PLEASE NOTE: In-person training intended for our partners and other professionals providing homeless services and other support services

In this session, presenters will provide an introduction to harm reduction practice as it applies to individuals engaged in all types of high risk behaviors. Attendees will explore the relationship between risk and trauma, the inherent dangers of shame and isolation, and the impact of stigma on vulnerable populations. Presenters will assist attendees in understanding their own experiences of harm reduction in daily life, and the importance of promoting safety and bodily autonomy as harm reduction’s primary goals. Attendees will explore the outcomes of harm reduction practice, connect their passion for the helping profession with the responsibility to center clients’ self-identified goals, and walk away from this session with a greater understanding of key harm reduction principles as practical and effective clinical solutions.

Presenter Bios

Ryan Villagran, MSW LSW joined Housing First University in June 2021 as a Training Specialist. Ryan holds a Master of Social Work from Temple University with a concentration in Communities & Policy. His clinical background includes delivering psychiatric rehabilitation services in the mental health recovery model at a Community Integrated Recovery Center. Ryan also developed and coordinated a training program in a university setting for social workers serving transitional-aged youth and later taught a Human Behavior in the Social Environment course for graduate social work students. Ryan is involved in organizing efforts around ending mass incarceration and believes in the power of our collective imagination to dream of a better future centered around the most vulnerable members of our community.

Andrew Spiers, MSS, LSW is the Director of Training and Technical Assistance for Pathways to Housing PA’s Housing First University. Andrew joined Pathways in early 2018 and served as an Assistant Team Leader and Team Leader before launching Housing First University in October 2019. Andrew holds a Master of Social Service from Bryn Mawr College’s Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research, where he concentrated in Community Practice, Policy, & Advocacy. He has taught Human Services and Sociology courses as an adjunct professor at Harcum College and conducted trainings and workshops all over the country on Housing First, harm reduction, and affirming care for LGBTQ+ communities.

Continuing Education Statement

Housing First University: a program of Pathways to Housing PA, Provider number 1759, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. All other non-social work professionals, please check with your board of accreditation to ensure this training meets your licensing needs.

Intro to Harm Reduction