Workshops & Trainings
Our workshops and training sessions allow for difficult and intensive work within a model that makes participants feel safe enough to stay invested and engaged throughout.
Each workshop combines personal and group experiential learning, conceptual theory, and opportunities to practice new approaches.
Our excellent client satisfaction is the result of:
- The expertise of our consultants
- The strength of our theory
- The non-judgmental atmosphere we create
- Our commitment to addressing the specific needs of our clients—for individuals or organizational groups
PACE
PACE (Personal Approach to Change and Equity) Level I is the foundational workshop offered by VISIONS. When you complete this course, we believe you will have the skills necessary to:
- Identify previously unconscious biases and misinformation in yourself, in others, and in organizations.
- Communicate more effectively across difference.
- Recognize personal, interpersonal, institutional and cultural barriers to inclusion.
- Understand the ongoing personal effects of historical and contemporary exclusion and oppression, for example, the effects of sexism on both men and women.
- Facilitate change in groups and organizations to create a supportive environment of inclusion.
- Per person cost: $1,150.
- If you need support on the course fees, please email us atoffice@visions-inc.org.
This program is Approved by the National Association of Social Workers (Approval # 886744521-6539) for 17 continuing education contact hours.
Upcoming Dates & Registration:
PACE Level II advances the skills learned in Level I, adds new skills and gives participants the opportunity to practice in order to gain increased comfort and fluency in their use.
In Level II, participants:
- Review material from Level I, focusing on areas in which they desire more guidance and practice in using the tools and material.
- Learn about and try on using worldview differences.
- Explore group identity development and its impacts on cross-cultural interactions and organizational change.
- Practice facilitation skill and intervention strategies (Transactional Analysis/Gestalt theory, cooperative problem solving, and other personal and community change models).
- Per person cost: $1,150.
- If you need support on the course fees, please email us at office@visions-inc.org.
Upcoming Dates & Registration: TBD
Fundamentals of Inclusivity
VISIONS proudly presents Fundamentals of Inclusivity, a transformative learning experience designed to equip participants with the tools and insights needed to excel in today's diverse and dynamic world.
Why Choose Our Workshop?
- Practical and Powerful: Our workshop equips you with actionable tools and skills you can implement immediately.
- Expert Facilitation: Learn from seasoned consultants who specialize in inclusive leadership and have worked with hundreds of organizations over the last four decades.
- Lasting Impact: Gain a deep understanding of principles of inclusion that will enable you to drive positive change long after the workshop concludes.
Expand your toolkit with Fundamentals of Inclusivity. Join us in this immersive experience and embark on a journey of growth, empowerment, and transformation.
Learn more at the links below!
Guidelines Workshop
Are you looking for ways to strengthen and deepen your relationships? Would you like to enhance your communication skills and promote successful outcomes in diverse settings? Join our transformative workshop, where you'll learn VISIONS Guidelines for Effective Cross-Cultural Dialogue.
Why Attend?
- Develop practical communications skills that you can apply every day, both at work and in your personal life.
- Strengthen your ability to communicate with people from different backgrounds, identities, and experiences.
- Cultivate the ability to navigate disagreements constructively, including conflicts arising from cultural differences.
- Foster a culture of inclusivity and respect within your organization.
- Earn continuing education credit as you further your professional development.
VISIONS has been teaching these guidelines to individuals, groups, and organizations for over 40 years. They have been instrumental in transforming organizations into inclusive, welcoming environments, and are also powerful skills for cultivating rich, enduring relationships between individuals.
Learn more at the links below!
Ongoing Skill Building
VISIONS Ongoing Skill Building groups provide continued learning, support and feedback, for participants who have taken the PACE Level I training.
In these groups, participants:
- Explore specific personal and organizational challenges around inclusion.
- Practice applying core tools and facilitation skills to these challenges.
- Deepen their learning of worldview theory, group identity, and cooperative problem-solving.
- Challenge personal unconscious biases within a cooperative peer context.
When?
East Coast (9:00am - 4:30pm EST)
- October 25, 2024
- January 10, 2025
- April 4, 2025
- July 11, 2025
West Coast (9:00am - 4:30pm PST)
- November 1, 2024
- January 17, 2025
- April 11, 2025
- July 18, 2025
What is the format?
- Four total all day sessions with a maximum of 15 participants
- 9:00am - 4:30pm with a 90-minute lunch break; times (including meal breaks) are subject to change at the discretion of facilitators
- The course is a live session via Zoom and uses a combination of lecturettes and interactive learning elements
- This year's session will be facilitated by Dr. Valerie Batts, in her new role at VISIONS, and Dr. Joan Schoenhals. Other senior consultants may participate from time to time.
