Find continuing education courses.

Free State Social Work

This course offers a heuristic or a guide for White social workers for anti-racist social work practice that includes three sets of practices: REcover, UNcover, and DIScover. REcover practices seek to help White social workers shift to a window of tolerance with activities like brief pauses and paced breathing. UNcover practices seek to help White social workers critically examine beliefs, biases, and power. DIScover practices seek to help White social workers look at what is possible, while resisting the urge to fix and control.

Free State Social Work

Free State Social Work

This course examines the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) Code of Ethics which was approved in May of 2023 and revised in August of 2023. The NBCC Code of Ethics establishes ethical standards for Counselors and is a resource for ethical decision-making and practice. The NBCC Code of Ethics offers 114 ethical standards in the areas of professional responsibilities; counseling relationships; supervision and consultation; testing, appraisal, and research; counselor education; and telemental health, social media, and technology.

Free State Social Work

This course looks at the harms of alcohol misuse, which groups are most affected, and how evidence-based community-level policies can create safer communities. Evidence-based strategies for reducing alcohol misuse are included; policies that focus on reducing alcohol availability in the community have been shown to be some of the most effective.

Free State Social Work

This course explores labor and sex trafficking and highlights the trafficking story arc of recruitment and grooming, coercion and control, and exit. Human trafficking patterns, risk factors, and misconceptions are discussed. The course offers language and practice recommendations with a focus on assistance, support, and resilience.

Free State Social Work

This course explores key considerations and concepts for understanding and identifying human trafficking and its impact. The first reading describes the multidimensional impact of sex trafficking on survivors by highlighting first-hand insights from survivors. The course examines the lasting challenges and consequences for survivors along with needed intervention strategies and support. The second reading offers key considerations and concepts for understanding and identifying human trafficking in the United States- both forced labor and sex trafficking.

Free State Social Work

Free State Social Work

Free State Social Work

This course examines stigmatizing language in the electronic health record and how stigmatizing words and phrases may impact health equity. The course explores three forms of stigmatizing language: labeling someone as other, blaming, and invoking danger. Patients with diabetes, substance use disorder, and chronic pain are explored as subgroups.

Free State Social Work

This course covers the topic of Illinois sexual harassment prevention. All Illinois employees are now required to receive sexual harassment prevention training that complies with the Illinois Human Rights Act. The course includes definitions of sexual harassment as outlined in the Illinois Human Rights Act, examples of unlawful sexual harassment, a summary of laws concerning sexual harassment, and a summary of employer responsibilities.

Free State Social Work

This course offers basic overdose education for recognizing and responding to an opioid overdose. The course highlights overdose causes, risks, signs, and prevention. Opioid overdose reversal medications are discussed and overdose response steps are given.

Free State Social Work

This course explores young adult pathways to opioid and non-medical prescription opioid use with implications for prevention. The course highlights a qualitative and quantitative research study of thirty young adults in recovery from OUD. Risk factors, protective factors, and main themes are identified. Recommendations for prevention are offered and include a discussion of supply-side and demand-side strategies.

Free State Social Work

This course highlights an analysis of opioid use in the context of prescription opioid policy changes. Participants in the study describe their personal experiences with opioid use over time, starting with prescription opioid use.

Free State Social Work

Telehealth modalities have been shown to increase access to treatment and improve health outcomes for individuals with severe mental illness and substance use disorder. This course examines how telehealth modalities can effectively treat individuals with SMI and SUD. Examples of evidence-based telehealth treatment interventions include Behavioral Activation Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Cognitive Processing Therapy, Prolonged Exposure Therapy, and Medication-Assisted Treatment.

Free State Social Work

Free State Social Work

This course examines the personal and professional experiences of mental health professionals during the Covid-19 pandemic and the rapid pivot to telehealth. 36 mental health professionals participated in interviews and highlighted the following themes: responding to the pandemic, introducing telehealth, impact on professional practice, and the future of telehealth. The course explores the strengths and weaknesses related to the adoption of telehealth during the Covid-19 pandemic, implications for practice, and the future of telehealth.

Free State Social Work

This course explores explicit and implicit biases in health care and provides an overview of the terminology, the tools used to measure implicit bias, the evidence for implicit bias in health care, the impact of implicit bias in health care, the impact of interventions designed to reduce implicit bias, the key structural factors affecting implicit bias, and the relationship between implicit bias and structural inequities.

Free State Social Work

This course examines the topic of implicit bias in healthcare and the role of the healthcare provider in addressing implicit bias and prioritizing equitable care. The course explores the science of implicit bias, the social groups most affected by implicit bias, and the impact on health outcomes. Mitigation strategies are identified and include self-reflection, simulation-based education, counter-stereotypic strategies, emotional regulation, and mindfulness meditation.

Free State Social Work

This course explores evidence and practice issues related to grief, bereavement, and coping with loss. The course compares different types of grief reactions and includes models of normal grief, patterns of complicated grief, and risk factors for complicated grief. Using the DSM-5, the course differentiates a normal grieving process from a major depressive episode. Treatment considerations are discussed. In addition, the course looks at the grief experiences of medical providers as well as grief in children.

Free State Social Work

This updated course explores communication in cancer care and highlights the importance of effective, high-quality, bidirectional communication for patients and families. The course examines the challenges involved in cancer-related communication and acknowledges that better models and strategies are needed. Research findings, communication models, and demographic and cultural considerations are discussed.

Free State Social Work

Free State Social Work

This course explores the topic of suicidal behavior in older military veterans. The course offers a literature review and identifies the unique experiences and challenges that older veterans face, which may include psychiatric disorders, medical illnesses, and psychosocial stressors. Suicide prevention efforts are identified and include medical and psychological treatment, safety planning, social help, family education, public education, lethal means restriction, and technology.

Free State Social Work

This course explores potential implicit bias in healthcare by looking at stigmatizing language in the healthcare record. The course highlights a study using machine learning to analyze electronic health records using 15 different patient descriptors and discusses results and recommendations.

Free State Social Work

This course explores the advance care planning experiences of sexual and gender minority people and highlights the results of a qualitative research study. Three main themes are discussed: fear of discrimination limits disclosure of SOGI and affects selection of clinicians; concerns about whether EOL preferences and appointed MDMs would be supported; and most discussions about EOL preferences occurred without clinicians.