This session explores how harm reduction creates meaningful in-roads to care for young adults by centering autonomy rather than control. Drawing from developmental research and frontline healthcare practice, Amanda will highlight how relationship-based interventions—such as low-barrier access points and wraparound support—build trust and improve outcomes.
Through case examples from Boulder County, participants will gain insight into why harm reduction is not only a public health strategy, but a relational one. Attendees will leave with practical tools and a renewed understanding of autonomy as a pathway to engagement and healing. Key takeaways include understanding the connection between adolescent development, autonomy, and risk-taking; identifying how harm reduction fosters trust in healthcare settings; and learning concrete strategies to integrate relationship-centered, autonomy-supportive care into practice.
If you participate in the whole presentation, you will receive 1 CEU.
Presented By:
Amanda Wroblewski, LCSW
Upon graduating with a master’s degree in social work, Amanda officially began her social work career in HIV wrap-around service. She witnessed firsthand the biopsychosocial struggles and chaotic life circumstances that accompany many living with chronic illness, including current substance use or substance abuse history.
Continuing her work in HIV care, Amanda left the Boulder County AIDS Project and went on to take a position in the Children’s Hospital Colorado Immunodeficiency Program. Here, Amanda began working with larger family systems that had been affected by HIV/AIDS and still noticed a common thread of substance abuse history for most of her clients. Realizing she would be better suited to address the public health concerns of substance abuse, mental health and infectious disease, Amanda took a position with Boulder Community Health to build programming that addresses these key issues on a macro scale.