Integrating Cannabis Conversations:
Growing Therapeutic Insight Around Cannabis & Mental Wellness

About our talk:

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Cannabis is increasingly present in the lives of our clients—used for anxiety, pain, trauma, sleep, and symptom relief. Yet most therapists receive little to no training on how to ethically, culturally, or clinically engage in these conversations. This 90-minute workshop offers a foundational framework for integrating cannabis-related dialogue into therapeutic practice with insight, cultural humility, and clinical grounding.

 

Participants will gain an overview of the endocannabinoid system (ECS), explore how cannabis affects mental health (both positively and adversely), and review emerging research related to PTSD, anxiety, depression, and substance use recovery. We’ll also examine the DSM-5 criteria for Cannabis Use Disorder, and how to distinguish between intentional use, dependence, and harm-reduction strategies.

 

Centering Hawai‘i’s diverse communities, this workshop weaves together clinical tools and local moʻolelo (stories) to offer therapists a respectful, stigma-free path for talking about cannabis use with clients.Aligned with the theme Together We Grow, this workshop cultivates culturally informed, evidence-based insight—empowering clinicians to meet clients with compassion, clarity, and care.

 

Program Objectives

 

• Identify the basic functions of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) and how cannabis use may impact mental health symptoms such as anxiety, PTSD, sleep disturbance, and chronic pain.

• Differentiate between intentional cannabis use, misuse, and Cannabis Use Disorder using DSM-5 criteria, with attention to harm reduction and ethical considerations in therapy.

• Demonstrate increased confidence in initiating culturally sensitive, stigma-free conversations with clients about their cannabis use, grounded in clinical insight and local context.

 

Who Is This For

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Practitioners & Providers

• Therapists, social workers, medical professionals, and wellness practitioners

• Learn about cannabis integration in therapy, ethical considerations, harm reduction, and trauma-informed guidance

• Gain confidence in how to talk to clients about cannabis use—without stigma or avoidance​​

• Understand how cannabis works in the body, how to use it responsibly, and how to avoid common pitfalls

• Learn from both scientific insights and real-life stories of healing

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Why Attend

 

• Because our clients are already talking about cannabis.

• Because our communities deserve education, not shame.

• Because as healers, we have a kuleana (responsibility) to know more.

• And because cannabis—like all medicine—deserves both respect and understanding.

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