The Shadow’s Gift: Healing Shame and Reclaiming Your True Self | In-Person| Presented by Gary Rukin, LPC
2026-05-15 09:00 - 15:30 (America/Chicago) | McHenry County Mental Health Board, 620 Dakota Street, Crystal Lake, IL, 60012, United States
REGISTRATION CLOSED – To be put on the Waitlist, Email Kris Doherty at kdoherty@mc708.org.
FREE: 5.5 IDFPR CEU for LSW/LCSW, LPC/LCPC, Psychologists, and IAODAPCA

SUMMARY

This transformative presentation guides participants through the complex landscape of shame—an emotion that shapes identity, relationships, and mental health, yet often remains hidden and unspoken. Drawing on the pioneering work of Carl Jung and contemporary neuroscience, the session explores how shame creates the shadow self, influencing behavior and perpetuating cycles of self-rejection.
Through vivid imagery, practical exercises, and compassionate guidance, attendees learn to recognize and integrate their shadow, transforming shame from a source of pain into a pathway for healing and authenticity. The presentation offers actionable strategies for therapists and individuals alike, including somatic grounding, vulnerability practices, self-compassion exercises, and guided imagery.
Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of shame’s origins, its impact on the psyche, and a toolkit for fostering resilience, connection, and wholeness. Whether you are a clinician, educator, or someone seeking personal growth, this presentation provides a roadmap for turning the darkness of shame into the gold of self-acceptance.
OBJECTIVES

Define shame and distinguish it from guilt in psychological contexts.
Explore the developmental origins and social factors contributing to shame.
Analyze the impact of shame on mental health and trauma responses.
Summarize Jung’s concept of the shadow self and its clinical relevance.
Explain neurobiological mechanisms underlying shame and its physical manifestations.
Illustrate the interactive cycle between shame and the shadow self.
Identify evidence-based healing practices for addressing and transforming shame.
Discuss the therapeutic importance of vulnerability, empathy, and compassion.
Apply strategies for integrating shame resilience into personal and professional practice.
Evaluate methods for reclaiming strengths and “harvesting gold” from the shadow.

PRESENTER
Gary Rukin, LPC, MA, MS, has worked in Community Mental Health for the past fourteen years. He serves as the Trauma-Informed Coordinator for the McHenry County Mental Health Board, and has presented trainings on Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Understanding Psychosis, Understanding and Treating Emotional Trauma, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Thresholds, The Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Recovery Conference, Northwestern University Hospital, and the Illinois Department of Human Services.

"The Way Back" Community Movie Meetup with Discussion | In-person
2026-05-20 18:00 - 21:00 | McHenry County Mental Health Board, 620 Dakota Street, Crystal Lake, IL, 60012, United States
REGISTER HERE!
This is open to the Community. No CEUs will be provided.
Northern Illinois Recovery Center and the Mental Health Board are sponsoring a Community Movie Meetup followed by a discussion on mental health and substance use. The movie will be “The Way Back” Rated R – *Age requirement is 17+ unless accompanied by a parent or adult guardian.

MHB Regular Board Meeting
2026-05-26 18:00, 2026-06-23 18:00, 2026-07-28 18:00, 2026-08-25 18:00, 2026-09-22 18:00, 2026-10-27 18:00, 2026-11-24 18:00, 2026-12-15 17:00 | McHenry County Mental Health Board, 620 Dakota Street, Crystal Lake, IL, 60012, United States

Fragmentation and Dissociation in the Wake of Complex Trauma | In-Person| Presented by Becky Carter, LCPC
2026-05-29 09:00 - 15:00 | McHenry County Mental Health Board, 620 Dakota Street, Crystal Lake, IL, 60012, United States
REGISTRATION CLOSED – To be put on the Waitlist, Email Kris Doherty at kdoherty@mc708.org.
*There will be a 1 hour lunch break on your own.
FREE: 5 IDFPR CEU for LSW/LCSW, LPC/LCPC, Psychologists, and IAODAPCA

SUMMARY

Fragmentation and dissociation are the protective and adaptive responses to trauma – especially when escape, resistance, or external support is unavailable. Survivors of trauma, particularly those abused in early childhood, create ways to minimize pain and preserve functioning.
Understanding dissociation as a survival response and recognizing fragmentation in the therapy process is essential when working with survivors of trauma like abuse, neglect, torture, domestic violence, oppression, and combat. Dissociated experiences create immense shame for survivors and are often underreported, unrecognized, and underassessed in the therapeutic relationship.
This training explores the spectrum of dissociation, from numbing and disconnecting to severe disruptions in consciousness, body sensation, awareness, memory, identity, and perception. This training will include an exploration of the connection between trauma fragmentation, different types of dissociative disorders, symptom presentation, as well as contemporary treatment modalities.
OBJECTIVES
Upon completion of training participants will:
1. Be able to identify dissociative disorders and associated criteria.
2. Gain an understanding of dissociative and fragmented responses in clinical interactions.
3. Identify conditions in which trauma leads to dissociation and fragmentation.
4. Learn at least two treatment approaches for working with dissociation.

