Veteran Service Officers as a Social Work Resource

12pm to 2pm EST

LIVE WEBINAR

Presenter: Aynisa Leonardo, LCAT, ATR-BC

FREE FOR ALL ATTENDES

This workshop is approved for 2.0 continuing education credit hours for licensed social workers, licensed mental health counselors, licensed marriage and family therapists and licensed psychologists

Workshop Description

This presentation will discuss the explanation of the training and role of a VSO (Veterans Service Officer). Speaker will highlight misconceptions of this field, as well as implications of potential misunderstandings. Workshop will look at areas of advocacy and resource navigation, and the professional and personal benefits to the veteran community. List of medical and mental health claims examples will be discussed in order to deepen understanding of VA claims and how these impact veterans’ quality of life, livelihood, and perspective of their service time. Panel of Veteran Service Officers will answer questions related to their role, common misunderstandings, how to bridge the gap between veterans and civilian providers, and key areas for support. Speaker and panel will discuss the importance of interventions in the form of referrals to VSOs, and how when appropriate these steps can be critical and life changing to a veteran.

Learning Objectives

After the completion of this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Explain the benefits of utilizing veteran service officers.
• Identify five specific ways to improve understanding of the VA benefits system for civilian providers.
• Describe the implications of service as this related to access to VA benefits.
• Define misconceptions related to VSOs and navigation of VA resources.
• Describe at least 3 examples of when the referral to a VSO would be indicated.

This workshop is approved for 2.0 continuing education credit hours.

NASW-NYS is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers (Provider ID #0014), licensed mental health counselors (Provider ID #MHC-0053), licensed marriage and family therapists (Provider ID #MFT-0037) and licensed psychologists (Provider ID #PSY-0088).

Return to the top

Presenter:

Aynisa Leonardo is a Licensed Clinical Art Therapist (LCAT, ATR-BC), who has been in the field of mental health services for 12 years. She is the VP of Clinical Outreach at Water Gap Wellness. Her prior experience includes working in inpatient, outpatient, and non-profit settings with clients experiencing posttraumatic stress, addiction, family conflict, and other mental health challenges. She has concentrated on advanced program development and clinical education, locally and nationally. She continues to provide evidence-based and interactive style presentations to hospitals, non-profits, and corporate agencies, in an effort to raise awareness of current trends and improve competency within the healthcare community.