The Jordan Institute for Families

39th Annual Minority Health Conference: Reclaiming the Narrative
2018-02-23 | William and Ida Friday Center, Chapel Hill, 100 Friday Center Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27517, United States
This year’s theme, Reclaiming the Narrative, is based in the recognition that the world is organized by the stories we tell. Stories have the power to influence the way we view ourselves and others and have the power to shape our actions. Given this sometimes unacknowledged influence, we must ask who are the storytellers, and who benefits from these narratives. The answers to these questions can offer an understanding of how we as public health professionals can progress and push public health agendas forward in a meaningful way. This year’s theme challenges us to end perpetuation of damaging rhetoric against marginalized communities. It highlights how resilient communities have fought to speak truth to power and refused to have their voices silenced and how public health practitioners can join such efforts. By reclaiming the narrative, communities and public health practitioners can reconcile the past and present and take agency in the future to promote health for all people.

Why Black Lives Don't Matter: Rethinking the Origins of the USA
2018-02-21 19:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Gillings School of Global Public Health, 135 Dauer Drive, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7400, United States
Yes, this year’s lecture has a provocative title — “Why Black Lives Don’t Matter: Rethinking the Origins of the USA.” It is based upon the extensive and meticulous research of our lecturer for 2018, Gerald C. Horne. The lecturer this year is a brilliant and prize-winning scholar who can and will deliver one of our most memorable lectures of our annual series of UNC-Chapel Hill’s African American History Month Lectures on February 21, 2018. Gerald C. Horne is an internationally acclaimed scholar and author of the The Counter-Revolution of 1776. Dozens of books ago, Horne was a member of the Carolina faculty, but he is now the Moores Distinguished Professor at the University of Houston and we are excited about his return to us as a prolific author and highly respected historian and public intellectual. We have planned his appearance on “The State of Things” for 20 February. Perhaps you and your constituents would like to mark your calendars so that you will be able to hear Professor Horne at Noon the day before the lecture. Following the lecture there will be plenty of time for questions. The University will host its traditional reception and book-signing for Professor Horne. There will be, as well, a book-signing opportunity for persons to purchase works of a special honored guest, Colin Palmer. Professor Palmer is one of the world’s leading scholars in African Diasporic scholarship and was the first African American to serve as a chairperson of any department in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences.

NASW-NC Sponsored Resume Review
2018-02-20 10:00 - 14:00 | UNC School of Social Work, Tate-Turner-Kuralt Building - 325 Pittsboro St #3550, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516, United States
NASW-NC Associate Executive Director Valerie Arendt will be conducting individual social work resume reviews for MSW students. Valerie has extensive experience with hiring employees and reviews hundreds of member resumes every year. More information regarding sign in times will be sent closer to the date!

The Ethics of Cultural Humility
2018-02-19 12:00 - 14:00 | UNC School of Social Work, Tate-Turner-Kuralt Building - 325 Pittsboro St #3550, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516, United States
In this workshop, Tonya Armstrong will engage participants in the process of seeking clarity around our own cultural identities, as well as explore how this work is central to ethical practice with individuals with intersecting racial, ethnic, sexual, and other cultural affiliations. Dr. Armstrong will provide a framework informed by professional codes of ethics, and notions around cultural competence and humility. She will also provide examples and a model that highlights a progression from theory to application in our practice.

The Relevance of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy to Trauma Work
2018-02-15 08:30 - 2018-02-16 16:30 | UNC School of Social Work, Tate-Turner-Kuralt Building - 325 Pittsboro St #3550, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516, United States
Individuals who have experienced trauma, particularly complex trauma, often present with a wide range of difficulties that do not fit neatly into standard or uniform case formulations. Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) offers an effective transdiagnostic treatment for the sequelae of trauma, that can include dysregulation of emotions, cognitions, behavior, interpersonal and self. The power of DBT comes from its well-articulated theory, protocol, and multiple strategies that allow for thoughtful and genuine therapeutic collaboration, and its simultaneous embrace of acceptance-validation and cognitive-behavioral change strategies. DBT has been found to be effective in helping people who experience intense emotional suffering and maladaptive coping skills to “create a life that’s worth living.”
In this workshop, Debbie and Robin will introduce the foundational knowledge of DBT and demonstrate how to apply DBT to work with a heterogeneous and complex population of individuals, including individuals with complex trauma histories. They will review empirical support for DBT, introduce core principles of DBT treatment, the assumptions and agreements about therapy in DBT, the structure of DBT treatment, explain the transactional biosocial processes that underlie pervasive dysregulation, and the skills that clients learn in DBT. They will also focus specifically on trauma treatment fits within the parameters and stages of DBT, including information on cutting edge interventions. Participants will learn through a combination of didactic material, role-plays, and experiential activities for a full-bodied understanding of applying DBT in their therapeutic practice.
As a comprehensive treatment, DBT can:
Decrease the frequency and severity of self-destructive behaviors.
Increase the motivation to change by providing positive reinforcement.
Teach “coping skills” that generalize to a person’s environment.
Provide a treatment environment that emphasizes the strengths of both individuals and their treatments.
Enhance the therapist’s motivation and ability to treat clients effectively.

