2022 Summer Workshop Series

Haymarket Center’s Summer Institute on Addiction is a major Illinois conference bringing informational and workshop sessions on key topics facing practitioners in the field of substance use disorders and mental health. For 26 years, more than 300 substance use treatment counselors and leaders, private practice clinicians, and medical professionals annually have attended to exchange ideas and hear from leading speakers in the field.

IDFPR and IL Certification Board Approved:
Counselors, Social Workers, CADC, Employee Assistance Counselors, Psychologists, Nurses

WorkshopDateTimeTopicPresenter
AMay 21st9am-12pmDisparity and Equity within the Mental and Behavioral Health SystemNadia Al-Amin, SAMSHA Assistant Regional Administrator, Region 5
BMay 28th9am-12pmAppropriating ASAM Criterion and Multi-Cultural CompetencyDr. Carolyn Champion
CJune 4th9am-12pmAlleviating Guilt and Shame in Recovery through Self-CompassionJustin Wolfe, LCPC, CADC, CRC, PCGC
DJune 11th9am-12pmSystemic Racial Trauma and Somatic Healing ConceptsBecky Carter, LCPC
EJune 18th9am-12pmThe Unified Theory of Recovery: Introduction to The World’s First Field-Based Change Model Geared Toward AddictionAndrew Pierce, MCAP, LMHC
FJune 25th9am-12pmSuicide and Mental Health Concerns for Males in the African American CommunityDr. Kenyata Fletcher
# of Workshops   General                 Student/Senior Discount
1$80$70
2$125$115
3$195$170
4$260$220
5$300$230
6$390$340

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 or 312-226-7984 ext. 581.

If you are mailing your payment, please make a check payable to:

Haymarket Center
ATTN: Education Department
932 W Washington Blvd
Chicago, IL 60607

Workshop A: Disparity and Equity within the Mental and Behavioral Health System

Saturday, May 21st
Presented by Nadia Al-Amin, SAMSHA Assistant Regional Administrator, Region 5

Workshop Objectives:

  • Participants will be able to understand the overall goals and mission of SAMHSA
  • Participants will be able to describe the behavioral health implications of COVID-19 on minority communities
  • Participants will be able to describe SAMHSA’s plan to address behavioral health disparities
  • Participants will be able to identify SAMHSA technical assistance and funding to address the behavioral health needs of minority communities

About the Speaker: Before joining SAMHSA as an Assistant Regional Administrator, Nadia worked as a Behavioral Health contractor at the SAMHSA region 5 office where she was responsible for planning and coordinating interagency projects for preventing opioid overdoses, reducing stigma around mental health and addiction, and addressing mental health and substance misuse in minority communities. Nadia has extensive experience fostering relationships among state and federal health officials as well as philanthropic agency leaders.  In 2018, Nadia completed a two-year Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) fellowship where she was assigned to the SAMHSA and Office of the Assistant Secretary of Health (OASH) region 5 offices. During her time in her fellowship, Nadia assisted the Michigan Department of Public Health with their response to a Hepatitis A outbreak in southeast Michigan and their follow-up response to the Flint water crisis. She also coordinated efforts to bring together region 5 state health officials, single state authorities, and philanthropic partners to discuss opportunities for collaboration around opioid overdose reduction. Nadia also has experience working as a behavioral health intern in the SAMHSA Office of Behavioral Health Equity (OBHE) working to address disparities in suicide rates. Nadia plans to continue to address behavioral health disparities in minority communities through her work at SAMHSA. 

Nadia received a Master of Public Health degree in Epidemiology from Georgia State University and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in public health, focusing on community health and behavioral health disparities.

Workshop B: Appropriating ASAM Criterion and Multi-Cultural Competency

Saturday, May 28th
Presented by Dr. Carolyn Champion

This workshop will provide the Mental Health an SUD Clinician with tools to assess clinical placement effectively and appropriately for clients utilizing ASAM criterion and Cultural Competency.

Workshop Objectives:

  • Participants will understand ASAM Placement Criterion
  • Participants will understand Multicultural Competency
  • Participants will become aware of how implicit biases can influence Cultural Incompetency and misguided Clinical Placement
  • Participants will understand how to partner ASAM criterion with Multicultural Competency

About the Speaker:

Dr. Carolyn Ransom-Champion is an independent consultant and CEO of Maximizing Organizational & Kingdom Leaders, (M.O.K.L.), an independent therapeutic consulting firm. She is also the Founder and Executive Director of S.A.V.E.D. & S.O.S., a faith-based non-profit organization geared towards advocacy for ex-offender women, youth, and their families, affected by SUD., grief and loss, and other trauma related experiences affecting their mental and emotional wellness. Dr. Champion is also a newly achieved Chancellor, founder, of a seminary college, M.C.A.

