The following is a list of training interventions offered by the Region V RCEP to meet the needs of our constituency. To best serve our constituents, the Region V RCEP is constantly adding new training topics and modifying current trainings to meet your training needs. If you have a question about any of the topics listed below or you have a training need that is not covered by these listed topics, please contact the Region V RCEP Director, David Adams at dmadams@siu.edu. 

Psychosocial and Medical Aspects of Disability

This 3 and 1/2-day program is intended to facilitate the acquisition of new knowledge and skills in the areas of psychosocial and medical aspects of disability. Through case studies, participants will give consideration to the functional limitations that may be present with various disabilities, along with implications for vocational planning. The target audience for the training is counselors who have not previously had a course on psychosocial and medical aspects of disabilities. Format will be consistent with Problem-Based Learning (PBL) style and includes lecture, small group learning activities, and large group learning activities.

Team Building

This is a 1 and 1/2-day program designed to help team members learn strategies that will improve the workplace environment and strengthening the team. As a result of participation, consumers will ultimately receive better service and the rehabilitation professionals will experience greater job satisfaction. Format includes mini-lectures and small and large group learning activities.

Working with Centers for Independent Living

This is a 1-day training devoted to helping State Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors better understand the services available through Centers for Independent Living. Additionally, the training reviews the independent living (IL) philosophy and the IL movement, and identifies new trends in IL. Format is lecture and small and large group discussion.

Making Your Board of Directors More Effective

This is a 1-day training devoted to helping Centers for Independent Living train old and new board members on independent living (IL) philosophy, the function of a board of directors, recruiting new members, the most effective relationship between the board and the staff, and how to maximize the use of time to help the center carry out its mission. Format includes mini-lectures and group discussions as well as materials for hands-on applications. 

Motivating Employees

This is a 1-day program, whose purpose of training is to provide supervisors with information on a variety of strategies that may be used in motivating employees. Supervisors will be given the opportunity to practice identifying and implementing strategies to motivate individuals they supervise. The target audience for the training is supervisors with less than 3 years experience, or those who may want a refresher on motivating employees. The format includes lecture, large and small group learning activities, as well as role-playing.

Ethical Practices in Rehabilitation

This program is designed to provide rehabilitation counselors and supervisors, at all experience levels, with increased skills for dealing with ethical dilemmas encountered in the rehabilitation process. Participants draw upon their personal values, agency policies and procedures, the values of their clients, and the professional code of ethics and case information in making decision on ethical rehabilitation practices. Format is a combination of mini-lecture and small group activities. The 1 and 1/2-day training format includes sufficient hours/materials to meet the CRC core continuing education requirement. A shortened, 1-day program, that focuses on participant identified situations, anecdotes and case studies, with follow-up via Internet chat-rooms, is also available. Using Microsoft's PowerPoint Software to Develop Presentations This is a hands-on workshop devoted to helping the rehabilitation professional develop presentations for professional organizations, consumer groups, potential employers, and internal customers.

Behavioral Approaches to Rehabilitation

This is a 1-day program that introduces rehabilitation counselors to the fundamentals of behavioral interventions to problematic consumer behavior. Using case studies and small group participation, the participants will be able to effectively use behavioral strategies to decrease problematic consumer behavior and increase functional, appropriate consumer behavior.

Working with Clients with Traumatic Brain Injury

This is a 1-day program devoted to helping participants learn about consumers with this disability and problems that may impede the progress of these clients. The content of the training includes medical-psychosocial aspects of TBI, job placement pitfalls and solutions for clients with TBI, and behavioral interventions to problematic behavior typically found in consumers with TBI. Participants will have access to on-line materials and case studies prior to the training.

Thinking Outside the Box in Serving Underserved Populations

This one-day program takes a lighthearted, but serious, glance at how conventional and practical thinking, coupled with regular habits, can cloud the issue of equitable service delivery for persons from minority and culturally diverse backgrounds in the vocational rehabilitation process. Participants, in large and small group settings, gain a clearer understanding of how and why Thinking Outside the Box should be viewed as 'business as usual.

The Role of Spirituality in Rehabilitation

This is a 1-day program devoted to helping the rehabilitation professional better understand the role of spirituality in a consumer's rehabilitation program. Training content includes an overview of diverse spirituality concepts and practices and well as objective data on the effect of spirituality on rehabilitation outcomes.

Severe and Persistent Mental Illness

This is a 1 and 1/2 to 2 day program designed to provide counselors and supervisors with information on severe and persistent mental illness and the impact on employment. Participants will discuss the vocational impact of some of the characteristics of mental illness and development potential strategies to help maintain employment for persons who may be experiencing these characteristics. The target audience for the training is counselors who are working with persons with severe and persistent mental illness. Format includes lecture small group learning activities and case studies.

Using the World Wide Web to Improve Consumer Outcomes

The WWW is a powerful tool available to the rehabilitation professional. With just a few keystrokes, the rehabilitation professional can gather medical information on a form of disability, job market trends in the region, employers in the region, or even distances to a job site and transportation options for a consumer. The difficulty is how to use this tool. This 1-day course offers rehabilitation professionals the opportunity to learn how to use the web effectively and efficiently. 

Placement 2001: Strategies for Persons with Blindness and Visual Impairments

This is two-phase program, with each phase spread over 3 days and consisting of 12-14 training hours. The program is designed to increase understanding of issues (i.e., skills, abilities and behaviors) associated with the job ready customer/client, and person-centered placement. Additionally, participants garner increased knowledge of the keys to job interviewing and salary negotiation and participate in a job analysis. This is a revamped, version of the Mississippi State University RTC Train-the-Trainer program. All major material/content and information from the Mississippi RTC program are included during the course of the training. Program format includes lecture, large and small group learning activities and role-playing.

Client Choice and Vocational Rehabilitation: Partners in Success

This is a 1-day program designed to increase participant knowledge and understanding of Informed Choice issues (i.e., how Informed Choice impact Vocational Rehabilitation). Participants have opportunities to identify their negotiation style and share case situations related to VR and Choice. Program includes discussion of agency philosophy/policy on Choice. Format is mini-lecturettes and review and discussion on case studies and participant anecdotes on informed choice, budgetary issues and ethics. 

Leading and Managing Change

This two-phase program is designed to provide managers and supervisors with the concepts and methods that will aid in their success as managers and leaders of change. The training intervention will help participants learn how to create and maintain a workplace and culture that facilitates and sustains change. As part of the process, participants will present a living case concerning a 'change situation,' either past, present or future to discuss with other participants. Participant action plans are developed and presented, based on the concepts acquired in the course. 

The target audience for this program is supervisors who manage in an environment of change and those who seek new ways of doing business, as opposed to 'business as usual.'