The Mental Health Board and the Center for Emotional Wellness of the Northwest Suburbs have partnered to offer this training opportunity for our Behavioral Health network.
REGISTER HERE!
FREE: 1 IDFPR CEU for LSW/LCSW, LPC/LCPC, Psychologists, and ISBE CPDU’s for School Professionals
SUMMARY and OBJECTIVES
School professionals and clinicians are invited to participate in a one-hour virtual training led by experts in school mental health and anxiety treatment. This interactive session will focus on understanding and supporting students experiencing school anxiety, avoidance, and refusal behaviors. Participants will explore the emotional, social, academic, and environmental factors that contribute to attendance challenges and learn evidence-based strategies to improve student engagement, school connectedness, and successful attendance. Practical tools and resources will be shared, including attendance plans, family engagement strategies, anxiety-management supports, and intervention frameworks that can be implemented across school and clinical settings.
The training will include opportunities for discussion, collaborative problem-solving, and case-based learning. Participants are encouraged to reflect on their current practices, share challenges, and engage with colleagues to generate new ideas and solutions for supporting students and families. Through guided activities and expert facilitation, attendees will identify barriers to school engagement, develop targeted intervention strategies, and create action steps that can be tailored to the unique needs of their students, families, and school communities.
PRESENTER
Jacqueline Rhew, CADC, LCPC, is the co-founder of the Center for Emotional Wellness of the Northwest Suburbs. She is an expert in her field and is called upon by hundreds of school districts, family agencies and mental health facilities — locally and nationally — for consulting staff to better serve their youth. Jacqueline served as a Clinical Consultant for AMITA Health Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital for many years, and previously served as Assistant Director for the School Anxiety/School Refusal Program — a program she was instrumental in creating and developing. She has facilitated 300-plus workshops for professionals and parents — locally and nationally — on topics ranging from anxiety, school refusal, parenting, and self-injury.
Lauren Hart, MA, LBS1, has been a teacher for the past 18 years. She holds a Master’s Degree in Special Education, a Bachelor’s Degree in English Education and a Learning Behavior Specialist Certification (LBS1). Before choosing to invest her time fully into building the company in response to community need, she spent the 12 years prior as the Clinical Supervisor of Patient Education at Ascension- Alexian Brothers Behavioral Medicine, overseeing nine programs at two locations. Before leading her team at the hospital, she taught at the middle school and high school level, in the general education setting as well as in a therapeutic day school and alternative high school program.
