2026 Spring Workshop Series
Join us for our 2026 Spring Workshop Series! All workshops take place virtually over Zoom.
IDFPR, IL Certification Board & EAP Approved:
Counselors, Social Workers, CADC, Employee Assistance Counselors, Psychologists, Nurses
NOTE: These workshops are 3 CEUs each. Earn up to 15 CEUS.
Workshop Schedule- 2026 Lineup
| Workshop | Date | Time | Topic | Presenter(s) |
| A | March 7, 2026 | 9AM – 12:15PM | Integrating Harm Reduction, Motivational Interviewing, and Logotherapy to Facilitate Wellness and Recovery | Mark Sanders, LCSW, CADC |
| B | March 14, 2026 | 9AM – 12:15PM | Mindful Pathways: Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Recovery and Resilience | Giselle Hernandez Navarro, PhD, LCSW, CADC, NCC, ACS |
| C | April 4, 2026 | 9AM – 12:15PM | The Magic of Group Therapy: A Patient Speaks | Christie Tate, New York Times Best Selling Author |
| D | April 11, 2026 | 9AM – 12:15PM | Gray Area: Alcohol Use Along a Spectrum | Kelley Kitley, LCSW |
| E | April 18, 2026 | 9AM – 12:15PM | Working with Black Men in the Justice System | Dejah Amos, LMFT |
Pricing:
| # of Workshops | General | Student/Senior Discount |
| 1 | $80 | $70 |
| 2 | $125 | $115 |
| 3 | $195 | $170 |
| 4 | $260 | $220 |
| 5 | $300 | $260 |
Contact
For questions or concerns, please contact:
Ryan Patterson, Project Specialist at rpatterson@hcenter.org or (312) 226-7984 Ext. 594
OR
Lisa Abrams, LCPC, CSADC, Director of Staff Training & Development at labrams@hcenter.org or (312) 226-7984 Ext. 581
If you are mailing your payment, please make check payable to:
Haymarket Center
ATTN: Education Department
932 W. Washington Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60607
Workshop Details
WORKSHOP A: Integrating Harm Reduction, Motivational Interviewing and Logotherapy to Facilitate Wellness and Recovery
Saturday, March 7, 2026
9AM – 12:15PM
3 CEUs
Presented by Mark Sanders, LCSW, CADC
This presentation integrates harm reduction principles with motivational interviewing and Logotherapy to help facilitate client change, wellness and recovery. Topics include: definition and examples of harm reduction; how to use principles of motivational interviewing to “test the water” for abstinence and reduce resistance to change; using principle of Logotherapy to increase client self-care/wellness, instill hope and purpose for considering harm reduction or abstinence.
Learning Objectives:
• Define Harm reduction
• Use principles of motivational interviewing to assess for abstinence readiness
• Reduce client resistance to harm reduction and recovery.
• Use principles of Logotherapy to help clients discover purpose in recovery
About the Speaker:
Mark Sanders, LCSW, CADC is an international speaker and consultant in behavioral health whose presentations have reached thousands throughout the United States, Europe, Canada, West Indies, and Guam. He is the recipient of four lifetime achievement awards including the prestigious NAADAC Enlightenment Award. He was one of three finalists for the National Association for Addiction Professionals 50th Anniversary Legends Award. Mark is also the recipient of the Illinois Certification Board’s Professional of the Year Award, The Illinois Certification Board, Jessica Hayes Lifetime Achievement Award and The Barbara Bacon Award for outstanding contributions to the social work profession as a Loyola University of Chicago alumni.
Mark is the author of five books on behavioral health recovery. Recent writings include Slipping Through the Cracks: Intervention Strategies for Clients with Multiple Addictions Disorders and Relationship Detox: A Counselors Guide to Helping Clients Develop Healthy Relationships in Recovery. He was lead writer on a trauma informed gun violence prevention curriculum which is being implemented in several large cities in the United States. His groundbreaking monograph Recovery Management co-authored with historians William White and Earnest Kurtz helped shift addictions treatment and recovery from the acute care model solely towards a recovery-oriented system of care. Mark has had two stories published in the New York Times bestselling book series, Chicken Soup for The Soul.
