Enhancing Knowledge Through Online Learning

Bimonthly online discussions are continuing education opportunities for mental health interpreters and clinicians who work with deaf consumers.  QMHI's are required to have 40 contact hours of continuing education per year.

You can go to this URL  https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362193-How-Do-I-Join-A-Meeting- for more information on how to join the webinar.  More tips for using Zoom can be found HERE

All presentations are in the form of a webinar.  Links to the webinar will be sent out the same day as the event. This year our webinars will be hosted on Zoom.  To use this platform, please read documents on the Zoom Website.

Important:  In order to assure time to process your registration, the completed form and payment must be received 7 days prior to the event you wish to join.

The registration fee for all online discussions in the calendar year 2021 is just $35.*  

How to Register:

  • Send a check for $35.00 made out to ADARA- MHIT Fund along with the completed form to:

Shannon Reese, Services Coordinator
Alabama Department of Mental Health
Office of Deaf Services
P.O. Box 301410
Montgomery, AL  36130

* January to December 2020.  This fee is NOT pro-rated. This fee is included as part of the registration for participants of the 2019 MHIT Interpreter Institute.  Registration for 2021 will be included in the 2020 Interpreter Institute fees.

Presented by: Sondra Malling

"Now Showing"

“Dance/Movement Therapy and Performance as Therapy with Deaf Adults with Serious Mental Illness”

Upcoming Events

All Events run 6:30 - 8:30 PM Central Time

2023 Events

January 10  Sexuality in Mental Health, Part 2

Presenter:  LeeAnne Valentine


March 14  Art Therapy

Presenter: Josie Abbenante


May 9  Toxic Positivity

Presenter: Selah Davison

 July 11  TBA                      

Presenter:

 

September 12  TBA            

Presenter: Alison Aubrecht & Heather Breitbach


November 14 Introduction to Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga: Deaf Edition

Presenter: Dru Balsley

             

Sondra Malling is a licensed clinical professional counselor and a board-certified dance/movement therapist. She brings an embodied and creative approach to psychotherapy that is influenced by her experience as a movement analyst, dancer, and choreographer. As a trauma-informed practitioner, she works with adult survivors of sexual abuse, domestic violence, childhood

 


November 8, 2022

All discussions are conducted from
6:30 - 8:30 Central Standard Time (CST)

Presentation Flyer Available for Download HERE

  trauma, and community-based violence. She also works with individuals living with anxiety, depression, and a history of mental illness. She has over a decade of experience working in the mental health field in residential, day program, outpatient hospital, and private practice settings.
Sondra works extensively with the Deaf community, is fluent in American Sign Language, and is passionate about providing culturally sensitive therapy to Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals across the lifespan. Her research on dance/movement therapy and culturally affirmative practices with Deaf adults who have mental illness was published in the American Journal of Dance Therapy.
Sondra was a co-recipient of the 2018 Alumni of the Year Award from Columbia College Chicago’s Department of Creative Arts Therapies and the 2018 Exceptional Service Award from the American Dance Therapy AssociationFacebook, Instagram, YouTube: @HealthJoyForests 

The Purpose of the Training 

This Bi-monthly online discussion will provide participants with opportunities to interact with interpreters and clinicians in the field of deafness and explore research articles, discuss presentations and apply the online discussion to service provision.

Dance/movement therapy focuses on dancing's psychological benefits and its ability to encourage emotional connections. Today, dance is used in treatments for everything from eating disorders to autism to depression. In this seminar, participants will learn about dance/movement therapy and performance as therapy with Deaf adults with serious mental illnesses. For use in the deaf community, research findings of a participatory inquiry and performance as a therapy process with cultural and linguistic considerations will be presented.

 

The Objectives of the Training:

  • Participants will be able to assess the need for dance/movement therapy and performance in the deaf and hard of hearing communities.

  • Participants will analyze how performance as therapy was enacted with Deaf adults with mental illness and how this intervention impacted their mental health treatment and outcomes.

  • Participants will analyze how dance therapy can contribute to their counseling/interpreting skills.

Pre-reading: Choreography and Performance with Deaf Adults who have Mental Illness: Culturally Affirmative Participatory Research 

Target Audience:

Interpreters in Mental Health, Community Interpreters, Mental Health Professionals, School Counselors