Agenda

Description

The workshop emphasizes addiction as a treatable, chronic disease involving interactions among brain circuits, genetics, the environment, and the individual’s life experiences. We will discuss the reward pathways in the brain and its rewiring during addiction. We also will cover the important issue of sex difference in addiction and its implication in treatment. Important for professionals to also understand, there is a strong relationship between co-occurrence of substance abuse/addiction and mental disorders such as schizophrenia, PTSD, depression and ADHD. Understanding the underlying neuronal mechanism of co-morbidity is essential in adopting effective strategies for prevention, intervention and treatment.

Objectives

Upon completion of this session, participants will be able to:

1. The basic anatomy and physiology of the brain as they relate to addiction and related mental illness
2. The common underlying neurophysiology/neuropharmacology of comorbidity of addiction and some other common mental disorders
3. Describe sex differences in addiction and important ways that women’s brains are “wired” differently from those of men, allowing for a more gender-responsive approach in treatment of women in recovery

Dr. Jack Ginsberg is a well-known neuropsychologist who has advocated for Autonomic Self-Regulation as a self-empowering mind-body practice for more than 20 years. He has been a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in South Carolina for 25 years and practiced hospital-based and private Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology. He retired from the VA in 2019 as a Clinical Neuropsychologist where he evaluated and treated returning combat servicemembers (men and women), many of whom were dually diagnosed with co-morbid PTSD and other mental illness, persistent concussion, substance abuse, and pain. He is currently adjunct faculty at Saybrook University and Research Associate Professor at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine after retiring. Dr. Ginsberg has been a PI, Co-PI or Co-I on research grants from the DoD, VA, and NIH and has ongoing collaborations with colleagues at Duke and Virginia Commonwealth University Schools of Medicine . Dr. Ginsberg has authored or co-authored more than 70 reviewed scientific journal articles and book chapters, been a scientist reviewer of research grant proposals for NIH, VA, and DoD, and edited or reviewed dozens of published scientific articles. He has given presentations on HRV and HRVB at scientific meetings, academic seminars, and webinars.

Description

Join Dr. Ron Hood for an interesting and revealing exploration of ethical obligations in challenging and novel professional environments. Professionals are now facing multiple job requirements in socially, politically, and culturally changing environments. This workshop focuses on determining how to best approach ethical issues and dilemmas, and how to plan for the best interventions possible, even when problems and solutions are multifaceted and anything but straightforward.

Objectives

Upon completion of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Identify ethical obligations within novel professional environments
2. Explain strategies for balancing job requirements with ethical mandates
3. Identify how to best approach multifaceted ethical issues and dilemmas
4. List potential interventions and solutions to multifaceted ethical issues and weigh alternatives

Ron Hood, PhD, Diplomate in Counseling Psychology, American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP, LP, LMFT, LCAS, CCS, MAC), is a psychologist in private practice in Boone, North Carolina and has worked in community mental health for more than 30 years. Dr. Hood has worked in the field of mental health and substance abuse treatment in outpatient settings since 1973, beginning with volunteer work in an open house substance abuse treatment setting in Wilmington, NC. He holds an MA in clinical psychology and a PhD in Counseling Psychology. Dr. Hood has provided supervision in marriage and family counseling, psychological counseling, and clinical services, and has provided individual and group supervision for mental health professionals seeking their LCAS in North Carolina. He is a member of the North Carolina Psychological Association and the National Register of Professional Psychologists.

Description

The experts leading this presentation have a combined 20+ years in working with & leading female identifying peer support specialists. This presentation focuses on mentoring & supervision strategies to inspire growth, direction, diversity and working with medical professionals. Specific topics covered include supervising peers affected by familial violence, engagement in reentry, and support of neurodiversity challenges within the workplace & family. The initial presentation is followed by an open question and answer session.

Objectives

Upon completion of this session, participants will be able to:

1. List mentoring strategies that focus on supervision strategies to inspire growth, direction, diversity and working with medical professionals
2. Describe key considerations when supervising peers affected by familial violence, engagement in reentry, and support of neurodiversity challenges within the workplace & family and rationale for taking various approaches

Sue Polston, CPSS is a person in long term recovery from trauma, substance use and mental health challenges with lived experience in unhealthy relationships, and incarceration with a lengthy criminal record. With more than 10 years in recovery, she shares a healthy and growing relationship with her family & husband who are also in recovery. Sue began her work at Sunrise Community for Recovery and Wellness in 2017 as Program Coordinator of the brand new non-profit, where she was one of only two full-time employees. In 2019, she became the Executive Director and has led the organization as it grew to over 50 employees. Sue is proud to be a North Carolina Certified Peer Support Specialist (NCPSS), Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) facilitator and a Recovery Coach Academy Trainer. Sue was competitively selected to attend a national initiative with Mobilize Recovery in 2019, 2021 and 2023. She has served on the advisory committee for WNC’s Recovery Community Collaborative for 6 years.

