Human Services Network of Colorado upcoming events

Motivational Interviewing - Sep 29-Oct 1, 6, 8 (09/29/2026)

Tue, 29 Sep 2026 15:00:00 GMT

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, LPC, CAS, ADS, AAT
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.

Motivational Interviewing - Sep 29-Oct 1, 6, 8 (10/01/2026)

Thu, 01 Oct 2026 15:00:00 GMT

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.

_____

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

Motivational Interviewing - Sep 29-Oct 1, 6, 8 (10/06/2026)

Tue, 06 Oct 2026 15:00:00 GMT

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.

_____

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

Motivational Interviewing - Sep 29-Oct 1, 6, 8 (10/08/2026)

Thu, 08 Oct 2026 15:00:00 GMT

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.

_____

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

Healing-Informed Care when Trauma is Everywhere (10/13/2026)

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 15:00:00 GMT

This two-day workshop provides a foundation of knowledge and skill in providing Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) to clients of all walks of life. This training focuses on enhancement of knowledge, skill and confidence of direct care providers in work with those stressed and/or traumatized. Information regarding stress and trauma will include common terms (e.g. secondary trauma, burn-out, compassion fatigue, etc), and will create an understanding of the holistic effects of stress and trauma on individuals, as well as the effects on direct service providers. This content will also provide an understanding of the impact of trauma on the brain, planning, processing, learning, relating and more. Motivational Interviewing and other approaches will be utilized to apply TIC and other concepts to client scenarios.

By the end of the training series, you will be able to...

Explain TIC to a colleague;
Understand the ways stress/trauma might impact clients or you;
Explore ways you can be more healing-informed in your work;
Identify at least one thing you could do for effective self-care
Apply TIC approaches to client scenarios; and
Develop a plan for utilizing TIC strategies on the job.

__________

WHO SHOULD ATTEND? Front-line workers and supervisors across mental health and human services sectors. Includes (but is not limited to) those working in assisted living, homelessness, domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, community and family services, juvenile justice, corrections.

Testimonials

• For someone new to the field, this was extremely helpful!

• This training really improved my interactions and gave me the push I needed.

• Use information on a daily basis. Helps structure meetings and address critical issues.

• Loved this training! So applicable and valuable in our positions

Eligible for 8 hours Certificate of Completion

_________

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.

Healing-Informed Care when Trauma is Everywhere (10/14/2026)

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 15:00:00 GMT

By the end of the training series, you will be able to...

Explain TIC to a colleague;
Understand the ways stress/trauma might impact clients or you;
Explore ways you can be more healing-informed in your work;
Identify at least one thing you could do for effective self-care
Apply TIC approaches to client scenarios; and
Develop a plan for utilizing TIC strategies on the job.

__________

Testimonials

• For someone new to the field, this was extremely helpful!

• This training really improved my interactions and gave me the push I needed.

• Use information on a daily basis. Helps structure meetings and address critical issues.

• Loved this training! So applicable and valuable in our positions

Eligible for 8 hours Certificate of Completion

_________

PRESENTER: Melinda Marasch, LCSW
Aspire Training & Consulting

Turn Anxiety into your new Superpower (10/27/2026)

Tue, 27 Oct 2026 16:00:00 GMT

The Neuroscience of Stress, Anxiety and Trauma (with Brain Hacks for Resilience)

Many kids and adults are struggling with stress and anxiety right now. We often didn’t learn how to respond to stress or overwhelm in productive ways and often feel alone with our day-to-day struggles. We understand the brain so much better now than ever before and in this presentation you will learn the latest science behind stress, anxiety, and trauma. We will discuss and practice strategies that you can use in your daily life to manage stress and anxiety in productive ways. These strategies will change how you can deal with stress. All these tools are practical so that you can immediately share them with your clients and your family. They will support people of all ages to feel more resilient and empowered.

In this presentation you will learn:

Research on stress, anxiety, and trauma: biological factors, what’s healthy about anxiety & stress reactions, how our perception changes the health effects of stress
Learn about the somatic aspects of stress, anxiety, and trauma
Practical coping skills for stress, anxiety, and trauma in our current world
Practical tools including Acudetox/AcuWellness and healthy herbs for stress and anxiety

Eligible for a two-hour Certificate of Completion

Presenter: Avani G. Dilger, LPC, CAS, AAT, ADS

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.

Verbal De-Escalation for Troubled Times (11/05/2026)

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 16:00:00 GMT

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

Much Needed Support for Immigrants & Refugees (12/17/2026)

Thu, 17 Dec 2026 17:00:00 GMT

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 provide an overview of the mental and psychological impact of migration and immigration systems while offering hands-on experience with culturally responsive interventions. Through creative innovative ways participants will gain practical tools to support the unique needs of the population.

T A K E A W A Y S

Help simplify the complexities involved in working with refugee and immigrant populations.
Learn about the psychological and psychosocial impact unique to this population.
Learn to apply interventions through case-based discussions.
Learn how to advocate for refugee clients.
Understand the compound impacts of individual trauma, forced migration, US racism oppression, and limited service access on immigrant clients
Implement best practices for working with immigrants and refugees

____

P R E S E N T E R

Osmara Medrano, LCSW, PsyD candidate, 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 doctoral intern 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