ADHD & Domestic Violence Awareness Month Specials

25% Off ADHD & Domestic Violence CE

25% Off ADHD & Domestic Violence CETo help promote awareness and education of ADHD and Domestic Violence, we are featuring all of our ADHD and Domestic Violence online CE courses at 25% off during October:

 

ADHD is a non-discriminatory disorder affecting people of every age, gender, IQ, and religious and socioeconomic background. Do you know what appropriate treatment is? Are you up-to-date on what kind of help is available? A lot has changed in the last 20 and even in just the last five years. Click here for ADHD resources.

 

Domestic violence doesn’t discriminate. While there are so many good causes, rarely will you find an issue that impacts 1 in 4 women. It is likely that someone in your neighborhood, office, or extended family is in danger right now. Click here to learn how you can help to raise awareness and end violence.

These online courses provides instant access to the course materials (PDF download) and CE test. Successful completion of the online CE test (80% required to pass, 3 chances to take) and course evaluation are required to earn a certificate of completion. You can print the test (download test from My Courses tab of your account after purchasing) and mark your answers on while reading the course document. Then submit online when ready to receive credit.

Professional Development Resources is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists; the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC ACEP #5590); the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB Provider #1046, ACE Program); the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA Provider #3159); the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDRProvider #PR001); the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (#PCE1625); theFlorida Boards of Social Work, Mental Health Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy (#BAP346), Psychology & School Psychology (#50-1635), Dietetics & Nutrition (#50-1635), and Occupational Therapy Practice (#34); the Illinois DPR for Social Work (#159-00531); the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker & MFT Board (#RCST100501); the South Carolina Board of Professional Counselors & MFTs (#193); and the Texas Board of Examiners of Marriage & Family Therapists (#114) and State Board of Social Worker Examiners (#5678).

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5 Reasons You Need to Know Who Your Kids are Friends With

by Michelle @ nannypro.com

5 Reasons to Think Twice About Who Your Child Hangs Around WithHelping your child to achieve an age-appropriate level of independence and to make friends outside of the home is a common goal for many parents. After all, every parent wants their child to be well-liked and well-adjusted, socially. When your child gets too old for structured play dates and supervised group activities, though, it’s not always easy to know exactly who his friends are or who he’s spending time with. At first blush, it’s tempting to let your child navigate the complex world of social interaction on his own until he comes to you with a request for help, especially if you’re concerned about being overly intrusive. There’s a difference between being a hovering “helicopter” parent and one that’s reasonably well aware of who your child is spending time with and what she’s doing when you’re not around. Rather than eschewing over-involved parenting to the point of dangerous aloofness, you’ll want to make an effort to know who your child’s friends are. These are five of the reasons why you should carefully consider your child’s social group, and the possible implications of him spending too much time with the wrong crowd.

  • Bullying Happens Among Friends – If your child has a full social life and lots of friends, it’s easy to think that she’s been lucky enough to escape the scourge of bullying. What many parents fail to realize, however, is that bullying can happen within groups of friends, too. If your child is on the outside of her social circle, she may very well be bullied or pressured into things that she’d rather not do by a “higher ranking” member of that circle. When you know who your child’s friends are and what goes on in their group, you’ll have a better chance of discovering any bullying or advantage that’s being taken of your child’s eagerness to fit in with the rest of her peer group.
  • The Question of Influence – When your child was a toddler, and even through the early elementary years, he probably thought of you as the smartest and coolest person in the world. As he gets older and more eager to establish an identity for himself separate from his family, he’ll begin to find more value in the opinions of his peer group. That’s when it’s most important to know who his friends are. Unless your child is exceptionally strong-willed, there will be times when he gives in to the influence of the crowd around him. Depending on who he’s spending time with, that influence could be a negative one.
  • The Breakup Backlash – During the preteen and teenage years, friendships can be quite intense. This especially holds true amongst girls, whose closeness will often leave them referring to one another as “sisters” and spending every available moment together. Unfortunately, these passionate friendships can also have the tendency to crash and burn, leaving your child to deal with the fallout. If you have a decent idea of who your child’s friends are, you’ll be better prepared to help her weather that particular storm.
  • Parental Supervision – Your child wants to invite his friends over, but he also wants to spend time at his best friends’ houses. When you don’t know the children in question, it’s a safe bet that you don’t know their parents, which is just asking for trouble. Before you send your youngster packing to a buddy’s house for the weekend, you’ll need to make sure that you have a basic idea of the house rules and that you know your child will be appropriately supervised throughout the visit. The last thing you want is for your curious child and his buddy to get into a liquor cabinet or engage in other illicit activities just because there’s no one there to stop them when curious impulses take over.
  • Avoiding Unfair Accusations – Kids’ behavior will go through a series of metamorphoses over the years between elementary school and adolescence as they try on various personas. When those behavioral changes are negative, however, you’ll need to be able to get to the root of them as soon as possible. If you have no idea who your child is hanging out with or the things that they do when you’re not around, you won’t be able to tell how much of their questionable behavior is a result of a bad influence and how much is actually his own idea. Getting to know your kids’ friends can help you to avoid the embarrassing and unfair characterization of good kids as “bad kids,” a label that can come back to haunt you when the kids in question are shown not to be a negative influence.