Derrick Hall, MSW, LCSW, LCAS, CSI is a former Board Chair for The Sunrise Community for Recovery and Wellness, and has volunteered with them as well as serving on the Board and with the Executive Committee from Sunrise’s inception through the present. After growing up between countries and cultures, and then eventually recovering from his own substance use and mental health challenges, he began working in the field of mental health. Since that time, Derrick has worked in partial hospitalization, inpatient settings, residential, office and community settings with child, adolescent, adult, and geriatric populations and with individuals experiencing mental health, substance use, developmental, trauma-based, and dual diagnosis challenges. He has worked as a mental health tech, a community-based skills trainer, and as a case manager. After receiving a Master’s Degree in Social Work, he worked as a street outreach worker, a shelter program case manager, an outpatient therapist, a forensic screener, and an ACT team lead. As a supervisor, Derrick has managed a multidisciplinary team, ACT teams, CST, SAIOP, the Healthy Transitions grant program, and is now working to create and sustain the AEGIS First Episode Psychosis Specialty Clinic.

Kevin Mahoney, NCCPSS, CCHW is a US Air Force veteran, peer educator and lifelong learner. He experienced homelessness, mental health and substance use challenges after returning to civilian life. Thanks to discovering a higher purpose through volunteering at a soup kitchen in Augusta GA and finding spiritual mentors in the Unitarian/Universalist Church, he was able to establish a different path in life. Kevin moved to Asheville in 2008 and subsequently worked in different behavioral health fields including wilderness therapy, Assertive Community Treatment teams, and as a housing specialist for Vaya Health Transitions to Community Health. He helped establish Sunrise Community for Recovery and Wellness in 2015, and he established a peer support system in a medical setting at Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) before returning to Sunrise as a peer educator in 2023. Kevin has certifications as a peer support specialist and trainer, forensic peer, recovery coach, community health worker and Hearing Voices Network group facilitator.

Description

In this interactive session, participants will learn about the history of harm reduction, as well as harm reduction as a spectrum. Participants will have an opportunity to identify their own harm reduction values and policies to better prepare for non-judgmental work with women in recovery.

Objectives

Upon completion of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Participants will be able to give examples of harm reduction measures ranging the full spectrum.
2. Participants will examine their own clinical practices and identify how great of a role harm reduction plays in their practice.

Marie Gannon, LCAS, LCMHCS, CCS is a therapist specializing in reproductive mental health who loves supporting people maintaining their recovery from substances and family members of people struggling with substance use. She believes that everyone is entitled to a safe, judgement free place to process the difficult things life throws at us and has dedicated her professional life to teaching others to make that space for themselves and others though personal therapy and professional supervision. Marie is a mom to two beautiful children and an amazing dog, Stormy. She is also becoming a pro at being outdoors in the Blue Ridge Mountains, while still having just enough electricity for a Kindle and a shower.

Nicole Ross, LCAS, CCS, NCPSS is a mother of four from the mountains of Western North Carolina in long term recovery from drug and alcohol misuse. She is a proud recovery advocate and counselor for women and mothers struggling with substance use disorder. She recognizes that, like addiction, recovery has many faces, so there is no “one size fits all” path to wellness. Nicole spends as much time as possible championing that message, so other women feel less alone in their journeys. She enjoys good books, great coffee, and art journaling and serves as the Regional Director for BHG, a medication-assisted treatment facility in the Carolinas.

Description

Dr. Yonkers will share vital information on general epidemiology of substance use in perinatal individuals as well as demographic factors associated with substance use conditions. She will also review screening questionnaires and their performance. Based on a longitudinal study, Dr. Yonkers will present her research results, while also highlighting results from research studies that explored various treatment modalities, equipping providers with vital information needed to provide optimal care for patients.

Objectives

Upon completion of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Explain consequences of substance misuse during pregnancy
2. Review screening for substance use in pregnancy
3. Describe speakers research findings on course of illness in pregnancy
4. Discuss results from treatment studies of perinatal individuals with substance use

The Tune Shepherds, a trio of Asheville musicians with flute, fiddle, and guitar, delight in finding and arranging older Scottish instrumental music.

