NYAPRS Note: The below training is available to all NYS OMH facilities or programs licensed by them. If you are ineligible for the training but are interested in the topic, the linked manual may be a helpful guide.
OMH Multicultural Spirituality Group Training
The New York State Office of Mental Health, Bureau of Cultural Competence (BCC) is announcing a new training for 2014 entitled Conducting Multicultural Spirituality Groups in Behavioral Health Treatment Settings for all OMH Facilities and Outpatient Programs.
In this training, we will review the Manual: Conducting Multicultural Spirituality Groups in Behavioral Health Treatment Settings: A Group Leader Guide available by download at: http://ssrdqst.rfmh.org/cecc/sites/ssrdqst.rfmh.org.cecc/UserFiles/spiritgrpmanual.pdf.
The manual presents a format for conducting culturally sensitive group discussions focusing on spirituality to promote mental health. With illustrative examples, it describes how to facilitate participants’ drawing on their spiritual resources to deal with the problems of daily living and the challenges of moving toward a stable and gratifying life. In order to do this, the group format is designed to focus on how members can identify their own inner strengths and values, ones compatible with their cultural ethnic, and faith backgrounds. Conduct of the groups is free of any specific religious or denominational orientation; however, specific attention is paid to issues that reflect sensitivity to the cultural background of the groups.
This manual is the product of a decade of award-winning clinical innovation and research at the Center for Spirituality and Healthcare, located at NYU Langone Medical Center and Bellevue Hospital. The Center is affiliated with the Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, and most recently, with its Center for Culturally Competent Mental Health, directed by Carole Siegel, Ph.D. The overall mission of the manual and the training sessions is: “to promote the conception that good health is premised on one’s enhanced personal meaning and spiritual fulfillment, and not just on physical wellbeing.” (Marc Galanter, MD: Preface to “Conducting Multicultural Spirituality Discussion Groups”)
BCC will provide training and resources to assist behavioral health clinicians to develop and implement spirituality groups within their agency or program. These are not webinars. They are face to face trainings organized by you at your location with a minimum participation of 15, but no more than 20 participants. The training session will run for two hoursand will consist of a power point presentation with the accompanying manual as a guide and a simulated hour long spirituality group conducted with participants.
For scheduling training sessions, please have your staff contact Frances Priester at 518-473-4144 or by email at frances.priester@omh.ny.gov