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Shifting the Caregiving Conversation in the US Through Inclusion (In partnership with Blue Star Families)

· June 9, 2026 ·

Two people sit on a bench with arms around each other, seen from behind, overlooking a harbor.

Young caregivers are often the invisible backbone of their families. This webinar shines a light on their experiences and equips professionals with the tools needed to recognize, support, and advocate for this often-overlooked population.

This presentation will provide an overview of children, youth and young adults who assist in the care for an ill or injured family member, including military connected service members and veterans. The presentation will include an overview of existing data addressing health, social support and well-being needs of these “young carers”, guiding attendees through existing programs and opportunities for organizations and providing opportunities to integrate young carers into their current care programs.

Participants will gain insight into the unique experiences and needs of young carers and explore practical strategies for identifying, supporting, and advocating for this often-overlooked population within healthcare, educational, social service, and community settings.

Learning Goals

How to identify children, youth and young adults providing care in the United States.
Integrate young carers into existing care supports and programming.
Assess opportunity for policy advocacy for young carers in local, state and national care policy.

Instructor

Melinda S. Kavanaugh

PhD, LCSW

Dr. Kavanaugh is a Professor of Social Work at the Helen Bader School of Social Welfare, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with extensive clinical and research expertise in health care professional education and caregiving across the lifespan. Her work is grounded in a deep commitment to advancing understanding, education, and support for individuals and families navigating complex health and caregiving experiences.

Funded by federal, state, and non-profit organizations, Dr. Kavanaugh conducts translational research focused on young carer populations, including those impacted by ALS, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease, as well as individuals and families within military-connected and veteran communities. Her research addresses caregiving in the context of spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with a particular emphasis on translating research findings into accessible, real-world resources and educational tools.

Dr. Kavanaugh partners closely with organizations such as the Elizabeth Dole Foundation and the Wounded Warrior Project to develop programming and resources for “Hidden Helpers,” including youth activity books and family-centered supports designed to increase visibility, understanding, and resilience among young caregivers. Her scholarship has also informed the development of a series of books for children, young adults, families, and schools, including a graphic novel translated into 11 languages, extending the reach of her work internationally.

In addition to her academic and research roles, Dr. Kavanaugh serves as President of Global Neuro YCare, an international non-profit organization dedicated to developing linguistically and culturally accessible programs and supports for health care professionals, children, youth, and families affected by neurological disorders worldwide. Through this work, she has helped advance innovative educational initiatives, including the animated short film “LUKi & the Lights,” which supports children and families in understanding and communicating about ALS/MND.

Who Should Attend

This presentation is designed for professionals and community leaders who support children, youth, young adults, families, caregivers, military-connected populations, and veterans. It is particularly relevant for mental health professionals, educators, school counselors, care coordinators, case managers, nonprofit leaders, policymakers, veteran service providers, and community-based organizations seeking to better understand and support young people who provide care for family members.

CE Credit Registration

Participants of Melinda Kavanaugh’s Shifting the Caregiving Conversation in the US Through Inclusion Keynote can register on 7/13/2026 for an NBCC, CAMFT approved CE credit certificate through Antioch University for 1 CE credit. A separate link will be provided.

PRICE:

| $35 | Participants can request a Continuing Education certificate by registering through the provided link (available 7/13/2026) and by completing a survey.

Tarot Journaling: The Wheel of Fortune

· May 20, 2026 ·

A journaling and writing inspiration workshop. In this six-week workshop, we explore how The Wheel of Fortune, Major Arcanum X, symbolizes ways we view, manifest, and experience the state of thriving.

The four Minor Arcana Tens in the tarot deck offer a chance to reflect on the questions about how we’ve experienced The Wheel of Fortune in the past and the opportunities to deepen our engagement heading into the present and future:

How do we celebrate the peak joys and wonders of the heart with family and community? (Ten of Cups)

How do we connect to our wealth of ancestral legacy and prosperity? (Ten of Disks)

How do we recognize when a challenge has run its course and there’s nothing left to do but let go? (Ten of Swords)

How do we tap into universal and community life force for help when we’ve drained our own? (Ten of Wands)

These are the kinds of in-depth questions we will address in writing and discussion. You will learn a method for tarot journaling and a handful of other simple tools designed to help you begin and deepen your relationship to tarot. You’ll have the optional opportunity to create a personal tarot card using your own personal symbols that resonate for you. No prior experience with the tarot or with art-making is necessary. Tarot images from a variety of decks will be provided, though you are welcome to work with your own deck of choice.

