Group Leader Training
In the ITC (previously called Level 1 training)
Learn how to lead ITC support and skills groups in this 12-Hour, 4-session training.
When
Wednesdays
Feb 12, 2024 - Mar 12, 2025
5 p.m. ET (see full schedule below)
Where
Online - Zoom
(info and link emailed upon registration)
Who
Anyone who has attended a 16 or 17 hour Invitation to Change training and received a Certificate of Completion.
(Not sure if you qualify? Contact us!)
Cost
$300
(Sliding scale will be made available)
ITC Certification
Level 1 Certification
Continuing Edu.
None
Description
Join us for 4 sessions of Invitation to Change training and join our ITC Learning Community! Learn how to use the ITC in different settings, with a focus on running community groups, and gain a deeper proficiency in explaining these concepts to others.
Our ITC Learning Community is made up of professionals and family members who are changing the conversation around addiction. They are leading groups, bringing the ITC into their recovery work, and advocating locally for more compassionate approaches to substance use (among many other things!).
+++
Level 1 Certification gives you access to the following:
• Twice-monthly support meetings with FFC trainers and other members of the Level 1 community.
• Access to our ITC Certified Facebook group, where we regularly share resources and hold discussions about the Invitation to Change.
• Connection to other community members for collaboration, support, and continued learning.
• Access to our ever-growing resource library, including flyers, presentations, information sheets, and research articles.
• Use of our group leader materials, including a complete, 15-session curriculum for leading ITC-based groups.
• The ability to share information about your ITC-based group in our Community Groups Directory.
Please note: In order to receive ITC Certification, you must attend at least 10 of these 12 hours.
Any hours you are not able to attend we will ask you to make up by viewing a recording of the missed session.
Dates:
Session 1 : Wednesday, February 12th, 5-9 PM ET
Session 2 : Wednesday, February 26th, 5-9 PM ET
Session 3 : Wednesday, March 5th, 5-7 PM ET
Session 4 : Wednesday, March 12th, 5-7 PM ET
To receive ITC Certification, you must first attend a full, 16-hour or 17-hour training hosted (or co-hosted) by our organization. See upcoming 16-hour workshops here.
At the end of a 16-hour or 17-hour workshop, you will receive a Certificate of Completion, which allows you to attend this ITC Certification training.
Unsure whether you have a Certificate of Completion? Contact us!
Those who complete our Group Leader training will receive a complete, 15-session curriculum that anyone can use to lead a community group in the Invitation to Change Approach.
• Our sample curriculum can be used as is, or adapted to your needs. It has built-in flexibility for you to adjust the length, frequency, and number of sessions, and you can combine it with other approaches (i.e. SMART Recovery) or add your own spin.
• Each topic-focused session includes a sample meeting agenda, an introductory reading on an ITC topic, and a worksheet or group exercise.
• We also offer access to our resource library, which includes sample group rules, meditations, flyers, and other useful materials for starting and running community groups.
Trainers
Jarell R.O. Myers, PhD is a clinical psychologist, licensed in both New York and Massachusetts, with training in cognitive-behavioral and dialectical behavioral approaches to treatment. He earned his doctorate in clinical psychology from Fairleigh Dickinson University and completed an APA-accredited internship at Mt. Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital on the child and adolescent track. In addition, Dr. Myers completed a two year postdoctoral fellowship in child and adolescent psychology at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center in White Plains, New York where the focus was on treatment for anxiety. He used that experience at McLean Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts where he worked with children and adolescents diagnosed with Anxiety and Obsessive Compulsive Disorders in an intensive outpatient clinic. Dr. Myers has expertise in working with adolescents and young adults with comorbid anxiety and substance use disorders and adopts a harm reduction approach when appropriate.

Dr. Nicole Kosanke is a licensed clinical psychologist and the Director of Family Services at CMC:NYC, where she specializes in the assessment and treatment of substance use disorders in individuals and families. Dr. Kosanke works in the research and clinical practice of treating substance use disorders and utilizes the principles of CRAFT, MI, and CBT in different therapeutic modalities and resources.
She co-authored the award-winning book, Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change, and also contributed to The 20 Minute Guide. Dr. Kosanke was also featured in an O, The Oprah Magazine article about her client’s experience in treatment at CMC, which was later published in O’s Big Book of Happiness: The Best of O. She is a member of Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies and American Academy of Addiction Psychiatrists.
