CIR News
USC Visions and Voices: FIT FOR SOCIETY – A Dramatic Performance
4 Sep 2012 | posted by Center for Innovation and Research | in CIR News Archive, Past Events
Presented by USC Visions and Voices: The Arts and Humanities Initiative
FIT FOR SOCIETY
A Performance by the Veterans Center for the Performing Arts
Monday, November 12, 2012
6:00 pm
USC University Park Campus
Ronald Tutor Campus Center (TCC), Grand Ballroom
Admission is free! Reception to follow. For more information about this event, please contact visionsandvoices@usc.edu.
Presented in recognition of Veterans Day, Fit for Society is a compelling and unflinching play about the military experience during war. Encounter the stories of actual soldiers, survivors and family members presented without pity, apology or political agenda. The play was written by Brian Monahan, the son of a Navy officer, and director Stephan Wolfert, a U.S. Army veteran and the military director of the Tony Award-winning Broadway production Movin’ Out! The LA Weekly states that Wolfert “shapes the performances of his excellent cast well, inspiring an authentic, gripping tone throughout.”
Dr. Anthony Hassan, a retired Air Force officer, clinical associate professor at the USC School of Social Work and director of the Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans & Military Families, will moderate a conversation with Stephan Wolfert to discuss his personal inspiration for the production. In an interactive reception following the conversation, several USC veterans will share how their military experiences have shaped their lives
Organized by Syreeta Greene (Transfer and Veteran Student Programs) and Anthony Hassan (Social Work). Co-sponsored by the Office of Campus Activities—Transfer and Veteran Student Programs, USC School of Social Work, CIR, and Office of Religious Life. For more information, please visit www.usc.edu/visionsandvoices or contact us visionandvoices@usc.edu or 213.740.0483.
Visions and Voices is a USC arts and humanities initiative, established by President C.L. Max Nikias in 2006 to provide an inspiring and provocative experience for USC students in order to expand their perspective. Each year, Visions and Voices holds an array of events proposed and organized by USC faculty and schools, featuring various artists, speakers, theatrical productions, film screenings, lectures, and music and dance performances.
CIR Presents at the Western Psychological Association’s Annual Meeting
9 May 2012 | posted by Center for Innovation and Research | in CIR News Archive, Past Events
(left to right) Kelly Turner, Alice Kim, Shawna Campbell, and Sherrie Wilcox
On April 28, at the 92nd annual meeting of the Western Psychological Association in San Francisco, CIR researchers presented a symposium entitled, “Serving Those Who Served: Understanding, Educating, and Intervening.” Chaired by USC School of Social Work Research Assistant Professor Kelly Turner, CIR’s four presentations featured academic and training interventions geared toward addressing the behavioral health needs of men and women returning home from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Alice Kim, CIR Project Manager, presented pilot data from CIR’s continuing education program. Shawna Campbell, CIR Project Specialist, discussed a comparison of attitudes toward Evidenced-Based Practice between MSW students and advanced behavioral health providers. Kelly Turner outlined the development of CIR’s video vignette-based military Clinical Skill Assessment Tool, and Sherrie Wilcox, Research Assistant Professor, presented an evaluation of a component of CIR’s Reintegration Partnership Program, a cognitive-behavioral skills training intervention designed to better equip members of the California National Guard to transition from combat deployment to civilian life.
Veteran Outreach: Interview with Dr. Anthony Hassan, CIR Director
2 May 2012 | posted by Center for Innovation and Research | in CIR News Archive
Yesterday, Dr. Anthony Hassan was interviewed on Veteran Outreach, an online radio show that focuses on challenges and issues affecting U.S. veterans. Dr. Hassan spoke about the work that CIR is doing, as well as the Military Social Work subconcentration within the USC School of Social Work’s Master of Social Work degree program.
Listen to the recording here.
CIR Launches its Military Culture Continuing Education Course Online!
7 Dec 2011 | posted by Center for Innovation and Research | in CIR News Archive
CIR has teamed up with The New York Times Knowledge Networkto provide online continuing education (CE) courses to behavioral healthcare providers and other professionals who work with military-impacted populations.
Recently, CIR launched its first online CE course — Military Culture. This essential course is designed to promote understanding of military culture and related life circumstances among civilian professionals who do not have substantial knowledge of military life or extensive experience engaging military-affiliated clients, veterans, or their family members. Complex issues regarding the military as a culture will be examined, including warrior identity and ethos, structure and roles of the service branches, motivations for military service, patterns of socialization, diversity issues and their policy implications, and the ethical considerations and reporting obligations specific to working with servicemembers. The course will have self-paced lessons filled with original content covering the modules of study. All course material can be accessed directly within the online course. 6 credit hours are available for LCSWs and LMFTs.
Progress on the Development of the Virtual Patient
23 Jun 2011 | posted by Center for Innovation and Research | in CIR News Archive
CIR and the USC Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT) are currently developing a virtual human (avatar)–the Virtual Patient–that can simulate a veteran. The Virtual Patient will be employed as a teaching tool in the Master of Social Work program and in CIR’s continuing education courses in order to help students and behavioral healthcare providers acclimate to the unique issues affecting veteran clients and practice their treatment skills in a learning environment.
This video is a brief summary of the progress so far on the development of the Virtual Patient.
Surf Therapy Helps Combat Veterans
20 May 2011 | posted by Center for Innovation and Research | in CIR News Archive
Army veteran Matthew Doyle catches a wave (Credit: Reuters/Lucy Nicholson)
This week Reuters profiled a surf therapy program aimed at helping servicemembers and veterans who return from combat with mental or emotional wounds.
Carly Rogers, an alumna of the USC Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, created the Ocean Therapy program for wounded warriors within the Jimmy Miller Memorial Foundation, an organization which employs surfing to help individuals coping with mental or physical illness.
To view Lucy Nicholson’s photoblog on the Ocean Therapy program, click here.
CIR & ICT Workshop at the 41st National Council Conference: Avatars for Clinical Training & Interventions
4 May 2011 | posted by Center for Innovation and Research | in CIR News Archive, Past Events
On Monday, May 2, Dr. Jan Nissly and members of the USC Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT)–CIR’s partner in developing the Virtual Patient–hosted a workshop at the 41st National Council Mental Health and Addictions Conference in San Diego entitled “What’s Next? Avatars for Clinical Training and Interventions.” The session highlighted the use of innovative technologies in clinical settings and explained how practitioners can be trained using avatars.
The conference featured speeches by various guest speakers, including Bill Clinton (Founder, William J. Clinton Foundation and 42nd President of the United States) and Don Berwick (Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services).
The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare provides a unifying voice for America’s behavioral health organizations and advocates for public policies to ensure that people coping with mental illness and addiction disorders can access comprehensive healthcare services.