Free Workshops for ACTA Members
Announcing ....
Winter/Spring Workshops!
Members and Student Members can register for NO COST as a thank you
for your support for regulation this past year and into a New Year together.
Wokshops will be open for non-members for 75.00/session.
All proceeds will go towards our continued advocacy efforts for public protection through regulation of the counselling professions under the CCTA.
Here's a sneak peek for Members only of our upcoming workshops.
Stay tuned for registration in January!
Your Consent Process – Is It a Bit Boring?
Learn Some Strategies to Engage Your Clients
in Learning About Their Rights
March 7
11am - 1:00pm
Dr. Dawn McBride
This will be an engaging professional development seminar where numerous strategies will be shared to encourage the client to be an active participant in the consent process. Dawn McBride will share how she uses props, expressive arts, and metaphors to help clients realize the great importance of the consent process in counselling. Dawn will also invite discussion of your pet peeves surrounding the consent process and explore ways we can make the consent process more enjoyable for all parties.
Dr. Dawn McBride is an associate professor in counsellor education (University of Lethbridge, Canada) and is a registered psychologist in Alberta. Her main areas of study include relational ethics – consent and record keeping, multiculturalism, supervision/training, family violence & trauma, and the advance use of many therapeutic approaches (e.g., emotional regulation, EMDR, play therapies, psychodynamic, somatic interventions, & transactional analysis). She has won numerous teaching awards and has an active research agenda. Her webpage: www.dawn-mcbride.com
Counselling With Indigenous Peoples - Part One
March 17
12:00-2:30
Sharon Ann Foster
This workshop is intended to increase counsellor knowledge in the IRS system and other colonial policy impacts on Indigenous peoples’ health and wellness in Canada to increase cultural safety and competency counselling with Indigenous peoples. Involving the intersection of Treaty, reconciliation, mental health and Western and Indigenous counselling approaches, counsellors will have a chance to reflect on their knowledge, understanding and skills. Participants will be given the tools to self-locate with reconciliation and Indigenous experience and history alongside their own. This workshop is 2.5 hours long and is one half presentation and the other, Q and A from participants.
Sharon Ann Foster has 15 years plus teaching in diverse environments and in many settings including: culture camps, conferences, outdoor educational leadership, middle and secondary public and charter schools, university undergraduate and graduate courses. Also trained in mixed methods Indigenous health research at the PhD level, Sharon Ann has also been teaching and training future teachers, counsellors, social workers, and health researchers. Having been a guidance counsellor in the school system as well as a counsellor and scholar-consultant with Alberta Health, First Nations University, University of Calgary, Spark Science Center, Sharon Ann prefers working to support system improvement from the outside now and now currently running a private practice, research & education consultancy business. Her webpage: https://www.sharonfostercounselling.com
Documentation:
Some Ins and Outs of Writing "Smarter, Not Longer" Session Notes
April 22
11:00am -1:00pm
Dr. Dawn McBride
What do I put in my session notes? Are my session notes too long? I dread writing my session notes – do you have any tips on how to speed up the process and make the process easier on me? Professor Dawn McBride will introduce a variety of strategies to make your session note process efficient, ethical, useful, and meaningful to all parties. Professor Dawn will advocate for a relational, compassionate approach to session counselling notes to replace the medical model approach that is so often used. This PD seminar promises to be jam-packed.
Counselling With Indigenous Peoples - Part Two
May 26
12:00 - 2:30pm
Sharon Ann Foster and Walter Whitebear
By receiving teachings on the Medicine Wheel and other Traditional Teachings, participants will gain insight into Indigenous approaches of healing applicable to counsellors while understanding protocols and cultural safety. Walter’s experience working with Indigenous peoples in healing contexts and his own personal story will be informative for counsellor practice including their own way of approaching spirituality in counselling. Hearing stories and music, this will be a holistic engagement with Indigenous healing wisdom. This workshop is two hours long and is one half presentation and the other, Q and A from participants.
Walter MacDonald White Bear is a Cree singer-songwriter originally from the First Nation of Moose Factory, Ontario. Walter is an educator, performer and motivational speaker and has been performing acoustic and flute music for several years. Walter has been featured as a keynote speaker at various conferences with topics including Social Services, Justice, Education, Wellness and the Environment. Walter's music reflects his personal journey as a First Nations person in Canada. He has shared his cultural knowledge with various audiences that range from correctional services to principals, teachers and students.
Sharon Ann Foster has 15 years plus teaching in diverse environments and in many settings including: culture camps, conferences, outdoor educational leadership, middle and secondary public and charter schools, university undergraduate and graduate courses. Also trained in mixed methods Indigenous health research at the PhD level, Sharon Ann has also been teaching and training future teachers, counsellors, social workers, and health researchers. Having been a guidance counsellor in the school system as well as a counsellor and scholar-consultant with Alberta Health, First Nations University, University of Calgary, Spark Science Center, Sharon Ann prefers working to support system improvement from the outside now and now currently running a private practice, research & education consultancy business. Her webpage: https://www.sharonfostercounselling.com
Fair Assessment Practices:
Strengthening the Alliance of Supervisors and Supervisees
June 9th
9:00 - 11:30am
Dr. Lorna Martin
This session, designed for both supervisors and those they supervise, focuses on the importance of fair, transparent assessment practices and alliances that enhance professional knowledge, skills, and judgment. The goal of this introductory session is to expand perspectives for safer environments for supervisors, supervisees, and the clients they serve using a competency-based approach.
Dr. Lorna Martin is President of the COMPASS Centre for Examination Development. Previously the President of CCPA (2011-2013), a Provincial Consultant for Counselling with Manitoba Education, and a counsellor educator at the University of Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg, she has supported counselling and psychotherapy initiatives for more than 30 years, consulting with intersectoral groups, organizations, and associations around the world and close to home. She is an international presenter, author and editor of multiple books and resources, educational materials and articles focusing on counselling and psychotherapy, supervision, ethics, standards of practice, suicide prevention and postvention, and education. Formerly a certified teacher in two provinces, a certified school counsellor, a Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC) and a trained arbitrator; Dr. Martin’s doctorate in Education (counselling) followed studies at the University of Manitoba and York University.
