Director's Bio

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Wildflower Program Director
Michele O'Mara MSW, CCSW, ACSW

EDUCATION:

Bachelor of Social Work degree at Indiana Univiersity in 1989.
Masters of Social Work in 1992.

LGBT Youth Work 1994-1997:

Michele served as the Mental Health Advocate for the Indiana Youth Group (IYG). IYG is a state-wide youth support and advocacy program providing services to youth throughout Indiana. In this role she was responsible for the following:

THERAPY: conducted individual, couple's, and family therapy with gay youth

SOCIAL SUPPORTS: provided support groups and coordinated special social activities and events for LGBT youth

SPECIAL EVENTS: co-created the National Gay and Lesbian Youth Festival: the Free 2B Me Festival. This unprecedented event was held in our nation's capitol October, 1996, and it drew over 100 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered youth from across the United States

YOUTH GROUP DEVELOPMENT: assisted in the development of rural gay youth group development. She has successfully coordinated the development of four youth groups in cities with populations of under 100,000

WORKSHOP PRESENTER (Workshop Development and training):

Michele is an experienced presenter on issues related to gay and lesbian youth. She has presented in cities throughout the United States to different organizations and associations including, but not limited to the following:

National Association of Social Workers NASW Conferences, Louisville, KY

Indiana Counselor's Association Conferences, Indianapolis, IN

Association of Residential and Counseling Association, Indianapolis, IN

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, New Orleans, LA

National Middle Schools Association Conference, Indianapolis, IN

National Youth Resource Conference, St. Louis, MO

GLSEN Midwest Conference, Chicago, IL

NASW, Merrillville, IN

Adolescent Mental Health Conference, Brown County, IN

Planned Parenthood all Day Community Workshop, Ithaca, New York

NASW, Omaha, NE

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATION - ASSOCIATIONS

Co-Chair of the Indiana NASW Committee on Lesbian and Gay Issues

member, Indiana Counselor's Assocation

member, National Association of Drug and Alcohol Counselors

member, National Association of Social Workers

Certified Clinical Social Worker in the State of Indiana (CCSW)

certified provider through the Academy of Certified Social Workers (ACSW)

certification as an Advanced Certified Relapse Prevention Specialist(ACRPS) through the Cenaps Corporation

Resource Development

Author, "Provider's Handbook: Working with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Youth"

Creator, "Safe Place Poster"

Hotline Training for Indiana University Gay and Lesbian Switchboard

Volunteer Training Program for Volunteer-run LGBT Youth Groups

Wildflower Program Director
Michele O'Mara MSW, CCSW, ACSW

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