The Journey Home
More and more of our incarcerated community members are returning home; however, high rates of recidivism continue to impact our families and communities. Therefore as mental health professionals, we must be equipped to provide social justice-oriented care to our returning citizens that addresses the key factors that contribute to recidivism.
This two part series will educate and empower mental health professionals on how to successfully serve the formerly incarcerated community through a social justice lens. The series is facilitated by James Cavitt, M.S.W., and Kristopher McLucas, LCSW, MPH who have extensive experience working with the reentry population in the greater Los Angeles community. This training series will incorporate perspectives from professional experience, research, theory and lived experience to highlight the best practices to successfully work with the reentry community. It is designed for mental health professionals, program administrators and advocates that want to increase their capacity to better serve the reentry community.
Session One: Reentry and Trauma-Informed Approaches
This session will focus on the systemic factors that impact successful reentry and the trauma-informed strategies to facilitate healing. Participants will explore identity and how to create safe spaces for clients with intersecting identities. Participants will discuss the impact of trauma, complex trauma, systemic trauma from the criminal justice system and stigma. Participants will then explore how to create trauma-informed spaces, services and interventions when working with this population. Finally, participants will explore transference and countertransference issues as systemic barriers that affect those coming out of the criminal justice system.
Session Two: Reentry and Community Connection
This session will focus on how to help the reentry population successfully (re)build their relationships and reconnect with their family and community. Participants will discuss family unification and the unique barriers the reentry population experience during family reunification. They will then explore strategies to support family (re)connections, including intimate relationships with partners. Finally, participants will discuss the importance of community connections and how to help individuals reestablish existing relationships and identify new avenues for support.
CEs available: Up to 6 CEs, 3 CEs earned per session.