2023 Spring Workshop Series
Join us for our 2023 Virtual Spring Workshop Series! These workshops will take place virtually through Zoom. There will be 5 workshops with 15 CEUs total offered.
IDFPR, IL Certification Board & EAP Approved:
Counselors, Social Workers, CADC, Employee Assistance Counselors, Psychologists, Nurses
NOTE: These workshops are 3 CEUs each.
Schedule:
Workshop | Date | Time | Topic | Presenter(s) |
A | March 25 | 9am-12:15pm | Family of Origin Separation Trauma and Addiction – Care Planning and Recovery Management Implications | David Bohl, MAC, SCAC |
B | April 1 | 9am-12:15pm | Speaking Queerly: Why LGBTQIA+ Competencies Matters in Substance Use Disorder Work | Erica Fada, LSW, CADC |
C | April 8 | 9am-12:15pm | How to be the World’s Best Group Therapist | Mark Sanders, LCSW, CADC |
D | April 22 | 9am-12:15pm | Addressing the Intersectionality of Adult ADHD, Substance Use Disorder, and Trauma | Dale Roberson, LCSW, CADC, C-DBT |
E | April 29 | 9am-12:15pm | Broaching Cultural Differences in the Counseling Relationship: Recognizing Implicit Bias and Incorporating Cultural Humility into the Counseling Process | Jennifer Moreno, LCPC, CADC |
Pricing:
# of Workshops | General | Student/Senior Discount |
1 | $80 | $70 |
2 | $125 | $115 |
3 | $195 | $170 |
4 | $260 | $220 |
5 | $300 | $230 |
Registration is open for our Spring Workshop Series!
To register, click the button below to submit payment based on the number of workshops you plan to register for. Costs can be found in the “Pricing” key above. In the comments of the form, please indicate the letter or name of the workshops you would like to be registered for.
For questions or concerns, please contact:
Ryan Patterson, Project Specialist at rpatterson@hcenter.org or (312) 226-7984 Ext. 594
OR
Lisa Abrams, LCPC, CSADC, Director of Staff Training & Development at labrams@hcenter.org (312) 226-7984 Ext. 581
Workshop Details
WORKSHOP A: Family of Origin Separation Trauma and Addiction – Care Planning and Recovery Management Implications
Saturday, March 25, 2023
9:00AM – 12:15PM
3 CEUs
Presented by David Bohl, MAC, SCAC
Drawing from research, as well as using his own professional and lived experiences, David will offer a discussion on the link between adoption, separation from childhood of origin, and substance use disorder. He will focus on trauma, other challenges, and methods of recovery management.
Learning Objectives:
- Discuss how adverse childhood experiences impact the risk for later health problems and substance use disorders.
- Review identity crises of relinquished individuals/adoptees and how this can arrest healthy self-identity development during adolescence, and how this can create problems with attachment and trust.
- Discuss relinquishment and adoption related to causes and conditions that inform maladaptive actions such as addictive behaviors and inherent shame of an adoptee.
- Address challenges in treatment, recovery management planning, and mutual support group integration for relinquished individuals.
- Participants will gain awareness of trauma-informed cultural considerations when working with adoptees/fostered persons.

About the Speaker: David B. Bohl, CSAC, MAC is an independent Addiction Consultant and Recovery Advocate at Beacon Confidential LLC. He is the co-author of “Relinquishment & Addiction: What Trauma Has to Do with It, and author of the award-winning memoir Parallel Universes: The Story of Rebirth. He is a member of the National Association for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (NAADAC), Addiction and Recovery Consultant to the National Association of Adoptees and Parents (NAAP), and Board Member of Wisconsin Adoption and Permanency Support. David resides in southeastern Wisconsin and presents globally. He enjoys spending time with his wife of 38 years, and relentlessly pursues Blue Mind meditation which is correlated being in and around water.
WORKSHOP B: Speaking Queerly: Why LGBTQIA+ Competency Matters in Substance Use Disorder Work
Saturday, April 1, 2023
9:00AM – 12:15PM
3 CEUs
Presented by Erica Fada, LSW, CADC
In this workshop, participants will learn why it is important to understand the nuances of LGBTQIA+ experiences and how the population is at elevated risk for substance use. We will discuss unique considerations when addressing substance use disorders in this population, and practice how to have conversations around gender, sexuality, and substance use disorder work through case studies and role plays.
Learning Objectives:
- Develop a common language for how to discuss LGBTQIA+ topics
- Understand the unique pressures and traumas that LGBTQIA+ individuals face, and how that specifically affects substance use disorder work
- Gain confidence in working with LGBTQIA+ clients regarding substance use disorder practice

