Current Offerings from Helen Sanderson Associates USA
We offer co-designed, customized support for organizations that want confident leadership, healthier teams, and a culture where people feel safe to speak up, learn, and do their best work. Our programs strengthen onboarding, management development, and succession planning, while aligning with the values of HCBS principles and person-centered practices.
Whether in a workshop, in one-to-one coaching, or in a retreat setting, we offer:
Leadership and team development to build trust and better ways of working together
Strategy and direction to get clear about purpose, priorities, and values
Coaching to help leaders and managers enhance their people skills
Facilitation to guide honest conversations, planning, and change
Nothing is off the shelf. We listen first, then design support that fits your people, your organization, and the work you do.
For more information contact:
Jamie Markey at jamie@helensandersonassociates.com
Mary Beth Lepkowsky at marybeth@helensandersonassociates.com
Leadership and Team Development Programs
Person-Centered Practices Programs
1. Activating the Leader Within
During periods of rapid growth and change, people are often asked to step into leadership roles without the time, space, or support to learn how to lead. Activating the Leader Within is designed to meet leaders where they are, whether new, emerging, or seasoned, and support
them in laying a foundation for leading with greater self-awareness, confidence, and intention.
We believe leadership starts from the inside out. This program partners with leaders to understand their strengths, clarify their values, and build the confidence to lead in ways that feel authentic and effective.
Through strength-based assessments and practical strategies, leaders gain insight into who they are, how they show up at work, and the impact they have on others.
These insights can be leveraged to bring their whole selves to work, improve effectiveness in leadership settings, and create environments where people feel valued, supported, and empowered to do their best work.
Activating the Leader Within helps leaders:
• Understand their strengths and leadership style through a series of personal and 360 assessments including Leadership Circle Profile, A Values Inventory, Clifton Strengths, and DiSC
• Clarify what matters most and lead in alignment with their values
• Practice and apply new insights
• Develop a personal leadership development plan with support of one-to-one coaching
Format: Five months – each month includes one assessment, one 3-hour session to apply insights from the assessment, and access to one hour of one-to-one coaching to support application. Contact us for discounted rate when bringing this program to your management team.
2. Compassion@Work
As the pace of work increases and employee stress rises, is it affecting your team’s wellbeing, culture, and effectiveness?
Compassion@Work is an interactive learning series for those who want to bring emotional wellbeing, effectiveness, and compassion into how they work, lead, and relate to others. Research shows that compassion training reduces stress, strengthens relationships, and
improves collaboration – helping people and teams maximize the impact of their work.
Through real-life examples, reflection, and guided practice, participants build practical skills they can use immediately to bring greater clarity, intention, and compassion into everyday interactions.
Participants will learn how to:
• Practice compassion for themselves and others, even in high-stress environments
• Communicate clearly and empathetically in both face-to-face and digital interactions, including difficult conversations
• Strengthen trust, connection, and psychological safety in teams
• Support person-centered workplace practices that honor individual strengths, needs, and perspectives
• Integrate compassion into leadership, teamwork, and daily decision-making
Drawing on research from Erika Dhawan, Marshall Rosenberg, Audre Lorde, Dr. Brené Brown, and other compassion scholars, this series introduces 15 evidence-based Compassion@ Work practices to help participants communicate effectively, nurture meaningful connections, care for themselves, and lead with compassion at work and beyond.
Recommended for:
• People seeking to strengthen communication, culture, and wellbeing
• Leaders, managers, and supervisors
• HR and organizational development professionals
Format: Five weekly 3-hour sessions, held via Zoom.
3. Compassion@Work with Coaches
After the Compassion@Work series, how can organizations continue to deepen and sustain these practices across teams?
To build on the foundation of a compassionate workplace, HSA USA supports the development of Compassion@Work Coaches – individuals who have completed the Compassion@ Work series and want to take a more active role in supporting others in future cohorts and in
the workplace.
These coaches guide small groups of participants during the Compassion@Work training series, foster peer learning, and help embed compassionate practices into the fabric of the organization. By modeling empathy, active listening, and compassionate communication,
they strengthen trust, psychological safety, collaboration, and engagement – helping sustain a culture where compassion becomes a long-term organizational strength.
