sex Offenders

    • 03/26/2026
    • 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
    • Zoom Webinar
    • 45
    • 5 registrants
    Register

    Working with adults and juveniles who have committed sexually based offenses requires an understanding of how Colorado classifies, supervises, and treats such clients, based on the Sex Offender Management Board (SOMB) Standards. This training will provide an overview of best practices in providing therapy to, and working with, this population. Additional relevant information for human service providers will also be presented, including the legal definition of sex offender, the sex offense-specific evaluation requirements, sex offender registry requirements, risk factors, and working as part of a Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) or Community Supervision Team (CST). 

    1.     Participants will have basic knowledge of SOMB Standards, and the differences between working with adults and juveniles. 

    2.     While there is no simple answer to the question of why people engage in sexual offending behavior, research suggests a number of factors related to the etiology and typology regarding individuals who commit sexual offenses. An overview will be provided about these topics, so participants can recognize there is no “one size fits all” in working with this population.  

    3.     Participants will learn how the sex offense specific evaluation is conducted and used as a source of information to guide treatment planning.  

    4.     Participants will have a basic understanding of what sex offense specific treatment requires, including the client taking responsibility for the sexual offending behavior, developing victim empathy, learning how to utilize appropriate social skills, and managing the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors which lead to the sexual offending. The importance of victim and community safety will be highlighted. Treatment-related topics such as assessing risk, addressing safety concerns, and working as part of a team will also be introduced.  

    5.     There will be several case presentations, so participants will apply this knowledge about sex offense specific treatment to particular cases, utilizing a discussion format.  

    Presenter: Ashley Charbonneau, LCSW, LAC

    I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Licensed Addiction Counselor, and Colorado Sex Offender Management Board (SOMB) Full Operating Treatment Provider and Evaluator. I started Enso Counseling in 2016. I specialize in providing individual therapy to address substance abuse, healthy relationships, unhealthy sexual behavior, and trauma. Read more about Ashley HERE.

    Eligible for 3 hours Certificate of Completion

    Show details

  • Everyone is hiring... so why aren't your clients working? Tips and Techniques for Finding Employment

    • 04/02/2026
    • 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
    • Zoom Webinar
    • 60
    • Be the first
    Register

    Are your clients feeling hopeless in their search for employment? Sometimes it seems like an endless task, searching for a job; and losing hope is the face in the mirror. Especially when you are justice-involved or lack the educational requirements.

    During this webinar, we will discover proven methods to help build a solid plan, open up employment options, and develop partnerships to overcome these struggles and obstacles.

    GOALS:

    Discuss current and local employment resources and opportunities.

    Identify and discuss ways to improve support for families in need.

    Develop additional communication streams for up-to-date resources for adequate employment and compensation.

    Help improve community relationships and partnership opportunities for employment, resources, hiring events, and recruitment fairs.

    OUTLINE

    1. Where are the jobs and career opportunities?

    • Felony-friendly employment resources and opportunities.
    • No experience necessary employment opportunities (OTJT)
    • Non-GED or high school graduate

    2. What about Apprenticeship Opportunities? How does an apprenticeship program work?

    3. What are Career Training Programs? How does this program work to benefit job seekers?

    4. Building a plan of resources and jobs based on the availability

    • Resource Centers and Workforce Development locations?
    • Develop expectations and review obstacles and barriers.
    • Improving warm introductions and follow-up techniques?
    • How do you develop an online strategy for job applications?
    • How much does that job pay?

    Two Break-Out Sessions will build upon the topics above.

    Eligible for a two-hour certificate of completion.

    Presenter: Marsha Brown, CORE Inspirate LLC

    Ms. Brown has a multifaceted career history that allows her to serve the community she lives in. She brings her sharpened skills and experience to help inspire and empower others. Ms. Brown has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. Her career has moved from Customer Service Manager over accounts like The Detroit Zoological Institute to NA Manager for TransUnion LLC., overseeing relationships with homeowners and FEMA guidelines. Ms. Brown’s diverse career path and "lived experience" has allowed her to build a wealth of knowledge- focusing on; advocacy for resilience, job creation; and enhancing self-sufficiency programs. Ms. Brown teaches others how to maximize best practices, advocacy, financial health, and home ownership. She served as a Commissioner for the DHA Board, is an Alumni of Warren Village Transitional Housing and a seasoned Storyteller for the Close to Home Campaign to end homelessness.

    Show details

  • Motivational Interviewing - April 14,16,21,23

    • 04/14/2026
    • 04/23/2026
    • 4 sessions
    • Zoom webinar
    • 31
    • Be the first
    Register

    This evidence-based approach has consistently shown positive outcomes in dealing with resistance and defensiveness. Motivational Interviewing is a collaborative conversation style for strengthening a person's own motivation and commitment to change. It has been successfully used with populations where resistance is prevalent, including adults and adolescents who deal with legal problems, substance abuse and mental health issues. 

    Motivational Interviewing provides a “tool box” of techniques and strategies which will help you to be more effective in working with clients who bring a wide range of challenges. This is a four-day online training with a four-hour session each day. A broadband Internet connection and working webcam are required for participation. You must be on-camera during the event to receive a certificate of completion.

     Attendees will: 

    • Understand the basic principles and skills of Motivational Interviewing

    • Experience a collaborative versus an authoritarian communication style and see how you can effectively decrease defensiveness in clients​;​

    • Learn and practice resistance skills​;

    • Learn and practice directive skills that help move a client towards positive behavior change​;​

    • Be able to elicit commitment language from a client that is correlated to positive outcomes​;​

    • Explore proven implementation strategies that help improve your Motivational Interviewing skills in the field​.

