Affirming Heart Victim Services
2022 Session Catalog
ADHD-ODD VS. Trauma - What's the Difference?
This training will illustrate the connection between trauma and its impact on regulation and relationship and academic, social, and behavioral struggles, as well as successes. This workshop will also explore a simple antidote to the impact of trauma that is surprisingly at the fingertips of anyone at any time and will emphasize hands on tool to incorporate into the work with those who have experienced trauma. Participants will take a deeper dive into other factors contributing to a trauma response and other implication and area of impact from trauma.
Donna Lucero, MA, LPCC
All Faiths Children's Advocacy Center -
Training Institute Director/Wraparound Clinical Director
Advocacy Needs and Sex Trafficking -A Story of a Survivor of Sexual Exploitation to Forensic Nurse
Understand the lived experience of a survivor of commercial sexual exploitation and the pathway out of the life into the field of forensic nursing. Learn how to implement survivor informed practice into your agencies and communities to ensure better trauma informed outcomes. Learn how to encourage victims to become overcomers by creating pathways to turn a painful past into a powerful purpose.
Rachel Fischer, BSN, RN, SANE-A, SANE-P
Forensic Nursing Consulting and Education LLC
Age Typical VS. Problematic Sexual Behaviors in Children
This session will review approaches to supporting healthy sexual development in children. We will review expected sexual behaviors in children VS. atypical sexual behaviors in children; as well as how other factors influence sexual behavior. This session will also help attendees to understand how sexual behaviors are interpreted in context of concern for child sexual abuse.
Dr. Leslie Strickler, DO, FAAP
UNM - Professor of Pediatrics and
Para los Ninos - Medical Director
Anatomy of a Burnout: How I Burned Out as a Prosecutor
In 2019, the World Health Organization recognized burnout as an official diagnosis. Burnout has been defined as a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. In this presentation, Mr. Scramlin will share his personal story of how he burnt out as a prosecutor and what he has learned about recognizing, treating, and preventing it.
Erik Scramlin
Tactical Legal Solutions, LLC
Armor - That which keeps you safe can destroy your humanity.
Bobby Doyle
Code4Couples - Retired Master Peace Officer
Exposure to many incidents and calls for service requires that armor be worn, both physically and mentally. The armor may be ballistic vests, ballistic shields, and personal protective equipment but, it may also include mindset, cynicism, and tough mindedness. This armor protects against physical injury/harm as well as emotional injury/harm. However, this armor can also become so impervious to emotion that persons lose sight of what it means to be human. True courage and compassion are just as essential as the armor in keeping you safe and functioning at a top level.
Building Trust: The Intersection of Law Enforcement and Advocates
Sunny Slaughter
CEO - Sunny Slaughter Consulting, LLC
In this session, attendees will discuss the benefits of law enforcement officials, victim advocates, and other professionals building successful, sustainable, and respectful collaborative partnerships to serve and support victims' trauma and crimes. Attendees will also have the opportunity to engage in an interactive scenario.
Collateral Damage: Responding to the Hidden Crisis of Victimization
In this session, attendees will learn to importance of recognizing the collateral consequences of trauma experiences and exposures which impact direct and indirect victims of violence that can disrupt criminal prosecutions, interfere with behaviors, and have a lasting impact on individuals, families, and the community. We will also discuss law enforcement and advocates navigating the media in harm reduction and healing promotion.
Sunny Slaughter
CEO - Sunny Slaughter Consulting, LLC
Counter the Impact - Overcoming Burnout and Embracing Resilience
The continual exposure to traumatic situations and events, directly and indirectly, can result in a multitude of impacts both physiologically and psychologically to first and second responders; including struggles with compassion satisfaction and fatigue, which can in turn lead to more severe mental health issues. The impact can also result in conditioning that spills over into relationships, both at work and at home, and create negative communication and connection patterns. During this session participants gain an understanding of the impact and conditioning of the body and the brain, assess their level current level of burnout and fatigue, and resilience techniques to counter the short-term and long-term impact of exposure.
Cyndi Doyle, LPCS, NCC, CDWF
Code4Couples Founder - Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor
Courtroom Testimony: The Key to Successful Prosecution
Law enforcement officers and witnesses should not be afraid to go to court. Witnesses worry about cross examination and what they will be “grilled” about. Witnesses need to be prepared
for court and prosecutors need to know how to prepare them. In this presentation, Mr. Scramlin
will discuss the characteristics of a credible witness, common cross examination techniques and the power of storytelling.
Erik Scramlin
Tactical Legal Solutions, LLC
Interviewing and Receiving Testimony from Children
In this presentation, attendees will learn about approaches used by judges in interviewing children in cases involving custody and visitation and in receiving testimony from children in all cases, including criminal cases. The session will treat questions of credibility, bias, prejudice, competence to testify, and weight of the evidence.
Honorable Mark T. Sanchez
District Court Judge - 5th Judicial District
Minimal Facts Interviewing for Children who Disclose
The use of Child Advocacy Centers have become more common for interviewing child victims, but less common for interviewing child witnesses. The Forensic Interviewers are trained in how to ask questions, but often, are not trained in what questions to ask.
The investigators may know what to ask, but not how. This is further complicated by limitations due to that child’s development, verbal skills, and age. This presentation will provide clear guidelines for the types of questions that children should be asked and the harm that can be caused to the investigation by asking the wrong questions in the wrong way.
