Past Events

Attachment Network of MB is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: The Impacts of Immigration and Re-settlement on Attachment

Time: Nov 16, 2022 12:00 PM Winnipeg

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88364905325

Meeting ID: 883 6490 5325

Join us with Michael McKnight on January 19, 2023 as he talks about the importance of building relationship with students in schools, the true meaning of a trauma-informed school, and the reminder that curriculum will not ever be absorbed unless connection and calm have been established.

Michael worked for the New Jersey Department of Education in the Cape May County office of education for 17 years. In those years he served as a resource for school districts in the county as well as throughout southern New Jersey. Beyond the work of the department of education he provided training to educators, parents, community members and school leaders.

Prior to joining the department of education Michael had 24 years of experience working in schools. He was a special education teacher for 14 years working and learning with emotionally and behaviorally troubled adolescents. Michael also was an administrator at Atlantic County Special Services School District for 10 years and was responsible for the programming for troubled students, ages 5 thru 21
years, removed from the local school district.

Michael has a passion for creating and supporting Reclaiming Environments for “at-risk” children and youth as well as the adults who serve them. He currently provides professional development to practicing educators. He also is an adjunct instructor at Stockton University where he gets to teach and learn with future educators.

Michael along with his colleague and friend, Dr. Lori Desautels, is the coauthor of 2 books: Unwritten-
The Story of A Living System about school transformation and their most recent work, Eyes Are Never
Quiet- Listening Beneath the Behaviors of Our Most Troubled Students.

He views himself, not as an expert, but as a learner and a teacher who has always enjoyed building
strength-based cultures with others.

This session will focus on the current state of children and youth in both Canada and the United States. We will be touching on topics that include adversity and trauma in our young and what that presents as in schools and classrooms. We will also touch on what we know about how the brain learns best and resiliency.
We will then explore current best practice for schools that are moving toward becoming trauma responsive. It is important to note that those practices are positive for all kids.

Join us on Zoom on February 16th from Noon to 1:00 p.m. for our Lunch 'n' Learn presentation!

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87481729909
Meeting ID: 874 8172 9909

Dr. Amy Wendell is a registered clinical psychologist who resides in Inglis, Manitoba and operates a small private practice in Russell. A Kentucky woman, she and her MB-native-psychologist-turned beekeeper husband, along with their two boys, moved to the prairies in 2016 to pursue her husband's dream of being a third generation honey farmer. This was a huge transition for Amy, who spent the majority of her life in the city of Louisville, KY and is very close with her family, friends and colleagues down there. But through lots of self reflection, her own personal therapy, and the support of loved ones, she made the leap and has come to settle into this part of the world where she has created a meaningful life, with work that feels very fulfilling.

Amy earned her doctorate in Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.) from Spalding University in Louisville, KY in 2005. She completed her internship and post-doctoral training in Bozeman, Montana at MSU's Counselling Centre. Amy then served as the Assistant Director of Bellarmine University's Counselling Centre from 2007-2016, where she oversaw the doctoral training of graduate-level practicum therapists, provided individual, couples, and group counselling, as well as crisis intervention and outreach services. Upon moving to Manitoba, she took several years to be home with her children, build a sense of community and connection, and then opened her private practice in 2019. She has since supervised two practicum therapists who have now gone on to open their own private practices in rural MB, and she is currently supervising her third practicum therapist. She finds this role to be rewarding and deeply meaningful.

In terms of therapy services, Amy provides individual therapy to adult clients, and also runs a Coping Skills Group (informed by DBT). She works with a broad range of presenting issues including mood and anxiety disorders (including perinatal difficulties), relationship and identity struggles, adjustment, attachment disorders, and trauma-related disorders. She uses a variety of therapeutic modalities including EMDR, interpersonal therapy, psychodynamic, CBT, motivational interviewing, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, person-centered therapy, DBT, and Internal Family Systems. Amy believes strongly in the power of the therapeutic alliance, and strives to create a sense of safety, connection and understanding for her clients so that they may gain greater self-awareness, self-compassion, learn tools to cope effectively and create a life that is meaningful and fulfilling.

