Center Plaza

A spectrum of liberatory social work: From education to social transformation
April 9 (Special Event) & April 10 (Main Event) at Inn of the Mountain Gods, Mescalero, NM

As we gather for the third annual New Mexico Social Work Education Summit, we claim education as a site of resistance and possibility where liberation begins and social transformation takes root. Topics this year will equip social workers, social work educators and students not only with skills, but with collective courage, relational accountability, and responsibility to be in community and strive for liberatory practices.

Social Justice Teach-ins are a Fall/Spring series of statewide online learning opportunities featuring national and community experts addressing critical topics influencing social work practice in New Mexico. Live training recordings and resources are then shared on the Center Plaza’s online learning platform for participants to view and earn Social Work Cultural CE credit. 25/26 Teach-ins include:

• Culture as Medicine: Community-Led Pathways to Recovery and Mental Wellness 
• Accountability, Equity & Ethics: Social Work Perspectives on the Yazzie/Martinez Decision
• Power of Policy: Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium
• Conflict and Forced Displacement: Impact on Human Rights and Implications for Social Work
• Disrupting Systems of Oppression with Restivism and Radical Self-and Collective Care

Professional Development Certificates are opportunities to receive between 9 to 30 Continuing Education credits of concentrated online training from experts in specialized areas of practice. The Center has partnered with faculty and community experts to develop the following certificates:

• Tribal Social Work Practices and Service Delivery

• Mastering Culturally Responsive Social Work Practice through Belief-Systems Analysis
• Environmental Justice as Social Work Practice
• The DSM and Psychopharmacology
• International Social Work: Exploring Policies, Programs & Practices
• Reclaiming Our Roots: Community Practice for New Mexico

These Continuing Education Trainings are provided with various delivery methods and modalities including: in-person, online, live and instructor-led or self-paced and asynchronous. Centering cultural and identity-relevant approaches, these training opportunities address gaps in workforce preparation for social workers and helping professionals. Featured self-paced trainings include:

• Professional Social Work Ethics: Theories, Dilemmas, Culture and Power
• Foundations for Culturally, Linguistically and Ability-Affirming School Social Work
• Cultural Responsiveness in Healthcare: A Training for Practitioners
• End of Life Options and Care in New Mexico