Speaker Bio
Rebecca Sarsland, MSW, LICSW
Owner, Amazing Grace Coaching & Counseling LLC; Adjunct Instructor, University of Northwestern - St. Paul
Rebecca M. Sarsland, MSW, LICSW, is a licensed clinical social worker with over 20 years of experience serving children, adolescents, families, and school systems in Kandiyohi County, Minnesota. She has spent seven years as a clinical social worker and brings extensive experience working within educational settings and multidisciplinary teams.
Rebecca is a certified trauma‑sensitive Holy Yoga instructor, Christian counselor, dialectical behavior therapist, solution‑focused brief therapist, life coach, and integrative mental health professional. Her work emphasizes a holistic, trauma‑informed approach that integrates nervous system awareness, relational attunement, and ethical, strengths‑based practice.
Through her private practice, Amazing Grace Coaching & Counseling LLC, Rebecca provides training and consultation focused on emotional regulation, curiosity‑driven engagement, and sustainable practices for helping professionals. Her professional expertise directly informs this presentation’s emphasis on remaining curious, reflective, and relationship‑centered within complex school systems.
Breakout 6D
Stay Curious: A School Social Worker’s Guide to Exploration in Complex School Systems
Rebecca Sarsland
In today’s school environments, school social workers are often expected to move quickly toward solutions while balancing increasing demands for accountability and results. This interactive workshop explores curiosity as a professional stance that strengthens relationships, promotes cultural humility, and leads to more effective interventions. Drawing on trauma-informed care, motivational interviewing, solution-focused approaches, DBT principles, and reflective practice, participants will examine how curiosity enhances ethical decision-making and supports student success across MTSS tiers. Through reflection, storytelling, and practical skill-building, attendees will explore how nervous system regulation, power dynamics, and institutional pressures influence their work while learning strategies that prioritize understanding over assumption and connection over certainty. Participants will leave with practical language tools and reflective practices they can immediately apply with students, families, and colleagues.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
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Identify at least three ways curiosity supports evidence‑based practice, including trauma‑informed care, motivational interviewing, and solution‑focused interventions within school settings.
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Demonstrate the ability to reframe assumption‑based statements into curiosity‑driven questions that promote engagement, collaboration, and cultural humility with students and families.
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Apply curiosity‑based strategies within MTSS and other school systems while maintaining ethical accountability, professional boundaries, and responsiveness to institutional demands.
CEUs: 1 BOSW Culturally Responsiveness, 1 PELSB Cultural Competency