Menu
jump to: Date – Registration and fee – Programme – Speakers bios – Location
Welcome to the International Training School on Core Correctional Skills, where we believe that continuous learning is a natural part of every professional’s existence. Our one-week training program is designed to refresh and update the core skills of experienced correctional staff and provide newcomers with an innovative starting point.
During the training, you will have the opportunity to develop core correctional skills, including relationship skills, pro-social modelling, problem-solving, motivational interviewing, and cognitive restructuring. Our approach takes into account both the basics and up-to-date and evidence-based practices, ensuring that you have the most comprehensive training possible.
Building up the working alliance is a crucial aspect of the training, and we will cover everything from clarifying roles and socializing into the role to dealing with power imbalances and maintaining and developing working alliances in a digital world. We are strong believers in modern learning approaches, and our use of flip learning and other adult learning concepts will enhance not only your understanding of these skills but also their use in real-life situations. Role-play and coaching will stay at the heart of our learning approach.
This year’s training will focus on trauma-informed interventions, with more information coming soon. We can’t wait to welcome you to this exciting program in October 2023 and help you bring your skills into the 21st century with evidence-based and meaningful practices.
Read Danjiela’s story on how they implemented the ITSCCS in the Slovenian Probation Administration 
Date
2nd – 6th of October 2023
<go back to menu>
Registration and fee
Registration closed!
Registration fee: € 600*. The registration deadline is 20th September 2023**.
*Please note that the specified fee does not include expenses for hotel accommodation, transportation, or meals. However, the fee covers the comprehensive week-long training program and coffee breaks. Participants are responsible for arranging and covering their own additional expenses related to accommodation, travel, and food.
**Please note that should you cancel your registration before the 15th of June, you will be required to pay 10% of the registration fee. Cancellation between 15th June until 1st September, 50% of the registration fee is required to be paid, and after 1st September, you will be required to pay the full registration fee due to organizational commitments. By registering for this event you agree to these terms and conditions.
Still indecisive if you want to come? Here are 5 reasons why you should attend!
Read Danjiela’s story on how they implemented the ITSCCS in the Slovenian Probation Administration
Programme
Speakers biography
Faye S. Taxman
Faye S. Taxman, Ph.D., is a University Professor at George Mason University. A health services criminologist, she is an expert in implementation and intervention sciences where she has conducted various experiments to determine which processes will improve access to treatment and retention, and to formulate and assess new models of probation that is consistent with current evidence-based practices.
Taxman is the founding director of the Center for Advancing Correctional Excellence! (ACE!), which conducts collaborative and creative research to bring evidence-based practices and treatment to practitioners and policymakers in the criminal justice and health fields.
Course
Appropriate Conditions: Balancing accountability with relevance
Conditions are often used as a tool to hold individuals accountable but too many conditions can also jeopardize success on supervision.
Ioan DURNESCU
During this one week of intensive training, we will be able to refresh and update the core skills of the more experienced correctional staff while providing the newcomers with a solid and cutting-edge starting point. Thus, themes such as relationship skills, pro-social modelling, problem-solving, motivational interviewing and cognitive restructuring will be developed taking into account the basics but also the most up-to-date and evidence-based practices. Working with trauma is the special theme included in this edition.
Prof. Dr. Ioan DURNESCU is a professor at the University of Bucharest, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work. He teaches and conducts research in the area of probation, prison and deradicalization fields. His special interest is comparative probation, reentry and interventions with justice-involved clients. He conducted many training sessions in different countries such as Jordan, Moldova, Spain, Kosovo and so on.
Ioan is one of the editors of the Probation in Europe (WOLF) and the Understanding Penal Practice (Routledge) and the author of Core Correctional Skills. The Training Kit.
He is also one of the co-editors of the European Journal of Probation, a journal published by the University of Bucharest in partnership with SAGE Publishing. Since 2020, Ioan has co-chaired the RAN Rehabilitation Working Group.
Courses
Course Facilitator
How to build up a working alliance with an involuntary client?
Cognitive behavioural interventions
Ask me anything sessions
Joseph Arvidson
Joseph Arvidson, MS, has over 35 years of experience in Corrections.
He is currently the Executive Director of The Paragon Group.
