Challenging Implicit Bias: Tools for Professional Practice 

Avi Edelman

September 12, 2023 and November 29, 2023
12:00 pm - 2:00 pm

2 CE Credits

Designed to fulfill the Implicit Bias Course Requirement for Maryland Licensure

 

Online via Zoom

Introductory- Psychologists who have little or no background in a specialized skill or content area, but do hold a doctorate degree 

Have you ever heard someone say, “I don’t make assumptions about anyone.”? Have you said it yourself?

Unfortunately, research shows us that the statement is nearly impossible to put into practice. At any given moment, we are exposed to millions of pieces of information, and neurons in our brain send signals at speeds over 100 mph. The very brain functions that help us navigate a complicated world can also lead us to follow unrecognized snap judgments and make decisions that recirculate patterns we may not even realize we’ve absorbed. And it is just as likely to show up in a professional clinical environment as it is in the grocery store aisle.

This interactive, dynamic workshop will explore what unconscious bias really is, why it exists, and what we can do about it. Participants will be invited to participate in dialogue exercises that examine our socialization and offer practical, evidence-based strategies for mitigating bias in our personal and professional lives.

This workshop will extensively discuss the role of socialization in how unconscious bias functions. Participants will examine case studies and hear examples that highlight racial bias, gender bias, religious bias, ability bias, and more, and will learn that mitigating bias requires not simply personal behavioral choices, but also structural interventions that recognize how systems of oppression institutionalize bias. Participants will be encouraged to examine their own social identities and learn about social identities they do not hold as a means of filling gaps in their own knowledge and experience that can contribute to bias.

 After attending this workshop, attendees will be able to 

  • Distinguish between system one (fast brain processing) and system two (slow brain processing) and identify their appropriate uses. 
  • Define metacognition and describe its role in mitigating unconscious bias
  • Describe how one's context and socialization play a role in reinforcing or challenging bias.
  • Describe how warmth and competence scaling (the stereotype content model) exacerbate bias and will be able to identify metacognitive reminders that can draw attention to warm/competence indicators that might otherwise steer a clinical interaction in the direction of bias
  • Create a personal caption plan to implement their learning and challenge their own implicit bias.  
 

 

Register for 11/29/2023

 

 

Avi Edelman creates environments of warmth and empathy for transformational dialogue about the forces that shape how we see the world and how the world sees us. He has over a decade of experience as an experiential educator, dialogue facilitator, and diversity and inclusion trainer. He recently served as Columbia University’s Associate Director of Multicultural Affairs and Manager of Diversity Education, where he leads intercultural dialogue programs for students and develops and implements training for thousands of students, staff, and faculty.

His areas of expertise include unconscious bias, privilege and oppression, LGBTQ solidarity, anti-racism, disability justice, and more. For nine years, he has led an annual civil rights pilgrimage for teens through the U.S. south to explore the history of social justice in Black and Jewish communities.

As an independent trainer, he has worked with individuals and organizations across the country to develop inclusive practices, build spaces of trust and understanding, and foster a culture of dialogue. He was featured in National Geographic's documentary series America Inside Out, leading a workshop convened by Katie Couric. He is an above-average juggler with waning professional circus aspirations.