Lt. Mark Munro, MA, LPCC, CCATP, CCCE
Hobbs Police Department - CID Lieutenant
New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and Human Trafficking Task Force Overview
This session will introduce you to the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children and Human
Trafficking Task Forces, ran by the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office. During the presentation you will discover the capability of the task force to combat the crimes of child exploitation and child sex trafficking. Through this discussion, you will learn how to take the next steps in joining the fight against child exploitation and human trafficking.
Jay Ratliff
New Mexico Office of the Attorney General - Special Agent in Charge/Commander
Now that You Know: What are You Really Willing to do for Others?
In 2015 Sunny Slaughter delivered her TEDx talk titled "What are You Really Willing to do for Others?" It was an intimate look into her personal story of discovering she was married to a child molester; his last victim was her daughter. Sunny is committed to removing the stigma, shame, and silence about why it is critical for everyone and especially first responders to "realize," "recognize," and "respond" to exploitation and human trafficking. At the end of her presentation, she will give a charge to the audience.
Sunny Slaughter
CEO - Sunny Slaughter Consulting, LLC
Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) - Gatekeeper Training
This session teaches QPR, an evidence-based method for suicide prevention for teens and adults to use in their communities and workplaces. This course teaches participants to Question, Persuade and Refer someone who may be suicidal, get help for themselves and learn more about prevention suicide, identify the common causes of suicidal behavior, recognize the warning signs of suicide and get help for someone in crisis. Attendees will receive a certification upon completion of post work.
Regina Bejarano
DOH - Office of School and Adolescent Health
Southeast Region School Mental Health Advocate
Regulate then Educate: The Function of the Stress Response System
This training will explore our stress response system and its impact on regulation and relationship and academic, social, and behavioral struggles, as well as successes. The workshop will highlight practical tools at everyone's disposal that serve to support the development of regulation and relationship. Knowledge is power...this training provides opportunity for participants to develop greater understanding of the stress response system.
Donna Lucero, MA, LPCC
All Faiths Children's Advocacy Center -
Training Institute Director/Wraparound Clinical Director
Serving Those with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Lee White, educator of 23 years, will share his experience on serving those with intellectual and development disabilities. As a strong advocate for all children regardless of ability, Lee is a passionate educator and believes that everyone, regardless of age or abilities, experiences trauma differently. Oftentimes, trauma in children remains hidden or difficult to identify. As a father and educator, I believe that empathic listening skills are necessary in the overall develop of resolutions to offset further trauma in those with intellectual and development disabilities.
Lee White
Superintendent - Loving Municipal Schools
Strangulation in Cases Involving Children
Understand the lethality of a strangler. Learn the mechanics and dynamics of the anatomy of strangulation. Implantation of next steps after identifying a victim of strangulation will be discussed as well as the importance of severity acknowledgment with pediatric populations. The legalities in relation to strangulation severity will be addressed.
Rachel Fischer, BSN, RN, SANE-A, SANE-P
Forensic Nursing Consulting and Education LLC
SVU Multidisciplinary Team Approach and Understanding of Victim Behavior, Presentation, Recantation
Implement trauma informed and survivor informed multidisciplinary collaboration based on well working models in urban and rural communities. Understand the mindset of victims to promote better rapport building techniques in practice. Realize the reality of recantation from its roots and associated stigma in order to better address it and speak to it with individual cases. De-escalation techniques will be discussed from the lens of lived experience.
Rachel Fischer, BSN, RN, SANE-A, SANE-P
Forensic Nursing Consulting and Education LLC
The Evaluations of Burns, Bruises, Fractures and Head Trauma in Physical Abuse Cases
This session will review injuries in physical abuse cases. Injury types to be covered include: Burns- types, common appearances, mimics of burns. Bruises- characteristics of abusive VS. non-abusive bruises, bruise patterns, mimics of abusive bruising, evaluation of bruise concerns. Head trauma- risk factors for abusive head trauma in infants, general mechanism of abusive head trauma, common findings in abusive head trauma. This session will also define sentinel injury in infants, identify and evaluate common presentations of sentinel injury.
Dr. Leslie Strickler, DO, FAAP
UNM - Professor of Pediatrics and
Para los Ninos - Medical Director
The Power of Two: Empowering Law Enforcement Couples to Combat Conditioning and Increase Resilience
A 2019 research study showed that 40% of law enforcement officers surveyed reported a low level of compassion satisfaction, including satisfaction in helping others, appreciation, or value in their role. This, along with conditioning from the job can spillover, negatively impacting relationships with spouses and children, an officer’s key source of resilience. Left unaddressed, the cycle can increase the likelihood of mental health issues for officers and their family. In this session, learn key elements of conditioning that EVERY officer and spouse need to understand, the impact on compassion satisfaction, relationships and mental health, and research-based tools to empower officers and spouses to break the cycle and increase resilience.
Cyndi Doyle, LPCS, NCC, CDWF
& Bobby Doyle
Code4Couples - Resource for Successful First Responder Relationships
Working with Victims in Criminal Prosecutions
The New Mexico Victim’s Rights Act provides basic rights to crime victims in New Mexico. The prosecution team, including law enforcement are required to provide these basis rights laid out in NM Stat § 31-26-1 et seq. This presentation will discuss how the prosecution team can comply with the legal requirements and provide a voice for victims in criminal prosecutions.