Learning Goals

Develop a personal tarot journaling practice
Interpret and integrate the symbolic lessons of the Wheel of Fortune and the Four Tens.
Create a personalized symbolic tarot card as a tool for self-expression

Instructor

Tania Pryputniewicz

Tania is a heart-centered writing teacher, poet, and tarot muse passionate about cross-pollination and hybrid forms from poetry movies to tarot haiku. Once trapped in a loveless romance in her early twenties as an undergraduate English Major, Tania found a tarot deck in a bookshelf that saved her soul and set her feet firmly on the Royal Road. She brings over twenty-five years as a writing teacher and practicing tarot reader to her tarot-inspired writing classes.

A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Tania is the author of the poetry collection, November Butterfly (Saddle Road Press, 2014), the tarot workbook, Heart’s Compass Tarot (Two Fine Crows Books, 2021), and a memoir-in-poems, The Fool in the Corn (Saddle Road Press, 2022).

Recent poems appeared in America, We Call Your Name: Poems of Resistance and Resilience (Sixteen Rivers Press, 2018), NILVX: A Book of Magic (Tarot Series), The Rockvale Review and at SWWIM online. She teaches tarot journaling and poetry at San Diego Writers, Ink and lives in Coronado with her husband, three children, one blue-eyed Siberian Husky and a formerly feral feline named Luna. Her on-line home is: www.taniapryputniewicz.com

Assessing Suicide & Safety Risk in Military Veterans: Best Practices

· May 18, 2026 ·

This workshop equips clinical mental health counselors with the knowledge and tools to conduct effective risk assessments through a military- and veteran-specific lens. Participants will gain a deeper appreciation and understanding of military culture, exploring how this population’s unique strengths and experiences intersect with potential clinical risk factors. Drawing from both lived military experience and research on military-veteran mental health, this session challenges traditional assumptions and expands perspectives on working with veterans and their families.

Through case examples and applied learning, counselors will enhance their ability to identify and assess military-specific risk factors, apply evidence-based assessment tools, and develop culturally responsive safety plans that align with veterans’ values and help-seeking patterns.

Learning Goals

Identify and assess military-specific risk factors
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to identify at least 5 unique risk factors common to military-veteran populations
(such as combat exposure, moral injury, transition stress, and access to firearms) and integrate these factors into comprehensive
suicide and violence risk assessments.
Apply evidence-based risk assessment tools adapted for veteran populations
Participants will be able to select and administer at least 2 validated risk assessment instruments appropriate for military-veteran
clients (such as the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale or veteran-specific screening tools) and interpret results within the context
of military culture and experience.
Develop culturally responsive safety planning and intervention strategies
Participants will be able to create tailored safety plans and risk management interventions that account for military values, veteran
help-seeking behaviors, and available veteran-specific resources (including VA services, veteran peer support, and crisis lines), while
addressing barriers to care unique to this population.

Instructor

Dr. David Gosling

PhD, LPC (VA, WI), NCC

Dr. David Gosling is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Assistant Professor and the Director of Military Counseling in the counseling program at William & Mary’s School of Education. David previously served as a core faculty member in the Counseling, Psychology, and Therapy Department at Antioch University, where he was the co-founder and director of the Military, Veterans & Families (MVF) Counseling Certificate, as well as the Military Connected Student Support Liaison for Antioch University’s five nationwide campuses.

David is a proud alum of William & Mary’s Counselor Education and Supervision program, a former Airborne Ranger-qualified Infantry Officer in the U.S. Army and combat veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom 06-08, the Honor Graduate of the 2009 Rhode Island State Police Academy and the Distinguished Military Graduate of the University of Colorado’s Army ROTC program in 2004. His other professional pursuits beyond the military, law enforcement and counselor education have included working as an Outward Bound wilderness guide for troubled teens, operating an Islamic nonprofit farm and retreat center and working in veterans advocacy on Capitol Hill.

Trauma Informed Creative Arts Therapy Program (CE Credit Registration)

· May 7, 2026 ·

Participants of Lucy Barbera’s Trauma-Informed Creative Art Therapy Workshop Program can register on this webpage for an NBCC, CAMFT approved CE credit certificate through Antioch University for 30 CE credits.

Click here for more information and to register for the full program.