PRESENTER
Becky Carter, LCPC, is a biracial, cisgender, transracially adopted female with West African and Sicilian ancestors. She has two black adopted children.
Becky has been a trauma therapist for over 20 years helping heal the wounds of relational trauma that occur in-utero and beyond. She is trained in Somatic Experiencing, Internal Family Systems, Transformative Touch Therapy for the treatment of Developmental Trauma, and in the Treatment of Complex Trauma and Dissociation.
Becky works with adults, teens, couples, and groups with expertise in healing the wounds associated with Racial Trauma, Complex Trauma and Dissociation, Sexual Trauma and Issues of Trauma and Loss in Adoption. Becky facilitates groups for Male Survivors of Sexual Trauma. She also provides support and community education on Racial Trauma and Decolonizing Therapy Methods; with focus on the somatic impact of the chronic and sustained experience of oppression.

Trauma 101: Key Principles and Practical Approaches | Virtual | Presented by Gary Rukin, LPC
2026-06-11 14:30 - 16:00, 2026-08-13 14:30 - 16:00, 2026-11-12 14:30 - 16:00 | Virtual, IL
REGISTER HERE!
FREE: 1.5 IDFPR CEU for LSW/LCSW, LPC/LCPC, Psychologists, and IAODAPCA

SUMMARY

This training covers basic trauma-informed principles. It distinguishes developmental trauma—chronic, relational, and attachment-based—from shock trauma, caused by sudden overwhelming events. Participants learn how each influences emotional, cognitive, and physiological functioning.
The presentation covers the normal stress-response system and how trauma disrupts it, leading to hyperarousal, hypoarousal, and dissociation. It highlights the roles of biology, genetics, epigenetics, and environment, emphasizing that trauma reactions stem from neurobiology rather than character or willpower.
Attendees are introduced to mindful, expressive, and somatic interventions that support stabilization and nervous-system regulation. The training concludes with an overview of effective and evidence-based trauma therapies.
Participants leave with an understanding of trauma foundations and some practical tools to support clients safely and effectively.
OBJECTIVES

Differentiate between developmental trauma and shock trauma, including their origins and clinical presentations.
Explain the functions of the normal stress-response system and its role in maintaining safety and regulation.
Describe how the stress-response system becomes altered under traumatic conditions.
Discuss how biology, genetics, epigenetics, and environment interact to shape trauma responses.
Apply mindful, expressive, and somatic-based interventions to support trauma recovery in clinical settings.
Identify evidence-based therapeutic approaches effective in treating both shock and developmental trauma.

PRESENTER
Gary Rukin, LPC, MA, MS, has worked in Community Mental Health for the past thirteen years. He serves as the Trauma-Informed Coordinator for the McHenry County Mental Health Board, and has presented trainings on Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Understanding Psychosis, Understanding and Treating Emotional Trauma, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Thresholds, The Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Recovery Conference, Northwestern University Hospital, and the Illinois Department of Human Services.

MHB Committee of the Whole Meeting
2026-06-16 17:00 - 18:00, 2026-09-15 17:00 - 18:00 | IL

Opioid Overdose Prevention & Reversal: Overdose Responder Training | In-person | Presented by Teagan Ferraresi of Liv4Lali
2026-07-09 13:00 - 14:30, 2026-10-08 13:00 - 14:30 | McHenry County Mental Health Board, 620 Dakota Street, Crystal Lake, IL, 60012, United States
REGISTER HERE!
FREE: 1.5 IDFPR CEU for LSW/LCSW, LPC/LCPC, Psychologists, and IAODAPCA

Summary
Attendees will learn what opioids are and how they work, the opioid overdose epidemic, identify the signs of an opioid overdose & learn how to respond and reverse it, all about Naloxone, a little about Harm Reduction, and overdose prevention and policies.
Presenter
Teagan Ferraresi (she/her) is an Outreach Coordinator in McHenry County. With personal experience with Substance Use Disorder, her desire to make a change locally brought her to Live4Lali. After volunteering for a year, she joined the team as a SMART Recovery Facilitator and Overdose Education & Naloxone Distribution (OEND) trainer. She’s a fierce believer in harm reduction and destigmatization through community education, and is passionate about helping others with anything from peer support to treatment navigation.