This mostly 17^th & 18^th C. music was published in dozens of folios—interesting and unusual melodies that the Shepherds bring to 21^st C. listeners. You might hear something from Aberdeenshire reminiscent of a gypsy camp; or fiddle music from Perthshire with Beatlesque melody lines; or perhaps a flowing harp tune honoring Clan Gordon. Nothing commonplace here.

Time spent with The Tune Shepherds - flute player and maker Chris Abell; country dance fiddler Michael Garner; and Grammy winning guitarist Bruce Nemerov - is time spent discovering an old world of sound made new.

Description

This workshop aims to provide participants with a comprehensive understanding of how ambivalence and self-sabotage function as a defense mechanism, and finally, help pave the path to self-acceptance. In this informative and interactive workshop, Linda seeks to help providers to empower their clients in the process of overcoming ambivalence, so that they may make more goal-aligned choices and cultivate a greater sense of well-being.

Objectives

Upon completion of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Identify the inner argument, formally known as ambivalence
2. Identify and define self-sabotage as a defense against the argument
3. Apply a present moment goal as a process that liberates individuals in recovery from their suffering, so that they may be free from ambivalence

Linda Hamilton, CADC is the founder and Director of Beyond Addiction LLC. She is a certified substance-abuse counselor as well as an Acceptance and Commitment Matrix Trainer, a Generative Coach and a Certified Self Compassion Teacher. Linda brings a wealth of information to her coaching, having completed courses with innovative educators such as Chris Germer, Dr. Kristin Neff, Dr. Stephen Gilligan, Dr. Kevin Polk, Dr. Michael Yapko, Dr. Paul Gilbert, and Dr. Dennis Tirch. Linda enjoys developing groundbreaking, revolutionary practices and technologies that benefit the human spirit.

Description

People who identify as women or are assigned female at birth (AFAB) face unique vulnerabilities and risks for contracting HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). This informative session serves to increase provider awareness and understanding of HIV and STIs, fostering safer sexual practices, and promoting overall sexual and reproductive health. We aim to provide essential knowledge and create a supportive and non-judgmental environment in which women with substance use disorders can access the information, services, and resources necessary to protect their sexual and reproductive health.

Objectives

Upon completion of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Provide detailed information for providers who treat those with substance use disorders about HIV and STIs to dispel myths, misconceptions, and stigma associated with these conditions
2. Explain ways in which providers may educate their clients about the importance of condom use, regular testing, and partner communication regarding sexual health, and offer resources for accessing condoms and testing services
3. Establish partnerships with local healthcare providers and community organizations to facilitate testing as well as to improve access to medical services and support for individuals who test positive for HIV or STIs.

Victoria Mobley, MD, MPH received an undergraduate and medical degree from Duke University and a Master’s degree in Epidemiology from the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health. She completed an internal medicine residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore MD, followed by an Infectious Disease Fellowship at UNC Chapel Hill. Dr. Mobley now serves as the HIV/STI Medical Director for the Communicable Disease Branch and Director of the HIV/STI Field Services Program.

Erika Samoff, PhD, MPH is the HIV, Sexually Transmitted Disease, and Hepatitis B and C Lead Epidemiologist at the North Carolina Division of Public Health Communicable Disease Branch. She received her MPH from the University of Michigan and her PhD in Epidemiology from the Yale University School of Public Health. Prior to working at NC DPH, she worked for the Durham County Health Department and for the CDC. She currently works to assemble, analyze and communicate disease data so that all North Carolinians can be healthier.

Melinda Ramage, MSN, FNP-BC, CARN-AP, LCAS shares her passion about sexual and reproductive health and actively participates in spaces focused on re-humanizing health care, specifically in the perinatal space. A graduate of Purdue University, she began her nursing career as a psychiatric nurse in the US Navy and went on to earn her master’s degree in nursing in Western Carolina University’s Family Nurse Practitioner Program. Her current roles include Western Maternal Health Lead for North Carolina’s statewide Perinatal Quality Collaborative (PQCNC), active researcher and educator with Project CARA (co-founder of this outpatient, comprehensive perinatal substance use program), and directing patient care with Laurel OBGYN.

Description

This presentation leverages storytelling from pregnant and parenting women impacted by co-occurring diagnoses and incarceration. It highlights the challenges and barriers women face at the time of release.

