VAWnet Event Calendar

We are often called upon to engage in challenging conversation with clients, staff, partners, and funders. These conversations stretch our skills in crisis response, negotiation, empathy, strategizing, and improvisation. They can make us feel anxious, stressed, resentful, and even burned out. This workshop will help reframe difficult confrontations into brave conversations, offering tools to support your work and ample time for conversation and practice.

Get ready to bring your passion for advocacy to NOVA52 in 2026! NOVA’s 52nd Annual Training Event is your chance to learn, connect, and recharge alongside advocates from across the country.

The National Sexual Assault Conference® (NSAC) brings together over 2,000 advocates committed to ending sexual abuse, assault, and harassment. This annual event is filled with opportunities to advance learning, develop skills, share information, build relationships, and increase our capacity to assert the dignity of all people. Together at NSAC, we build strong partnerships and strategies that strengthen our work to end sexual violence. Respect Together will host NSAC 2026 in Washington, D.C., August 19-21, 2026.

Most commonly used to increase motivation toward behavioral change, motivational interviewing is an evidence-based approach designed to encourage clients to talk themselves into making beneficial changes in their lives. Motivation to change varies from person to person, from one situation to another, and over time. Some of us are unwilling, others are unable to change, and many are not fully ready. Motivational interviewing (MI) is a client-centered tool based on empathy and allows for client-guided change and growth.

This advanced workshop delves deeper into the strategies for sustaining compassion and preventing burnout in victim services professionals. Participants will explore in-depth techniques for emotional resilience, learn about organizational practices that support compassion renewal, and engage in self-reflective exercises to identify personal strengths and areas for growth. This session aims to equip attendees with a robust toolkit for maintaining their compassion over the long term, ensuring they can continue to provide empathetic and effective support to clients.

Grief is a universal human experience, and no two people grieve in the same way. It cannot be rushed, fixed, or “talked away,” but there are meaningful, trauma-informed ways we can support those who are experiencing loss. This session explores best practices for showing up with compassion, creating emotional safety, and walking alongside clients through significant loss while honoring their pace, story, and resilience. The Grief M.E.N.T.O.R. Method is a trauma-informed, relationship-centered approach for supporting individuals through loss without trying to fix or rush their healing.