Investing in Compassion@Work Coaches helps organizations:
• Sustain compassionate practices beyond the training experience
• Embed compassion into decision-making, feedback, and teamwork
• Build trust, psychological safety, and stronger collaboration
• Increase engagement and relational wellbeing across teams
• Strengthen leadership capacity grounded in self-awareness and emotional intelligence
• Support compassion as a sustainable way of working
By developing Compassion@Work Coaches, organizations foster an environment that values personal growth, emotional wellbeing, and strong relationships – laying the foundation for resilient teams, sustainable success, and lasting cultural impact.
Prerequisite of Compassion@Work Coach: Completion of the Compassion@Work training series as a participant.
Program includes:
• Compassion@Work training series (five 3-hour sessions via Zoom)
• Coach development and support before, during, and after series
Format: Five weekly 3-hour sessions, held via Zoom for up to 40 participants plus up to
6 coaches.
4. Culture Coaching
Who is this for? Leaders and managers who are responsible for addressing challenges relating to organizational culture and employee relations.
Every organization has culture challenges, those visible and invisible dynamics that can either make or break the employee experience. It can be the difference between retaining top talent or having a revolving door. Getting the culture right is a difficult task, and due to busy schedules managers are often left to their own devices to navigate very complex issues that impact culture: conflict among coworkers, burnout, lack of accountability, frustration with organizational change, and unclear responsibilities.
In fast-paced, high-demand environments, there is rarely protected time for leaders to slow down and strategically address difficult issues. In this offering, managers receive structured coaching support to address culture challenges in real time – building the clarity, confidence, and capability to implement lasting solutions.
Objectives:
• Provide timely support and guidance for leaders facing challenges
• Strengthen leadership confidence and clarity
• Greater emotional regulation and reduced reactivity in fast-paced environments
Format: Held via Zoom.
5. Everything DiSC Workplace Workshop
What Shapes the Way We Show Up for Others?
Each of us brings something unique to our work – our personality, our preferences, and the ways we naturally respond to the world around us. Some people feel energized by connecting with others, while others recharge through quiet reflection. Some prefer to gather all the details before deciding, while others trust their instincts. In human services, these differences matter. They influence how we communicate, how we build trust, and how we support the people and communities we serve. They can strengthen our teamwork – and sometimes create challenges, too. The good news is that these differences aren’t barriers; they’re opportunities to better understand one another and work more effectively together.
About the Everything DiSC® Workshop
The Everything DiSC® Workshop is designed to support teams in building stronger, more compassionate working relationships. It starts by helping each participant better understand their own style – what matters most to them, what motivates them, and how they tend to respond under stress. From there, the focus shifts outward. Participants learn how to recognize and appreciate the styles of their colleagues, and how to adapt their approach in ways that foster connection, respect, and collaboration. The experience is practical, engaging, and grounded in real-life situations that human services professionals encounter every day. Rather than labeling or limiting people, this workshop offers a shared language and framework to help teams communicate more clearly, reduce misunderstandings, and create a more supportive, inclusive environment – for staff and for those they serve.
What Participants Will Gain
• A deeper understanding of their own DiSC® style and what drives their behavior
• Insight into the needs, priorities, and perspectives of others
• Awareness of how they tend to respond in different situations and relationships
• Practical tools for communicating more effectively across differences
• Strategies for building stronger, more trusting relationships within their team
Before the Workshop
Participants will complete the Everything DiSC Workplace assessment, which provides a personalized profile of their style. They will also receive access to an online platform with tools to explore team dynamics and strengthen collaboration over time.
Format: One full day or multiple shorter days – held remotely. In-person facilitation is available with additional fees for travel time and expenses.
6. Psychological Safety in Practice
A One-Day Conference for Human Resources Professionals, Learning and Organizational Development Practitioners, People Managers, and Executives – featuring Helen Sanderson
Dates: January 14, 2027 8:30am to 4:30pm
Location: Tustin, California
Can’t make it on January 14? Want to bring this to your entire management team? If you provide the space , we can arrange to host an event tailored to your community, with facilitators Mary Beth Lepkowsky and Jamie Markey. Event cost TBD based on size and format.
A business can’t achieve the results it needs without an engaged and productive workforce performing at their full potential. This isn’t possible without psychological safety at work.
