​As a part of our focus on professional development this year in our West Bay program, we have been dedicating time to discuss Decolonizing Therapy by Dr. Jennifer Mullan. Dr. Jennifer Mullan offers practical steps that we can take to engage in decolonizing our therapeutic work. Clinicians in our program have been really engaged in exploring the impacts of oppressive systems on the clients and families we serve and the role that we play in those oppressive systems. So far, we have had several lively and rich discussions about the book. If you are more interested in learning about Dr. Mullan's work, watch the video linked in this post. 

​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxhCPY88hGA

Blog By: Jalecia Jones, Clinical Supervisor

Beginning of this school year the HEART clinical team started an Intern, CCA (Clinical Counseling Associate) group supervision and PLC. This group brings together our interns and CCA’s who are currently enrolled in graduate school or getting ready to apply to graduate school, in Social Work and Counseling Psychology studies. This group is led by our amazing, rock star Lead Clinicians and Veteran Clinicians Shocka Heights, Rachel Williams and Tiffany Fox. We also have other fantastic clinicians from our team dropping into the group throughout the school year to teach different techniques/modalities such as DBT, play therapy, and EMDR. The group participants have all shared positive feedback around the community this has created for them and how enjoyable this learning process has been. It has been a really joyful experience to watch the group members support each other, deepen their clinical skills, and grow within this work. We hope to continue this group each year.

Blog By: Leslie Davidson, Clinical Supervisor

​Researchers in the field of psychology have long questioned what makes therapy effective. Study after study has shown that, after controlling for variables such as different therapeutic modalities, interventions, therapist experience, etc., the greatest predictor of successful therapeutic and behavioral outcomes is the relationship between the therapist and the client.[1] We call this bond the therapeutic alliance. What makes a strong therapeutic alliance? Think about your own experience of needing social-emotional or behavioral help from someone else. Chances are the issue(s) that brought you to that point touch on vulnerabilities that you don’t share with just anyone. What are the qualities that you need in a relationship to accept that help? Here are some common answers to that question: trust, empathy, non-judgmental acceptance, understanding, honesty, and accountability.
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For those of us who interact with kids on the daily (parents and caregivers, school-based therapists, behavioral aides, teachers, afterschool staff, coaches, etc.) it comes as no surprise that relationship is the most powerful factor in supporting social, emotional, or behavioral change. The concept of therapeutic alliance can be generalized to include any support team.[2] In the Unconditional Education model, we seek to partner with all adults in a young person’s life as we work to support the social-emotional and behavioral health of the students that we serve.  For this reason, we use the concept of the collaborative alliance to describe the relationship between the student/caregiver, the school team, and any other support people that the family identifies as important to the youth’s growth. When we are working closely with a student, we aim to establish strong relationships within the team built on the same qualities that were mentioned above: trust, empathy, non-judgmental acceptance, honesty, and accountability. There are three practices that we implement to build and maintain a strong collaborative alliance:

• Center the voice of the student and family:
  • Listening openly to gain a complete understanding of their experience(s)
  • Expressing curiosity about their point of view
  • Focusing on and elevating their goals, in their own words
• Transparency:
  • Openly and consistently communicating about what we are doing and why
  • Regularly sharing data (quantitative and qualitative) on progress towards the youth and family’s goals
• Accountability:
  • Regularly reflecting with the team (formally and informally) on progress and interventions
  • Soliciting feedback from students and families about how things are going, if they feel supported and understood, and if they feel like their experience is being centered and elevated
  • Using the information gathered above to inform next steps in treatment

 
Maintaining a strong collaborative alliance, like all relationships, is a process that requires ongoing attention and dedication. It is not enough to engage in the practices above only when you first start working with a student. These practices must be integrated into every phase of treatment. By tending to and nurturing the relationship, you are focusing on the factor that has the greatest potential to help a student meet their goals.[3]


[1] Prusinski, Thomas, The Strength of Alliance in Individual Psychotherapy and Patient's Wellbeing: The Relationships of the Therapeutic Alliance to Psychological Wellbeing, Satisfaction With Life, and Flourishing in Adult Patients Attending Individual Psychotherapy. Front Psychiatry. 2022; 13: 827321.Published online 2022 Jan 31. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.827321
 

[2] Ablon, Stuart J., The Biggest Predictor of Success in Helping Someone Change: Social science research tells us what to focus on. Psychology Today, 2019
 

