Description:
Lying, stealing, manipulating, Oh My!! These are some of the most emotionally charged and challenging behaviors faced by helping professionals. So, what do all of these behaviors have in common??? Dopamine! Dopamine is the neurochemical that gives us a will to live. If we cannot find it safely through connection and interaction with others, we will be driven to find it elsewhere. Any risk-taking behavior, like stealing, that we succeed at gives us a release of dopamine for surviving the risk. Unfortunately, this means if we have not had a chance to obtain dopamine in safe ways, these unsafe ways become highly engrained. This happens because dopamine gives us the feeling of being alive and that we matter. This is why stealing, especially shoplifting, often appears after the unexpected loss of someone meaningful. Those attempting to assist people who steal can often fall into a cycle of frustration and power struggle, resulting in lose/lose outcomes. Setting power struggles aside, we will place stealing into the context that drives it and engage brain-based interventions to help people grieve losses and reconnect the dopamine reward system with safe connection instead of risk. We will also explore how our own experiences with having our belongings stolen impacts our interactions with those struggling to take responsibility for their actions, grieve, and find safe ways to meet their needs. Finally, we will engage the hidden resilience of strategy, creativity, and determination found in the survival skill of stealing to help people move beyond the experiences, visceral memories, and belief systems that are keeping them from directly and pro-socially meeting their needs.
Upon completion of each session participants will be able to:
1. Explore traditional and emerging neuroscience-based understandings of stealing.
2. Identify and address their own experiences and beliefs related to stealing and people who engage in stealing.
3. Practice collaborative, non-adversarial ways to understand, engage, and address those who have developed stealing as a survival strategy or coping skill.
4. Be introduced to a multidimensional approach to increase felt safety (neuroception) and help people grieve to address the drive behind their stealing behavior.
5. Identify and explore the hidden resilience (strategy and determination) in the survival skill of stealing to help those we serve and support engage that resilience to develop prosocial ways to meet their needs.
IN PERSON ONLY-Child Focus Training Center
MUST ATTEND FULL TRAINING. PARTIAL CREDIT WILL NOT BE GIVEN.
Presenters:
Mary Vicario LPCC-S, CTS
Mary Vicario is a licensed professional clinical counselor supervisor (LPCC –S) and a certified trauma specialist with over 35 years of experience working as an educator, counselor, clinical director, and consultant with individuals, families, organizations, and systems. She trains nationally and internationally translating the latest research on the neuroscience of trauma and resilience into interventions for all ages and ability levels. Mary is a proud participant in multiple grants to further develop and link trauma informed and resilience-based care across systems and communities. She is honored to provide Trauma Responsive Care Certification through the Tristate Trauma Network for anyone working with trauma survivors. Mary can be reached at www.findinghopeconsulting.com
Dr. Veronica R. Barrios, Ph.D.
Dr. Veronica R. Barrios is a Queer, Latinx, interpersonal violence scholar. She is an Assistant Professor at Miami University where she instructs courses on Culturally Informed Practice and Interpersonal Violence. Her work is grounded in intersectionality theory, discussing issues around the absence of and need for diversity, practices that limit and create equity, and the need for radical inclusion. Specifically, Dr. Barrios investigates the culture of nondisclosure of violence. Her scholarship is used to conduct trainings for local and national audiences (i.e. practitioners, researchers, educators) on the topics of cultural and trauma responsive strategies for working with individuals across the lifespan.