On Wednesday, March 8 at 11am-12pm CST, please join us as we collaborate with the Attachment Networks of Connecticut and North Carolina to hear Laura Porter of Washington State present on her work with the Self-Healing Communities Model. Laura has been part of an initiative in Washington to look at the effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) not just on people but on their communities throughout the state. This has significant relevance for us in Manitoba, if not all of Canada, as we have struggled with disconnection brought on through the pandemic, exacerbated by a profound rise in addictions, opiod death, unsheltered citizens, and people unable to access services despite their tremendous need. Let’s participate in the dialogue to create a societal solution to the crisis of disconnection.

The Attachment Networks Of Connecticut, Manitoba, and North Carolina are proud to offer the follow program for the No One Eats Alone lunchtime series:

Inviting Sustainable Change in Communities

Presented by Laura Porter, ACE Interface

Wednesday March 8, 2023 from 11am -12 pm CST Winnipeg

To Register for the event, which will be held on Zoom please follow this link:

https://uconnhealth.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYlce2srT8sGNJwrhLqaEu4QHBoSBiCJH9Y 

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Thursday, March 16 at 12pm - 1pm, with Dr. Ellen Nasper of Yale University. Ellen presented this talk to the Attachment Network of Connecticut last year and it was an excellent way to appreciate mental illness from an attachment lens, which steers us towards relationship as the agent of change. Please note that we will not be able to tape this talk, so try to attend. Most of our other lunch n learns are archived on the podcast tab on our website, www.attachmetnetwork.ca.

Ellen Nasper, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist in private practice in New Haven, Connecticut, and an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Yale School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry where she has taught an elective course on the Consequences of Childhood Attachment Trauma for Adult Psychopathology since 2002. She received the Distinguished Faculty Award for her teaching for 2008-2009. Dr. Nasper worked for 26 years for the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, where she provided leadership in the development of trauma focused treatment, and led the DMHAS Dialectical Behavior Therapy project from 1995 until 2000. From 2014 to 2022 she has served as the Clinical Conference Chair for the Connecticut Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology (APA Division 39 local chapter). She is now the Director of Education for CSPP. She is the author of one book and several articles, and has lectured at national conferences.

The Role of Attachment Trauma in the Development of Adult Psychopathology

There is plentiful literature that describes the corrosive effects of severe neglect and abuse in child development. Repeatedly it is noted that trauma inflicted by caretakers has the most severe impact, especially within the development of attachment. Attachment is fundamental to human infant survival; the framework for interpersonal attachment relationships throughout life develops in response to what is available in the earliest attachment relationships. In this talk we will explore the ways that adult psychopathology may be shaped by traumatic early attachment experiences. Through clinical examples as well as some review of theory, Dr. Nasper will illustrate how many psychological symptoms in adults reflect adaptations to either the destructive aspects of the early attachment environment, or further elaborations of those adaptations available to adults.

Attachment Network of MB is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
 
Topic: March 16 lunch n learn
Time: Mar 16, 2023 12:00 PM Winnipeg
 
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87929159535
 
Meeting ID: 879 2915 9535

The Story Behind Big Feelings Come and Go

Join Billy Brodovsky and Kate Kiernan, authors of the book Big Feelings Come and Go on April 24 th at our
April Lunch and Learn presentation.
They will be reflecting on why and how they came to write the book. They will also talk about ways that
you might use the book with the children.
Big Feelings Come and Go is available in English, French, Cree, Ojibwe, Arabic, Swahili, Swedish, Finnish,
Tigrinya, Estonian, Kinyarwanda, Ukrainian, ASL, and Russian. The book is a resource to help families and
caregivers have conversations with kids about freeze, flight, and fight and learn some basic self-
regulation skills. Understanding freeze, flight, and fight can allow for new conversations about how your
child feels and what to do to help them manage their big feelings.
At www.protectchildren.ca you can download the FREE PDF of the book in all languages or order a
printed copy of Big Feelings Come and Go in English or French for $9.95 (free shipping).

Billy Brodovsky, M.S.W. & Kate Kiernan, M.Sc., each have over 30 years’ experience working with
children, youth and adults who have experienced trauma. They are the creators of the Making Sense of
Trauma Workshop and Webinar for New Directions for Children, Youth, Adults and Families. They are
the authors of Big Feelings Come and Go created in collaboration with The Canadian Center for Child
Protections. Billy and Kate both worked for many years as Clinicians at the Families Affected by Sexual
Assault Program Winnipeg. They both provide consultation to individuals in private practice and to
community agencies. Billy is currently in private practice.