General Sessions & Panels
EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES FOR ALL
These lectures, workshops, and panels are included for all paid attendees and exhibitors.
IMPORTANT NOTE: These workshops are from the 2026 Conference and are maintained as examples of the kinds of Pre-Conference education that we offer.
Keynote Presentations
Premier lectures presented by top clinicians from our Conference Partners. All offer 1 NBCC Hour.
Cutting-Edge Integration of Neuropsychology, Neuromodulation, and Technology to Improve Treatment Outcomes
1 CE Credit, Presented by Dr. Amy Serin, PhD (Horizon Recovery)
[Education Level: Intermediate to Avanced]
This course will explore the use of EEGs to guide medication decisions, the integration of neurofeedback into treatment programs, and the latest research on their outcomes. It will also cover emerging noninvasive technologies that can enhance traditional treatments for improved results. Research and outcome data will be presented, along with models for adopting and integrating these innovative methods.
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
1. Explain three ways objective data (testing, qEEG, and structured measures) differ from subjective and interview-based reports when making diagnoses, choosing treatments, and tracking progress.
2. List three common barriers to implementing cutting-edge, integrated neuroscience-based care at scale in residential and outpatient programs.
3. Identify three practical methods that use neuromodulation and biofeedback to improve regulation and treatment outcomes.
Breaking the Bond: Trauma Bonds and Other Trauma Reactions
1 CE Credit, Presented by Dr. Georgia Fourlas, DSW, LCSW, LIAC (The Meadows)
[Education Level: Intermediate]
This lecture will explore trauma bonding in relationships and other forms of trauma reactivity that form life patterns and how to recognize and treat those trauma reactive patterns.
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
1. Identify three key signs of a trauma bond and understand how they manifest in interpersonal relationships.
2. Name three other types of trauma reactions and recognize their impact on clients’ relational patterns.
3. Learn three practical clinical tools to assist clients in recognizing, processing, and healing trauma bonds.
The Reflective Lens: Bridging Disciplines to Transform Diagnostic Assessment & Treatment Outcomes
1 CE Credit, Presented by Dr. Michael Groat, PhD (Lindner Center of Hope)
[Education Level: Intermediate to Advanced]
By embedding reflection and relational attunement into the structure of care, this interdisciplinary model transcends fragmented treatment silos. Clinical outcomes demonstrate improved diagnostic clarity, enhanced treatment adherence, and reductions in symptom severity and crisis behaviors. Case examples illustrate how interdisciplinary integration catalyzes insight, regulation, and hope.
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
1. Describe how a multidisciplinary, person-first assessment approach can clarify and refine diagnostic understanding for individuals presenting with complex, difficult-to-treat conditions involving personality disorders, trauma, and related factors.
2. Recognize the therapeutic impact of a time-limited, psychologically contained treatment setting in facilitating insight, emotional engagement, and diagnostic precision.
3. Identify how team-based care can inform treatment pathways and improve treatment progress.
From Self-Harm to Shared Healing: A Family Systemic, Integrated Approach
1 CE Credit, Presented by Dustin Tibbits, LMFT (Embark)
[Education Level: Intermediate]
Avoiding graphic representations or images of cutting, this presentation provides an overview of the reasons people engage in self-harm, including anger, self-medication, trading emotional pain for physical pain, guilt and shame, attachment issues, and the search for comfort. It also explores the role of dissociation in many cutting incidents and acknowledges how parents may unintentionally reinforce the behavior.
Through case studies, the presenter highlights a warm, client-centered approach that builds trust and therapeutic influence with individuals who self-injure. Emphasizing systemic, root-cause therapy rather than quick solutions, the presentation also discusses the role of family systems in healing when parents are emotionally safe participants.
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
1. Identify common reasons individuals engage in self-injury and describe effective therapeutic techniques to help them stop.
2. Apply family systems strategies designed to reduce self-injury, including collaborating with family leaders and leveraging community resources.
3. Evaluate insights from video examples of teenage clients to identify approaches that help and hinder engagement with adolescents who are initially resistant to stopping self-injury.
