2026 UND Social Work Fall CEU Event

Course overview

The University of North Dakota Department of Social Work hosts this annual continuing education event to provide professional development opportunities for UND Social Work alumni and social workers throughout the region. This year's program continues the NASW Social Work Month theme, Uplift, Defend, and Transform, with presentations designed to strengthen practice, promote equity, and support professionals across a variety of social work settings. Sessions: Session I: Balancing Bias - Harmony Bercier, MA, Enrolled Member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, Project Manager, ND Indian Child Welfare Best Practice Partnership Balancing Bias is an interactive training designed to help professionals recognize how automatic thoughts, personal values, beliefs, and biases influence decision-making. Participants will explore common types of bias, examine how bias can affect professional practice and relationships, and learn practical strategies to promote fair, family-centered, and culturally responsive services. Through reflection and discussion, attendees will gain tools to increase self-awareness and support more equitable outcomes for the individuals and families they serve. Session II: Intersectionality in Practice: Moving Beyond Single-Identity Frameworks - Katherine Dachtler, MSW, LCSW, LICSW, PhD(c) - Dachtler Therapy, PLLC Our clients don't experience one identity at a time, so why do we still assess, diagnose, and treat as if they do? This session explores what intersectional practice actually looks like in clinical and macro social work: how overlapping identities (race, adoption status, gender, sexuality, disability, immigration status, class) compound both harm and resilience, and how we can build treatment approaches that hold the whole person rather than fragmenting them into categories. Session III: Stalking in the Context of Domestic Violence: A Lethal Combination - Laura Nash Frisch, LMSW, Vice President of Victim Witness & Visitation - Community Violence Intervention Center Stalking is an underreported and underrecognized crime that has serious consequences to those on the receiving end. As many as 1 in 3 women and 1 in 6 men will experience stalking in their lifetime. Stalking has also been identified as a lethality factor for victims of domestic violence. Studies have shown that at least 76% of females murdered by their male partners were stalked in the year prior to their death. This presentation will explore how stalking is often a part of domestic violence cases, how the media downplays this behavior, the impact on survivors, and the steps helping professionals can take to help individuals experiencing this crime. The presentation will also touch on how North Dakota has addressed stalking through recent legislative changes. Session IV: Practical Forensic Social Work Skills Every Clinician Needs - Shanna Urban, MSW, LCSW- Clinical Associate Professor - UND Social Work This workshop introduces forensic social work as a practical framework that enhances everyday clinical practice. Participants will learn concrete strategies for documentation, interviewing, ethical decision-making, and courtroom readiness that can be applied across health care, behavioral health, schools, child welfare, corrections, hospice, integrated care, and private practice.