TRAINING
Advocacy and Training Alliance provides structured training programs based on current research models recognized as “best practice.” The training provides a solid therapeutic foundation through didactic and experiential opportunities. Training is conducted by experts in conjunction with credentialed Advocacy and Training Alliance faculty.
LEVEL 1:
CSAYC - Clinical Credential
Level 1: CSAYC Training
Advocacy and Training Alliance, LLC

Future Training Dates:
October/November 2023
LEVEL 2:
CSAYP - Management/Program Credential
Level 2: CSAYP Training
Advocacy and Training Alliance, LLC
Description: Level 2 training is designed for the unique role of the non-clinician professionals who have responsibilities in the oversight and administration of services or who provides direct services at the bachelor level. Applicants are awarded the Credentialed Sexually Abusive Youth Professional (CSAYP) certification upon successful completion of the curriculum training and a project completed onsite at their agency.
20 hours of applicable continuing education is required every 2 years to maintain Level 2 - CSAYP credentials.

Future Training Dates: November 2023
Cost: $850
Date:
All training days are held via Zoom
Future Training Dates:
November 2023
LEVEL 3:
Direct Care Certificate of Training
Level 3 training is recommended for direct care professionals who provide treatment to youth who have engaged in sexually harmful behaviors. Participants will gain information to improve a child's success in treatment and their continued success after treatment.
Date: Call to schedule
Total training hours: 1 day; 8:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m.
Cost: $150 per person; money is non-refundable
Training Dates: Call to schedule - Training is available via zoom or in person
For questions about this training, Contact us
LEVEL 4:
Foster Parent Certificate of Training
This training program is recommended for foster parents and provides information on safety for the child, family, and community. Foster Parents learn how sexually harmful behaviors develop and how to be an active part of the child's treatment team. Practical, effective and respectful plans to ensure safety are provided.
Circles of Safety®-the Stop It Now! training and technical assistance program-educates and supports adults and organizations responsible for providing safe and healthy environments for children. Based on violence prevention and bystander engagement research, as well as public health and adult education models, Circles of Safety delivers practical and customizable training that is easy to implement to prepare and guide adults to be active agents in children's safety planning at home, in the community, and in youth-serving organizations. Through Circles of Safety training tools and practice, adults learn to address barriers and misconceptions that may interfere with preventive actions. Adults can become more confident, comfortable, and knowledgeable about protecting children from sexual harm. The training is to teach skills to prevent sexual abuse.
Stop it Now! Sexual Abuse Prevention Training Opportunities in Indiana:
Workshop 1 - Circles of Safety: Understanding the Role of Healthy Sexual Development and Education in Sexual Abuse Prevention
This workshop presents key steps in child sexual abuse prevention. Understanding and promoting healthy sexual development for children in foster care settings is critical to helping them achieve increased health, safety, and well-being. By increasing participants' knowledge, confidence and comfort, participants will be able to better recognize and support children's sexual safety. Participants will learn how to use safety rules as tools to help keep children and youth safe.
July 18, 2023 @ 12:00pm-1:30pm EST
Workshop 2- Circles of Safety: Understanding and Responding to Warning Signs
This workshop identifies behaviors in both children and adults that are warning signs that a child is at risk of being sexually abused or that a child is being sexually abused. Participants will be able to recognize and respond to warning signs specifically in adults' behaviors that may contribute to increasing the vulnerability of an environment. Communication tools for adults to talk with other adults about children's sexual safety will be introduced and practiced.
July 20, 2023 @ 9:00am-10:30am EST
Interested in training, please contact us - trainings are available via zoom or in person
LUNCH AND LEARN
Lunch and Learn is a virtual one-hour learning discussion hosted by various professionals and will take place from noon to 1 p.m. EST the first Thursday of every month in 2023.
Attendance is free to all those interested! If you would like to receive a CE for your attendance there a $10 fee. Fee must be paid via credit card.
All who attend will be asked to complete a quick post-survey to provide feedback on the discussion. For those who attend and pay to receive CE, then you will be required to complete an additional survey concerning the material covered.
Continuing Education Credits are available ONLY through the Indiana Professional Licensing Association (CE License #- 98000590A)
This is NOT an NBCC related program.
Click on the date below to go to the registration page.