Film Screening: Paper Tigers
2018-02-12 12:00 - 14:00 | UNC School of Social Work, Tate-Turner-Kuralt Building - 325 Pittsboro St #3550, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516, United States
This documentary examines how an alternative high school in a rural community works with youth struggling with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). The film explores what it means to be a trauma-informed school. We won’t have time for a panel discussion, but Ginny Strand will provide a brief introduction to the topic of trauma-informed systems and strategies before the movie. The film screening is open to everyone, so please share widely.
Also, there will be a brief introduction of the new UNC Child Maltreatment Research & Practice Network. This is a student-led group to bring together researchers and practitioners at all levels interested in child maltreatment. This group will meet regularly to discuss the latest research in our field and what it means for practice. All are welcome. The first meeting will follow-up on the film with a discussion of research on trauma-informed practice. The attached handout has more information about this group.

How Emotions are Made
2018-02-02 12:00 - 14:00 | UNC School of Social Work, Tate-Turner-Kuralt Building - 325 Pittsboro St #3550, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516, United States
In this presentation, Lisa Feldman Barrett will describe her cutting-edge research on how emotions are constructed in the moment by core systems that interact across the whole brain, rather than being fixed, universal categories. She will also elaborate on the significant implications for psychotherapeutic work, and explain how and why psychotherapy can help transform people’s emotional experiences.

Before, During, and After the Interview
2018-01-30 12:15 - 13:30 | UNC School of Social Work, Tate-Turner-Kuralt Building - 325 Pittsboro St #3550, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516, United States
In this session, Jacquelyn Gist, Assistant Director of Career Services, and a panel of recent graduates will go over interviewing experiences, share tips and respond to questions about the interview process.

Club Nova Tour
2018-01-30 12:00 - 13:00 | UNC School of Social Work, Tate-Turner-Kuralt Building - 325 Pittsboro St #3550, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516, United States

Whose Streets? Ferguson to Chapel Hill
2018-01-29 19:00 - 21:00 | The Varsity, 123 E. Franklin St., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, United States
Come view “Whose Streets?,” a powerful documentary from the Sundance Film Festival about the Ferguson uprising and the new wave of resistance.
Following the viewing, there will be a moderated panel discussion, featuring:

Cristina Becker: Criminal Justice Debt Fellow for ACLU of NC
Angaza Laughinghouse: Staff Attorney, Southern Coalition for Social Justice
Chris Blue: Chapel Hill Chief of Police
Susanna Birdsong: Policy Counsel for the ACLU of NC
Moderator: James E. Williams, Jr.: Former Public Defender of Orange and Chatham Counties

Compulsory Identity, Rape Culture, and Violence Against LGBTQ+ People: What the Evidence Tells Us and Where It's Lacking
2018-01-29 12:15 - 13:15 | UNC School of Social Work, Tate-Turner-Kuralt Building - 325 Pittsboro St #3550, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516, United States
JP Przewoznik, MSW – Director of Prevention & Evaluation, North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault (NCCASA)
JP will share what is currently known about the casual factors of sexual violence against LGBTQ+ people, including a proposed theoretical model for why violence perpetration may be more likely to occur. JP will discuss the field of SV prevention as it relates to strategies to counter violence and propose some additional research needs for the field.

Town Hall Gathering - New Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab
2018-01-29 12:00 - 13:30 | UNC School of Social Work, Tate-Turner-Kuralt Building - 325 Pittsboro St #3550, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516, United States

Nuts and Bolts: Strategies & Tools for Organizing in North Carolina
2018-01-26 12:00 - 14:00 | UNC School of Social Work, Tate-Turner-Kuralt Building - 325 Pittsboro St #3550, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516, United States
Come to learn different tactics to advocate for social change from a panel of North Carolina organizers and activists. Public and open to all, no need to register.

Cultural Sensitivity and Humility in Cognitive Behavioral Interventions for Racism-Related Distress with Enrique Neblett, Ph.D.
2018-01-22 12:00 - 14:00 | UNC School of Social Work, Tate-Turner-Kuralt Building - 325 Pittsboro St #3550, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516, United States
Much of the power of psychotherapy comes from helping people let go of distorted and ineffective thinking in favor of a more effective and balanced approach. However, when we pathologize cognitions, this can be perceived as invalidating. Focusing on “cognitions” can be especially problematic when individuals live in oppressive environments that reinforce their beliefs. In this workshop, Enrique Neblett explores adaptations of cognitive behavioral therapy that encourage us to treat perceptions as situated in people’s lived experience. Dr. Neblett will illustrate this with research on the experience of African American males and females coming of age in a culture that generates stress and vigilance, and degrades health and mental health. This has wider relevance, too, for how we conceptualize “disorder” in what may be a normative response to an oppressive condition.