Psychological Safety in Practice will share practical evidence-based strategies to embed psychological safety in the organization to benefit both individuals and the overall business The highly interactive, hands-on, practical event is structured around the five foundations of psychological safety: mattering, voice, clarity, collaboration and learning. These foundations translate the science of psychological safety into practical ways of working that any team can apply and make a well-known concept tangible, moving from knowing about the concept to practicing it.
This one-day conference is designed for organization executives and HR leaders to receive an overview of the practices that can have a significant impact on the psychological safety within the workforce. We recommend that this kickoff day be coupled with the “Foundations
of Psychological Safety Implementation Support for Teams” to support organization-wide implementation. You will create meaningful impact at scale to enhance the connectedness and effectiveness of your employees.
Helen Sanderson, MBE, is the founder of Helen Sanderson Associates where she works with public and private sector companies to develop human-centered and psychologically safe ways of working. She is an international consultant, speaker and author and is a fellow of The RSA. Before her current role, she held numerous senior roles across the healthcare industry, particularly in Occupational Therapy. She is based in Bangor, Wales.
7. Foundations of Psychological Safety Implementation Support for Teams
Great teams don’t just happen, they’re intentionally built. Psychological safety isn’t about being “nice”, it’s about creating resilient, high-performing organizations where people feel valued, supported, and empowered to do their best work.
Foundations of Psychological Safety supports teams and leaders in creating workplaces where people feel safe to speak up, share ideas, and take thoughtful risks without fear of judgment. Through real-world scenarios, peer learning, and hands-on practice, participants explore the five foundations of psychological safety: Voice, Mattering, Clarity, Connection, and Learning.
By the end of the training, teams leave with a shared understanding of what psychological safety looks and feels like in action. Providing participants with simple, meaningful strategies they can put into practice immediately to strengthen collaboration, engagement, and innovation.
Format: Six months of topical sessions that will include:
• A monthly self-paced video (20-30 minutes) that participants will view before the group practice session to apply the principles learned.
• Access to one hour of one-to-one coaching each month to support implementation of new practices within their team or organization.
• A monthly 90-minute group sharing session to discuss what was tried and learned during the month. A great opportunity for peer learning and networking.
8. Intercultural Compassion
Intercultural Compassion is a learning and development experience designed to strengthen connection, trust, and collaboration across differences. This offering helps leaders and teams better understand how identities, lived experiences, and cultural norms shape the way people work together.
The engagement incorporates the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) to provide a research-based assessment of cultural fluency. These insights give individuals and teams a clearer understanding of their current mindset and orientation toward difference, creating a personalized starting point for growth and more targeted development.
Rather than focusing solely on awareness, this engagement builds practical skills: perspective taking, curiosity over judgment, repair after harm, and navigating difficult conversations with clarity and care. Participants will develop the capacity to engage differences without
defensiveness or avoidance but rather curiosity and understanding – creating environments where cultural diversity becomes a source of strength rather than strain.
Objectives
• Develop a shared language for discussing cultural differences and impact
• Build skills for compassionate curiosity during conflict
• Utilize the Intercultural Development Inventory to build cultural fluency and better recognize and value differences and commonalities
Format: Administer IDI with individual debriefs and group debrief. Skill building for compassionate communication practice using Compassion@Work frameworks. Two full days, or five 3-hour sessions. Ideal for in-tact teams and in-person delivery is highly encouraged. Limited to 10-20 people per cohort.
9. Leading Difficult Conversations with Compassion
Do difficult conversations and unclear communication get in the way of your team’s effectiveness and impact?
Rooted in the evidence-based framework of Compassionate Communication (Nonviolent Communication) developed by Marshall Rosenberg, this skills-based series equips participants to communicate effectively, and with empathy, in everyday and challenging conversations.
Focusing on relational communication, participants build confidence navigating conflict, cultivating self- compassion, strengthening connection, and contributing to environments where people feel seen, heard, and valued through guided learning and real-time practice.
Each session includes whole-group instruction, small-group practice, individual reflection, and coaching with feedback using both structured exercises and real-life scenarios.
Leading Difficult Conversations with Compassion helps organizations:
• Foster psychological safety and trust
• Communicate effectively and empathetically, even in difficult conversations
• Strengthen collaboration and meaningful contribution
• Support high-impact, meaningful work
• Embed sustainable communication practices
This practical, skills-based series is ideal for those looking to strengthen everyday
communication, build trust, and create more respectful, understanding workplaces and
relationships.
