This webinar will review key concepts and identify risk and protective factors that prevention professionals should be aware of when working with LGBTQ+ youth and young adults in their communities, directly or indirectly. It will also include practical tips to help create welcoming, inclusive spaces. Register here!

Learning Objectives

• Participants will be able to define & understand the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity & expression.
• Participants will be more familiar with the risk factors that impact LGBTQ+ youth, including those that increase the risk of substance misuse and other behavioral health concerns, including depression & anxiety.
• Participants will be able to identify protective factors for LGBTQ+ youth and consider ways to strengthen those for the LGBTQ+ youth they work with directly or indirectly in their communities.
• Participants will be connected to resources to help them continue to learn and to create welcoming, inclusive spaces in their work.

About the presenter: Marissa Carlson, MS, CPS, is the Executive Director of the NH Teen Institute, a leadership development nonprofit working with middle & high school students from around NH & New England in a variety of areas including substance misuse prevention, peer mentoring, and creating positive school & community climate.  She is a facilitator and trainer of trainers for multiple workshops developed through SAMHSA systems, is a member of the advisory council of the New England Prevention Technology Transfer Center (PTTC), and is on the DEI advisory committee for the NH Center for Nonprofits.  In addition, she is the President of the Prevention Certification Board of NH, serves on the IC&RC board of directors, and serves as the chairperson of the IC&RC Credentialing Committee.  Outside of her prevention work, Marissa is a founding member of Mill City Productions, a theatre company in Western Massachusetts.  She graduated from Pomona College with a BA in Psychology, received an MS in Nonprofit Management from Bay Path University, and has been a Certified Prevention Specialist since 2011.

About the webinar: This webinar is planned and hosted by the New England Prevention Technology Transfer Center, a program funded through cooperative agreement from SAMHSA. This webinar has been pre-approved by the Maine Prevention Certification Board, an IC&RC member board, for 1 contact hour. Participants who complete this webinar will receive a certificate of completion for 1 contact hour. For questions about this webinar, please contact Kristen Erickson, kerickson@ccsme.org.