Navigating Difference Through Identity-Conscious Psychotherapy 1 CE Credit Hour

This self-paced course introduces the Identity-Conscious Psychotherapy (ICP), a practical, anti-colonial approach designed to help providers navigate identity differences with more clarity and care. ICP is built on four core skills: reflexivity (knowing your own lens), relational skills (building safety and repair), trauma-informed practice (reducing harm and supporting regulation), and cultural responsiveness (staying open, accountable, and responsive). Together, these skills help clinicians center the client’s lived experience and reduce harmful power dynamics that can show up when identities don’t align. Designed for social workers, counselors, mental health professionals, educators, supervisors, and helping professionals, this course combines reflection, case-based learning, and concrete strategies that participants can apply immediately in their roles. Learning objectives: 1. Deconstruct traditional concepts of "resistance" to analyze how Western psychological frameworks risk pathologizing culturally normative protective behaviors in marginalized clients. 2. Analyze identity mismatches in the therapeutic space to recognize how clinician-client power differentials create epistemic vulnerability and relational rupture. 3. Apply the CuRReNTS framework to identify and reframe protective client behaviors through a lens of epistemic self-preservation, implementing the Notice-Name-Check-Repair clinical sequence in practice. This course includes a combination of recorded videos and optional downloadable activities. System Requirements: Windows 10 and above, MacOS 12 and above, Latest stable version ChromeOS. Broadband Internet connection: Cable, High-speed DSL & any other medium that is internet accessible. Videos were recorded in September 2026. To receive credit for this course, participants must receive an 80% or higher on the post-test and complete the evaluation at the end of the course.