Format: Four weekly 2-hour sessions, held via Zoom Or two consecutive half/days, in-person with a minimum of 24 people, plus materials and travel expenses.
10. Leading Through Coaching
Giving feedback and holding others accountable may be some of the most challenging responsibilities for a manager. Too often, leaders either avoid hard conversations or default to directive problem-solving – both of which can unintentionally undermine ownership and growth.
This is where the skill of coaching comes in. Coaches ask questions rather than instruct. They create space for reflection instead of prescribing solutions. Rather than solving problems for others, they build others’ capacity to think critically, take responsibility, and follow through.
Leading Through Coaching equips leaders with practical coaching skills they can use in everyday interactions – check-ins, performance conversations, and team meetings.
Leaders learn how to:
• Ask powerful, clarifying questions
• Strengthen accountability without micromanaging
• Give feedback that invites growth rather than defensiveness
• Create psychological safety while maintaining high standards
When coaching becomes embedded in the culture, organizations see stronger ownership, greater responsiveness to feedback, clearer decision-making, and more sustainable performance. Accountability becomes a two-way conversation that is embraced rather than feared.
Objectives:
• Develop coaching skills among leaders across the organization
• Structured coaching conversation templates for 1:1s, performance discussions, and team meetings
• Ongoing coaching sessions for reinforcement and skill integration
Format: Held remotely via Zoom or in-person facilitation is available with additional
fees for travel time and expenses.
11. Person Centered Supervision
Person-Centered Supervision is a practical and engaging approach to developing and retaining the best staff for your team by aligning supervision with person-centered practices. This one day experience equips supervisors with skills and strategies to build stronger connections, enhance accountability, and foster a thriving team culture.
Supervisors will explore how to:
• Move from traditional supervision to a person-centered approach
• Provide meaningful feedback that promotes learning and growth
• Hold effective one-to-one conversations using the Person-Centered Supervision Meeting Map
• Build psychological safety and connection through coaching conversations
• Apply the Relational, Tactical, and Developmental elements of the Person-Centered Support Framework
• Use person-centered thinking skills to strengthen engagement and teamwork
This training emphasizes appreciation, feedback, collaboration, and shared problem-solving, fostering a culture in which supervisors and staff succeed together.
Format: One full day or adapted to multiple, shorter, remote days
If held in person, additional costs for materials and travel will be applied.
12. Person-Centered Teams
This 2-day, in-person workshop helps teams and leaders strengthen clarity, connection, trust, and performance. A person-centered team has people at it’s heart, both people supported by the team and people in the team.
Participants will:
• Learn and practice five essential elements of a person-centered team (Purpose, People, Process, Performance, and Progress)
• Use person-centered thinking skills to promote engagement and teamwork that enhance performance.
• Learn and practice a person-centered team review
• Create a personal development plan for implementing practices within your team
This program is ideal for in-tact teams or for people managers who are committed to creating an environment in which their teams can thrive!
Format: The two training days can be scheduled consecutively or over 2-3 weeks.
13. Radically Better Meetings (Positive and Productive Meetings and Tactical)
Day 1: Positive and Productive Meetings training is for anyone who facilitates or chairs meetings, including supervisors, and entire teams that want to transform the quality and culture of their meetings. Positive and Productive Meetings is an innovative, practical meeting
process that ensures that people can listen carefully, think clearly and therefore make effective
decisions together.
Participants will learn:
• Techniques for developing a clear purpose and outcomes for each meeting
• Practical ways of ensuring that everyone’s voice is heard in the meeting
• Simple ways to increase the quality of thinking in the meeting
• Different tools for problem-solving and covering agenda items
• Graphic templates to record information from meetings
Day 2: Tactical Meetings – remote or in-person for up to 50 participants.
Tactical Meetings – is a transformational meeting process that invites us to work adult to adult and ask for what we need. This remote session includes a fresh look at getting things done effectively and efficiently while emphasizing respect, trust, partnership, and accountability.
Time will be reserved on Day 2 to develop an implementation strategy for your organization.
Format: Day 1 is an in-person training. Day 2 can be done remote or in-person. Cohort of up to 50 people.
