The LGBTQ+ Professional Network Committee has collaborated with the Mental Health Board to offer this training opportunity for our Behavioral Health Network.
LGBTQIA+ Behavioral Health Seminar: Bridging Gaps and Building Support | In-person training | Tuesday, June 25, 2024 from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, at the McHenry County Mental Health Board, 620 Dakota Street in Crystal Lake. Presented by Nancy Mullen, MSW (of Youth Outlook), Carolyn Wahlskog, LCSW (of Youth Outlook), and Mo Ferdman (of Thresholds). EVENT FLYER
REGISTER HERE!
FREE: 4.5 IDFPR CEU’s for LSW/CSW, LPC/LCPC, Psychologists, IAODAPCA. CPDU’s for School Professionals (Pending). Lunch on your own.
Join us for an informative seminar exploring the current challenges and opportunities in the LGBTQIA+ community. Our Presenters will delve into critical issues. Here’s what they’ll cover:
9:00 – 10:30 am | Current Trends in Working with LGBTQ Youth
Summary:
This interactive session starts with a review of the current terminology used most often at the Youth Outlook drop in centers by group attendees, goes on to delve into the trends affecting LGBTQIA youth with particular emphasis on the disproportionate effect on trans and non-binary youth. The session also includes exploration of the trends affecting the families of trans and non-binary youth. The session will end with brief Q and A. This session does not offer a full terminology section, so some familiarity with LGBTQIA terminology is needed.
Objectives:
1. Review current terminology favored by drop-in center youth
2. Identify trends in serving LGBTQ children and youth
3. Explore trends affecting families of LGBTQ youth, especially trans and non-binary youth
10:45 – 12:15 pm | Legal Name and Gender Marker Changes: What Clinicians Need to Know
Summary:
Join us to learn about supporting clients through the legal name change and gender marker change process. We’ll discuss: updates to the Illinois name change statute, differences between minor and adult name changes, resources and financial support available for clients, considerations when updating one’s gender marker and what is the clinicians role in supporting clients when changing their legal name.
LUNCH ON YOUR OWN
1:15 pm – 2:45 pm | Being a Trans Ally
Summary:
We will humanize trans people as people first and define what it means to be trans. We will delve partway into the complexities of gender, sex, and sexuality, enough to contextualize how those identities and parts of ourselves relate to all people and to educate on their relation to trans people specifically. We will discuss many of the issues currently facing trans people, from cultural to psychosocial, to systemic; physical and mental healthcare and finance and the law. We will close by learning how to be a trans ally. Learning how to be respectful, supportive, and actively uplifting to the trans people in our lives, staff, clients, and in the greater community.
Objectives:
1. Define what it means to be trans
2. Learn about gender identities, gender expressions, biological sexes, and sexualities and how they relate to people both trans and cis
3. Learn how to be a trans ally
PRESENTERS
Nancy Mullen, MSW: Nancy is the Executive Director of Youth Outlook, the first not-for-profit organization serving lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and non-binary youth and working to increase understanding of LGBT youth issues in DuPage, Kane, Whiteside, LaSalle, DeKalb, Will and suburban Cook Counties in Illinois. Nancy is in her 25th year with Youth Outlook, coming to the agency when it was only 6 months old. A transplant to the Midwest, Nancy holds a Master of Social Work degree from Syracuse University, where she focused on family mental health. Away from Youth Outlook and the world of social work, Nancy is 10 credits away from a culinary degree to become a pastry chef and published her first book, Urban Tidepool, in 2020 and has her second book underway. She accepts community education and professional development requests through both Youth Outlook (LGBT youth issues) and Tidepool Communications LLC (PTSD, PTSD and TBI, family violence.)
Carolyn Wahlskog, LCSW: Carolyn is the Director of Operations and Programming at Youth Outlook, a youth services agency that works to meet the ever-evolving needs of LGBTQ+ youth and their families in northern Illinois. Additionally, Carolyn is the co-coordinator of Transformative Justice Law Project’s Name Change Mobilization, serving folks across IL. Carolyn works with educators, mental health professionals, and other youth workers to create safe, supportive and affirming policies and practices for working with queer and trans young people and their families.
Mo Ferdman: Mo holds a bachelors degree in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago. After a well-rounded career spanning over a decade of sales, customer service, client services, and small business consulting, Mo transitioned to the non-profit sector. After working as an Employment Specialist with Thresholds IPS program, he joined Workforce Development as a Training Associate in 2023 where he provides in-person and virtual training sessions for internal and external audiences, consultations, and aides in the design and development of eLearnings. Mo specializes in DEI concepts with an emphasis on LGBTQ topics, Time management and other skill-based learnings.
