Family institute of Virginia


Family Institute Training Programs

  • "The Person and the Practice of the Therapist"
  •  Aponte/Winter Professional Development Program

Highlights

The Aponte/Winter Professional Development Program for human services is an intensive nine-month (fall through spring) training program for individuals who have already demonstrated professional accomplishment and a capacity to develop high-level skills. The training is propelled by intense competition, the ever increasing demand for performance, the digital workplace, expanding family and self-imposed expectations, all of which combine to create emotional and psychological turmoil. Participants have included executives, ministers, consultants, counselors, managers, teachers, therapists, and trainers.
Group
 The goal of the Aponte/Winter Professional Development Program is to promote effective communication, professional efficacy and maturity. The program is unique. Its focus is to help the participants recognize the aspects of their life experience and personal psychology that both support and impede their effective use of themselves in their professional endeavors. They learn to make use both of life’s successes and failures, pride and shame, sameness and difference as sources of wisdom and motivation for greater effectiveness in their professional lives. Throughout the year, approximately 14 participants meet monthly for two-day intensive seminars in which individuals work on specific professional challenges in order to attain a higher level of functioning in their organizations. This process involves the integration of core values, beliefs, talents and skills into effective for personal, social, and institutional change.

Skills Development:

The development of four fundamental therapeutic skills is emphasized:
1) Internal Skills – the personal integration of the professional’s life experiences, values, attitudes, etc. into an effective behavioral tool.
2) External Skills – The actual technique or behavior used by the professional in the conduct of his work.
3) Theoretical Skills – The acquisition of a conceptual framework and assessment model necessary to understand the change process and make interventions, when needed.
4) Collaborative Skills – The ability to coordinate one’s assessment and implementation efforts with other professionals and agencies to include co-workers, supervisors, customers, suppliers, and other agencies, as needed.

Goals for Personal Development:
    · Understanding the issues that affect behavior
    · Developing coping skills
    · Managing stress
    · Building peer group support
    · Restoring optimum performance
    · Intervention to prevent relapse

Resolution of Work Related Issues:
    · Managing conflict
    · Motivating self and others
    · Risk Taking
    · Evaluating performances of self and others
    · Problem identification in organizations
    · Leadership development
    · Professional Image
    · Personal values and career goals
    · Organizational change through effective interventions

Accreditation:
The professional development course is accredited by the college of William and Mary, Counseling Education Department, for six hours of graduate school credit when proper approvals are obtained in advance.

Facilitators:
Joan E. Winter, Ed.D.
Harry J. Aponte, ACSW