Keynote Presentations

 

"Weaving the Family Blanket"
Peter Alsop, PhD

Thursday, March 29, 8:30 - 9:30 a.m.

 

Peter Alsop is a nationally-known singer-songwriter, educator and humorist with a PhD in educational psychology. He graduated from Trinity College in Connecticut and did his doctoral work at Columbia University’s Teachers’ College and Columbia Pacific University.

 

Dr. Alsop will explore how to create emotionally safe places in our individual families, our communities and in our global human family so we are better at being a healing presence in a hurting world. If the fabric of our human societies is to be whole, then our individual threads must be strong and resilient. Using humorous anecdotes and his own creative songs, he illustrates why awareness of our feelings is the key to self-awareness. Peter’s delightful stories weave through us the lessons we learned from our families. He will explore how we can gently open old doors together and re-kindle joy and playfulness inside each of us. Dr. Alsop provides a unique opportunity for human service professionals to learn about the role of humor and music in the field of mental health

 

 

“Coping with Crisis in Schools and Communities: Lessons from the Front Lines for Prevention and Response”
Scott Poland, EdD

Friday, March 30, 8:30 - 9:45 a.m.

 

 

Scott Poland is a nationally-recognized expert on school crisis, youth violence, suicide intervention, self-injury, school safety, threat assessment, parenting and the delivery of psychological services in schools.

 

The incidence of youth violence, tragedy, suicide, bullying and traumatic events in general requires that schools and communities be prepared to respond to these events. This presentation will help school personnel, and community agencies develop and enhance their ability to respond to critical incidents, safeguard children and build resiliency for children in today’s world. Participants will learn effective strategies to prevent crises from occurring and lessons from the front lines of numerous tragedies for how to best intervene immediately to help affected schools and communities.

 

 

 

“Disaster Response, Up Close and Personal”
Maria Helena Franco, PhD 

Saturday, March 31, 3:45 - 5:00 p.m.

 

Maria Helena Franco teaches clinical psychiatry at the Pontifical Catholic University of Sao Paulo in Brazil. She is also the founder and head of the Bereavement and Grief Center there, and the founder of a group of psychologists specially trained for disaster response.

 

Sudden and unexpected deaths have an impact on individuals, families, communities and countries. When the main cause of death is a disaster, providing response that is simultaneously efficient and skilled is mandatory. Yet, no disaster is the same. The question remains: Who or what organization is prepared to provide this response, including human, technological and organizational resources? This presentation will focus on the technical skills necessary for disaster response, aimed at providing sensitive support for bereaved populations affected by sudden and violent losses of loved ones, property, life as known before, and the assumptive world. The concern with non-victimization of the affected ones is present in the education and action of a group of psychologists that offer support and disaster response in the immediate aftermath and in the long term following. Concepts of traumatic loss, complicated grief and public grief will be presented, together with the need for a so-called translation of the meaning experience to be shared between those who lost and those who help them. The virtual space between personal and public experience of those affected by disaster is occupied by technical skills that go side-by-side with compassion and self-awareness by those who provide the disaster response.

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