PORTLAND — The University of Southern Maine and Maine Behavioral Healthcare plan to present a daylong symposium to help people persevere during the pandemic.

The program, “Resilience from Trauma During the Time of COVID-19,” is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 5, at Hannaford Hall on USM’s Portland Campus.

Attendees can participate in person or online. Proof of full vaccination and masking is required for those who would like to participate in person at Hannaford Hall. The symposium is free, but registration is required at usm.maine.edu.

While the presentations are geared toward behavioral health professionals, the event is open to the USM community and the public.

Dr. Christine Runyan, professor of Family Medicine and Community Health at the UMass Chan Medical School and co-founder of Tend Health, will deliver the keynote address, “Fostering Your Innate Resilience.”

The morning program will continue with a panel discussion, “Resilience in the Face of Trauma: Individuals, Families, and Service Providers,” featuring Dr. Adele Baruch, associate professor and chair of counselor education in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at USM; Susan Burns Chong, LCSW, Breathe Program clinical coach, Portland Public Schools and CAS student in counselor education in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at USM; and Alexandra Hood, graduate student in counselor education in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at USM.

In the afternoon, Dr. Thomas Linehan, associate professor of early childhood education at Mount Wachusett Community College, will speak on “Understanding Trauma and Resilience Through the Magic of Every Interaction.”

The symposium will conclude with “Vicarious Resilience and the IMPACT of Caring” by Allegra Hirsh-Wright, MSW, LCSW, training manager and project director of Maine Behavioral Healthcare’s Department of Clinical Innovation and an adjunct faculty member in USM’s School of Social Work.

“Resilience from Trauma During the Time of COVID-19” is made possible in part by a gift from the Pond Family Foundation, promoting awareness, understanding, diagnosis and treatment of mental illness.

For more information, visit usm.maine.edu.

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