Mark has also had a 30-year career as a university educator having taught at The University of Chicago, Loyola University of Chicago, and Illinois State University School of Social Work. He is co-founder of Serenity Academy Chicago, a program which sponsors recovery-oriented peer groups in local high schools.fostering dialogue and action towards social change.
WORKSHOP B: Mindful Pathways: Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Recovery and Resilience
Saturday, March 14, 2026
9:00AM – 12:15PM
3 CEUs
Presented by Giselle Hernadez Navarro, PhD, LCSW, CADC, NCC, ACS
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based cognitive-behavioral therapy developed by Dr. Marsha Linehan in the 1970s. Participants will gain an understanding of DBT development, theory, and research. Participants will learn the definition, goals, and application of DBT coping skills: mindfulness (staying in the present moment), distress tolerance (coping with intense, unwanted emotions without making problems worse), emotion regulation (understanding and balancing emotions with reason), interpersonal effectiveness (learning how to ask for something, or say no to a request in a way that works) and addictive behavior skills to improve client mental health outcomes. Participants will identify ways to use DBT interventions and coping skills to support recovery from substance use disorders (SUD).
Learning Objectives:
• Explain DBT development, theory, and applicable research.
• Apply DBT coping skills and communication strategies to improve client mental health outcomes.
• Identify ways to use DBT interventions and coping skills to support recovery from SUDs.
About the Speaker:
Giselle Hernandez Navarro, Ph.D., LCSW, CADC, NCC, ACS, has been an Assistant Professor of Social Work at Governors State University’s College of Health and Human Services since August 2024. Her professional background has been shaped by 16 years of clinical work in various community settings, including foster care, elementary and high schools, an autism home support program, an inpatient hospital, an intensive outpatient addiction recovery program, a college counseling center, and private practice. Dr. Navarro has 9 years of experience as an instructor and supervisor in higher education. She has published her research on Collegiate Recovery Programs (CRPs) in About Campus, a scholarly peer-reviewed journal that focuses on issues affecting college students, faculty, and administrators. Her research has examined the ambiguous loss associated with Alcohol Use Disorders on affected family members, along with a study about attachment to God, religious coping, and alcohol use, published in the International Journal for the Psychology of Religion.
WORKSHOP C: The Magic of Group Therapy: A Patient Speaks
Saturday, April 4, 2026
9:00AM – 12:15PM
3 CEUs
Presented by Christie Tate
People who are willing to seek therapy to address mental distress may only be able to picture the benefits of sitting across from a therapist who will listen, empathize, and advise. We see individual therapy depicted in popular culture from In Treatment to The Sopranos and Shrinking. There are far fewer depictions of group therapy in popular culture, and those that exist show group therapy in in-patient settings like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; Girl, Interrupted; and I May Destroy You. Understandably, people have many misconceptions about who group therapy is for, how it works, and whether you have to be committed to a hospital with a major disorder or acute trauma to participate in and benefit from a group. The power of a group is that it allows its members to move from isolation and shame to connectedness and being known, which is an effective route to a useful and meaningful life. A group also gives participants an opportunity to examine the roles they play in the therapy group– and in the “real” world– and begin to practice new and more effective behaviors by building more nourishing connections. This presentation will examine stumbling blocks to group therapy, as well as its potential to treat addictions, including eating disorders, alcoholism, codependence, and other compulsive behaviors, all of which thrive on isolation and shame.
Learning Objectives:
• This workshop will include storytelling, group discussion, and writing prompts designed to invite participants to think about resistance to and assumptions about group therapy work.
• Participants will reflect on past group experiences, both positive and negative, as well as the roles they play in groups.
• Participants will be invited to reimagine how group healing might transform not only individual lives, but also larger communities.