 

It’s not always easy to get to know your child when she approaches adolescence. So many things about your child will change, especially her level of attachment to the family unit. Understand that this exploration is both natural and necessary, but don’t give your tween such free reigns that you’re not even sure who her friends are.

Source: http://www.nannypro.com/blog/5-reasons-to-think-twice-about-who-your-child-hangs-around-with/

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New Domestic Violence Online Course

 

Domestic Violence: Child Abuse and Intimate Partner Violence

Domestic Violence: Child Abuse and Intimate Partner ViolenceDomestic violence, in the form of child abuse and intimate partner violence, remains a pervasive part of contemporary life in the U.S. Its effects are deep and far-reaching. This new 2-hour online continuing education course is intended to help health professionals maintain a high state of vigilance and to be well prepared with immediate and appropriate responses when abuse is disclosed. There is a special section on the complexity of an abuse victim’s decision about if and when to leave an abuser. This course will teach clinicians to detect abuse when they see it, screen for the particulars, and respond with definitive assistance in safety planning, community referrals, and individualized treatment plans.

This course is presented in two sections. Part I will deal with the scope, definitional concepts, dynamics, recognition, assessment, and treatment of victims of child abuse. A section on bullying is included, with consideration of a contemporary variant of bullying known as “cyber-bullying.” There is also a section addressing the question of whether abused children grow up to become abusers themselves. A strengths-based model of assessment and intervention is detailed.

Part II will cover similar aspects of intimate partner violence, including women, children, and men. Sections are included on cross cultural considerations and same gender abuse dynamics. Emphasis is on identifying victims of IPV and providing screening and intervention procedures that are intended to empower victims to take control of their own lives. There are sections on the dynamics that influence when/whether abuse victims decide to leave their abusers and how clinicians can prepare for immediate interventions as soon as a client discloses that he/she is being abused.

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Electronic Media and Youth Violence

Electronic Aggression: Any type of harassment or bullying (teasing, telling lies, making fun of someone, making rude or mean comments, spreading rumors, or making threatening or aggressive comments) that occurs through email, a chat room, instant messaging, a website (including blogs), or text messaging.

Electronic Media and Youth Violence

Electronic Media and Youth Violence

Technology and adolescents seem destined for each other; both are young, fast paced, and ever changing. In previous generations teens readily embraced new technologies, such as record players, TVs, cassette players, computers, and VCRs, but the past two decades have witnessed a virtual explosion in new technology, including cell phones, iPods, MP-3s, DVDs, and PDAs (personal digital assistants). This new technology has been eagerly embraced by adolescents and has led to an expanded vocabulary, including instant messaging (“IMing”), blogging, and text messaging. New technology has many social and educational benefits, but caregivers and educators have expressed concern about the dangers young people can be exposed to through these technologies. To respond to this concern, some states and school districts have, for example, established policies about the use of cell phones on school grounds and developed policies to block access to certain websites on school computers. Many teachers and caregivers have taken action individually by spot-checking websites used by young people, such as MySpace. This brief focuses on the phenomena of electronic aggression: any kind of aggression perpetrated through technology—any type of harassment or bullying (teasing, telling lies, making fun of someone, making rude or mean comments, spreading rumors, or making threatening or aggressive comments) that occurs through email, a chat room, instant messaging, a website (including blogs), or text messaging.

Caregivers, educators, and other adults who work with young people know that children and adolescents spend a lot of time using electronic media (blogs, instant messaging, chat rooms, email, text messaging). What is not known is exactly how and how often they use different types of technology. Could use of technology increase the likelihood that a young person is the victim of aggression? If the answer is yes, what should caregivers and educators do to help young people protect themselves? To help answer these questions, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Adolescent and School Health and Division of Violence Prevention, held an expert panel on September 20-21, 2006, in Atlanta, Georgia, entitled “Electronic Media and Youth Violence.” There were 13 panelists, who came from academic institutions, federal agencies, a school system, and nonprofit organizations who were already engaged in work focusing on electronic media and youth violence. The panelists presented information about if, how, and how often technology is used by young people to behave aggressively. They also presented information about the qualities that make a young person more or less likely to be victimized or to behave aggressively toward someone else electronically.

Electronic Media and Youth Violence, a 1-hour online continuing education course, was developed for educators and caregivers and summarizes what is known about young people and electronic aggression and discusses the implications of these findings for school staff, educational policy makers, and caregivers.

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