Support for Clinical & Community Providers
The partners of Changing Tides have worked in our local community for over 20 years and these professional experiences have brought a keen awareness of the lack of support, training, and resources for Cecil County’s mental health professionals. Many providers are practicing within silos, and this is even more pervasive given the impact of a global pandemic. Changing Tides supports mental health professionals in building a professional self-care support system that promotes resilience and empowers providers working with trauma survivors. Professional satisfaction and efficacy are contingent upon the extent to which we take care of ourselves, and this has a direct impact on the quality of services provided to local community members.
Individual Consultation provides a one-on-one environment specific to the needs of each professional. Consultants provide an ethical environment for mental health professionals to discuss cases in detail while respecting client confidentiality. Receiving consultation from knowledgeable, trauma-informed consultants has a substantial positive impact on the professional and the population served.
Group Consultation highlights the importance of bringing providers together to share clinical experience and therapeutic strategies. Like that of individual consultation, groups also promote social connections, self-care, exposure to new interventions, and provide a professional space to address transference and countertransference.
Changing Tides offers community professional support groups to provide consultation and pyschoeducation. Our local providers, such as teachers, school personnel, therapists, social workers, addictions counselors, law enforcement, and many more, have been on the front lines providing services to traumatized children and families during these unprecedented times. Both Ashley and Letha have had several opportunities to provide trainings and workshops for community professionals and in recent years, there has been a substantial increase in request for support and trauma training by both administrators and staff.
​Our support groups provide an environment for professionals to connect and learn, enhancing and empowering their ability to recognize and respond to trauma-induced thoughts and behaviors while minimizing the effects of vicarious traumatization. Group facilitators provide psychoeducation while incorporating trauma sensitive therapeutic interventions, included but limited to Attachment Theory, Polyvagal Theory, and Internal Family Systems Theory.
Letha and Ashley are experienced in the development and facilitation of trainings, strengthening the knowledge and capacity of those served. Our practice uses research to inform training content, activities, discussions, and clinical experiences to enhance the application of learned content.
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Each organizational setting has a unique culture, needs, and training interests. Letha and Ashley meet with groups seeking training to discuss knowledge gaps, training requests, staff experience, and client population. This allows our practice to design workshops specific to the agency and its needs.