PDPs and CEUs are not being offered for this event.
March 9, 2027 @ 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Registration closes on March 1, 2027 at 11:59 pm.
Registration: 8:30 – 9:00 am
Seminar: 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Attend In Person
Minuteman High School
758 Marrett Rd.
Lexington, MA 02421
Speaker
Joanna Bridger, LICSW, Safety, Hope, & Healing Counseling & Consulting
Description
Many youth who are struggling to cope with stress and overwhelm engage in attempts to regulate themselves that are potentially harmful and sometimes lethal including unhealthy substance use, engaging in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) like cutting, and experiencing suicidal thoughts and behaviors. When youth engage in these potentially harmful coping strategies, they are often responded to with coercive and controlling attempts to stop the behaviors, which often make the youth feel more shame and may be retraumatizing. This training will provide general information about suicide, NSSI, and substance use disorders and other addictions and use a trauma lens to help educators consider how to respond to these issues in trauma-informed, safe and supportive ways.
About the Speaker
Joanna Bridger, LICSW, (she/her) is the Founder and Director of Safety, Hope, & Healing Counseling & Consulting where she provides counseling, critical incident response, clinical consultation, organizational consultation, and training for families, schools, and organizations throughout Massachusetts and beyond. She is the clinical consultant for the Support After Death by Overdose (SADOD) program and the co-chair of the Greater Boston Suicide Prevention Coalition. Joanna provides regular consultation and training with schools and has previously provided school-based counseling and facilitated district mental health teams.
Joanna has worked with youth, families, adults, and communities that have experienced trauma and loss in the U.S. and abroad for more than 25 years. For ten years she was the Clinical Director for Riverside Trauma Center. Prior to that she worked for ten years with people experiencing homelessness in a variety of settings including homeless and domestic violence shelters as well as organizations focused on helping people to find and maintain housing.
Joanna has an MSW from the University of Michigan with a concentration in Health, and a Certificate in Traumatic Stress Studies from the Trauma Center at JRI (now the Trauma Research Foundation) and is trained in a wide range of trauma and loss focused therapeutic modalities.
Membership Information
Most MPY webinars are available ONLY to current staff from member districts and organizations. Public school memberships include police and fire personnel. Former and retired employees and members of committees, including but not limited to, PTO/PTA, PAC, School Improvement Councils, Health Councils, Drug/Alcohol Councils, and school volunteers, are not considered MPY members.
PDPs and CEUs
PDPs and CEUs will not be offered for this seminar.
Event Cancellation Policy
If you are unable to attend a MPY webinar you must cancel, through Bonnie Mullen at bonnie@mpyinc.org, one business day before the webinar.
For MPY hybrid conferences, the date in-person registration closes will be posted on MPY’s website. Virtual conference registration will close one business day before the hybrid conference. You cannot cancel or switch your registration from in-person to virtual after in-person registration closes. Please email Bonnie Mullen at bonnie@mpyinc.org with any questions regarding registration.
This seminar will not be recorded. Participants must attend in person. PDPs and CEUs will not be awarded.
Registration: 8:30 – 9:00 am
Seminar: 9:00 am – 12:00 pm