The Paragon Group strives to promote and advance evidence-based practices in the arena of criminal justice. Their scope of services includes speaking engagements, as well as training and consulting as to RNR and resistance-based models. Mr. Arvidson’s training and consulting clients have ranged from US Probation and Pre-Trial Services to smaller agencies and NGO’s. His international clientele has ranged from Europe to the Middle East to Australia. Mr. Arvidson is the founder of The Criminologist Media Group, serving as producer and host of The Criminologists podcast and the Criminologist YouTube channel.
In his current governmental role, he is responsible for strategic planning, program development, and making recommendations on policies, procedures, and services related to the implementation of evidence-based practices for the Ramsey County Community Corrections Department, in Saint Paul, USA. He was the project manager for the development and implementation of that agency’s practice model of supervision (New Model for Probation and Parole: Ramsey County Model, RCCCD, Bogue and O’Connor, 2013).
Mr. Arvidson has been an adjunct faculty member at Concordia University and Metropolitan State University since 2000, where he teaches a number of graduates and undergraduate-level Criminal Justice courses. He currently serves on the Criminal Justice Advisory Board for Concordia University. He also serves as a board member for Volunteers in Corrections.
Course
Cognitive Behavioral Interventions
Win the Hears and Minds. This session will focus on the role of cognitive behavioural interventions and their place in the family of Core Correctional Skills. Topics such as the Thought-Behavior link, the role of Self-Talk, Cognitive Errors, and Perspective Taking will be covered, with an emphasis on practical applications of the knowledge.
Laura Negredo
Since 2018 Laura Negredo is the Deputy Assistant Director-General for Open Regime and Alternative Measures in the Ministry of Interior, Spain. She has been working in the field of alternative measures for more than 10 years, holding several positions like Technical Advisor and Head of Service. In 2016 and 2017 she was the Resident Twinning Adviser of the Twinning Project “Support for further development and strengthening of the Probation Service in Croatia”.
She holds a B.A in Psychology (UCM, Madrid), an M.A in Forensic and Criminal Psychopathology (UCJC, Madrid), an M.A in Forensic Legal and Clinical Psychology (UCM, Madrid) and an M.A in International Crime and Justice (CUNY, New York). For the latter, she received a La Caixa national competitive fellowship for master’s degree work in the United States.
She is currently a member of the Council for Penological Cooperation (PC-CP) Working Group (Council of Europe), a member of the Sex Offender Expert Group of CEP (Confederation of European Probation) and a member of the Psycho-Legal Unit of the Forensic Sciences and Security Instituto (UAM, Madrid).
Course
Motivational interviewing
We will learn some motivational techniques to help the clients in their process of change and to manage denial, resistance and ambivalence about change.
Anna ESQUERRÀ ROQUETA
Anna ESQUERRÀ ROQUETA is a Policy and Liaison officer at the Confederation of European Probation and associate professor at the University of Barcelona, Department of Social Work, Social Services and Social Policy. She has a Degree in Social Work, a Degree in Anthropology and a Masters in Ethnographic Research and Intercultural Relationships and specific studies in the Criminal Justice field.
She worked in various positions for different organisations including: social educator for mentally disabled people, home care service coordination manager, social worker in a systemic family therapy centre, among others. In 2007 she started working at the Catalan Ministry of Justice in several different positions and areas. She was involved in the prison area and also with juveniles and young adult offenders. When working with juveniles and young adult offenders she was carrying out tasks related to designing, planning and following-up intervention programs, co-ordinating groups of professionals as well as new research analysis for education and treatment plans. These programs were developed from a perspective that integrates different areas within the juvenile justice chain: mediation, assessment, youth probation and educational centres.
Since 2012 she has been involved in the international field, taking part of several European projects and coordinating the Criminal Justice Platform Europe. Since 2016 she works at CEP where she is mainly in charge of analyzing developments in European probation and related fields, facilitating EU-funded projects (FPA, OG, AG), organize expert group meetings, conferences, and others.
Since 2010 she is also working part-time as an associate professor at the University of Barcelona covering subjects related to social intervention with individuals and families, as well as the structure of the Catalan Welfare System. Her main interest are Probation and gender and she is currently doing her PhD on how offenders experience community work in Catalonia.
