HopeForward Community Trainings
At New Hope Healing, we have a commitment to be part of the community in many tangible ways. To support therapists, we wanted to find a way to bridge the sometimes very expensive investment quality training for professional growth can be.
With these values in mind, our team started HopeForward Community Trainings to offer high-quality, collaborative trainings for mental health and behavioral health providers throughout Iowa. Our trainings are designed to be practical, engaging, and evidence-informed, providing participants with tools and strategies they can immediately apply in their work.
We are committed to accessibility and affordability—ensuring that providers can participate without financial barriers. All proceeds from the trainings go directly to providing mental health services for children in schools and community settings in Iowa who have little or no access to insurance.
By joining a HopeForward training, you will not only advance your professional skills, have the opportunity connect with other mental health providers, but also make it possible for some of our most vulnerable community members to receive mental health care in our schools.
January | Intro to IFS
January 20th 9-4 PM & January 21st
9-12PM
Virtual
Interactive virtual training with Alyce Messer, MSW, LCSW-S, offers hands-on demos and guided practice designed to prepare providers to work effectively with clients. Through live, interactive sessions, participants observe real-time demonstrations, apply new skills in supervised practice, and receive actionable feedback tailored to clinical settings. The training emphasizes trauma-informed approaches, practical techniques for engagement and assessment and a strong emphasis on how early attachment shapes our client’s internal system. 8.25 CEUS
Instructor:
Alyce Messer, MSW, LCSW-S
Alyce is an IFS Level 2-trained clinician and EMDRIA-Approved Consultant. She is a trauma therapist specializing in complex and developmental trauma, neuroscience, polyvagal theory, and neurodivergence. Over the past 10+ years, she has served as a facilitator, consultant, practicum leader, and demo therapist across multiple EMDR and IFS-informed programs.
Alyce integrates great clinical skill with an ability to help therapists feel safe, seen, and supported in the learning process. Her teaching style is both structured and intuitive, empowering clinicians to translate these modalities into real-world therapy with confidence
February | Art Journaling
February 20th 8:30 -11:30 AM
In-Person @ Raccoon River Lodge in West Des Moines
Lead by Susan Dannen, At times, identifying and articulating our thoughts and emotions can be challenging. This experiential training offers an opportunity to engage in yoga-based practices and meditation that support grounding, regulation, and somatic awareness. The yoga flow and meditation will help you reconnect with your body and create openness, physically and mentally, for creativity. This will be followed by an art-informed journaling process designed to enhance reflection and emotional expression. Participants will explore how these integrative approaches can support their own well-being and strengthen clinical effectiveness with clients. 3 CEUS.
Instructors:
Susan Dannen, LISW, RYT-200: Registered Yoga Teacher and Licensed Mental Health Professional with extensive experience in mental health, specializing in anxiety, grief, and trauma. riverroots.net
Carissa Dannen, BFA, BS: Art teacher with The Des Moines Art Center, Owner of Eclipse Designs - Website Design, Graphic Art, & Art Instruction - Eclipse Designs | Carissa Dannen. Carissa has a passion for helping others express themselves through art.
July | Trauma Assessment and TreATMENT
July 30 & 31 9-5PM
Virtual
Join internationally respected trauma psychologist Daphne Fatter, Ph.D. for a comprehensive, practice-focused two-day training designed to deepen clinicians’ confidence in assessing, conceptualizing, and treating trauma across the lifespan. With a blend of didactic teaching, case examples, and hands-on practice, this training provides a full toolkit for working with PTSD, Complex PTSD, dissociation, and the neurobiological impacts of traumatic stress. 14 CEUS
Participants will learn to:
• Use evidence-based assessment tools for adults and children
• Differentiate PTSD, C-PTSD, developmental trauma, and dissociation
• Understand how traumatic stress affects the brain and informs treatment planning
• Apply the three-phase trauma treatment model with clinical confidence
• Identify and regulate hyperarousal, hypoarousal, and dissociative states
• Utilize stabilization tools including somatic, relational, sensory, and mindfulness-based interventions
• Assess readiness for trauma processing and communicate realistic expectations
• Integrate cultural humility and systemic trauma considerations
• Select effective, evidence-based trauma treatments for diverse clients
Trainer:
Daphne Fatter, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist, author, and international speaker dedicated to providing education on integrative trauma-informed therapies. She is also Certified in EMDR and an EMDRIA Approved Consultant. She has received extensive training in Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) and in Internal Family Systems therapy. Dr. Fatter is the author of Integrating Internal Family Systems (IFS) into EMDR (2026).
Dr. Fatter was awarded her doctorate in Counseling Psychology from the Pennsylvania State University. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Clinical Psychology at the Trauma Center, under the direct supervision of the author of The Body Keeps The Score, Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, MD. She is the former Military Sexual Trauma Coordinator at the Fort Worth Veteran Affairs Outpatient Clinic. She speaks to mental health clinicians internationally providing engaging continuing education on nuances on trauma treatment from her seasoned clinical experience treating PTSD, complex trauma and complicated grief.