Events at GSSW

Establishing Safety in Times of Uncertainty: The Empowering Clinical Social Worker

2026 ABCSW Annual Conference | April 9 - 10

A Virtual Conference Jointly Sponsored by The American Board of Clinical Social Work and the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work.

The ABCSW Conference Committee is excited to invite you to attend this live, interactive, virtual conference.

We are working in an atmosphere of growing anxiety that surrounds both our clients and the clinical social workers who are providing services to them in a society that feels increasingly unsafe to almost everyone.  This hybrid conference will address that anxiety and enhance our attendees’ abilities to approach their clients with empowering hope and confidence, instead of fear and dread.

Speakers:

• Mauricio Cifuentes, PhD, LCSW
  

  Current societal circumstances are having an impact on those directly facing their consequences, as well as on those who provide services to them and the community at large. Relational mental health providers, regardless of their personal views, are particularly sensitive and vulnerable to its impact.  Helping professionals, based on the ethical mandates of their professions, are called to provide a holding environment for their clients.  Yet, circumstances such as secondary trauma, and the tendencies to avoid, normalize, and forget trauma may make it more challenging to accomplish the professional ethical mandates.  A better understanding of these dynamics can bring healing and restore hope and ultimately maximize the impact of relational clinicians.  Using Psychodynamic theories and the Strengths perspective as frameworks of reference, our keynote speaker will expand on the above premises.

  Dr. Cifuentes will help us understand the conditions we are trying to cope with today as a unique traumatic event and how it may impact clients and clinicians, explore some specific ways to enhance the wellbeing of clients vulnerable to being directly and negatively impacted by these conditions, and apply specific tools to deal with the potential conflict between the professional core values of the helping professions and the tendency to avoid, normalize and forget traumatic events.

  Mauricio Cifuentes received a J.D. from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Colombia, his country of origin.  He subsequently immigrated to the United States and pursued both an MSW and a PhD from Loyola University Chicago.  He has worked as a clinician, supervisor, administrator, and professor for organizations such as Saint Anthony Hospital in Chicago, Augsburg University in Minneapolis, Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio (CLUES) in Minneapolis/St Paul, and Loyola University Chicago, where he oversaw the first online, bilingual Masters in Social Work.  Currently, he is the Director of Programs for Family Service and Mental Health Center of Cicero, Illinois. 

• Jennifer Bulow, LCSW, PhD
  

  At the heart of psychotherapy is a human relationship. When one, or both, of those in the therapy dyad are in pain, scared, or overwhelmed, that internalized experience can move into the therapeutic space. A therapist uses their professional wisdom and training to manage their own emotional states in ways that meet the needs of the treatment at hand; however, we must explore the impact of scenarios in which the existential and real threats challenging individuals are shared, chronic, and on-going.  At times, therapists can be as troubled and distressed as many of their clients.  Regulation and neurobiological theories add depth to our potential to understand this phenomenon in psychotherapy sessions, particularly considering the intrusive nature of news and social media.

  Dr. Bulow will present concepts of safety, therapeutic presence, and right brain resonance.  She will describe the mechanisms by which safety is communicated and experienced on a cognitive, affective, and neurophysiological level between individuals and encourage us to consider the impact of our own response to external realities on our own sense of safety and therapeutic practice.

  Jennifer Bulow has worked with children, adolescents and adults in a variety of community based settings and private practice.  Currently, she has a private practice in the Atwater Village neighborhood of Los Angeles, working primarily with individual adults and couples.  Jennifer has a clinical interest in contemporary relational psychodynamic work, interpersonal neurobiology, and affect regulation.  She completed her Masters in Social Work at University of Southern California.  Her doctoral education was completed at The Sanville Institute based in Berkeley, CA, and the doctorate was conferred at the Institute for Clinical Social Work based in Chicago, Illinois.  She is adjunct faculty at The Reiss-Davis Graduate School (at Southern California University of Health Sciences), teaching doctoral students neurobiology, affect regulation and classical and modern attachment theory.

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2026 Clinical Master Teacher Award Lecture

Make It Fun!: The Transformative Power of Play in Higher Education | April 20

Join us for this year’s annual lecture supported by the Clinical Master Teacher Award, featuring Clinical Associate Professor Julianne Mitchell. Mitchell’s work highlights how play can create more connected, creative, and engaged learning environments across higher education as well as in clinical settings.

Through humor, flexibility, and experiential activities, Mitchell shows how playful approaches foster trust, reduce barriers to participation, and strengthen curiosity and confidence. Participants will leave with fresh ideas for using play to enhance teaching, student and client engagement, and collaborative work in any role or discipline.

• Monday, April 20, 2026
• 4–5:30 p.m. MDT
• Craig Hall Community Room 120 & Online via Zoom

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Events That Engage

Over the past two years, more than 10,000 people in 21 states have participated in GSSW events either online or on campus. All of our events are designed to be inclusive and accessible — most are free and many are live streamed. We invite alumni and experts from throughout the campus and community to share their knowledge.