[3] Pierson, Rita, Every Kid Needs a Champion, TED TALK. May, 2013
 

Blog By: Robyn Ganeles, Clinical Supervisor

In our Berkeley Clinical Group, we have been discussing intergenerational trauma and what healing can look like as a collective community supporting the families and youth we serve as well. As we do the work with communities that have been historically marginalized, discriminated against and oppressed, we find it even more important to decolonize therapy and our practices along with providing support through the lens of healing centered approaches. We are learning from the works of Dr. Shawn Ginwright, Dr. Thema Bryant, and Dr. Jennifer Mullan. In addition, a lot of our team members working at Seneca have also experienced intergenerational trauma and it is equally important that we hold a space that supports their experiences providing quality care to the families and youth we serve. Please feel free to spend time watching the videos below of the above trainers and experts in our field that are doing groundbreaking work to reimagine what our work can look like with the families and youth that are served at Seneca.

• You Can Heal Intergenerational Trauma | Dr. Thema Bryant | TEDxDelthorneWomen - YouTube
• From Trauma-Informed to Healing-Centered Engagement: A Youth Work Teach-In with Dr. Shawn Ginwright - YouTube
• SCO's CARE Talk - Decolonizing Therapy with Dr. Jennifer Mullan - YouTube

Blog Post Written By: Emily Marsh, Director of Clinical Intervention Services ​

The demographics of our students in Oakland are ever shifting and changing. In recent years, we have started to serve more students who are recent immigrants from Mexico, Central and South America. Some of them came to the U.S. alone, many of them traveling long distances under harrowing circumstances. Some are multilingual and others are monolingual in the indigenous language of their region. Their needs and experiences are unique and diverse.
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Over the past two years, our program has implemented several new services tailored specifically to the immigrant experience. First, two therapists have collaborated to provide newcomer groups. These groups bring together students who are new immigrants to process their experiences and get support from their peers as well as the therapist facilitators. Topic areas include sharing cultural values and practices, celebrating their heritage, processing their immigration journeys and discussing their experience living in a new country. One group started a practice of wearing traditional dress on Friday as a way to share their cultural heritage with their larger school community. These groups were such a resounding success that they were featured in a KQED radio program. Take a listen! 
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Second, at a middle school, a therapist has started a Spanish language parent support group. While this group is not specifically for parents of newcomer students, there is a strong focus on helping monolingual Spanish speaking parents to support the social-emotional wellness of their children. Group topics include communication strategies, adolescent development, love languages and much more!
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Meeting the needs of our students and families has always been at the heart of our school-based work. These new and creative interventions strategies have helped us to continue to meet those needs and build on the resilience of the immigrant communities we support. 

Staying honest about your emotional state when you are dysregulated in interactions with youth can lead to trust and the always important feeling of connection. First, own your feelings: “When you climb on that wall it makes me feel really nervous.”  “When you hide the Uno cards it makes me feel frustrated.” Second, model the way you regulate “Wow I’m going take a break here to calm down and do three deep dragon breaths.” “I need to just stop a minute and ground myself with this fidget.” This not only demonstrates ways to regulate but also models self-awareness and expression of emotional states for our clients. The icing on the cake here is you become more attuned to your own triggers and challenges while remaining authentic. That’s self-care! 
 
Once a youth learns that you are honest about your emotions and willing to regulate yourself when with them, they are much more willing to join in or experiment with it themselves. Co-regulation becomes an incredibly useful touchpoint when a youth is distressed. “Yikes, you seem really frustrated, I can feel it, let’s do some breaths together and see if it helps.” 
 
For more information check out some of Lisa Dion‘s podcast and YouTube videos; she started Synergistic Play Therapy, which draws on neuroscience, neurosequential work, play therapy, and psychotherapy. 
​https://synergeticplaytherapy.com/

​There is a standard opener in most settings I find myself in these days, a variation of “things are so hard right now!” With the current convergence of social, political and physical upheaval, folks are tired. We search each other’s Zoom faces for connection, validation, engagement. We drop encouraging comments in the chat box or click an icon to indicate we love what we heard. Maybe someone asks the check-in question “what’s something good in your life right now?” and we search our memories for a meaningful answer. For some it is more time with a partner, for others a walk outside after work. Almost every casual conversation I have with coworkers and friends these days ends with an exchange of favorite podcasts and TV shows. We are desperate for a way to fill our free time and trying hard to come up with ways to help each other do that too. In these unprecedented circumstances of whatever week we are in, we are looking for something to help us feel good.

