Workshop One – Embracing Limitations and Increasing Hope

In this lesson, you will learn the 5 qualities of transformational relationships that lead to authentic young/adult engagement. The best way for adult allies to engage youth and young adults is through authentic, trusted relationships. Sometimes, we have a hard time making those critical connections that lead to transformation. We’ll tap into your own personal strengths to identify your own transformational qualities. Then, we’ll explore external and internal barriers that get in the way of us using our strengths to make authentic connections. Then, we’re going to use the barriers to create individual innovative engagement strategies. It is through transformational relationships, that keeps the hope alive for youth and young adults.  By the end of this lesson, you will feel energized to start using your new engagement strategies. You will leave hopeful about your ability to engage youth despite the challenges we face today by transforming into the best ally for youth.

 

Workshop Two - Ask More, Tell Less

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to increase youth success by simply asking trauma-informed questions. We’ve been taught to share what we know with the next generation, which is great, unless the person we’re trying to help has a trauma background. Then we have to shift our approach to listening more than talking. Of course, that’s easier said than done. So join us and we’ll learn together a unique approach combining SAMHSA’s 6 trauma-informed principles with the 5 principles of Appreciative Inquiry. You’ll see how combining these principles led to the creation of the Trauma-Informed Asking Questions to Outcomes (TAQOs) guide and worksheet. You’ll learn how to use these tools which provide practical and effective guidance to ask questions to uncover trauma-based fears and find solutions to create safe learning conditions. Rather than telling youth/young adults how to reach their goals, you’ll ask, listen more, and develop a plan. By the end of this lesson, you’ll have new ways to engage with youth, increase motivation, and buy-in to help them reach their goals.

 

Workshop Three - Effective Youth Participation Without Tokenism

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to eliminate tokenism and to engage youth/young adults in active and authentic involvement. Without knowing it, we can unintentionally tokenize youth/young adults, and it happens more than you realize. In fact, the more we involve youth and young adults in events and activities, we exponentially increase the risk of tokenism. We’ll learn from Hart’s Ladder of Youth Participation best practice approaches to the various types and levels of authentic participation.  You will be actively engaged in reviewing and reacting to real life youth-involved scenarios to practice your skills in understanding Hart’s Ladder. This lesson will deepen your ability to apply the best possible and most appropriate level of participation to your own youth-/young adult-involved councils, boards, panels, or committees. By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to identify and guard against hidden tokenism, decoration, and manipulation and engage youth/young adults in active and effective levels of participation.

 

 

Workshop Four - Using Social Learning to Empower Youth

In this lesson, you will learn how to easily apply social learning to empower youth to reach their goals. When we try to empower youth to achieve their aspirational goals, we must find the right starting point. There are many factors that go into how we learn (social learning theory) and how it affects our belief in ourselves that we can accomplish anything (self-efficacy). First, we’ll get to a good understanding of social learning theory and self-efficacy and why it’s essential in new skill development. Then you’ll learn to use two new tools, the self-efficacy booster guide and action planner. These tools will help you assess current skills and identify gaps. You’ll learn how to create a solid plan of action with youth/young adults that will lead to improved self-efficacy. At the end of this lesson, you will feel confident in your ability to empower youth/young adults to reach their full potential by applying social learning principles.

 

Workshop Five - Optimizing Youth Voice

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to optimize youth voice through an essential benefits and risk analysis. Active participation and sharing lived experience pose many risks to youth/young adults and to the agency. Having youth voice is critical to shaping the way that services and supports are delivered, but protecting against unintended consequences is just as important. You can be the one to assure that youth/young adults do not suffer as a result of sharing their lived experiences and perspectives in public. We’ll learn how to conduct a benefits/risk analysis and practice together in class. Then you’ll be able to identify ways to improve benefits and lower risk. You’ll leave this training, able to conduct a benefit/risk analysis for any youth-/young adult-involved event or activity so that you can optimize benefits and assure the utmost safety for each participant.

 

Workshop Six - Preparing and Supporting Youth Advocates

In this lesson, we’ll be focusing on making you the best adult ally to prepare and support youth to become highly effective advocates. You’ll learn about the Trauma-Informed Methods of Engagement™ for youth advocacy model. We’ll start learning about ways to set yourself up for success as a trusted adult ally with clear roles and responsibilities. Next, we’ll dig in deep to find ways (training, strategic sharing, logistical details, audience awareness, messaging) to properly prepare youth/young adults ahead of time for involvement in events/activities. We’ll cover the types of support you can give to youth and young adults during events/activities. Then you’ll learn ways to engage in meaningful reflection by debriefing with youth/young adults for personal and professional growth. Lastly, we’ll review unintended consequences of Y/YA involvement to minimize the chance of re-traumatization. You’ll leave this training, ready to engage youth and young adults to be the best advocates for themselves and for systems change.

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