June 11, 2024
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Pacific
1.5 Hours | 1.5 CEs
Free Live Training via Zoom
Virginia Barber Rioja, PhD and Ashley Batastini, PhD present a live virtual professional training program on An Introduction to Correctional Mental Health. This free program is part of Palo Alto University's At the Forefront of Psychology & Counseling series, in which PAU experts tackle pressing and emerging issues.
The U.S. incarcerates far more people than any other country in the world. The incarcerated population is overrepresented by people of color, LGBTQ persons, and people with extensive mental health, substance use, and trauma-related needs. In addition, criminogenic needs must be addressed to reduce reoffending risk.
The US correctional system provides opportunities for mental health professionals to contribute their science as clinicians, researchers, and policy advocates. Adequate mental health interventions are essential to prevent suicide and violence, mitigate stress, and overall increase the chances of rehabilitation and recovery. However, the delivery of mental health services in correctional settings is challenging, and resources are often limited. Furthermore, even though mental health practice and research in correctional settings require specialized knowledge, correctional clinicians, administrators, and scholars have few resources to guide their practice.
This introductory session provides an overview of the US correctional system, ethical considerations for clinical practice, best practices in assessment and treatment, and the current state of correctional research.
This session would be appropriate for individuals wanting to work with incarcerated clients in jails or prisons, including Students, early career, or professionals who want more background in correctional mental health.
Training outline:
- Overview of the number of people incarcerated and by demographic groups
- General differences between jail and prison
- Outline of ethical guidelines, considerations, example dilemmas
- Common mental health conditions among incarcerated populations and common assessment and treatment responses
- An overview of RNR in addressing criminogenic needs
- Challenges and needs in correctional mental health research

Intended Audience
This live program is intended for mental health and other allied professionals.

Experience Level
This live program is appropriate for beginner, intermediate, and advanced level clinicians.

CE / CPD Credit
APA, ASWB, CPA, NBCC: Click here for state and other regional board approvals.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this program you will be able to:
Describe the role of mental health services in jails and prisons
Describe common evidence-based assessment and treatment practices in jails and prisons
Describe the current state of correctional mental health research

Live Event Policy
Registration for our live events is covered for one (1) person per purchase. If you would like to purchase for a group, please contact our group training team.
Event Communications
When registering, use an email that is active and that you check regularly. We are not responsible for communications not being received; if you do not add caps@paloaltou.edu to your email safe sender list, our emails are likely to end up in your spam or junk folders.
Cancellation Policy
This is a live program only and will not be made available on-demand. If you are unable to attend live please contact customer service 48 hours before the live event to request a refund.
Event Conduct
Professional conduct is expected during our live programs. Our goal is to make our events as interactive as possible for all participants. We reserve the right to remove any participants who are disruptive, act unprofessionally, or who we are unable to verify their purchase.
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CE Credit
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Convenience & Flexibility
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CE Sponsorship Information
Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is approved by the Canadian Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT), SW CPE is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0356 and the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0073. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6811. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. CONCEPT Professional Training, #1480, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. CONCEPT Professional Training maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 11/22/23-11/22/26. Social workers completing this course receive (clinical or social work ethics) continuing education credits.