Pearl Berman, professor of psychology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, will be one of the presenters for two webinars, free and open to all Pennsylvania residents, about addressing violence in Pennsylvania communities.
The webinars will be offered on May 11 and May 17, both from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
The webinars are sponsored by a collaboration between IUP, the National Partnership to End Interpersonal Violence Across the Lifespan, and the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children.
The webinar on May 11 is titled “Addressing the Impact of Violence: Concrete Action Steps for Addressing Interpersonal Violence in Pennsylvania Communities.” It will focus on how to address violence effectively in Pennsylvania with an approach called “trauma-informed care.” The second is on how to prevent future acts of violence by fostering more awareness and building skills that promote the resiliency of its victims.
The session will provide an overview of what is known about adverse childhood experiences within families and communities and how they may fuel different forms of interpersonal violence across the lifespan. Common risk factors for violence, strategies to decrease risk, and principles of trauma-informed care will be discussed.
Berman, immediate past president of the National Partnership to Prevent Interpersonal Violence Across the Lifespan, will be joined by presenters Susan Omilian, an attorney, author, and motivational speaker who is an advocate for ending violence against women, and the originator and facilitator of “My Avenging Angel Workshops”; Megan Garza, a licensed marriage and family therapist and certified specialty trauma care supervisor; Karen Rich, licensed social worker, who teaches and does research in secondary victimization, rape, sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and institutional responses to trauma; and Joyce Thomas, a registered nurse and president/CEO and co-founder of the Center for Child Protection and Family Support, Washington, DC and director of Children and Family Institute, Silver Springs, Maryland.
The program on May 17 is “Preventing Future Harm: Taking Action to Reduce Violence in Pennsylvania Communities.”
This session will provide background material and concrete action steps for reducing the risk of future acts of violence within Pennsylvania Communities. This will include covering protective factors that lead to resilience, strategies to reduce risk factors for violence using these factors, and the power of public policies to promote safe communities.
Berman will be joined by presenters Machelle Madsen Thompson, a trauma counselor and research and teaching faculty member at Florida State University College of Social Work; attorney Stacie LeBlanc, the cofounder of the Up Institute and president of American Professional Society of Abuse on Children; and Donna Greco, director of Public Policy and Legislative Affairs for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape.
The webinars will include a 90-minute presentation and up to 30 minutes for question and answers, to allow interaction between the presenters and participants in real time.
To register for webinars, please visit Webinar Trainings. For more information, persons can contact Berman at psberman@iup.edu or by phone at 724-427-5566.