Dr. Champion currently practices Christian Mental Health Therapy in her private practice utilizing principles of faith and theoretical orientations, in addition to teaching Psychology, Human Services, Motivational Interviewing, and Cultural Diversity, as an adjunct Professor. She is also the Director of Services and primary consultant for United Faith Christian Institute (UFCI), Urban First Responders.

Working in the field of trauma, human services, and addiction studies for over twenty years, Dr. Champion has taken a front row seat to the familial, economical, and community hardships that are in direct correlation to mental, and emotional erosion, as well as cultural incompetence. In lieu of this, Dr. Champion is dedicated to assisting youth and adults get back to a sense of empowerment by providing mental health therapy and leadership development.

Dr. Champion has secured her Ed.D., in Organizational Leadership & Development, she has her Ph.D., in Pastoral Counseling, she is certified with the state of Illinois as a C.A.D.C., and the author of faith-based publications focusing on tools of empowerment for youth and adults.

Workshop C: Alleviating Guilt and Shame in Recovery through Self-Compassion

Saturday, June 4th
Presented by: Justin Wolfe, LCPC, CADC, CRC, PCGC

The emotional experience of guilt and shame and its impact on the trajectory of one’s life. There are numerous influences on the emotional experience of guilt and shame ranging from genetics, family dynamics and social influences. Feelings of guilt and shame can influence individuals into believing that at their very core, they are bad/defective. These emotions and troubling thoughts can influence individuals to pull away from their values and engage in behaviors that reaffirm that they are “bad”.  There is a critical opportunity to intervene at this stage to reignite hope, increase feelings of connections with others and themselves while repairing the damage of their actions. The presentation will focus on ways to engage individuals in a group and individual setting to ignite a belief that change in possible.  The presentation will present group activities along with themes present into today’s substance use and mental health challenges. This presentation will include providing insight into utilizing self-compassion as a tool to provide understanding and compassion to themselves in challenging times.

Workshop Objectives

  • Identify the difference between guilt and shame.
  • Identify the connection between shame and substance use.
  • Awareness of resources and skills to help alleviate shame and promote recovery.

About the Speaker:
Justin Wolfe is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor, and Certified Rehabilitation Counselor. Justin is a graduate of Adler University in Chicago, IL where he obtained his master’s in counseling with a specialization in rehabilitation. Justin is now the Clinical Director at Footprints to Recovery. Justin had been with Linden Oaks Hospital for nine years operating as a manager of programming where he had been active in developing the treatment curriculum for the Adult and Adolescent Dual Diagnosis and Addiction Services Programming. Justin has experience working in residential treatment settings with adolescents on probation with co-occurring disorders, Adult Residential Addiction Treatment, and currently also works in private practice seeing adults, adolescents, and families. Justin has been active in the community providing education and trainings in schools, conferences, local organizations, and had the opportunity to present at the ASAM National Conference on Utilizing Contingency Management within Addiction Treatment. Justin is also a former High School Boys Varsity soccer coach.

Workshop D: Systemic Racial Trauma and Somatic Healing Concepts

Saturday, June 11th
Presented by Becky Carter, LCPC

This training is an exploration of Systemic Racial Trauma, Somatic Experiencing Concepts, and tools for healing. Concepts from authors such a: Resmaa Menakem, Robin DiAngelo and Ibram X. Kendi will be highlighted in their exploration of how white bodies can unknowingly perpetuate racism and how to cultivate an expansive and curious approach toward examining racial biases. Becky weaves in her own experiences as a biracial, brown – bodied person and discusses how racial trauma impacts the nervous system of bodies of color.  Participants will engage in somatic exercises as a method of learning about the somatic concepts of titration, pendulation, constriction and expansion in relation to race related topics. In addition, the traumatic impact of systemic racism will be explored along with various somatic treatment techniques. 

The training will include basic concepts from Somatic Experiencing and Polyvagal Model. There will be discussion regarding recognition of concepts such as Systemic Racism, White Supremacy, White Privilege, White Gaze and Microaggressions. Definitions and examples of the concepts such as Intergenerational, Ancestral, Social and Systemic Racial Trauma will also be discussed.