“Trauma is perhaps the most avoided, ignored, belittled, denied, misunderstood, and untreated cause of human suffering.”
– Peter Levine, PhD

DATES:
September 19th, October 10th & 17th, November 7th & 21st, and December 12th, 2026
Time: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm ET (1:00 pm – 2:00 pm lunch break) Program participants must complete 30 hours to receive certificate.

HYBRID Facilitation: LIVE in PERSON in Kingston, NY and simultaneously over ZOOM

This unique program was designed to assist helping professionals in treating complex trauma, using a multi-modal creative arts approach for integration and healing. The program provides helping professionals instruction on HOW to immediately apply creative methods, within the context of their practice with diverse populations and WHEN to utilize the Creative Arts Therapies when working with individuals and/or groups, using the following modalities: visual arts, creative writing, movement, music, and the dramatic arts, safely without re-traumatization, within the Window of Time-Tolerance-Reconsolidation.

The TRAUMA-INFORMED Creative Arts Therapy program is open to mental health professionals, human-service providers, teaching artists, and educators who want to understand the neuroscience of trauma and the vital role the creative arts therapies play in mitigating the negative effects of trauma.

WHAT: The Trauma- Informed Creative Arts Therapy Program consists of 30 Training hours and 6 (built-in hours for one make-up day, should that be necessary for any reason.

WHERE: This Program will be conducted face-to-face in the Creative Arts Therapy Studio, in Kingston, New York & via ZOOM simultaneously!

PRICE:
Training | Click here to register
Payment can be made in 2 installments: one half to hold your space and the second half is due on the first day of the program).
Cost includes: All ART SUPPLIES (mailed to you if you are not attending in person)

CE Credits through Antioch University | $35 | Click “Add to Cart” on this page. Registration for CE credits will remain open until Sunday, December 13th, 2026.
If you have already registered for the training, you can request a Continuing Education certificate through Antioch University by clicking “Add to Cart” on this page.

Instructor

Lucy Barbera

PhD, LCAT

Lucy Barbera, PhD, LCAT, is a Licensed Creative Arts Therapist, whose clinical work spans the medical, psychiatric, and special education settings, as a Creative Arts Therapist, Art Teacher, and Special Education Principal. For over twenty years, Dr. Barbera has served on the faculty of The Humanistic Multicultural Education Graduate Program, at SUNY, New Paltz, where she developed and taught graduate and undergraduate courses in Expressive Arts Therapy and Expressive Arts Leadership & Social Justice. Dr. Barbera is the Founder of the Trauma-Informed Creative Arts Therapy Certificate Program, at U Albany’s School of Social Welfare and an Associate Faculty Member of The Person-Centered Expressive Arts Therapy Program, founded by Dr. Natalie Rogers. Dr. Barbera lectures widely on the healing power of the arts, and curates exhibitions of patient/client expressive art, bringing awareness of the healing power of the arts to the community. Dr. Barbera maintains a private practice in Creative Arts Therapy, using a trauma-informed approach to creative arts therapies.

Hearts of Service: A Caregiver Connection Conference

· May 5, 2026 ·

April 30th, 2026: Please see below for a special update about this conference

A special place of connection, insight and inspiration. For caregivers to find their place.

Thank you so much for your interest in the Hearts of Service: A Caregiver Connection Conference. We are excited to share that this event is evolving to better meet the needs of our community.
In listening to our partners, participants, and the professionals we serve, we recognize the importance of increased access, flexibility, and sustained engagement. In response, this event will now be delivered as a virtual event series, with options to engage through a single session or a series of connected learning opportunities.

What does this mean?

A shift to a digital format means that we will not be gathering in person on Saturday, May 16th at the Antioch University Yellow Springs campus. This shift allows us to broaden participation, deepen impact over time, and create a more accessible pathway for caregivers and professionals balancing complex schedules and responsibilities.

Where can I learn more about the new format?

Specific dates & event information is forthcoming. Updates will be shared on the Blue Star Families website:

https://bluestarfam.org/chapters/dayton/ and https://continuinged.antioch.edu/

What resources are available to me now?

Blue Star Families has several events designed to support military families and professionals working alongside them. We encourage you to explore these opportunities as well, by visiting:

https://bluestarfam.org/chapters/dayton/ and https://www.facebook.com/OHBSF/

We look forward to continuing this important work with you in a format designed to support real-world application and ongoing connection.

Sponsored by Blue Star Families of Dayton & Southwestern Ohio, and The Coalition for the Common Good