May 4, 2023 - Theraplay - Hosted by Crysty Huffman, MSW, LCSW, CSAYC
June 1, 2023 - Pornography and Youth - Hosted by Vanessa Jones and Katie Jones from Headwaters Counseling
July 6, 2023 - Moral Injury - Hosted by Joel Kern, MSW, LCSW, CSAYC, C-DBT
Youth Needs and Progress Scale (YNPS)
Description: Effective interventions when youth or young adults have problematic or illegal sexual behavior require high quality assessments. Initial and subsequent risk and needs assessment are necessary for identifying appropriate treatment targets, intervention intensity, and service delivery. This training will review the development and implementation of a new evidence-informed treatment needs and progress scale, and provide instruction on its use.
Date: June 5 & 6, 2023
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. EST (lunch daily 12-1)
Cost of Training: $100
A total of 8 credit hours will be offered
Prerequisites for training: None
Learning Objectives:
- Briefly, explore the need for and development of an empirically-informed needs and progress scale for youth with problematic, abusive, or illegal sexual behavior.
- Recognize some of the challenges involved in implementing the YNPS and discuss possible ways to resolve obstacles.
- Develop skills to rate YNPS items reliably and use findings effectively, e.g.,
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- Understanding items an scoring procedures
- Rating items reliably
- Practicing using YNPS findings to guide clinical and service delivery decision-making, e.g., by matching identified needs with appropriate interventions and service intensity,
- Communicating findings effectually
Presenter:
Dr. Sue Righthand who holds a Master's degree in Criminal Justice and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and has an extensive experience working with youth and adults who have offended sexually, as well as individuals who have experienced or initiated child maltreatment and other forms of violence.
Advocacy and Training Alliance, LLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7337. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Advocacy and Training Alliance, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
TF-CBT Training
Description: Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) is a heavily researched, evidence-based form of therapy designed to treat children who have experienced a traumatic event and struggle with subsequent emotional and/or behavioral problems. The model treats children with an array of trauma histories, including children with multiple and complex traumas in their lives.
Date: June 7, 8, & 9, 2023
Time: 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. est (No lunch scheduled, only short breaks)
Cost of Training: $150 (includes consultation calls required post training)
A total of 12 credit hours will be offered
Prerequisites for training:
- Participants are required to have at least a Master's level degree or be actively enrolled in a Master's level program.
- TF-CBT online training certificate must be completed prior to training and submitted to training@advocacyandtraining.org. TF-CBT online training can be found at https://tfcbt2.musc.edu/ at your cost. This $35 fee is outside of the registration to the virtual class.
Learning Objectives:
- Explore core components of Trauma Treatment
- Provide history of the development of TF-CBT; what TF-CBT was developed to treat and where there have been expansions.
- Discuss use of assessment in TF-CBT
- Introduce the components of TF-CBT model (acronym PRACTICE) and the "flow" of TF-CBT
Presenter:
Kristin Briggs, Ed.D. is a licensed psychologist in the state of NJ. She currently lives and practices in Metuchen, NJ. She completed her undergraduate degree at Villanova University in 1993 and subsequently her Master in education (1994) and doctoral degree in counseling psychology (2000) both at Rutgers University.
Dr. Briggs considers herself an expert in trauma treatment; trained in eye movement desensitization reprocessing (EMDR) and certified in trauma focused – cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT). Dr. Briggs is also one of the nation’s certified trainers in TF-CBT.
Dr. Briggs has worked on a child/adolescent outpatient unit in a hospital in an urban environment (2004-2007) and at CARES Institute, (a regional diagnostic center covering the seven southern counties of NJ). During her time at CARES Institute (2007-2014), Dr. Briggs worked directly with and was trained by Dr. Esther Deblinger (one of the three developers of TF-CBT). Dr. Briggs also established a private practice in 2007 and works exclusively in private practice at this time. Most recently, she founded 3 Calvin Place of Renewal in central NJ, which houses her private practice office, as well as loft space for other practitioners to offer integrative, wholistic healing/self-care options including by not limited to: reiki, yin yoga, yoga nidra, biofield tuning sessions, Tibetan singing bowl meditations, and crystal bowl meditations.
Advocacy and Training Alliance, LLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7337. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Advocacy and Training Alliance, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.