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Training resources

Live workshops and recorded trainings are available at no-cost for VSHSL-funded providers.

The Veterans, Seniors, and Human Services Levy (VSHSL) supports VSHSL-funded providers and programs by offering core competency trainings. These trainings are meant to help providers attain and maintain key skills and concepts. Training topics are informed by responses to the annual narrative report. This resource is available to eligible providers at no cost. Some trainings have been recorded and are available to view here.

Upcoming trainings

Talking about Race: Courageous Conversations for a Diverse & Inclusive Workplace

Date: Wednesday, April 30, 2025, 1:00-3:00pm 

Location: Virtual

Trainer: Caprice Hollins, Psy.D., Cultures Connecting

Description: This interactive workshop provides seven tools and strategies for how to have courageous conversations about race, power, and privilege. Participants adopt new norms necessary to create a space for difficult and empowering conversations with one another and the diverse communities they serve. Each will reflect on what is challenging for them and commit to action steps. In this workshop, participants grow in their ability to shift from othering to belonging as they collectively practice new ways of being in the workplace.

Participants will:

  • Learn tools and strategies for how to engage in courageous conversations
  • Individually identify what is most difficult for them in race conversations and commit to practicing a new way of engaging
  • Deepen their understanding of the need for explicit norms to guide our conversations
Trainer bio: Dr Caprice Hollins is the co-founder of Cultures Connecting, which provides educational opportunities to organizations seeking to improve their ability to effectively work with diverse cultures. Dr Hollins received her doctorate degree in clinical psychology with an emphasis in multicultural and community psychology. She has over 14 years of experience teaching graduate courses, working with historically marginalized populations, researching, studying, and facilitating race related conversations.
 
This workshop will not be recorded.

Compassionate Communication for De-escalation and Rapport Building

Date: Wednesday, May 28, 2025, 10:00am-12:00pm 

Location: Virtual

Trainer: Jenna Montgomery, MSW, LSWAIC

Description: This workshop delivers the key skills of compassionate communication to help  quickly build rapport and bridge differences with clients and human service staff.

Participants will:

  • Understand how power operates in our lives and identify strengths that help us survive
  • Learn skills for empathy and connection
  • Learn to pay attention to needs so we can relieve the harm of not having needs met
  • Learn how compassion frees us up for creative problem-solving

Working in human services is complex. Often, we are meeting people who have exhausted all of their resources and are in survival mode. Connecting with people in these circumstances can be daunting. This training will tap into your innate ability to understand the person in front of you. You will learn how validation and compassion de-escalate intense emotions so that we can be more creative and effective in our work.

This training will include interactive practices for live attendees and equivalent experiences for viewers of the recorded version. Handouts will be provided on frameworks for understanding power, threat response, and communication.

Trainer bio: Jenna Montgomery, MSW, LSWAIC is a hospital social worker and therapist in private practice. They have a background in domestic violence advocacy and prevention work, as well as community mental health outreach. They’ve worked on crisis lines, knocked on doors, assessed, intervened, and served coffee and sandwiches. Coffee, food and conversation are their medicine.
 
This workshop will be recorded.

Mental Health Literacy

Date: Thursday, June 26, 2025, 1:00-3:00pm 

Location: Virtual

Trainer: Menosh Zalmai, LCSW and Bassie Whipple, LSWAIC

Description: Mental health literacy is part of health literacy and includes improving mental health knowledge, reducing stigma, empowering individuals to seek support and building positive mental health.

Key factors include:

  • Symptoms of mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression
  • Risk factors and causes for mental health disorders
  • Available self-help and clinical resources
  • How to seek mental health information
  • Attitudes that facilitate recognition and seeking support

This presentation will highlight some of the core components of mental health literacy and aid individuals in their work and life. Attendees will be encouraged to participate in small break-outs as well as in larger group discussions and activities.

