Continuing Education

Our staff comprised of master's level clinicians of 20+years, hold certifications from the National Forensic Counseling Board, The American Counseling Association, The National Council on Problem Gambling, The American Board of Certified Compulsive Gambling Counselors, The New Mexico Forensic Counseling Association, and The New Mexico Council on Problem Gambling, among others. Certain members of the staff are members of the training faculty of the National Drug Court Institute; as well as of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals.

The Evolution Group, Inc.'s Executive Director, Mr. Blackwood, M.A., LPCC, NBCCC, NBCFCE, NMCPGCC, and the 22 full and part-time clinicians on staff, have developed and delivered presentations and provided training and technical assistance for international, national, regional, state and local professional educational conferences and seminars on topics related to adult mental heath and substance abuse, therapeutic jurisprudence, pathological gambling, violence and aggression, domestic violence, innovation with the treatment of mood disorders, behavioral approaches with anger and aggression, and interpreting body language.

Professional Education/Training (Seminars and Conferences)

As an organization the clinical staff of The Evolution Group, Inc. frequently presents at national conferences listed below as well as statewide conferences also listed below.

Quarterly and annual statewide continuing education seminars are also organized and presented or co-organized and presented by the Evolution Group, Inc.

Combined, the organization has provided continuing education to over 17,900 professionals over the past ten years. All of the conferences the organization puts on are frequented by a growing number of attendees including those who have attended previous years.

Feedback from conference attendees is very positive and over the years has prompted the staff to consider new ways of reaching out to more treatment professionals that are high quality and more cost effective to utilize.

Utilizing Family Experts

Seminars designed by the organization often involve the input of committees made up of community members, including family experts who take an interest in the social issues being addressed. The committees discuss and vote on seminar topics, focus emphasis, speaker selection, and all logistical planning.

Many, if not all of the committee members volunteer at the time of the seminar, and some participate.

Whenever possible, wrap around approaches are utilized in seminar design in order that attendees (primarily treatment professionals but also other professionals and community members) may get the benefit of multiple perspectives in any one continuing educational element or focus.

Statewide Conferences that are Offered (Monthly-Quarterly)

• Cognitive Behavioral Interventions with Mood Disorders
• Untangling the Ties that Bind: The Whole Family in Addiction Treatment Approaches
• Therapeutic Jurisprudence: A Gathering of the Judiciary, Counselors and Social Workers
• Working with the Antisocial-Dually Diagnosed Population
• The Hammer Meets the Couch: DWI/ Drug Court and Treatment
• Co-Occurring Disorders in Addiction treatment

National Conferences

• Sanidad: Promising Practices in working with the Latino Population presented with Alfredo Rodriguez at the 2004 National Drug Court Conference, Washington DC
• Innovations: Combining Financial Planning, Harm Reduction and Treatment of Pathological Gamblers, presented with Jeff Jojola, Don Shuler, 2004 Southwest Indian Gaming Association Conference, Albuquerque, NM.
• Harm Reduction: an Emerging Promising Practice with Pathological Gamblers, National Indian Gaming Association Annual Conference, presented with Jeff Jojola, 2006, Albuquerque, NM.
• The Co-Occurring Disorders Track Approach with Nicole Dixon, Sylvia Serna, Judge Christina Jaramillo, 2006 New Mexico Association of Drug Court Professionals, Albuquerque, NM.
• What Works and Why: The Drug Court Model, presented with Judge Michael Kavanaugh, Judge Marie Baca, Peter Bochert, New Mexico Association of Drug Court Professionals Annual Conference, 2004, Albuquerque NM.

Statewide Conference Collaborations (Annual, Quarterly, Monthly)

• Evidence-Based Practices: Responsible Gaming Association of New Mexico Annual Pathological Gambling Treatment Conference, coordinated by The Evolution Group, 2000-2007 Albuquerque, NM.
• Emerging Research in Batterer Treatment with Donald Dutton, PhD, Author of "The Batterer", The Domestic Violence Educational Summit hosted and coordinated by The Evolution Group, Inc. 2006 Albuquerque, NM.
• Community Seminar Series: Best Practices in Working with Compulsive Gamblers and their Families, hosted and coordinated by The Evolution Group, Inc.; October 2007 Mescalero, NM, Inn of The Mountain Gods - July 2007 Dulce, NM, Jicarilla Behavioral Health - February 2007 Taos, Taos Behavioral Health.
• Utilizing Integrity Recovery: A Cognitive Behavioral Treatment Approach hosted and coordinated by The Evolution Group, Inc. 2006/2007 (Quarterly) Albuquerque, NM.
• CBT with the Dually Diagnosed Population: Addiction and Anti-social Traits, 2004-2007, Monthly Seminar Series, hosted and coordinated by The Evolution Group, Inc., Albuquerque, NM.

Feedback questionnaires given to all conference attendees over the years have consistently yielded high marks averaging (4.75) out of a possible 5 points.

State Approved CEU Provider

The Evolution Group, Inc. Executive Director, Daniel Blackwood, LPCC is a New Mexico State Licensing Board approved provider of continuing education credits for Counselors and Social Workers since 2002.

Soon, our sister website, www.knowledgeatyourfingertips.com, will show high quality educational documentaries that look at continuing education issues, promising practices, and researched and established best practices from a wrap around service perspective utilizing a circular "Circular Story Telling" methodology. The concept for each documentary includes the input and planning phases from multiple community stakeholders interested in the social issue being examined.

Counselors, Social Workers, Psychologists and other professionals will be able to view these 30 minute films, take a pre-test and a thirty question exam for 3 CEUS per film.

Community Consultations

Over the years the Evolution Group, Inc. Staff has provided trainings, consultations, mediation, and workshops for the following organizations in the state-wide community:

• Children, Youth, and Families Department Provider
• Presbyterian Healthcare System
• The Responsible Gaming Association of New Mexico
• Albuquerque Metropolitan DWI/Drug Court
• Metropolitan Domestic Violence Repeat Offender Program
• United States Federal District Court

Educational Film Collaborations

The Evolution Group, Inc. and Christopher Productions (christopherproductions.org) have been working together on various mental health and video projects for the past 5 years including:

2002 Knowing When to Stop (gambling addiction documentary)
2003 DWI first offenders video training (DWI 1st Offender Video)
2006 Dr. Donald Dutton video presentation for web development
2007 Gambling Addiction affects on family Video
2007 Gambling Addiciton affects on co-workers Video

Our online web site under construction is www.KnowledgeatYourFingertips.com.