Category: Social Work Category: Social Work (show less)

Years before "long COVID" was recognized as a life-altering syndrome, debilitating complex chronic illness and pain conditions of unknown or multi-factorial origin have been on the rise. Without the attention, resources, and general acceptance afforded a global pandemic, individuals living with chronic conditions including Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia (POTS), migraine, endometriosis, vestibular disorders (and many more) have been historically dismissed by medical and mental health providers as "hypochondriacs." This course offers a trauma and social justice-informed framework for providers to learn about "invisible disability," ableism in healthcare and its impact, how life-altering chronic conditions can be traumatizing and re-traumatizing (even if the DSM doesn't agree), and a unique utilization of evidenced based modalities to restore the mind body relationship. 

Participants will: 
1. Learn a brief history of the Rehabilitation Act, ADA, and ADAAA that shaped the definition of disability as well as the rights to which all disabled people have been entitled in the U.S. and the current risk to these rights due to the changing governmental landscape 
2. Learn about the concepts of “invisible disability” and ableism and their impact 
3. Learn about how chronic health conditions can be traumatizing, the concept of "enduring somatic threat,"and the necessity of ongoing assessment for PTSD and traumatic stress symptoms throughout treatment 
4. Review key tenets of trauma-informed care and be able to apply them to chronic illness / invisible disability 
5. Learn a unique combination of evidenced-based modalities to restore the mind body relationship