 
Trainer bio: Bassie Whipple, LSWAIC  is an Army veteran and clinical independent social worker with over 10 years of experience. Currently serving as a mental health therapist at North Thurston Public Schools, she is dedicated to supporting a diverse population that includes youth, adults, incarcerated veterans, and the elderly in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Bassie holds an undergraduate degree in social work from Saint Martin’s University and a Master’s degree from UW. In addition to her therapeutic practice she is a passionate trainer and workshop facilitator for Women Intelligence for Service and Excellence (WISE) in Ghana, where she helps empower women through skill-building and support. With a strong commitment to service and excellence, Bassie utilizes her extensive experience to foster resilience and promote well-being in her community.

Menosh Z, LCSW is a licensed clinical social worker with an MS in Public Policy. Menosh is the owner of Silk Route Therapy LLC, where she sees clients/patients seeking help with PTSD, relationship struggles, identity crises, displacement trauma, and systemic trauma. She has taught as an adjunct faculty member at UW’s School of Social Work. Menosh has worked as a domestic violence and anti-trafficking advocate and has extensive experience in curriculum design and working with marginalized communities, specifically immigrants and refugees.
 
This workshop will be recorded.

Caring Without Burning Out: Managing Compassion Fatigue in Helping Professions

Date: Tuesday, July 29, 2025, 2:00-4:00pm 

Location: Virtual

Trainer: Jack Shaw, LMHCA

Description: This workshop is designed for individuals in helping and supporting professions to recognize, manage, and prevent emotional exhaustion related to their work. Participants will gain an understanding of compassion fatigue and its connection to secondary/vicarious trauma, exploring how repeated exposure to others’ suffering impacts mental and emotional well-being. The session will cover the impacts of compassion fatigue, guide attendees through a self-care assessment, and provide practical strategies for setting boundaries and asking for help when needed. Additionally, the workshop will introduce coping strategies and local resources available for support, ensuring that those who dedicate their lives to helping others can also prioritize their own well-being.

Trainer bio: Jack Shaw is a Licensed Mental Health Counseling Associate and has an online therapy practice, Careton Counseling. His experience includes trauma-informed therapy, narrative therapy, and emotionally focused therapy to help clients overcome emotional barriers, manage stress, and develop healthier relationship dynamics.
 
This workshop will be recorded.

Mission Critical

Date: Tuesday, September 30, 2025, 10:00am-12:00pm 

Location: Virtual

Trainer: Sean Goode

Description: When will these systems begin to change? When will those that I serve experience the support that they deserve? When will I have time to care for myself? When will things start to get better? Many questions like these live within the people who show up for their community with an uncompromising commitment to serve those in great need with deep compassion. With a challenging history at their back and a hope for a better future pushing them forward, daily they do the difficult work to create a better world for all of us. Together we’ll gather around a shared mission of service, get grounded in what is possible and learn how to sustainably serve while creating a world where we all can live, love and thrive. Not only is this this workshop inspirational but will be sure to engage participants in conversation and leave them with practical tools to use in their work.

 
Trainer bio: Sean Goode is a professional speaker, coach, facilitator and consultant. Informed by his own life’s journey of overcoming difficult circumstances and more than 20 years supporting families and communities impacted by violence heal and transform their lives and neighborhoods, Sean leads with a core belief that infinite impact starts in you. Goode’s work has included launching gang and group intervention teams, serving as a chaplain in juvenile detention, leading the nationally recognized, award-winning human rights organization CHOOSE 180, and working in philanthropy as a chief officer where he focused on moving resources into underserved communities. Sean’s impact has been recognized by The Atlantic, The Kelly Clarkson Show, Harvard Business School, and the Seattle Seahawks.
 

This workshop will be recorded.