About the Speaker: Erica Fada, MSW (she/they) is a social worker with her master’s degree from Loyola University Chicago. They view therapy as a relational practice and strive to create a space for their clients to feel uplifted and emboldened in their experiences. Erica specializes in a harm-reduction approach to substance use disorders, work with LGBTQIA+ clients, and the intersection of the two.
Erica has experience working with adolescent and adult clients, with a focus on adults navigating the criminal justice system due to substance-use related arrests. They have also worked in crisis intervention. Erica centers her therapeutic practice in feminist empowerment theory, while integrating elements of narrative therapies and behavioral interventions. This means that Erica sees clients as the experts in their own experiences, and enjoys helping clients see their sources of resilience, agency, and support they already have in their lives. Additionally, Erica has a neurobiological understanding of the ways trauma can affect the body and brain. She recognizes that therapy is an individualized journey for the client. She views collaboration around treatment goals to be essential.
Erica acknowledges the power dynamics at play in the therapeutic relationship as well as the history of harm in mental healthcare, specifically against queer and BIPOC individuals. She understands that the process of engaging with therapy is a vulnerable one. To help facilitate a space for deep self-exploration, Erica prioritizes creating an environment that is queer-, trans-, kink- and non-monogamous-affirming. They believe that no identity should feel like an unwelcome topic in the therapy room.
In addition to her MSW, Erica also completed a Master of Arts in Women’s and Gender Studies at Loyola University in Chicago. In her free time, Erica enjoys planning the next bioactive vivarium for one of her reptiles, tending to their houseplants, and trying out new sushi restaurants with their partner.
WORKSHOP C: How to be the Best Group Therapist
Saturday, April 8, 2023
9:00AM – 12:15PM
3 CEUs
Presented by Mark Sanders, LCSW, CADC
There are therapy groups formed to promote healing for just about every human condition including mental illness, substance use disorders, medical illness, etc. In this presentation you will learn the 10 things the best group therapists do. Topics covered include becoming the world’s best group therapist; how to build group cohesion; building cohesion during rapid group turnover; stages of group development; the role of the group leadership; managing group conflict; dealing with difficult group members; building trust in groups with multicultural membership; how to energize groups; and the effective use of activities in group therapy.
Learning Objectives:
- Build group cohesion
- Build trust in groups with multicultural membership
- Manage group conflict effectively
- Integrate difficult group members into the group process
- Energize therapy groups and effectively utilize activities in group therapy
- Utilize the 10 things the best group therapists do to effectively lead mental health and substance use disorders groups

About the Speaker: Mark Sanders, LCSW, CADC, is an international speaker, trainer, and consultant in the behavioral health field whose work has reached thousands throughout the United States, Europe, Canada, the Caribbean, and British Islands.
Mark is the author of five books, which focus on behavioral health. Recent writings include Slipping through the Cracks: Intervention Strategies for Clients Multiple Addictions and Disorders and Recovery Management: and Relationship Detox: Helping Clients Develop Healthy Relationships in Recovery. He has had two stories published in the New York Times best-selling books series, Chicken Soup for the Soul.
Mark has been a certified addictions counselor for 34 years. He has received numerous awards including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Illinois Addiction Counselor Certification Board and the Barbara Beacon Award for outstanding contributions to the Social Work profession as a Loyola University of Chicago Alumni.
Mark is co-founder of the Serenity Academy of Chicago, the only recovery high school in Illinois. He is the past President of the Board of the Illinois Chapter of NAADAC. He has had a 30-year career as a university educator having taught at the University of Chicago, Illinois State University, Illinois School of Professional Psychology, and Loyola University of Chicago, School of Social Work.
WORKSHOP D: Addressing the Intersectionality of Adult ADHD, Substance Use Disorder, and Trauma
Saturday, April 22, 2023
9AM – 12:15PM
3 CEUs
Presented by Dale Roberson, LCSW, CADC, C-DBT
In this workshop, we will explore the definition and diagnostic criteria of ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder), what causes ADHD, the intersection and overlap of ADHD and trauma, and the similarities in ADHD and comorbidities which can lead to underdiagnosing and/or misdiagnosing. In addition, we will discuss interactive ways to get someone with ADHD started even without motivation and identify interventions that can help people develop their action plan and reach treatment goals.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify current points to remember about ADHD
- Learn how to help motivate a person with ADHD
- Identify ways to get someone with ADHD started even without motivation
- Identify interventions that can help people reach treatment goals

About the Speaker: Dale Roberson, LCSW, CADC, C-DBT (he/they), a University of Chicago graduate, recently joined group private practice at Inclusive Insight Psychotherapy & Consulting in Chicago. His most recent professional experiences include: a Substance Use Psychotherapist at Howard Brown Health Center and the Manager of Outpatient Services at Haymarket Center. Dale’s relational, trauma-responsive clinical applications include dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), EMDR, substance use management/harm reduction, and other healing models. In addition to private practice, Dale is a facilitator for Haymarket Center’s six-month Accredited CADC Preparatory Course. Dale instructs and provides in-service multicultural diversity and awareness, racialized trauma, and LGBTQIA+ clinical competency trainings.
WORKSHOP E: Broaching Cultural Differences in the Counseling Relationship: Recognizing Implicit Bias and Incorporating Cultural Humility into the Counseling Process
Saturday, April 29, 2023
9:00AM – 12:15PM
3 CEUs
Presented by Jennifer Moreno, LCPC, CADC
This training will explore the role of acknowledging cultural differences in the client and counselor relationships, especially as it pertains to working with diverse populations. How do we, as clinicians, embrace cultural humility, acknowledge what may feel uncomfortable, and use cultural humility in the counseling space. “Broaching” is the counselor’s intentional efforts to explore cultural differences as it pertains to the counseling relationship. This training will highlight how to begin the broaching process and what steps to take to ensure that you are practicing multicultural competencies in the therapeutic space. This training will incorporate interactive exercises to practice concepts.
Learning Objectives:
- Attendees will be able to define broaching and understand its role in the counseling relationship
- Attendees will learn broaching skills to enrich the therapeutic relationship
- Attendees will be able to understand how to put into practice recognizing our own implicit bias and why this process is so vital to the counseling relationship

About the Speaker: Jennifer began her career working with substance use disorders. Since then, Jennifer has had the privilege of working in different capacities, including substance use disorder treatment, hospice, private practice, leadership, and emergency rooms. Jennifer has a special interest in cultural competency, trauma, grief, training and education, and social justice. Jennifer enjoys speaking and facilitating trainings, and has presented at conferences, community centers, correction facilities, and non-profit agencies.
Jennifer holds a master’s degree in Community Counseling from Argosy University, is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC), and a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor (CADC). Jennifer is the Deputy Director of the Comprehensive Transition Program at Kenneth Young Center and is the Co-Owner of S & J Wellness PLLC, in Warrenville, IL.