Date: January 9, 2024
Time: 4:00 pm EST
Webinar title: Empathy beyond belief: Navigating religious and spiritual bias to attend to experiences of nonreligious clients
Presenter: Helen Dempsey-Henofer, MBA, MSW, LCSW, LISW-CP
Audience: Clinical/micro/macro social workers; CBS/ACT knowledge level--beginner, intermediate, advanced
Register in advance for this meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwpce2gpjspGtKW6UyYycNcghXmGXbPwd0o
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Overview:
“How do we as competent, culturally sensitive clinicians attend to the experiences of people who describe themselves as neither spiritual nor religious?” This webinar explores that question: informing clinicians on the experiences of minority stress of Nonreligious people while also engaging providers in approaching their own orientation to spirituality and spiritual assessment with curiosity as it impacts their practice. This training has been described by previous participants as, “having a profound personal and professional impact…” and “an important topic that we as clinicians cannot ignore…” equipping participants with both greater cultural sensitivity as well as new techniques, including a deconstructed spiritual assessment, to empower participants to serve nonreligious clients with integrity.
Learning Objectives:
Participants will be learn to:+ describe microagressions and societal dynamics contributing to nonreligious experiences of minority stress
+ make appropriate referrals to services specializing in religious trauma and intersectional experiences
+ understand how spirituality language can cue religious trauma from a framework of RFT
+ apply self-compassion and defusion to their own bias-related discomfort to support committed-action in working with nonreligious clients
Presenter Bio:
Helen Dempsey-Henofer is a licensed clinical social worker who is dedicated to providing space for people who feel like outsiders to explore authenticity and develop self-acceptance. She is a lifelong resident of the Southern United States with a depth of knowledge on the minority stress of Nonreligious people in religious social contexts from both research and lived experience. In her Charlottesville, Virginia private practice she endeavors to provide informed, affirming care for neurodivergent and LGBTQIA+ people navigating challenges with relationships and anxiety as well as those healing from spiritual and religious trauma.