Professionals working in housing and homelessness services navigate complex ethical decisions, trauma responses, competing priorities, and emotionally demanding work every day. While traditional trainings often rely on policies, research, and regulations, reflective practice offers another powerful avenue for professional growth.
This interactive workshop demonstrates how familiar children's literature—in particular, selected stories from The Berenstain Bears series—can serve as a reflective practice tool to explore evidence-based concepts including trauma-informed care, professional boundaries, communication, ethical decision-making, resilience, conflict resolution, and worker well-being.
Rather than analyzing the books themselves, participants will use the stories as metaphors that prompt discussion about real-world practice situations encountered in shelters, street outreach, rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing, coordinated entry systems, and case management. Each literary theme is paired with current research, the NASW Code of Ethics, Housing First principles, trauma-informed care, motivational interviewing, and resilience science.
Participants will engage in case studies, ethical decision-making activities, audience polling, guided reflection, and small-group discussion to examine how childhood lessons about trust, kindness, fairness, courage, and healthy relationships translate into effective professional practice with adults and families experiencing homelessness.
Research consistently demonstrates that storytelling and reflective learning increase engagement, knowledge retention, empathy, and application of new concepts. By combining evidence-based practice with an unexpected educational framework, this workshop creates an engaging learning experience that participants are likely to remember long after the conference concludes.
Participants will leave with practical strategies they can immediately implement to strengthen client relationships while maintaining healthy professional boundaries, reducing burnout, and promoting ethical, trauma-informed service delivery.