The Road to Cultural Competency
Workshop Description
To be most effective in today’s multi-cultural society, individuals and systems must be able to recognize elements of various cultures and how they impact the people they serve. But first we need self-awareness. Through this interactive workshop we will explore the origins of our personal biases and how they may impact our view of others. Core components and terminology will be addressed so that we can better understand the issues and think about how to bring about change in the work that we do.
Participants will:
• Achieve a greater sense of self-awareness regarding our biases and world view.
• Gain an understanding of the importance of achieving cultural competency.
• Form a better understanding of terms like cultural humility, implicit bias and the difference between equality and equity.
• Explore ways to apply these concepts to improve the level of cultural competency in our lives and in our work with others.
Workshop Instructor
Barbara Burke received her MSW from the VCU School of Social Work in 1978. Before she retired in 2020, the focus of her clinical work was with Substance Use Disorders, particularly with teens and young adults. She ran the early intervention program and adolescent IOP for a local outpatient treatment program where she worked closely with the schools and DJJ. She has taught “Substance Abuse” and “Coping and Adaptation” for the VCU School of Kinesiology and Health Sciences and has served as a consultant to area schools and colleges.
Barbara is an experienced presenter and has been providing training to the community, professional organizations and schools for many years.
She is the co-founder of “Rams in Recovery”, a Collegiate Recovery Program at VCU where she serves on the project team and it’s advisory board. Barbara believes in the importance of family involvement and meeting folks where they are. Her focus has been on helping young people understand their relationship with substances and their risk factors for dependence in order to make responsible decisions. She stresses the importance of respect and healthy communication for everyone in the conversation.
Free Registration
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