A Trauma Informed Approach | Virtual | Presented by Gary Rukin, LPC, MA, MS
2026-07-09 14:30 - 16:00, 2026-10-08 14:30 - 16:00, 2026-12-10 14:30 - 16:00 | Virtual, IL
This is not a series. The same session is repeated monthly.
REGISTER HERE!
Free: 1.5 CEUs for LSW/LCSW, LPC/LCPC, Psychologists, and IAODAPCA
Summary:
The presentation, A Trauma Informed Approach, is replacing the monthly ACE Interface Trainings provided by the McHenry County Mental Health Board and differs in several respects. While it incorporates information from the ACE Study conducted by Kaiser Permanente and the Center for Disease Control, it also explores other causes of childhood and adult adverse experiences. These include the role of genetics and epigenetics in transmission of trauma reactions from one generation to the next, environments in which violence is commonplace, behaviors which result from trauma, and begins to delve into ways to mitigate these reactions, and how we can do better as individuals, organizations, and as a society.
Presenter:
Gary Rukin, LPC, MA, MS, has worked in Community Mental Health for the past thirteen years. He serves as the Trauma-Informed Coordinator for the McHenry County Mental Health Board, and has presented trainings on Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Understanding Psychosis, Understanding and Treating Emotional Trauma, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Thresholds, The Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Recovery Conference, Northwestern University Hospital, and the Illinois Department of Human Services.

Deepening and Expanding Somatic Techniques: The Embodiment of Trauma and Stress Part II | In-Person| Presented by Becky Carter, LCPC
2026-07-17 09:00 - 15:00 | McHenry County Mental Health Board, 620 Dakota Street, Crystal Lake, IL, 60012, United States
REGISTER HERE!
*There will be a 1 hour lunch break on your own.
FREE: 5 IDFPR CEU for LSW/LCSW, LPC/LCPC, Psychologists, and IAODAPCA (Pending)

SUMMARY

This training is for practitioners seeking to deepen their connection with the somatic model and the impact of stress and trauma on the nervous system. It will assist those seeking to better understand the embodied stress experience across a variety of settings and treatment scenarios. This training offers a deeper immersion into somatic therapy principles and practices utilized by the presenter. Designed for clinicians and practitioners with some knowledge of somatic approaches, this course emphasizes the refined clinical skills of embodied presence and moment-to-moment attunement to nervous system dynamics. The presenter will demonstrate methods of titration into somatic witnessing for shame reduction.
Participants will expand their awareness of ways to support somatic inquiry and sensation awareness for those with body disconnection or dissociation, sensation fear, and body sensation overwhelm which can be features of the neurodivergence that trauma often creates. Through experiential activities, participants will gain a better understanding of the arc of a somatic session and methods of resourcing, sensing activation states and feeling awareness while supporting body capacity and wisdom. The presenter will discuss the importance of somatic self-resourcing on the part of the embodied witness, therapist, helper, teacher, and crisis supporter and explore methods for coping with vicarious somatic stress and fatigue.
OBJECTIVES

Demonstrate increased understanding of embodied presence as a core clinical skill in somatic practice.
Apply principles of titration and somatic witnessing to support shame reduction and greater client safety.
Explain the arc of a somatic session, including resourcing, sensing activation states, and supporting feeling awareness while honoring body capacity and wisdom.
Cultivate greater awareness of practitioner self-resourcing and responses to vicarious somatic stress and fatigue.

PRESENTER
Becky Carter, LCPC, is a biracial, cisgender, transracially adopted female with West African and Sicilian ancestors. She has two black adopted children.
Becky has been a trauma therapist for over 20 years helping heal the wounds of relational trauma that occur in-utero and beyond. She is trained in Somatic Experiencing, Internal Family Systems, Transformative Touch Therapy for the treatment of Developmental Trauma, and in the Treatment of Complex Trauma and Dissociation.
Becky works with adults, teens, couples, and groups with expertise in healing the wounds associated with Racial Trauma, Complex Trauma and Dissociation, Sexual Trauma and Issues of Trauma and Loss in Adoption. Becky facilitates groups for Male Survivors of Sexual Trauma. She also provides support and community education on Racial Trauma and Decolonizing Therapy Methods; with focus on the somatic impact of the chronic and sustained experience of oppression.