Integrative Pathways to Wholeness: Jung’s Transcendent Function and the Dialectics of Healing
1 NBCC Hour, Presented by Dr. Karlyn Pleasants, PsyD (Anew Treatment Center)
[Education Level: Intermediate]
This one-hour workshop examines Carl Jung’s Transcendent Function as a dialectical process of psychological integration with direct relevance to contemporary integrative psychotherapy. Within Jungian theory, the Transcendent Function refers to the emergence of a third position through the sustained tension between opposing contents. Conceptually aligned with dialectical models of change, this process emphasizes transformation through integration rather than resolution through dominance or suppression.
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
1. Describe Jung’s Transcendent Function and its relevance to contemporary integrative and dialectical frameworks.
2. Explain how the dialectical process parallels Jung’s approach to unifying opposites and supporting psychological growth.
3. Apply therapeutic interventions to help clients tolerate and integrate contradictory emotions, thoughts, and experiences.
The Dialectics of Doing and Dialoguing: The Necessity of Combined Occupational Therapy and Dialogic Psychotherapy in Residential Care for Adults with SMI
1 CE Credit, Presented by Jessie Roberge, OT and Jackson Ardery, LICSW
[Education Level: Advanced]
Presenters will frame psychosis, extreme states, and serious mental illness (SMI) through enactive selfhood—a relational, intersubjective process shaped by mental, emotional, and behavioral dimensions. In SMI, profound isolation and self-dissolution severely impair psychosocial functioning; recovery depends on reconnection to self and others. Given this complexity, isolated approaches or solo practitioners are often inadequate. Aligning with multidisciplinary care, the presenters argue for integrating dialogic psychotherapy (“dialoguing”) and psychiatric occupational therapy (“doing”), supported by current research, and will illustrate its use with de-identified examples from a residential treatment setting.
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
1. Describe the diagnostic criteria and clinical consequences of serious mental illness (SMI) within the framework of enactive selfhood.
2. Identify three therapeutic benefits of dialogic psychotherapy and three therapeutic benefits of occupational therapy in the treatment of SMI.
3. Apply principles of dialogic psychotherapy and occupational therapy by describing three examples of their integrated use within a residential care setting.
Other Workshops
Additional, specialized education with and without CEU credits.
The Latest in Psychopharmacology: Exploring Cutting-Edge Medication Advances for Depression, Bipolar Disorder, and ADHD
1 CE Credit, Presented by Dr. Paul Keck. Jr., MD
[Education Level: Intermediate to Advanced]
In an era where high-risk families navigate a maze of disconnected services—from nonprofits and residential treatment centers to substance abuse programs—siloed care too often results in devastating gaps and failed outcomes for vulnerable youth. Discover how Functional Family Therapy (FFT) revolutionizes this landscape by forging powerful cross-sector collaborations that unite nonprofits and for-profits into seamless, family-centered systems. Through compelling case studies and actionable strategies, this dynamic workshop equips program directors, nonprofit leaders, clinicians, residential providers, and policymakers with the tools to dismantle barriers, cultivate shared accountability, and sustain partnerships that dramatically improve clinical results and community resilience—transforming fragmented efforts into lasting impact for families in crisis.
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
1. Describe the evidence base supporting psychopharmacologic treatments.
2.Summarize recent research developments and identify emerging treatment opportunities for patients.
3.Explain how psychopharmacologic treatment can be integrated into comprehensive treatment plans, including psychotherapy.
Hooked on a Feeling: Treating Fantasy and Pathological Escape Across Gambling, Pornography, and Compulsive Sexual Behavior
1 CE Credit, Presented by Debra Kaplan, MA, MBA, LPC, CSAT-S
[Education Level: Intermediate]
Gambling disorder, pornography addiction, and compulsive sexual behavior are clinically distinct, yet they share common consequences, including lost time, reduced productivity, and impaired relationships. At the core of these behavioral addictions are shared mechanisms of fantasy, escapism, and distorted perceptions of reality. This presentation explores the role of fantasy in case conceptualization, treatment planning, and relapse prevention across behavioral addictions.
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
1. Define the role of fantasy, escapism, and distorted perception of reality in the development and maintenance of behavioral addictions.
2. Differentiate comorbidities and make accurate differential diagnoses in the assessment of gambling disorder.
3. Identify evidence-based strategies for assessment, treatment planning, and relapse prevention across gambling, pornography, and compulsive sexual behavior.
