Seminars Offered for Area Human Services Professionals

Human Services Professional Institute at Lone Star College-Montgomery Kicks Off Series on February 22

Montgomery County, TX -- The human services program at Lone Star College-Montgomery will offer two seminars this spring for professionals in the human services field. Through its workshops, the Human Services Professional Institute (HSPI) provides relevant continuing education opportunities for professionals and develops partnerships to assist area agencies in meeting specific organizational training and development needs.

HSPI complements the college's human services program, which includes a two-year associate's degree and certificates for students seeking a career in social services.

The series kicks off on Friday, February 22, with a three-hour session (9 a.m.-noon) on “Substance Abuse and the Family.” The presenter is Theora “Teddy” Noble, LPC, LCDC, a licensed professional counselor, a licensed chemical dependency counselor, and an advanced addictions counselor. She is certified in addiction treatment, nationally and internationally, and has worked in a variety of treatment settings with a variety of clients and psychological disorders. She has experience working in private practice, an agency setting with the seriously/persistently mentally ill, psychiatric hospitals, residential programs, partial hospitalization programs, and intensive outpatient programs. Noble has worked with children, adolescents, adults, the geriatric, couples, and families. She has extensive experience as a presenter and educator to professionals and the community. Currently, she is program director of the eating disorder and substance abuse programs for women at Cadwalder Behavioral Clinics in Tomball.

Substance abuse creates multiple dynamics within families, dynamics felt throughout the generations. This seminar will address how substance abuse issues often play out within family systems, discussing common roles that family members often play, as well as intervention techniques utilized by counselors working with families where substance abuse is present. Seminar objectives include:

· Discuss common roles that family members often play in substance abuse cases

· Describe intervention techniques utilized by counselors working with families where substance abuse is present

· Compare and contrast intervention techniques used by counselors

The second seminar is slated for Friday, March 28, from 9 a.m.-noon, on the topic of “Counseling and Social Work Ethics.” The presenter is Dr. William J. Schmidt, who obtained his Ph.D. in social work from the University of Houston. He is the current director of the AMANECER and New Day Programs where he provides psycho-social evaluations, group and individual counseling and case management and advocacy for English, Spanish-speaking and hearing-impaired participants.

Today's counselors and social workers face a number of unique ethical challenges in their work with their clients. These issues range from the role of technology in providing services, to privacy guidelines associated with confidentiality. This seminar will provide a basic refresher of the major helping ethics utilized by counselors and social workers today, as well as address the significant ethical dilemmas common in the helping field today. Seminar objectives include:

· Describe common modern-day ethical dilemmas that Social Service professionals face

· Discuss ethical guidelines that are utilized in helping professions today, and the purpose for such guidelines

· Analyze scenarios where ethical dilemmas are described; apply basic ethical decision making principles to these scenarios.

Tuition for each seminar is $38, which includes continental breakfast. Seminars are offered at the Lone Star College System's Training and Development Center (Room 113-115), which is located at 5000 Research Forest Drive, in The Woodlands. On-site registration with continental breakfast begins at 8:30 a.m.

CEUs offered by Lone Star College-Montgomery are recognized by the Texas Certification Board of Addiction Professionals, the Texas State Board of Social Worker Examiners, and the Texas State Board of Examiners of Licensed Professional Counselors.

For more information about HSPI and the seminar series, visit the Web site below. The Web site includes information about how to register. Phone registration is available by calling (936) 273-7446. Interested persons may also contact Stephen Koszewski at (936) 273-7435.

Lone Star College-Montgomery is located at 3200 College Park Drive, one-half mile west of Interstate 45, between Conroe and The Woodlands. For more information about the college, call (936) 273-7000 or visit the College's Web site.

Lone Star College System consists of five colleges, including CyFair, Kingwood, Montgomery, North Harris, and Tomball, six centers and Lone Star College-University Center. With 49,250 students, it is the largest college system in the Houston area, and third largest community college district in Texas. To learn more, please visit the College System's Web site.