NASW-CA Central Valley Unit DSM Training a Big Success!

The NASW-CA Central Valley Unit is proud to announce the successful outcome of the DSM-5 training that took place at Harvest Hall in Modesto, California on Friday, June 17, 2015.

More than 90 social workers from different areas of social services and mental health in the Central Valley were fortunate to have an expert in the clinical field, Jennifer Johnson LCSW, present on the recently released the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DMS-5). CEUS were offered and certificates of completion where provided to those who attended the training.

The DSM was designed for trained clinicians to be able to conceptualize the cases that they are working with. The DSM is essential to aid with assessments, treatment needs, and treatment planning. This training was tailored to benefit every type of social work professional who wanted to learn more about the DSM.  The training included detailed explanations and examples that allowed participants to leave this training with new knowledge and skills to use in their workplace.  Participants learned how to administer the cross cutting symptom measurement tools to help solicit information to enhance the clinical decision making process.

“The goal is that comfort level increases and allows you to go back to your office and roll the tools out in your practice,” stated Jennifer Johnson.

The feedback was extremely positive. Participants found the information provided in this training extremely helpful and stated that they would definitely recommend this training to their colleagues in the future.

When asked if the information provided in this training would be beneficial to Lina Villegas in her practice as a Sierra Vista employee, she replied, “I am required to write assessments, however, I could not write them because I did not know how to use the domains that were explained in this training.  I also got clarification on things that I did not understand. This was real and useful information. It was hands on and what we need.”

When asked if she would recommend this training to her colleagues in the future, with great excitement, she replied, “Yes, big time! I want to go back to my supervisor and recommend it.”

A CPS social worker stated, “We read diagnosis all the time and being able to understand it and be updated will be helpful. It helps in different units in CPS and assists us when deciding what therapeutic techniques to use with our families.”

The NASW-CA CVU is particularly proud of the efforts to reach out to not only professionals but also the student community in the Central Valley by tailoring these trainings to different areas of social work, not only clinical social workers.

“I did not know much of the information that was presented today.  It is important for students to attend these trainings to have the knowledge. I would recommend these trainings because we also get materials and examples to go back and refresh our memory.  I would definitely attend a future training,” stated a California State University social work program student.

This training emphasized the importance of how we can all benefit from this knowledge in order to better assist those that we serve.  The NASW-CA Central Valley Unit is proud to sponsor this event and we extend our gratitude to those who collaborated with us to make this training a success.