    _____

    Presenter: Avani G. Dilger, MEd, MA, LPC, BC-DMT, CAS 
    Avani specializes in substance abuse prevention and treatment with adults, teens and their families. She is the founder and director of the “Natural Highs – Healthy Alternatives to Drugs & Alcohol” nonprofit program. Avani has been training professionals in in Motivational Interviewing and other evidence-based practices worldwide for over 20 years. Find out more about Avani HERE.

    Eligible for 16 hours MINT Certificate of Completion, valid worldwide.

    Show details

  • Verbal De-Escalation

    • 04/28/2026
    • 9:00 AM - 2:30 PM
    • Zoom Webinar
    • 50
    • Be the first
    Register

    De-escalation of disruptive behavior has become an essential skill, pertinent to all staff providing human services. The need for safe, effective techniques to manage the disruptive client is no longer limited to those who work with severe mental illness in residential or hospital settings.

    To add to the problem, the current de-institutionalization trend has injected thousands of individuals who once were treated on an inpatient basis, into a society which is not quite sure how to manage their behavior. Outpatient mental health facilities are being asked to service clients who formerly had inpatient care. Frequently, staff at a community-based treatment centers do not have the training or experience to manage the aggressive behaviors of clients who were once institutionalized.

    This training provides attendees with a safe, non-harmful techniques, designed to aid human service professionals in the management of disruptive clients. Strategies and specific skills for dealing with clients in varying stages of escalation will be presented and discussed. Non-restraining physical protective maneuvers will be reviewed, demonstrated and discussed. Principles of debriefing and using teaching moments will also be addressed.

    ___________

    De-escalation will be presented in three phases:

    • Phase 1 Avoiding escalation through Self Care and Awareness;
    • Phase 2 Anatomy of crisis development and de-escalating skill sets; and
    • Phase 3 Exit maneuvers and debriefing skills.

    By the end of the webinar, learners will be able to:

    • Recognize the importance of self-care in how it relates to escalating/de-escalating any situation;
    • Apply de-escalation techniques effective in approaching and reducing the • tension of an agitated person;
    • Understand the impact of their reactions on the agitated person;
    • Utilize tools to control their anxieties during interventions toward maintaining the best possible professional attitude; and

    • Describe nonverbal, para-verbal and verbal skills to maintain the best possible care and welfare, as well as safety and security, for all involved.

    _____________

    Presenter: Tracy L. Hutchinson, LPC, MAC, LAC 

    Tracy has been working in the field of Addictions and Mental Health for the past 40 years. Currently, through her Counseling and Consulting private practice, Tracy is a facilitator of professional growth and development for team building. See more information about Tracy HERE.


    Eligible for 5 hours Certificate of Completion

    Show details

  • MI for Supervisors & Champions - August 4 & 6

    • 08/04/2026
    • 08/06/2026
    • 2 sessions
    • Zoom Webinar
    • 28
    • 3 registrants
    Register

    MI_cartoon

    Motivational Interviewing provides a “tool box” of techniques and strategies which will help you to be more effective in working with clients who bring a wide range of challenges. This one-day advanced Motivational Interviewing Training is the next step for teams who are serious about an evidence-based implementation of Motivational Interviewing skills. The development and maintenance of MI skills is a challenge for front-line workers. Participating in the workshops is a great start but ongoing feedback and mentoring are needed in order for most workers to use MI skillfully. This workshop can help enhance both supervisor MI skills and the quality and nature of the mentoring process. It’s a win-win for clients and agency staff alike.
    This advanced MI training is only for those who have already taken the Motivational Interviewing Basic Two-Day training series. The training builds on the two-day MI Skills Training and teaches supervisors and professionals who are passionate about MI how to keep the practice of MI alive within their teams. If you have not undergone the MI Basic Series, please register for that course instead of this one; we conduct MI Basic regularly.

    Participants will leave with an understanding of:
    • the research-based building-blocks of a successful MI implementation
    • MI coaching skills
    • how to facilitate MI practice sessions
    • a manual with tailored MI exercises to build & sustain their team’s MI skills

    _________

    Presenter: Avani G. Dilger, MEd, MA, LPC, BC-DMT, CAS 
    Avani specializes in substance abuse prevention and treatment with adults, teens and their families. She is the founder and director of the “Natural Highs – Healthy Alternatives to Drugs & Alcohol” nonprofit program. Avani has been training professionals in in Motivational Interviewing and other evidence-based practices worldwide for over 20 years. Find out more about Avani HERE.

    ________

    Eligible for 8 hours Certificate of Completion

    Show details

Event Schedule

View the Network's projected training topics and other training information here. To view event information and fees (including member discounts) before registering, click Show details in the lower right -hand corner of each event description above.

 Cancellation Policy

  • Substitutions are welcome; please let us know in advance.
  • No-shows and cancellations 7 days or less prior to an event will be granted neither credit nor refund.
  • Up to 8 days prior to event:  25% refund will be issued in the form of a credit towards future registration.
  • Up to 15 days prior to event: 50% refund will be issued in the form of a credit towards future registration.
  • Up to 29 days prior to event: A full refund will be issued.

Human Services Network of Colorado
PO Box 24788 · Denver, CO 80224

p: 720-252-3628
e: info@thenetwork-co.org

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