Title: Before the Diagnosis: How to Hold-On Through the Unknown
Date: May 29th, 2025
Time: 10:30amCST/ 11:30amEST
Description: As mental health professionals, having to navigate difficult conversations with others, often becomes an art form that is perfected through healthy boundary setting, supportive collaboration, and focused guidance to the families and children we serve. This training will focus on the topic of the difficulty for families to be in the season of unknown, where answers are being searched for without finding immediate resolution: unknown situations, unknown life changes, unknown solutions, unknown behavior management success. Often, families find this uncertain season to be a very frustrating and confusing time for the family unit. As professionals, it is important to learn, practice, and implement how to handle conversations that are hard with strength and grace. This training will offer self-reflection, education, and supportive skill-building tools professionals can utilize, fostering positive and healthy support and guidance while focusing on what is known.
Presenter: Lisa Spurlock, Siskin Manager of Family Support Services
Lisa Spurlock currently serves as the Manager of Family Support Services at Siskin Children’s Institute. Her team serves families at the Chattanooga, Nashville, and Georgia locations. Part of this role is family navigation and ensuring family’s needs are not only met but families' voices are heard and honored before, during, and after medical appointments. They also work to prioritize family’s ability to access care while moving through complex medical and insurance systems.
Lisa previously served the community as a Pediatric Physical Therapist Assistant for 34 years at Children’s Hospital Erlanger in Chattanooga TN. She has also taught at Chattanooga State Community College for 25 years in an adjunct role for the Physical Therapy Assistant Program. Serving families and children with disabilities and/or special healthcare needs is something Lisa is passionate about as well as supporting caregivers with advocacy needs related to healthcare, education and legislation that impacts those with special needs. Lisa is a parent to three adult children and two grandsons. She splits her time between Chattanooga and Tampa to spend time with her family.