Understanding Eligibility and Access to Illinois’ Medicaid Waiver Services | Virtual
2026-07-30 19:00 - 20:00 | McHenry County Mental Health Board, 620 Dakota Street, Crystal Lake, IL, 60012, United States
REGISTER HERE!
This is open to the Community. No CEUs will be provided.

SUMMARY

This session provides an overview of Illinois’ PUNS database and waiting list for Home and Community-Based Medicaid Waiver Services for individuals with developmental disabilities. It covers eligibility, required documentation, enrollment, available services, and what to expect while waiting for funding, as well as alternative supports such as respite care and the DHS Division of Rehabilitation Services Home Services Program.
PRESENTER

Jennifer Rowzee, M. Ed. brings over two decades of dedicated service to individuals with developmental disabilities, with a career rooted in advocacy, support coordination, and person-centered care. She holds a Master’s degree in Special Education and has been an advocate and service provider since 1996. With 13 years of experience as a Pre-Admission Screening agent, Jennifer has built a reputation for compassion, professionalism, and a deep understanding of the systems that support individuals and families. Her earlier role as a Case Manager at a provider agency gave her firsthand insight into the needs of both clients and staff, laying the foundation for her leadership approach today.
As Associate Program Director, Jennifer leverages her expertise to ensure high-quality service delivery, promote staff development, and strengthen community connections. Her leadership is informed by a commitment to equity, empowerment, and the belief that all individuals deserve to live with dignity and choice.

Behavioral Health Resource Fair for School Professionals | In-Person
2026-08-07 09:00 - 11:00 | McHenry County Mental Health Board, 620 Dakota Street, Crystal Lake, IL, 60012, United States
This is an opportunity for school professionals to connect with area providers and learn about the helpful resources and services available in our community. Boost your ability to provide information and referrals to the families and individuals you work with. Everyone is welcome to attend!

When Anxiety Isn’t Just Anxiety: Recognizing, Understanding, and Treating OCD in Clinical Practice | In-Person | Presented by Laura Miller, LCPC, R-DMT
2026-08-14 09:00 - 12:00 | McHenry County Mental Health Board, 620 Dakota Street, Crystal Lake, IL, 60012, United States
REGISTER HERE!
FREE: 3 IDFPR CEU for LSW/LCSW, LPC/LCPC, Psychologists, and IAODAPCA (Pending)

SUMMARY

This 3-hour training provides a practical, clinically grounded overview of OCD, including how it presents across subtypes, how to differentiate it from other conditions, and how to identify when referral for specialized treatment is appropriate.
The training is designed to help providers feel more confident recognizing OCD in its less obvious forms, and to better understand the treatment approaches that lead to meaningful change.
The goals are to increase provider confidence in identifying OCD across a range of presentations, improve differentiation between OCD, anxiety, and related conditions, and to support more accurate and timely referrals for evidence-based treatment.
OBJECTIVES
Participants will be able to:

Identify core features of OCD, including intrusive thoughts, compulsions, and the anxiety-compulsion cycle
Recognize common OCD subtypes (e.g., harm, relationship, contamination, existential, “pure O”)
Differentiate OCD from generalized anxiety, trauma-related rumination, and other overlapping presentations
Understand the principles of Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) and why it is the gold standard treatment
Identify when a referral for specialized OCD treatment is appropriate

PRESENTER
Laura Miller, LCPC, R-DMT, is a licensed clinical therapist, private practice owner, and group facilitator specializing in OCD and anxiety. She uses evidence-based approaches, including Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), to help clients break free from cycles of overthinking, fear, and self-doubt.
Laura is known for her structured, practical approach and her ability to make complex patterns feel understandable and actionable. She also brings a background in movement and aerial arts, offering a grounded, experiential lens on emotional regulation and change.

Community Connections Summit | In Person
2026-09-11 09:00 - 15:00 | McHenry County College, Luecht Auditorium, 8900 US-14, Crystal Lake, IL, 60012, United States
VISIT OUR SUMMIT PAGE

MHB Special Board Meeting
2026-10-07 17:00 | IL

MHB Special Board Meeting
2026-10-14 17:00 | McHenry County Mental Health Board, 620 Dakota Street, Crystal Lake, IL, 60012, United States