Building Stronger Systems: Cross-Collaboration Between Nonprofits and For-Profit Providers
1 CE Credit, Presented by Helen Midouhas, PhD, LPC & Marcus Brown
[Education Level: Intermediate]
In an era where high-risk families navigate a maze of disconnected services—from nonprofits and residential treatment centers to substance abuse programs—siloed care too often results in devastating gaps and failed outcomes for vulnerable youth. Discover how Functional Family Therapy (FFT) revolutionizes this landscape by forging powerful cross-sector collaborations that unite nonprofits and for-profits into seamless, family-centered systems. Through compelling case studies and actionable strategies, this dynamic workshop equips program directors, nonprofit leaders, clinicians, residential providers, and policymakers with the tools to dismantle barriers, cultivate shared accountability, and sustain partnerships that dramatically improve clinical results and community resilience—transforming fragmented efforts into lasting impact for families in crisis.
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
1. Identify barriers and opportunities in cross-sector collaboration between nonprofit and for-profit organizations.
2. Describe how Functional Family Therapy (FFT) can be used to align diverse systems and service providers.
3. Apply practical tools for building and sustaining collaborative partnerships.
Branding the Very Best You: A Clinically-Informed and Relationally-Focused Approach to Effective Outreach
Presented by Tom Parker, LISW & Meg Horne, LMSW
This presentation explores the who, why, and how of connecting your program, services, idea, product, or self with others. Through targeted outreach strategies, you’ll integrate supportive clinical concepts to build authentic connections.
Once called “sales”—a term that often triggers anxiety—this essential practice is now reframed as relationship building: the foundation for creating and sustaining meaningful ties with colleagues, families, clients, funders, and influencers.
Expert Panels
Expert panels with and without CEU credits.
The Sale Through Their Eyes: From the Owner's Exit to the Employee's New Reality
Panel Moderated by Kevin Taggart
Join us for an insightful panel discussion moderated by Kevin Taggart of Mertz Taggart, delving into the multifaceted world of treatment center acquisitions. This session brings together experts from M&A advisory, former owners, and frontline employees to explore the sale process through their unique lenses.
Discover the strategic motivations and emotional journeys of owners navigating their exit, the tactical intricacies and deal dynamics handled by M&A professionals, and the real-world impacts on employees—from uncertainty and cultural shifts to new opportunities in the post-sale landscape. Gain valuable perspectives on communication strategies, retention challenges, integration pitfalls, and best practices that bridge the gap between stakeholders.
Whether you’re a treatment center owner considering a sale, an M&A specialist, or part of a behavioral health team, this panel will illuminate the human side of transactions, fostering a deeper understanding of how to achieve smoother transitions and sustained success.
From Uncertainty to Alignment: How Interventionists, Educational Consultants, Therapeutic Consultants, and Treatment Providers Co-Create Sustainable Pathways to Healing
Panel Moderated by Megan Harrison, LMFT
Panelists: Missy Steffens (TCA), Christi Lardieri (IECA), and Bobbi Horne (AIS)
This interactive panel brings together representatives from the Therapeutic Consultant Association (TCA), the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA), and the Association of Intervention Specialists (AIS) to explore the critical pre-admission work that helps families, clients, consultants, and treatment providers move toward alignment before treatment begins.
Consultants and interventionists often meet families and clients during moments of crisis, uncertainty, and systemic complexity. The work leading up to admission — including thoughtful collaboration between consultants, treatment programs, clinicians, and providers — can significantly influence the level of alignment across the system when a client arrives.
That alignment does not necessarily mean a family or client feels fully ready. Anxiety, fear, and ambivalence are often still present. However, when consultants, programs, providers, and families share a clear framework and communication structure, the system is better able to support the client through the early stages of engagement.
Panelists will share real experiences and discuss practical strategies for building trust with families and clients, recognizing systemic and generational influences, coordinating ethical handoffs, and collaborating effectively with receiving programs and clinicians to create the strongest possible conditions for admission and treatment engagement.
The focus of the conversation is how consultants, interventionists, treatment programs, and independent clinicians can partner effectively to support families and co-create sustainable pathways toward healing.
