MD20260430 –The ERT Framework: Cultivating Empathy, Strengthening Resilience, and Guiding Personal Transformation- Part III of III- Transformation: Evolving With Purpose
Date: Thursday, April 30, 2026; 9:00 am – 11:00 am 
Presenter: Dwayne Buckingham, Ph.D., LCSW-C, BCD, CCTP
Synopsis: Day 3 focuses on transformation as the outcome of integrated empathy and resilience. Participants explore transformation not as surface-level behavior change, but as identity, meaning, and systems-level evolution. This session draws from transformational leadership theory and transformative learning theory, emphasizing how empathic insight and resilience capacity translate into sustained change in individuals, relationships, and organizations.
Participants also examine how E.R.T.™ differs from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), clarifying scope, ethical boundaries, and appropriate application across clinical, coaching, and leadership contexts.
Learning Objectives: By the end of the this session, participants will be able to:
1. Explain the E.R.T.™ transformation process by accurately describing the Empathy → Resilience → Transformation sequence.
2. Differentiate E.R.T.™ from CBT by identifying at least three conceptual or practice-based distinctions between the two models.
3. Design one E.R.T.™-aligned transformation plan that integrates empathic awareness, resilience capacity, and purposeful action within their professional role.
CE: 3 Cat 1 in Cultural Competency
Cost: $50 for members; $75 for non-members; $30 for retired members; $20 for student members
Please Note: This workshop meets the BSWE Anti-Oppressive Social Work Practice content requirement and qualifies for 2 Category I continuing education units in Cultural Competency.

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MD20260423 –The ERT Framework: Cultivating Empathy, Strengthening Resilience, and Guiding Personal Transformation- Part II of III: Resilience: Standing Tall in Adversity
Date: Thursday, April 23, 2026; 9:00 am – 12:15 pm 
Presenter: Dwayne Buckingham, Ph.D., LCSW-C, BCD, CCTP
Synopsis: Day 2 focuses on Resilience as the second pillar of E.R.T.™, emphasizing resilience as a dynamic capacity rather than a personality trait or expectation of endurance. Participants examine how empathy creates psychological safety, which in turn strengthens resilience and adaptive functioning.
The session integrates resilience research with leadership and coaching applications, helping participants identify resilience fractures, burnout cycles, and maladaptive coping patterns—without pathologizing human responses to stress and adversity.
Learning Objectives: By the end of the first session, participants will be able to:
1. Identify at least three protective factors associated with psychological resilience as defined by contemporary resilience research.
2. Analyze resilience breakdowns by distinguishing between healthy stress responses and maladaptive coping patterns in two case examples.
3. Apply at least two empathy-informed resilience strategies to support adaptive recovery in individuals, teams, or communities.
CE: 3 Cat 1 in Cultural Competency
Cost: $50 for members; $75 for non-members; $30 for retired members; $20 for student members
Please Note: This workshop meets the BSWE Anti-Oppressive Social Work Practice content requirement and qualifies for 3 Category I continuing education units in Cultural Competency.
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MD20260416 –The ERT Framework: Cultivating Empathy, Strengthening Resilence, and Guiding Personal Tranformation: Part I of III – Foundations of Empathy: Connections as the Catalyst
Date: Thursday, April 16, 2026; 9:00 am – 12:15 pm 
Presenter: Dwayne Buckingham, Ph.D., LCSW-C, BCD, CCTP