About the Speaker:
Christie Tate is an author and essayist who grew up in Texas but now lives in Chicago. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Review, Carve Magazine, The Washington Post, and elsewhere. Her debut memoir, Group, was a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick and has been translated into 19 languages. Her second memoir, B.F.F., was a nonfiction book of the year for Amazon and Apple Books and has been translated into Arabic. Before becoming a writer, Christie worked as a lawyer for almost twenty years, a career that gave her ample opportunity to soothe her ego but never her soul. She resisted therapy for years because she believed that all she needed was the healing she found in the Twelve Step fellowships she belonged to (the food and the relationship programs). When her mental health spiraled despite attending meetings faithfully, working the steps, and calling her sponsor, she crawled to therapy, certain it wouldn’t really work (but maybe it could keep her alive until she found something that would). Unable to afford an individual therapist, she agreed to join a therapy group solely because it was more affordable and fit into her schedule. What she didn’t know is that it would completely transform her life in every single way, little by little, one session at a time. She still attends group twice a week.
WORKSHOP D: Gray Area: Alcohol Use, Along a Spectrum
Saturday, April 11, 2026
9:00AM – 12:15PM
3 CEUs
Presented by Kelley Kitley, LCSW
An in-depth look at parent drinking culture and the rise in alcohol misuse among parents, particularly since COVID-19. This session opens with 18-minute film that highlights the societal normalization of alcohol in parenting and presents statistics on increased alcohol use. From a holistic health perspective, we’ll explore ways to assess and address alcohol use in clients beyond SDM criteria, enabling broader, solution-focused conversations. Attendees will gain practical tools and resources designed for women, offering alternatives to traditional support systems like AA to help clients find meaningful support. The presentation will also address societal pressures that normalize alcohol use and its impact on family dynamics, especially for parents of teenagers.
Learning Objectives:
• Identify strategies to discuss alcohol use with clients in a non-diagnostic, supportive framework.
• Discuss a range of resources, including literature and support groups, to guide clients toward recovery.
• Discuss how societal norms around alcohol can affect family systems and client well-being.
About the Speaker:
Kelley Kitley is the founder and owner of Serendipitous Psychotherapy in Chicago. Known as “America’s Social Worker”, she has appeared in over 500 media segments on mental health and wellness, including feature on Today, The Drew Barrymore Show, Tamron Hall, CNN, MNSBC, Access Live, and The Dr. Oz Show. Kitley is also the other of MY self, an award-winning and Amazon best-selling autobiography. Alongside her professional achievements, she is a devoted wife of 20 years and mother of four.
WORKSHOP E: Working with Black Men in the Justice System
Saturday, April 18, 2026
9:00AM – 12:15PM
3 CEUs
Presented by Dejah Amos, LMFT
Black men are systemically penalized and stereotyped within many facets of their life, therapy and mental health spaces should not be another place that this occurs. The population of Black men who have gone through the justice system or have been impacted by someone in their community battling the justice system, are way too often met with solution focused treatment modalities without acknowledgement of their reality.
Within the interactive workshop, attendees will be navigating case conceptualizations, challenging their knowledge through questions, and engaging in conversation pertaining to how they would facilitate various scenarios with this population.
Learning Objectives:
● Attendees will be given psychoeducation pertaining to the justice system itself and how it continues to target Black men for profit.
● Biases will be front and centered and recognized to challenge ourselves and be aware of how they could transfer onto our clients and patients.
● Then, we will discuss the usage of treatment modalities that have been researched to accommodate and decolonize the mental health spaces.
About the Speaker:
Dejah Amos is a practicing LMFT in the center of Chicago at Holistic Couple and Family Therapy. Her clientele consists of a wide range of populations, but Dejah points to her niche and passion in working within the male mental health and high conflict population. She is currently researching and finishing her PhD in CFT. Her current research surrounds working with Black males that have a long history of being incarcerated. Dejah’s other research topics range from regarding cultural awareness to decolonizing the therapy space.