Trauma-Informed Care

Date: Tuesday, October 28, 2025, 10:00am-12:00pm 

Location: Virtual

Trainer: Cross Cultural Health Care Program

Description: This workshop introduces key concepts about trauma-informed care, with an emphasis on a holistic understanding of how past experiences may impact accessing, participating in, and following through with care services. Participants are introduced to skills to help them understand the potential of unintentional re-traumatization and help promote engagement, trust-building, and empowerment of the individual in the care process. The exploration of these skills is encouraged through group discussions and exercises.
The learning objectives include:

  •  Defining person-centered, trauma-informed care and its relevance in providing health and human services to the communities/individuals served your organizations
  • Identifying ways in which past trauma may manifest in the behaviors of individuals served by your organizations
  • Cultural and personal meaning of traumatic experiences, and understanding of intergenerational trauma
  • Understanding the core values of person-centered, trauma-informed care; including dignity, respect, cultural humility, and empowerment
  • Learning how to apply the key trauma-informed principles of care (Safety, Trustworthiness and Transparency, Peer Support and Mutual Self-Help, Collaboration and Mutuality, Empowerment, Voice, and Choice, Cultural, Historical, and Gender Issues)
  • Discovering strategies to nurture compassion in caregiving, including self-care practices for balancing professional boundaries with genuine connection 
Trainer bio: The Cross Cultural Health Care Program (CCHCP) is a non-profit organization that provides training on medical interpreting, cultural competency, and health equity topics. Their work has expanded since their foundation over 30 years ago, to include consultations with organizations on equity and inclusion strategic planning, organizational assessments and community outreach. CCHCP provides resources and training for individuals and institutions with the goal of systems change. CCHCP envisions a world where every community has equitable access, and has its voice heard, valued, and represented.
 

This workshop will not be recorded.

Previous trainings

Past trainings are recorded and available to watch on Vimeo.

Watch previous trainings

Additional free online trainings

By Relias

Description: This course is meant for loss of life through caring for family member and/or someone in your care.

This training is a recorded webinar that can be viewed on-demand at any time. No log-in necessary with link.

Hosted by Eastside Legal Assistance Program

Description: The Eastside Legal Assistance Program facilitates and hosts other trainers in virtual workshops on topics such as Housing and Tenant Rights, Immigration Rights and Public Benefits.

The trainings are recorded webinars that can be viewed on-demand at any time at the above links.

By Relias

Description: Mitigating staffing shortages in healthcare settings, return to work criteria, coping with stress & anxiety in healthcare environments, resources included.

This training is a recorded webinar that can be viewed on-demand at any time. No log-in necessary with link.

By Rogers Behavioral Health

Description: 6 videos covering 9 topics accompanied by one-sheet handouts. Topics include: Fatigue and self-compassion, Locus of control, Changing Expectations, Boundaries, Mindfulness & Gratitude, and Managing Stress & Relationships.

The training is a recorded webinar that can be viewed on-demand at any time.

By King County Department of Community and Human Services, Behavioral Health and Recovery Division 

Description: Trauma-Informed Care originally created for staff of the King County Isolation/Quarantine (I/Q) and Assessment/Recovery Centers (AC/RC) sites.

This training is a recorded webinar that can be viewed on-demand at any time.

Hosted by the Alliance of People with disAbilities, The Arc of King County & King County Disability Consortium

Understanding Ableism: Part I – Nothing About Us Without Us!

Understanding Ableism: Part II – Intersections and Advocacy Event

Description: An informative panel discussion on how people with disabilities/disabled people define ableism and how it shows up in their own lives. Also discusses the intersection of disability and other marginalized identities, especially race, other people’s role in combatting ableism, how disability justice meshes with other civil rights issues and ways we can all support our collective work.

This training is a recorded webinar that can be viewed on-demand at any time.

In an effort to promote connections and highlight valuable resources created by service providers in the VSHSL and wider King County network, we are sharing the online training resources above. Please note that the above was not created by, nor does their inclusion constitute endorsement by, the VSHSL or DCHS ASD. If you have a training resource you would like to share for potential inclusion here or in our VSHSL newsletter, please click here.

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