How much is it, and how do I sign up?
- The fee for this workshop (four total sessions) is $2,000.00 for new participants, $1,600.00 for returning participants.
- (Note: the date displays in registration as the first session only - there are four total sessions. The fee schedule below is priced for the four sessions total.)
- Please email office@visions-inc.org to register.
Theory and Applications of Transactional Analysis (TA 101)
Transactional Analysis (TA) is a psychosocial theory that aims to understand human relationships and changing behaviors. Eric Berne, M.D., developed the concepts in the 1950s and 1960s and continued to be expanded by Transactional Analysts worldwide. VISIONS course is a synthesis of the original ideas and recent developments in the theory and application of TA. It explicitly focuses on creating equity interpersonally and within systems, using race/ethnicity as a teaching variable. It includes both theory and application.
This course can benefit mental health professionals, coaches, facilitators, parents, educators, clergy, physicians, people in managerial positions and the legal profession, and anyone interested in relating more effectively with themselves and others. It can serve as an introduction to TA or as a refresher for those already familiar with the model. It is also a prerequisite for advanced Transactional Analysis training, and VISIONS ongoing training.
Schedule/structure: 3 days
- August 22: 11:00-2:00 / 3:00-6:00 EST
- August 23: 11:00-2:00 / 3:00-6:00 EST
- August 24: 11:00-2:00 EST
There will be individual reflective work, up to an hour for each of 3 days (while in session). There will also be a small amount of pre-work.
Participants will learn to:
- Use Transactional Analysis as a tool for diagnosis and interventions with clients
- Address anti-racism at the personal level, which has been fundamental to this framework since its beginning
- To differentiate between feelings, thoughts, and opinions and use them for potent communication
- Avoid or get out of counter-productive relational entanglements
- Recognize feelings to get needs met and solve problems
- Become aware of the negative impact in the present time that early life decisions may have
Furthermore, participants will find:
- Options that work when communication is at an impasse
- How to protect themselves from an internal critic
- How to interrupt unproductive or dysfunctional cross-cultural encounters
- Tools useful in creating effective cross-cultural relationships and systems
- The power of giving and receiving positive and negative feedback
This course will be led by Dr Valerie Batts, with VISIONS co-facilitators.
Youth Engagement
Enhancing youth leadership skills is a key component in all of our youth work.
We provide workshops, technical assistance and training for youth, and the adults who support them. We currently have versions of the Legacy Project currently running in Fresno and New Orleans.
Youth services and resources currently offered include:
- Customized workshops and programs for youth, as well as for adults who work with youth.
- The Legacy Project, a summer employment and leadership skills training program.
- YES! Kit, a printed training curriculum with DVD support available for purchase and use by adults and youth workers.
Legacy Project
The program teaches young people how to be instruments of social change by empowering them to understand the root causes of systemic inequities, and equipping them with the skills necessary to be educators of other youth. Youth gain the ability to understand their current reality through a historical, economic, and psychological lens that takes into account the effect that such oppression has over time on individuals and communities.
The Legacy Project is run in Fresno, CA with the potential to be replicated in other parts of the US, depending on funding and local interest. Legacy is financially supported by both individuals and private and corporate foundations.
Liberation Generation!
Liberation Generation! is a new VISIONS program for clients who are interested in conducting or supporting youth programming in their communities. It includes a 16-module curriculum, a training of the trainer (4-day), and coaching for youth development professionals who implement the Liberation Generation! curriculum in their respective communities. The goal of Liberation Generation! is to empower communities to use the VISIONS tools with their programs in a way that makes sense for them. The idea is that VISIONS Inc. Consultants do not need to be physically present in youth programs for them to teach our model to their youth.
YES! Kit Guide
The guide is divided into five distinct sessions that focus on each key element of the process of learning and change. With this tool, educators and youth workers can move youth from awareness to action, guided by topics such as recognizing varying forms of exclusion, understanding the impact of personal thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and translating new information and insights to the real world.
Youth Empowerment Workshops
Both youth and the adults who work with them report that VISIONS training has:
- Allowed youth and staff to share a common framework and language.
- Interrupted the perpetuation of bias and “one-downing” of another group.
- Increased young people’s self-confidence and their perception of themselves as leaders and allies.
- Improved both youth and adults’ ability to deal with internal conflicts and collaborate more effectively.
- Made both the organization and the youth more successful in achieving their social justice mission.
Inclusion In Action E-Learning Program
Not your everyday training program, Inclusion In Action is interactive and self-paced, and uses relatable workplace scenarios to teach employees inclusive communication skills that can lead to better work relationships and results.
