Training & Continuing Education
At Hope Roots Collective, we offer clinically grounded, relationally rich learning experiences for mental health and wellness professionals. Our trainings blend evidence-based practice with community, reflection, and the restorative power of nature.
Kansas BSRB-approved CE credits available (approval number 26-009).
May 6, 2026
12 pm - 3 pm (3 diagnostic CEs)
In person: Hope Roots Collective (11515 South Black Bob Road, Olathe KS 66062)
Join this timely and practical CEU training designed to equip mental health professionals with the knowledge and skills to support transgender and gender-diverse clients across the lifespan. This course explores the diagnosis of Gender Dysphoria using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5-TR), while translating clinical criteria into real-world, affirming mental health practice.
Participants will gain hands-on strategies for conducting culturally responsive assessments, supporting clients through social and medical transitions, and navigating complex systems of care. The training also addresses ethical decision-making, work with children and families, and the mental health practitioners’ vital role in advocacy and reducing barriers to care.
Walk away with practical tools, increased confidence, and actionable approaches you can immediately apply in clinical, school, healthcare, and community settings.
Objectives:
Define gender dysphoria in children, adolescents and adults using DSM‑5‑TR criteria and distinguish it from gender nonconformity and gender diversity.
Describe developmentally appropriate, evidence‑based interventions while applying social work ethical principles and relevant legal/consent standards. Explore interventions for adults including counseling and referrals for hormones and surgery, and interventions for minors including social transition and family-based support.
Support clients with resource linkage and systems navigation (e.g., schools, healthcare, legal systems) and discuss advocacy for equitable access to services.
About the presenter:
Alex Peters, LSCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker with six years of experience providing culturally responsive, client-centered care to diverse populations. Their work includes supporting individuals navigating Gender Dysphoria, with a focus on affirming practice, psychosocial assessment, and care coordination. Alex is committed to ethical practice, advocacy, and reducing barriers to mental health services across clinical and community settings.
Friday, June 5
9 am - 12 pm
3 Ethics CEUs for mental health professionals
This is not your typical ethics training!
Let’s take a deeper and hands-on dive into the Code of Ethics. In this training, spend time reviewing your profession’s code of ethics (social work, counseling, or marriage and family therapy) and connect with it on a deeper level through sandtray directives. Re-center and connect with the core values that brought you to this profession. Identify common ethical dilemmas and work through an ethical decision making model. Discuss the diversity of approaches and techniques in the profession and differentiate between something being “unethical” vs. just a different approach.
Training is appropriate for mental health graduate students and licensed mental health therapists. No prior sandtray therapy training or experience needed.
Objectives:
Analyze your profession’s code of ethics (social work, counseling, marriage and family therapy) and reconnect with its core values through reflective and experiential sandtray activities.
Identity common ethical dilemmas in practice and apply an ethical decision-making model. Work through the decision-making process in the sandtray.
Differentiate between unethical practices and ethically appropriate variations in therapeutic approaches, with attention to diversity in clinical techniques and perspectives.
About the presenters:
Kristine Page, LCPC, LPC, PMH-C, is a therapist and the owner of Turning The Page, LLC, a private practice based in Olathe, Kansas. She has over 14 years of experience working with individuals across the lifespan. Kristine began her career in community mental health and at a child advocacy center, where she specialized in working with children and teens. During this time, she developed a strong foundation in play therapy and sandtray therapy, supporting children and families in processing complex experiences.
Over the past six years, Kristine has transitioned her focus to the perinatal period, where she supports individuals navigating pregnancy, postpartum, and identity shifts into parenthood. In her work with the perinatal population, she continues to integrate sandtray therapy with adults, creating space to explore trauma, identity, and personal values in a meaningful and experiential way.
Leah Schwarz, LSCSW, RPT, PMH-C, RST-C/T is a bilingual (English/Spanish) therapist and owner of Hope Esperanza Counseling LLC. She has over 12 years of experience as a social worker, working in community mental health, a domestic violence agency, and now in private practice. The first part of Leah’s career centered around working with children and families, and in recent years she has pivoted to specializing in perinatal mental health, supporting new and expecting parents. Leah is trained in EMDR and loves using sandtray therapy with clients of all ages. Leah also co-owns Hope Roots Collective in Olathe, KS - a wellness collective focused on incorporating nature into healing, supporting therapists in building practices aligned with their values, and reducing burnout among providers.
Beyond Words: Using Sandtray with Adolescents and Adults
Ready to expand your clinical toolbox in a creative, experiential way? Far from “just for kids,” sandtray therapy offers a powerful, nonverbal pathway for adolescents and adults to process trauma, explore inner experiences, and gain new insight. Join us for an interactive training designed to help you confidently integrate sandtray into your practice. Open to graduate students and licensed clinicians.
Hope Roots Collective CE Training Cancellation Policy
Cancellation requests may be submitted in writing to info@hoperootscollective.com up to 7 calendar days prior to the event for a full refund, minus a $15 administrative fee for trainings 3 hours or less or $30 for trainings over 3 hours. Full refunds will not be given after the 7 days unless deemed an unavoidable emergency or illness, with notice prior to the event. CE credits will be granted only for attended hours in accordance with CE guidelines. Partial refunds will not be given for late arrivals or early departures. If Hope Roots Collective has to cancel a training due to low attendance, illness, or weather, participants will be given the option of a full refund or when applicable, transferring their enrollment to a rescheduled date.