14. Unleashing Talent Through Clifton Strengths
Many organizations focus primarily on fixing weaknesses rather than maximizing strengths. As a result, employees may feel unseen, miscast in their roles, or disconnected from meaningful contribution.
Using Gallup’s CliftonStrengths assessment, this offering helps individuals and teams identify and articulate what they naturally do best. Leaders gain a shared language for talent, contribution, and collaboration.
Beyond individual insight, strengths-based practices are embedded into core organizational processes – including team meetings, performance reviews, one-on-ones, job design, and hiring conversations – so strengths are operationalized rather than treated as a one-time exercise.
The result is a more energized, aligned workforce where people are positioned to contribute at their highest potential.
Who this is for: New leaders, people managers, newly formed leadership teams, HR directors, Training and Organizational Development directors
Objectives
• Employees understand their strengths and how they best contribute to the work
• Teams develop an awareness of each team member’s strengths, and how they can collaborate effectively.
• Supervisors have resources and tools to understand how to best support their employees and teams, as well as incorporate strengths into everyday culture
Format:
Individual assessments for each team member
3-4-hour team development experience
Session for supervisors to orient to team resources and sustainability practices
In-person facilitated team sessions are available on request.
15. Ask for What You Need: Build Your Own Leadership Journey
Leadership development isn’t one-size-fits-all. This offering gives you the flexibility to design a learning experience that fits your goals, role, and schedule.
Choose from a curated selection of short, high-impact training modules and combine them to create a personalized leadership journey. Whether you want to strengthen core leadership skills, address a specific challenge, or explore new ways of leading, you can tailor your path to what matters most.
Each session is designed to be practical, engaging, and immediately applicable so you can put new insights into action right away. Select a single module or build a series over time to support sustained growth and meaningful impact.
Your leadership journey, your priorities, your pace.
• Aligning vision, values and purpose
• Raising awareness of self and others
• Bringing Your Whole Self to Work
• PPM – full day – extra cost
• Creating Team Agreements
• Building Psychologically Safe Teams Through Supervision and Development
• What more is possible? Encouraging Innovation
• Person-Centered Team Reviews
Format: These programs can be delivered to a cohort of 24 to either in person or remotely
16. Collaborative Planning Teams
Collaborative Planning Teams is a hands-on training and practice series that can be provided remotely or in person to help planning teams collaborate effectively to achieve results.
Planning Teams are most powerful when they work in true partnership – before, during, and after a person’s planning meeting. This experience is about learning how to collaborate in ways that are meaningful, inclusive, and person-centered.
When everyone comes together and feels heard, valued, and supported, we create experiences that truly reflect the life someone wants to live. We encourage all Planning Team members to take part – because when everyone is engaged, real change becomes possible.
Course Objectives:
• Explore the purpose and roles of a strong Planning Team and how each person contributes to shared success
• Learn strategies, tools, and techniques to support teamwork and keep the person at the center of their own life
• Empower people with lived experience to lead their meetings in ways that matter most to them
• Access resources that help shift teams from working alone to working together
Format: Four 3-hour remote sessions cohort of up to 40 people (if in-person travel
expenses are additional).
17. Community Connecting Training
Community Connecting supports the first requirement of the HCBS rule: supporting people to become active, included members of their community. Rooted in Asset-Based Community Development, Community Connecting introduces practical tools to help people build meaningful connections in simple and effective ways.
This interactive training offers hands-on practice with these tools and approaches, so participants can truly support meaningful community engagement.
Community Connecting helps people:
• Build networks of support beyond services
• Develop authentic relationships and connections
• Reduces the risk of loneliness and isolation
• Strengthen agency, identity, and sense of self
• Identify opportunities to contribute, increasing confidence and wellbeing
Recommended for: service providers, people with intellectual/developmental disabilities, family members, Regional Center staff, and community members.
Format: Six 3-hour remote sessions via Zoom.
18. Customized Person-Centered Approaches for Your Team
An alternative to the conventional 18-hour Person-Centered Thinking Training, this program addresses the common question of “what now?” by providing direct support teams with an opportunity to collaboratively learn person-centered approaches and craft a tailored path for implementation with the people they support.