Synopsis: This training course prepares social workers and other healthcare professionals to apply Dr. Dwayne Buckingham’s human-centered and evidence-informed E.R.T.™ Framework to empower individuals to cultivate empathy, strengthen resilience and achieve personal and professional transformation. Grounded in neuroscience, positive psychology, resilience research, and transformational leadership theory, the E.R.T.™ Framework positions empathy as the entry point, resilience as the stabilizing capacity, and transformation as the outcome of integrated insight and adaptive action. Participants learn to move beyond symptom management and behavior correction toward identity-level and relational transformation, while maintaining ethical boundaries between coaching, leadership development, and clinical treatment.
Learning Objectives: By the end of the first session, participants will be able to:
1. Define empathy using neuroscience-informed language by identifying at least two neural or psychological mechanisms associated with empathic awareness.
2. Differentiate empathy from sympathy, emotional fusion, and emotional detachment by accurately analyzing two practice-based scenarios.
3. Demonstrate empathic presence by applying three core empathic skills (attunement, perspective-taking, non-judgment) in a guided exercise.
CE: 3 Cat 1 in Cultural Competency
Cost: $50 for members; $75 for non-members; $30 for retired members; $20 for student members
Please Note: This workshop meets the BSWE Anti-Oppressive Social Work Practice content requirement and qualifies for 3 Category I continuing education units in Cultural Competency.

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Trauma Informed Care for Social Workers: Shifting the Lens

Synopsis: This training equips licensed professionals with the foundational knowledge and practical strategies required to shift from a symptom-focused lens to a healing-centered approach. We will start by defining trauma broadly, including the critical impacts of historical and complex trauma, and exploring the neurobiological science behind the "fight, flight, or freeze" response. The core of the workshop focuses on applying the five essential pillars of TIC: Safety, Trustworthiness, Choice, Collaboration, and Empowerment. Through structured activities and case examples, you will learn to audit your own practice and agency environment to identify and eliminate procedures that inadvertently re-traumatize clients, from intake forms to physical office setups. Lastly, this workshop will introduce the TheraMe APP, a new and innovative APP that aims to shift how we understand and talk about emotional and mental well-being from a medical model of diagnosis and labeling to a human-centered language of wholeness and growth.
Learning Objectives: At the end of this workshop, attendees will be able to:
1. Define trauma using a broad, inclusive lens (including complex, intergenerational, and historical trauma) and explain its core impact on brain function and the nervous system.
2. Identify and articulate the five core principles/pillars of trauma-informed care (Safety, Trustworthiness, Choice, Collaboration, and Empowerment) as mandated by ethical practice.
3. Analyze current agency or practice procedures (e.g., intake forms, waiting areas, termination processes) to recognize and eliminate sources of potential re-traumatization.
4. Develop at least two proactive strategies to manage and mitigate the risks of vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, and professional burnout.
5. Understand how TheraMe helps therapists stay connected with clients between sessions and gain valuable insights into their emotional world.
CE: 3 Category I 
Cost: $50 for members; $75 for non-members; $30 for retired members; $20 for student members

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Transitions at the Center: Demonstrating the Value of Grief Education in Social Work Practice
 Date: Friday, May 2, 2026; 10:00 am – 1:15 pm 
Presenter: Shanea Thomas, LICSW, CSE
Developmental Editor, Writer, & Visual Formatting
 Synopsis: Every day, we are constantly experiencing transitions that we must make space for, whether they are with jobs, children, policies, health conditions, traumas, global issues, or death. Though grief therapy is often seen as a separate field or special interest in clinical work,  the presenter discusses the benefits of learning grief theory and techniques to better equip practitioners for an experience we all will go through. Dr. Shanéa Thomas, a grief counselor and a death doula, will use examples from their practice to discuss concepts around body autonomy, community care, death preparedness, and affirming one’s identity, even after death. Participants will be able to challenge their own beliefs about providing services around grief and develop tools for connecting when processing loss.
Learning Objectives: After this workshop, attendees will be able to: 
 1. Discuss at least three evidence-based practices to support clients experiencing grief and loss.
2. Define and apply understanding of body autonomy through the lens of disability and transformative justice.
3. Navigate case studies containing scenarios of grief, loss, and trauma and apply their chosen treatment tool.
CE: 3 Category I 
Cost: $50 for members; $75 for non-members; $30 for retired members; $20 for student members

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