Recently Julie Kim brought a resource to our clinical supervisor team, an infographic from the Genesis Healing Institute that opened my eyes to another way to consider how we navigate this year.  The concept is Transformative Healing, and the ideas presented on this graphic filled me with a new sense of hope and courage. At best, this offers a roadmap that helps guide us through the stages of reckoning and healing that this unprecedented time presents to us.  At it is simplest, it is a beautiful collection of affirmations that capture so much of what many of us are feeling and exploring right now. I share the graphic with you here and invite you to consider:

It might be helpful to think of this as ‘less as a roadmap, more like a cycle,’ such as the stages of grief. We may go through these stages in and out of order each time we are presented with a new 2020 challenge.  My hope is that you find this thought-provoking and that it offers you a new way to consider how you can survive (and thrive!?) during this unprecedented time. 
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In solidarity,
Emily Marsh

​  From Wikipedia’s description of clinical supervision: 

So much of what our school-based therapists do is not visible to others.  Recently a colleague asked, “What do you do in [group] supervision, actually?”  Great question!  
 
In individual supervision, the clinician typically brings areas they are struggling with in their work or successes they’d like to share.  They check in about required paperwork needs, professional development goals and the logistics of the work, and spend most of the time talking about their caseload, ethical issues and intervention plans. Supervisors are always listening for risk and safety issues for clients and making sure that the clinician is monitoring their clients’ safety in addition to their treatment goals. The relationship between supervisor and supervisee is attended to, discussed, and feedback is invited in both directions to enhance the quality of the relationship.
 
In a group supervision, up to eight therapists gather to learn from one another.  With eight therapists and only two hours, we rarely have enough time to get to everyone’s clients, so the group prioritizes together how to use their time. The therapists identify themes in their work and talk through strategies for understanding their clients and responding to them.  Every school year, each of our therapists spends between three and four hours across several groups to do a deep dive into their work with a chosen client.  Their colleagues listen, ask questions and offer reflections to help move the therapist forward in their work. At times we read and discuss articles, watch videos or welcome a trainer into the group supervision to further develop clinical practice.  Supervisors are always monitoring for safety concerns and making sure clients are always getting the best care. Experiential supervisions are some of my favorites -- that’s when we bring in interventions like play therapy techniques or art therapy activities and we try them out together.
 
Once our therapists achieve licensure (usually they’re required to have had at least 3000 hours of supervised experience before taking their exam), we continue using a similar supervision model to support their growth. In All-In!, our licensed therapists have the option of joining a “consultation group” instead of continuing in a supervision group.  The consultation group is peer-led and gives licensed clinicians the chance to practice facilitating group supervision and supporting one another.  For those who are interested in becoming clinical supervisors themselves, this consultation group is a chance to practice clinical leadership.
 
The goal of clinical supervision is to not only enhance and develop therapists’ clinical skills but also to further their professional development. 
 
Thanks for reading!

In All In, growth-mindset is part of our culture. In individual and group supervision, we are constantly discussing personal and professional growth opportunities as a result of this work.
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As we wrapped up 2019, the Behavioral Strands Leadership Team hosted a Seneca Career Fair. The objective of the career fair was to provide the Behavioral Team, specifically our Student Support Assistants an opportunity to meet, actively engage with, and learn from their fellow Senecans about various career tracks held within Seneca Family of Agencies. On the panel of participants were an array of representatives for positions including, but not limited to:

• Academic Intervention Specialist
• Assistant Director of Implementation
• Clinical Intervention Specialist
• Director of Operations
• Director is School Partnership
• DESI (Data, Evaluation, and Strategic Initiatives) Project Manager
• Program Assistant
• School Psychologist
• School Psychologist Intern
• TBS (Therapeutic Behavioral Services) Clinician
• UE (Unconditional Education) Coach 
• and much more!

It was a magical event, and the plan is to host this type of engagement activity on an annual basis. 

As we enter into 2020, “Stay Interviews" have begun. We use this interview format  to inquire about plans and professional development goals for next school year. The majority of our All-In Student Support Assistants are motivated to pursue higher learning opportunities, with the hope of staying with or returning to Seneca as a Teacher, Therapist, or Data Evaluator. Additionally, many of our Student Support Assistants have followed up with Career Fair representatives to further discuss their goals and plans for moving in that direction, which is AWESOME!!

​So, be on the lookout for our amazing Behavioral Team. They have some aspiring teachers and therapists on the rise. Some are looking forward to starting grad school Fall 2020 and others are exploring potential Universities for Fall 2021. As Eric Thomas said, “When you find your why, you find a way to make it happen.”