05.30.2019

NEWS RELEASE: May 31, 2019

Media Contact:
Jessica Cochran
Director of Community Relations & Communications
Phone: 907-440-8047 or 907-261-5330
Email address: jcochran@acmhs.com

Seventh Annual Alaska Advanced Trauma Training Institute
June 13-14, 2019

Food and Fire: A joint event supporting youth: June 13, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
National and Alaska Experts come together to promote trauma-informed care

(Anchorage, Alaska) The Alaska Child Trauma Center at Anchorage Community Mental Health Services, Inc. is pleased to present the 7th Annual Alaska Advanced Trauma Training Institute, taking place at the Dena’ina Center in Anchorage June 13-14, 2019. On the evening of June 13, attendees and the community are invited to learn more about two unique vocational training programs for transition age youth at Food and Fire: a Joint Event Supporting Youth.

Two internationally-known trauma experts are keynote speakers for this year’s conference. Dr. Anthony Mannarino, Ph.D., is Director of the Center for Traumatic Stress in Children and Adolescents and Vice-Chair, Department of Psychiatry at Alleghany General Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA. He has been a leader in the field of child traumatic stress for 25 years, and is a co-developer of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, the leading evidence-based practice for treating children with a history of traumatic experiences. Dr. Brad Stolbach, Ph. D., is a licensed clinical psychologist in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Chicago. He’s spent more than twenty years developing programs and services for youth and families affected by trauma on Chicago’s south side. In 2015, he co-founded Project Fire (see below). Other conference speakers include Dr. Linda Chamberlain, Dr. Laverne Demienteff, Gennifer Moreau-Johnson of the Division of Behavioral Health, and Kristin Mortenson of ACMHS. A complete conference agenda is available here.

The June 13 evening event, Food and Fire, will include a flameworking demonstration by Chicago-based Project Fire, and a hydroponic greenhouse tour by youth staff from Alaska Seeds of Change. Participants will also be able to sample locally grown and harvested foods, as well as shop at an on-site pop-up market.

Project Fire assists youth who have been recent victims of gun violence on Chicago’s south side. Led by master glass artist Pearl Dick and co-creator Dr. Bradley Stolbach, youth are taught the artistic medium of flameworking and blown glass, which serves as a form of trauma therapy while providing youth with vocational skills and psychotherapy education to help them find healthier paths. At ACMHS’s Alaska Seeds of Change program, youth have the opportunity to learn vocational, business and independent living skills in an indoor hydroponic greenhouse setting. Through the youth-led program, fresh vegetables are grown and sold at local markets year-round. In adjacent space, ACMHS’s Alaska Youth Advocates runs a drop-in center where teens can access food and other resources, including educational groups and therapy for any mental health needs.

Tickets for Food and Fire are $30 and can be purchased online through Eventbrite.

 

 

About Anchorage Community Mental Health Services
ACMHS is a local non-profit that has been providing community-based mental health care services in the Anchorage area for more than 40 years, as well as in Fairbanks since 2013.

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