Agency Founder and President, Dr. Craig Pierce, provides continuing education trainings in interpersonal neurobiology, trauma-informed treatment, and grief trainings for clinicians and educators.

The Southwest Family Institute provides professional development and training opportunities to therapists on staff and other mental health providers in the community. We conduct regular trainings on various topics, including specific treatment modalities, interventions for particular mental health issues, best-practice standards for treating specific diagnoses, and ethical considerations in mental health. Participants in these trainings can NBCC certified CE hours.

Our clinicians are provided quality trainings free of charge, enough to satisfy the continuing education requirements for licensure in New Mexico. Our non-independently licensed clinicians are additionally supported.  After one year, the agency agrees to pay for study guides and exam fees for independent licensure.

Specialized training for Multi-Systemic Therapy (MST), Multi-Systemic Therapy for Problem ‘Sexual Behavior (MST-PSB), Thriving Kids, Seven Challenges, Comprehensive Community Support Services (CCSS), and Infant Mental Health is also provided free of charge to agency clinicians interested in working in these programs.

 

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NBCC has approved Southwest Family Guidance Center & Institute as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6888. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are identified. Southwest Family Guidance Center & Institute is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

Southwest Family Guidance Center offers an internship program for Master’s level graduate students in counseling and social work. Our internship program is available in our Albuquerque, Las Cruces, and Santa Fe offices. Our internship program provides clinical experience in suicide/crisis risk assessment of children and adolescents, office-based counseling with children, adolescents, families, couples, and adults, and ongoing individual and group supervision. Our interns also have the opportunity to participate in our Thriving Kids program. Interns are welcome and encouraged to participate in all agency clinical trainings.

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Albuquerque & Las Cruces locations have openings for the 2023–2024 Internship Program.

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Here’s what some of our past interns had to say about their experience working with us:

Interning with Southwest Family Guidance Center & Institute further confirmed my passion for helping others and my desire to learn more about how to be an effective social worker. I was fortunate to have site supervisors who were dedicated to mentoring a new person into the profession, ensuring positive growth for the future. The evaluation feedback I received from my supervisor allowed me to grow, not only on an academia level, but also on a personal level. The internship opportunities at Southwest Family Guidance Center & Institute far exceeded my expectations.”
—Ivonne Riley,  MSW New Mexico Highlands University

The internship program at Southwest Family Guidance Center and Institute was instrumental in preparing me for professional practice. My clinical supervisor Claire Kyllo, LISW was instrumental in my professional development, helping me to identify my abilities and support their development. Claire was always there to “lift me up,” with her strengths-based approach, relaxed manner, and inimitable humor. No matter how thorny the clinical problem, Claire cut to the heart of it with insight and wisdom while supporting me in taking a proactive, positive approach. Interning with Southwest Family Guidance Center was an invaluable experience and I cannot recommend it more highly!
—Margot Feldvebel, MSW New Mexico State University

“My internship experience at Southwest Family Guidance Center was a wonderful one. All the staff there is very inviting, professional, and extremely helpful. The supervision is the best I have had during internships, and the range of jobs and trainings was so helpful for future careers.”
—Monique Baca, Intern 

“As an intern with SWFGC I was able to expand my knowledge and experience with assessment as well as evidence-based theory interventions. The therapists and supervisors at SWFGC were always helpful and appreciated all the hard work interns do! A great place to get your feet wet with clients and therapy!”
—Breeann Wilkinson, MSW Intern from NMSU-Albuquerque

Parenting Without Distraction:
The Attunetion Approach

by Dr. Craig Pierce

Raising kids has always been a balancing act. Yet parents today face an unprecedented level of distractions at home and at work that compete for their time and fracture their attention. In the process, today’s fast-paced, hectic world is edging out our ability to be fully present parents, and it’s seeping into our relationships with our children.

The Attunetion Approach: Parenting Without Distraction provides simple steps to help you pay attention to the right thing, at the right time, and in the right way for you and your children. It’s a book that is as inspiring as it is practical, brimming with real-life examples, and filled with helpful tools from Dr. Pierce’s experiences as the founder of the Southwest Family Guidance Center and Institute. In short, it’s designed to help you focus on what matters most so that you can parent with greater confidence, ease and love.

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“One of the book’s main strengths is that Pierce acknowledges, without judgment or condemnation, the many distractions that both parents and kids face in this modern technological age. The author doesn’t point fingers or belittle the reader but rather offers encouragement and support.”
—Kirkus Reviews   Read Full Review

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Publication Date: Feb 08 2013
ISBN/EAN13: 0615703607 / 9780615703602
LCCN: 2012917871
Page Count: 146
Binding Type: US Trade Paper
Trim Size: 6″ x 9″
Language: English
Color: Black and White with Bleed
Related Categories: Self-Help / General

Amazon Purchase Link
Book Commercial Video
Interview (KASA FOX2) About Attunetion

 

Parenting Through Grief:
The Attunetion Approach

by Jade Richardson Bock & Dr. Craig Pierce

When someone in the family dies, everyone’s world is turned upside down. Getting through the pain of your own loss while attending to the needs of grieving children is an incredible challenge. This book helps you better understand the grieving process and provides simple strategies to stay connected with your family during this difficult time.

Paperback: 95 pages
Publisher: Independently published (September 27, 2019)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1695869044
ISBN-13: 978-1695869042
Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.2 x 9 inches

Amazon Purchase Link

Valuable resources for youth, parents, families, and clinicians.

Collaborating Partners

Children’s Grief Center: childrensgrief.org
New Mexico Child Abuse Prevention Partnership (NMCAPP): nmcapp.unm.edu
The Center for Journal Therapy: journaltherapy.com
The New Mexico Children Youth and Families Department (CYFD): cyfd.org
Center for Effective Interventions: msudenver.edu/cei
Rape Crisis Center of Central New Mexico: rapecrisiscnm.org

Family Resources

Attunetion: attunetion.com
Blueprints Programs: blueprintsprograms.com
Children’s Grief Center: childrensgrief.org
New Mexico Child Abuse Prevention Partnership (NMCAPP): nmcapp.unm.edu
The Center for Journal Therapy: journaltherapy.com
Rape Crisis Center of Central New Mexico: rapecrisiscnm.org
NM Crisis & Access Line: nmcrisisline.com