Designed specifically for supervisors (Team Leads) and their direct reports within an organization, the program prioritizes practical and relatable efforts in team/program implementation. By integrating both self-paced and team-based learning, H S A honors employee’s time and capacity in engaging in training and creates intentional space to learn and strategize together to build a foundation of person-centered skills and a plan for applying it.
Program includes:
• Ten (10) monthly 90-minute remote Supervisor/Team Lead sessions
• Ten (10) monthly 2-hr remote team implementation sessions with all team members
• Individual time to review materials
• Facilitation guides and practical training/coaching resources
Format: Ten monthly 90-minute remote sessions for Supervisor/Team leads and
ten monthly 2-hr remote team implementation sessions.
19. DIY DSP Side by Side Person Centered Approaches
The DIY (do-it-yourself) DSP (Direct Support Professional) Cohort spans 5 months, incorporating a structured 4-week cycle that emphasizes specific person-centered skills aligned with the HCBS Final Rule. Utilizing innovation and technology, the DIY DSP Cohort integrates self-paced learning, peer coaching, and side-by-side videos for DSPs to watch and discuss alongside those they support.
Program includes:
• Five monthly 90-minute remote sessions
• Five monthly 60-minute remote community sessions (optional)
• Five self-paced videos to watch alongside people we support
Format: Self-paced videos. Five 90-minute remote sessions via Zoom.
Optional five 60-minute remote community sessions.
20. DSP Essentials
DSP (Direct Support Professionals) Essentials is a flexible and engaging training series created to support Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) in delivering meaningful, person-centered support. Designed with the realities of a busy schedule in mind, each self-paced online course offers practical tools and
strategies to strengthen DSPs’ skills and boost confidence in their daily work.
The series also offers a side-by-side learning approach, with paired courses designed for DSPs and the people they support to complete together – encouraging real-time application and shared growth.
Course topics focus on key areas essential to quality support, including:
• Building Bridges: Promoting integration in everyday support.
• Supporting Decision-Making: Tools for everyday empowerment.
• Empowering Opportunities: Strategies for meaningful support.
• Respecting Rights: Foundations for dignity in support.
Free online resource for all click here to learn more and register.
21. HCBS Community of Practice: From Paper to Practice
Community of Practice
Each quarter will focus on two or three of the HCBS requirements. Monthly Community of Practice (CoP) gatherings are designed for people receiving regional center services, family members, and support professionals. Each CoP session will include one skill practice session, one small group coaching circle, and one session designed to help participants coach their staff on the topics using accompanying resources provided by H S A.
Program includes:
• Four (4) quarterly 3-hr remote deep dive sessions
• Four (4) quarterly 90-minute remote coaching circles
• Four (4) quarterly 90-minute remote implementation sessions
• Access to DIY resources to share/facilitate with others (direct support, people with Intellectual /Developmental Disabilities, families)
Format: Quarterly remote sessions via Zoom.
22. HCBS Community Champions: A Community of Practice Continuation
The HCBS Community Champions program builds on the foundation of past HCBS Community of Practice participants, equipping them with the skills and confidence to lead, coach, and facilitate meaningful, person-centered change. By encouraging collaboration across regions,
the program supports the development of a sustainable network of Champions aligned with the HCBS Final Rule transformation across California.
Participants will join a statewide cohort and meet monthly with HSA associates for coaching, consultation, and hands-on facilitation practice. These sessions will prepare them to co-lead local Communities of Practice and eventually co-facilitate statewide sessions alongside HSA associates and peers.
Champions will use key HCBS Community of Practice tools and resources, including:
• Session planners, workbooks, and handouts
• DIY Facilitator Guides focused on HCBS requirements and person-centered practices
• Team 15 guides for leading quick, 15-minute team trainings
Format: Twelve months of remote steering committee support and coaching as well as
participation in regional HCBS Community of Practice.
23. Person-Centered Approaches Conference
The Person-Centered Practices Conference is a tailored, in-person or virtual event that brings the community together to build a shared understanding of person-centered thinking and develop practical skills for self-advocates, families, service providers, and professionals.
While person-centered approaches focus on honoring individual preferences, strengths, and goals, putting these values into daily practice can feel abstract or overwhelming. This conference bridges that gap through hands-on, collaborative learning grounded in realworld
examples that resonate with participants and improve quality of life support.
