Responding to Microaggressions in Conversations with System-Involved Youth & Families

Kelsey Pacha, MA, M.Div.

Training Description

This training will assist providers in reflecting on their own power and privilege within their personal identities, while also considering the intersectional context of the system involved youth and families they support. Through personal assessment, group discussion, and multimedia, participants will define three types of microaggressions, explore examples through news and pop culture, and discuss how microaggressions are directed at a variety of different identity categories (i.e. race, class, gender, age, sexual orientation, etc.). Finally, through group activity and roleplay, participants will explore four possible responses to microaggressions and reflect on how their choice of response is related to their level of power & privilege. All examples given are within the context of working with caregivers, youth, & social services colleagues. Together, we will develop personal strategies to intervene when witnessing the perpetration of damaging messages and embody what it feels like to respond in uncomfortable situations.

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

• Define microaggression & differentiate between three types of microaggressions;
• Acquire four strategies for responding to microaggressions; and
• Roleplay responding to microaggressions in small groups & analyze each person’s responses based on individual levels of power & privilege.

Agenda

1:00-2:30pm  Introductions and Overview of training

· Review of objectives, handouts, and Community agreements

· Review intersectionality, power, privilege, & protected classes.

· Clarify how microaggressions & our choice of responses to them relate to our legal obligations as providers.

· Define microaggressions (microassault, microinsult, microinvalidation)

· Video: What is a microaggression?

· Work and health-related impacts of microaggressions.

· Impact of trauma on microaggressions

· Review of examples based on five aspects of identity

2:30-2:45pm  Break (CE hours will not be offered for this time)

2:45-3:50pm  Responses to Microaggressions

· Review four responses to microaggressions

· Evaluate them in terms of active & passive responses

· Roleplay 1 in small groups

· Roleplay 2 in small groups

· Large group debriefing

3:50-4:00pm  Questions & Answers, Wrap-up

Meet Our Trainer

Kelsey Pacha, MA, M.Div. is a trans man who has worked with marginalized communities for 15+ years in a variety of settings. He holds a Master of Religion and Psychology, Master of Divinity, and Certificate of Sexuality and Religion from Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA. He also holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Development and Psychological Services from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. He is the owner of Kelsey Pacha Consulting, which supports the work of institutions and individuals in increasing their capacity for cultural humility and social justice-informed institutional change. Kelsey offers educational trainings and LGBTQ workplace policy expertise with an emphasis on practical skills, identity awareness, and personal empowerment. He regularly works with corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion officers and LGBTQ affinity groups, as well as legal, clinical, medical, and direct service

(including child welfare and faith leader) personnel.

This course meets the qualifications for (2.75) BBS CE hours for LCSWs, LMFTs, LPCCs, and LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences & is provided by Fred Finch Youth Center, CAMFT Provider #045295.