Course
Pro-social modelling
¨Witnessing a prosocial model in person leads to an increase in the future prosocial behaviour of the observer¨
Lidija Arambašić
Prof. Lidija Arambašić, Ph.D., is psychology professor and supervisor of psychosocial work. Was employed in Department of psychology, Chair of health and clinical psychology, Faculty of humanities and social sciences, Croatia, Zagreb (1982 – 2022). Retired October 2022. Specialist educations: supervision of psychosocial work, trauma psychology, systemic and integrative family therapy, experiential gestalt psychotherapy. Teaches at postgraduate studies (clinical psychology and supervision). Trainer in communication, psychological counselling, stress, psychological crisis intervention, support after trauma and loss. Led educational seminars in Croatia and abroad with participants from the field of social work, police, military, prison, probation, financial and IT sectors, SOS-Kinderdorf, air-traffic control, Croatia airlines, NGOs etc. Has a lot of experience in supporting traumatized and bereaved people and people in crisis (during psychological crisis interventions). Supervisor for experts in the field of clinical psychology, education and social work, for psychologists employed in the military, for air-traffic controllers, people from NGOs etc.
Had given 13 invited lectures on congresses and conferences (Croatia and abroad). Published 60-odd scientific and professional articles, from English translated 20-odd psychology books and psychological test manuals. Author of three books on: loss and grieving (516 pp.), psychological crisis intervention (460 pp.), communication process (520 pp.). Winner of 5 Croatian awards for: affirmation of psychology (as leader of the Team for psychological crisis interventions of SPA), especially valuable contribution to applied psychology, especially valuable psychological book of the year (3 awards).
Course
Adequate support after trauma and loss as a possible way in preventing aggression/violence
Traumas and losses happen to everybody, but people vary according to number of such events, duration of the recovery process, long-term consequences etc. Some losses are common and predictable – they are part of developmental transitions, while some losses are unpredictable and caused by stressful/traumatic events. Traumas and losses can have long-term consequences, e.g. withdrawal from others, nightmares, anxiety, depression, psychosomatic disturbances, aggression etc. which could be prevented or lessened by adequate support from close others. People from traumatized and/or bereaved persons’ social networks often do and say things that are unhelpful and sometimes even have adverse effects on the recovery process. Although well-intended, such inappropriate reactions can cause frustration, anger, rage and even aggression/violence that are directed inward and/or outward. Through examples from practice, explanations would be given about the connection between trauma/loss and the grieving process, on one hand, and anger, rage and aggression, on the other hand, as well as what could (should) be done on individual, family and community level to prevent or lessen such consequences.
>>Join us for a captivating conversation between Ioan Durnescu and Lidija Arambašić, as she introduces herself and her expertise. Discover what she will delve into during the ITSCCS, shedding light on the critical topic of “Adequate Support after Trauma and Loss”.
Iuliana Carbunaru
Drd. Iuliana Elena Carbunaru has currently worked as Probation Inspector for the National Probation Directorate within the Romanian Ministry of Justice ensuring the development and implementation of the international projects and promoting the probation system at an international level.
In 2000, after graduating from The Philosophy Faculty – Social Work section, she started her activity as a social worker with an NGO responsible for one of the first probation pilot projects in Romania. In 2001, after passing a competition, she was appointed to the newly developed probation service under the coordination of the Ministry of Justice. She continued her studies and graduated from a Master’s program at Bucharest University in Community Justice Administration. As an employee of the probation service for more than 20 years, Ms. Cărbunaru has served as probation counsellor (1,5 years), seconded probation counsellor within the Ministry of Justice (3,5 years), probation inspector (5 years), director of probation service (8 years).
Her international experience includes working with probation services from Europe and North America and she is acting as an expert for the Council of Europe in her area of expertise and short-term expert in projects financed by the European Union in the Balkans.
From 2017 up till October 2022 she was a Board Member of the Confederation of European Probation (CEP). In October 2022 she was elected the CEP Vice-President.
Course
Problem-solving
We will analyse the styles and orientations for problem-solving and also different models dealing with difficulties, such as problem definition, generating alternatives, decision-making, implementation and evaluation.
Still indecisive if you want to come? Here are 5 reasons why you should attend!
Location
Centre for Legal Studies and Judicial Training
Barcelona, Spain