Conference participants will:
• Understand core person-centered thinking principles and how they show up in everyday life.
• Leave with practical skills that can be used immediately in planning, communication, and support.
• Build meaningful connections with others to share experiences, ideas, and problem-solve challenges.
• Feel re-energized and confident in supporting people to have choice, voice, and control in their lives.
• Build excitement and motivation for continued learning and future person-centered training opportunities within the community.
24. Person-Centered Planning for a Good Life
Six weekly 3-hour sessions that provide an overview of the person-centered planning process. This series is helpful for people receiving support, family members, direct support professionals, program administrators, and service coordinators who will benefit from understanding how person-centered planning works and how different people who know and care about a person with a disability can contribute to the process.
Participants will learn facilitation tips and practice the 5 phases of person-centered planning.
Click here for a full description.
Format: Six remote weekly 3-hour sessions via Zoom for up to 40 people.
25. Person-Centered Planning in Action
From discovery conversations to outcomes and support participants learn a practical, person-centered approach that turns great conversations into meaningful action.
Participants will:
• Use structured and engaging discovery conversations to uncover what matters most to a person.
• Write person-centered outcomes using a simple 7-step process that moves from conversation to action.
• Create clear, meaningful, specific, and measurable outcomes using a practical outcome and support sequence.
• Develop action plans that clearly identify who will do what by when.
Review progress in ways that promote accountability, collaboration, and real results.
Participants leave with practical tools and strategies you can immediately use to create plans that are more person-centered, actionable, and effective.
Format: Interactive 3-hour remote training via Zoom.
26.Person-Centered Thinking Coaches’ Support Program
Recommended for:
Organizations who made a demonstrated commitment to person centered thinking, planning, and practices and seeking ways to sustain the effort over time.
Person-Centered Thinking Coaches are internal staff champions who help transform how an organization supports both individuals and employees by using person-centered practices. Coaches guide the journey of learning new skills, gaining proficiency, and making them a natural part of everyday work.
This group will come together for six (6) monthly, remote sessions, for 3 hours each, to continue to build mastery, explore applications in the workplace and learn ways to provide peer support.
Participants are provided with instruction and ample practice in the processes and structures used to:
• Apply what has been learned from person-centered thinking training to real work situations.
• Adopt new practices and focusing on making them sustainable.
• Make simple, impactful changes to improve the lives of those you support and the organization.
• Share organizational change opportunities with leadership.
• Use person-centered thinking skills to try with your team or those you support.
• Review what’s working, celebrate successes, and pinpoint areas for improvement within teams and the organization.
• A facilitated planning day will support implementation and alignment of next steps.
Format: Six 3-hour monthly remote sessions for up to 20 coaches.
27. Person-Centered Thinking for Everyone
Don’t have the time to go through a PCT course? Need a refresher? Just want to practice?
PCT for Everyone is an online, self-paced course to support you to confidently learn and apply person-centered approaches.
Click here to learn more about the Person-Centered Thinking for Everyone self-paced training.
Format: Self-paced online course.
28. Person-Centered Thinking Trainer Certification
HSA offers PCT trainer certification for your team. A Mentor Trainer certified by The Learning Community For Person Centered Practices will provide remote mentoring, coaching and observation for Trainer Candidates to learn to deliver PCT Training. Trainer credentialing for Person Centered Thinking is available to people who have completed Person-Centered Thinking training and are using person-centered thinking skills and approaches in their work to support people.
During this program participants will:
• Work with a mentor trainer to create an individualized training plan that suits the needs of the trainer candidate and meets the requirements of the process
• Participate in and observe the training delivered by a mentor trainer 2 times
• Deliver the full curriculum 2 times with mentorship and feedback from a mentor trainer
• Practice using the tools/skills and compile a portfolio for feedback
• Receive regular mentor support to ensure comfort and confidence with the process
Click here to review the The Learning Community For Person Centered Practices handbook.
Format: Remote via Zoom and in-person.
29. Person-Centered Thinking Mentor Trainer Certification
Person Centered Thinking is a curriculum from The Learning Community for Person- Centered Practices and includes two days of in person facilitation or 18 hours of remote facilitation of interactive training. Participants acquire and practice effective person-centered thinking skills,
centered on how to discover and balance what is important to and what is important for a person. Cost includes facilitator, logistic/program support, and supplies for remote delivery. In-person costs may vary and can be discussed and amended as needed.
