ACORN Offers Online Training

and accredited continuing education courses for mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists, alcohol and drug counselors, social workers, art therapists, problem gambling treatment providers, prevention specialists, supervisors, agency administrators, educators, and other learners around the globe.

  • Created by expert instructors, ACORN courses are continually updated with the latest information.

  • ACORN's on-demand courses, which you may complete at your own pace and convenience, include immersive case studies and video recordings of skill demonstrations, as well as presentations, readings, research snapshots, and knowledge checks.

  • ACORN's synchronous (live) courses are conducted in real time, with instructors holding virtual meetings at specified dates and times.

  • Course webpages indicate whether a course is synchronous (live) or on-demand.

Featured Courses

Are CE Credits Available?

Yes! CE / CEU credits are available.

  • ACORN has been approved by the International Problem Gambling and Gaming Certification Organization (IPGGC), the Mental Health & Addiction Certification Board of Oregon (MHACBO), and the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) as an Approved Continuing Education Provider (NBCC ACEP No. 7274). Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. ACORN is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

  • ACORN additionally houses Oregon Health Authority (OHA) courses for counselors and prevention specialists. OHA courses are taught by OHA instructors and are approved by MHACBO, but not by IPGGC or NBCC.

  • Continuing education hours for each course are listed on the course webpage.

Expert Instructors

Senior Instructor Teresa McDowell

Teresa McDowell, Ed.D., LMFT is a professor emerita at Lewis & Clark, in Portland, Oregon, where she served as Department Chair and co-founded Lewis & Clark’s Problem Gambling Services. Dr. McDowell has served as a licensed marriage and family therapist, family therapy educator, program director, educational administrator, and consultant over the past 40 years. Her work has primarily focused on counselor education and workforce development, organizational consultation, international family therapy, equity-based clinical practice, integrated treatment for problem gambling, and clinical supervision. She currently serves as a social researcher, program evaluator, and consultant with Partners in Social Research and is the senior instructor for the Advanced Career Online Resource Network (ACORN). Dr. McDowell has published over 50 refereed journal articles and book chapters. She has presented her work at numerous conferences across eight countries. She is the author of Applying Critical Social Theory to Family Therapy Practice and first co-author of Socioculturally Attuned Family Therapy: Guidelines for Equity-Based Theory and Practice (1st and 2nd Editions). Her work in problem gambling treatment includes authoring the Working with Families in Problem Gambling Treatment handbook, research on core competencies for problem gambling counselors and prevention specialists, and extensive contributions to the development of Oregon’s problem gambling treatment workforce.

Senior Instructor Carmen Knudson-Martin

Carmen Knudson-Martin, PhD, is a professor emerita of marriage and family therapy at Lewis & Clark’s Graduate School of Education and Counseling. She is an American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) clinical fellow and approved supervisor, as well as a licensed marriage and family therapist. She is a long time member of the American Family Therapy Academy (AFTA). Dr. Knudson-Martin is highly influential in the field of family therapy, having edited numerous books, presented internationally, and authored many articles and chapters on sociocultural attunement, power, and equity. She is a co-author, along with Drs. McDowell & Bermudez, of Socioculturally Attuned Family Therapy: Guidelines for Equitable Theory and Practice. Dr. Knudson-Martin is a founder of Socio-Emotional Relationship Therapy (SERT), which addresses the political and ethical implications of therapist actions on personal and relational development. Her text on the SERT model will be coming out soon. u

OHA Instructor Brandie Lyday

Brandie Lyday, LMFT, CGACII, CADCIII is an AAMFT Approved Supervisor and the Oregon Health Authority Problem Gambling Treatment Program Development Analyst. She provides family therapy supervision to Problem Gambling Services at Lewis & Clark College, where she is an adjunct faculty member in the Graduate School of Counseling, Therapy, and School Psychology. Brandie’s recent work has focused on problem gambling program development and clinical supervision. She has previously worked with clients involved in the criminal legal system as an outpatient addiction treatment specialist providing individual, group, couple, and family therapies.

Senior Instructor Rick Berman

Rick Berman, MA, LPC, CADC III, CGAC II specializes in integrated treatment of co-occurring mental health and addictive disorders. He trained and supervised addictions and mental health counselors for more than 20 years. In recent years his work focused more specifically on problem gambling. He has presented at national problem gambling conferences in Canada and the United States. He is the past coordinator of Lewis & Clark’s Problem Gambling Services and instructed Gambling Counselor Pre-Certification Courses for many years.

Senior Instructor Maria Bermudez

J. Maria Bermudez, PhD, is an associate professor in the marriage and family therapy program in the Department of Human Development and Family Science at the University of Georgia. She is an AAMFT clinical fellow, approved supervisor, and licensed marriage and family therapist Her work is anchored in feminist-informed and culturally responsive approaches to therapy, research, and supervision.

Instructor Cort Dorn-Medeiros

Cort M. Dorn-Medeiros, PhD, LPC, CADC III is an Assistant Professor in the Professional Mental Health Counseling - Specialization in Addiction program and current Department Chair of the Counseling, Therapy, and School Psychology department at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, OR. Areas of specialization include substance use and process addictions, co-occurring disorders, integrated care, and motivational interviewing and motivational enhancement therapy. Dr. Dorn-Medeiros is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor III in the state of Oregon. Dr. Dorn-Medeiros is a co-founder and program director of the Gaming and Tech in Excess (GATE) program at the Lewis & Clark Community Counseling Center. Dr. Dorn-Medeiros is published in a variety of academic outlets and most recently has published a book chapter on promoting technology safety and digital citizenship in school counseling.

Who Should Enroll?

ACORN courses are designed to provide professional education for those seeking:

  • initial and advanced certification (CGAC I, ICGC I, CGAC II, ICGC II) and training in problem gambling treatment/treatment of disordered gambling;

  • training and specialization in treating integrated cooccurring disorders (ICOD);

  • required continuing education (CE / CEU) for disordered/problem gambling and alcohol and drug treatment provider re-certification;

  • required continuing education (CE / CEU) for maintaining professional mental health related licensure (e.g., LMFT, LPC) in Oregon and many other states;

  • advanced skills in the treatment of disordered gambling, working with families, treating cooccurring disorders, and/or sociocultural attunement;

  • training in mental health and problem/disordered gambling treatment supervision and consultation;

  • a broader spectrum of counseling and therapy skills and knowledge to integrate into clinical practice; and

  • knowledge that informs the administration of disordered/problem gambling, cooccurring disorders, and other mental health programs.

Key Content Areas

Courses funded by the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) typically focus on treatment, supervision, consultation, and prevention practices within the State of Oregon. They, nonetheless, provide information that is relevant to practitioners across a variety of regional contexts and practice settings, and they advance education for the global workforce. Other content areas covered by ACORN courses include the following:

  • treatment of co-occurring disorders and conditions,

  • behavioral health and aging,

  • family therapy,

  • sociocultural attunement, and

  • suicide prevention.

MHACBO logo
IPGGC Logo
Oregon Health Authority (OHA) logo
OCPG Logo
NBCC logo