Learning Objectives

  • Participants will learn about Systemic Racism and related concepts.
  • Participants will develop understanding of how Racial Trauma impacts the nervous system.
  • Participants will explore various somatic healing methods for Racial Trauma
  • Participants will gain a better understanding of Developmental Trauma and Oppression

About the Presenter: Becky Carter is a biracial, cisgender, transracially adopted female. Her ancestors are West African and Sicilian. She has two black adopted children. Becky is a trauma therapist with 20+ years’ experience in helping both women and men heal the wounds of relational trauma that occur in-utero and beyond. She is a member and presenter with the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation, a Somatic Experiencing Therapist and is trained in Transformative Touch Therapy. Becky specializes in treating Racial Trauma, Sexual Trauma and has a special dedication to supporting adoptees and their families. Becky facilitates the Men’s Trauma Collective, a group for male survivors of sexual trauma. Becky presents in the community on various topics including the somatic impact of systemic racial trauma.

Workshop E: The Unified Theory of Recovery: Introduction to The World’s First Field-Based Change Model Geared Toward Addiction

Saturday, June 18th
Presented by Andrew Pierce, MCAP, LMHC

What is the Unified Theory of Recovery (UTR)? It’s a comprehensive clinical model unifying the best of Traditional Recovery, Ancient Eastern Philosophy, and up-to-the-second Quantum Mechanics – the first Field-Based Change Model geared exclusively toward addiction. UTR yields a fundamental shift in Identity, moving patients from their substance-based identity to possessing what would be best described as a new personality, replacing the unquestioned Beliefs, Values, and Rules by which they used to assign meaning to their environment to new ones more closely reflecting their True Self, and the true nature of reality. This innovative clinical model resolves low self-esteem, shame, isolation, spiritual contempt, fear of authenticity, and learned helplessness. All interventions are evidence-based – CBT, psychoeducation, mindfulness, and Socratic methods, resulting in the development of a worldview containing spirituality and the clinical benefits thereof.

Workshop Objectives:

• Identify the clinical value in having patients engage in “The Magic Wand Thought Experiment”.
• Describe the Authentication Process, its purpose, and clinical value.
• List 3 core Quantum-Based components of UTR and how patients will clinically benefit by incorporating them into their worldview.
• Explain how/why ongoing experiential guided meditation is integral to UTR’s successful application.
• Defend how UTR dovetails with 12-Step Programs.

About the Speaker: Andrew Pierce, MCAP (Master’s Level Certified Addiction Professional), is a graduate of the Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School of Addiction Studies. As a person in long-term recovery from multiple addictions, Andrew understands the addict’s mind. His addiction journey has taken him from owning a multi-million-dollar corporate retirement plan consulting firm to camping without power in an abandoned house to becoming one of the most respected, innovative, and knowledgeable addiction therapists in Southwest Florida. He has a private practice in Naples, FL under the umbrella of Counseling of Southwest Florida and Therapy Treatment Team. Additionally, he lectures on the Unified Theory of Recovery clinical model he has developed, and which is the subject of his book, “Resolving Spiritual Skepticism in Recovery: Putting the Universe to Work for You” which was published in June of 2021. To learn more about Andrew and his work visit www.andrewgpierce.com.

Workshop F: Suicide and Mental Health Concerns for Males in the African American Community

Saturday, June 25th
Presented by: Kenyata M. Fletcher, PhD, CRADC

For years, African Americans have remained the least healthy ethnic group in the U.S due to a dark legacy of years of racial and social injustice and ongoing challenges to equitable healthcare access for all. In addition to questionable myths and arguments that need to be dispelled from our past, such as Blacks have a higher pain tolerance; we are often labeled as angry individuals, and unworthy of being called a human being to name a few.  Many of these statements continue to perpetuate disparities and challenges for generations to come, because of the mistreatment of our past generations. This mistreatment historically contributed to increased and hidden mental health issues. During this training, I plan to discuss the impact of how some the family generational conversations may have impacted men and transferred some of these same negative traits onto other generations.  

Objectives:

  • Increase our understanding of the rise in Black Males suicide rates over the past 5 years
  • Understand the roles that we can take in provide and supporting mental health and diffusing social myths
  • Gain a general understanding of the intersection and impact of family, religion, racism, and society on Black clients
  • Identify racial differences that determine mental health needs

About the Presenter: Kenyata M. Fletcher, PhD, CRADC is an Assistant Clinical Director at Haymarket Center. Dr. Fletcher is also a self-published author and poet. Dr. Fletcher obtained her doctoral degree from Walden University in Human Services with a public health specialization and has fifteen years of experience in social services, specializing in substance abuse and Clinical counseling. 

Dr. Fletcher has primarily worked with adults throughout her career; and has experience in intake, residential treatment, outpatient methadone, private practice, inpatient psychiatry, short- and long-term recovery housing. Dr. Fletcher uses an eclectic approach with a primary theoretical grounding in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to meet clients’ needs.