We know that you have a choice of mentors for your certification. HSA offers benefits not usually found with other PCT Mentor Trainers. We consider the following added value to ensure your effectiveness and long-term success as a PCT Trainer.
• Full access for one year to H S A’s PCT for Everyone and Team 15 eLearning– supplemental resources and DIY facilitator guides to implement and promote an ongoing community of practice.
• Annual free attendance at RENEW, HSA’s annual trainer development session to connect with other trainers, discuss PCT updates, and explore areas of common interest (this meets the TLCPC requirement to stay connected to a PCT mentor and receive updates).
• HSA provides up to date timed agendas, updated PowerPoint decks, and suggested scripts (these are provided after reviewing and revising content from the Learning Community to add scripts, applicable videos, opening round questions, etc.
• Cohort practice and weekly coaching sessions for practice and session review.
• Personalized slide review and feedback on development of trainer slides/materials.
• Timed agendas.
• Logistical coaching for zoom delivery.
• Logistical support during remote demos.
• Printed and bound workbooks (for in-person training, this is often the responsibility of the trainer candidates).
• Updated TLCPCP materials to make participation easier for course participants.
• 5 to 6 weeks of skill practice (to build confidence and competence in PCT Skills before launching into Demo preparation practice).
Click here to view the Mentor Trainer Credentialing Handbook
Format: Remote via Zoom and in-person.
30. Planning Live: Person-Centered Planning Facilitator Training
Immersive 12-week training program to build person-centered planning facilitation and plan development skills. The program provides a structured step-by-step guide for facilitators to implement and train others in a person-centered planning process. using This is a 12-week
train the trainer program. Upon successful completion of the course access to all training materials, powerpoints, scripts, and resources is provided.
Program includes:
• Twelve (12) weekly 3-hr remote sessions
• Twelve (12 )weekly 90-minute remote follow up and practice sessions
Click here to learn more about the full program
Format: Remote via Zoom.
31. Supported Decision-Making
Supported Decision-Making (SDM) aligns with the HCBS Final Rule by centering choice, control, and self-determination as foundational rights. This training equips participants with practical, person-centered tools to understand how people make decisions, recognize meaningful support, and expand the options available to them.
Through interactive learning and real-world application, participants will leave with skills and practical strategies to strengthen decision-making partnerships in their work and communities.
Participants will learn how to:
• Understand California’s Supported Decision-Making Act and the Conservatorship Reform
• Practice presuming competency and capacity
• Introduce and discuss a continuum of decision-making support options
• Support people to make informed choices the way they prefer
Recommended for: service providers, people with intellectual/developmental disabilities, family members, regional center staff, and interested community members.
Click here to learn more about this program.
Format: Four weekly 3-hour remote sessions held via Zoom.
32. Team 15: Person-Centered Approaches
This online series of fifteen modules is designed for team leaders, program administrators, PCT trainers, PCT coaches, and others wanting to embed person-centered practices in teams in a hands-on, practical way. Each module includes a brief video to explain the skill practice, and
a DIY facilitator guide to introduce a practice at a regular team meeting. Each practice takes only about 15 minutes. Confidently learn and apply person-centered approaches in small, manageable steps.
Click here to learn more.
Format: Self-paced online course.
33. Unbreakable: Practical Skills for Supporting Resilience and Overcoming Trauma
This course is a peer supported and facilitated course to help participants recognize, understand and respond effectively to support children and adults who have experienced adverse or traumatic life experiences. This course can be delivered in four 90-minute remote sessions or 1 day in person.
Recognizing and supporting people who have experienced adverse or traumatic life experiences to build a sense of belonging through nurturing relationships to minimize the impact of those experiences.
Participants of this course will:
• Identify possible trauma responses.
• Learn how to effectively respond to these experiences
• Learn how relationships and belonging can build resilience
• Learn practical strategies to minimize impact
Format: Four 90-minute remote sessions via Zoom OR 1-day in-person.
Let’s build a world where everyone can thrive!
For more information contact:
Jamie Markey at jamie@helensandersonassociates.com
Mary Beth Lepkowsky at marybeth@helensandersonassociates.com