Objectives

Upon completion of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Identify opportunities to promote a successful co-occurring recovery
2. List strategies to cultivate a transdisciplinary care model

Essence Hairston, LCSW, LCAS, CSI is a Clinical Instructor and Licensed Clinical Addiction Specialist at UNC Chapel Hill’s Department of Ob/Gyn. She serves as the Outpatient Program Manager and Director of Community Engagement and Integrated Treatment Services and Co-Chair of the DEI Taskforce at UNC Horizons-Wake. Most of her experience consists of intensive substance abuse treatment, with eleven years of working in residential treatment programs. She is focused on the intersectionality of perinatal and maternal substance use and mood disorders, adverse childhood experiences, reproductive justice, and integrative health care models that include a reproductive and social justice lens. She oversees the interdisciplinary outpatient SUD program and perinatal/maternal substance use legal services at Horizons. Additionally, Essence leads the statewide post-release SUD initiative for pregnant and parenting women with a SUD transitioning out of carceral settings in North Carolina, in which she provides clinical and administrative supervision for substance use providers that provide behavioral health services at carceral settings. She has worked with public defenders, district attorneys, and probation and parole offices to promote caregiver-child reunification efforts on the local, state, and federal levels.

Description

This interactive session will help participants understand the impact of alcohol on the developing fetal brain, define fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) and recognize how this disorder presents across the lifespan. We will also explore the importance of finding the balance between prevention and support when building FASD informed systems of care.

Objectives

Upon completion of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Define Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD)
2. Explain the impact of prenatal alcohol exposure on the developing brain
3. Identify common characteristics of this disorder across the lifespan
4. Explore strategies to help an individual with FASD succeed
5. Recognize the call to action in preventing alcohol exposed pregnancies

Amy Hendricks, BS is the FASD Prevention and Training Coordinator for Proof Alliance NC, a program of The Arc of North Carolina. Amy has over 30 years of experience deeply rooted in the field of public health and prevention and was the recipient of the Alcohol and Drug Council of North Carolina’s Prevention Pioneer Award in 2021. Amy provides education to the professionals who work with individuals of child-bearing age about the importance of preventing alcohol-exposed pregnancies and understanding the lifelong impacts of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). In her spare time, Amy creates funky art for non-profit fundraisers, enjoys live music with her husband, and is the parent of two amazing sons!

Description

This session will provide information for professionals to better meet the needs of women of childbearing age who have an opioid use disorder being treated with medication. This will include special considerations during pregnancy and potential implications during delivery.

Objectives

Upon completion of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Explain the important role of MOUD in women’s recovery
2. Describe the role of MOUD for women who are pregnant

Melissa L. Godwin, MSW, LCSW is a clinical social worker who has a Clinical Associate Professor appointment at UNC Chapel Hill School of Social Work. Early in her career she provided substance use prevention services and mental health treatment services in school-based health settings. Melissa has provided women’s gender responsive substance use disorder services, technical assistance and training in North Carolina since 2004, under a contract with the North Carolina NC Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services. She obtained her Bachelor of University Studies at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and her Master’s Degree in Clinical Social Work from Boston University.

Description

START is a specialized child welfare service delivery model that has been shown, when implemented with fidelity, to improve outcomes for children and families affected by parental substance use and child maltreatment. The model uses a variety of strategies to promote collaboration and systems-level change within and between child welfare agencies, substance use and mental health treatment providers, the judicial system, and other family-serving entities. This presentation will provide an overview of the National START model and the impact of the implementation of Buncombe County START, a certified START affiliate. A Buncombe County START family mentor providing peer support services will also share their experience in this role serving START families.

Objectives

Upon completion of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Identify key components of the START model including START timeline, minimum work guidelines, and team member roles.
2. Promote collaboration for child welfare involved families impacted by parental substance use in Buncombe County.

Katherine Watkins, BA is a social worker with over 28 years of experience. Katherine currently serves as the Program Manager for Family In-Home Services at the Buncombe County Department of Health and Human Services. Katherine assisted Buncombe County in obtaining a national certification in Sobriety Treatment and Recovery Teams (START), a specialized child welfare service delivery model that has been shown, when implemented with fidelity, to improve outcomes for children and families affected by parental substance use and child maltreatment. Katherine is a mother of three children and enjoys hiking and swimming on the weekends. Katherine received her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Anthropology from Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, NC.

Erin Smead, BA, MSW has more than 22 years of child welfare experience covering a range of capacities, including work as a frontline social worker, supervisor, regional manager, and program director. She played a key role in implementing the Sobriety Treatment and Recovery Teams (START) program in Kentucky and most recently served as its director. Erin Smead is a Center for Children and Family Futures Senior Program Associate (START). Her current role includes supporting states and jurisdictions as they build capacity to implement START while enhancing cross-system collaboration to improve outcomes for children and families. She holds both an MSW and a BA in Psychology from the University of Kentucky. Ms. Smead has expertise in child welfare, substance use disorders and recovery, peer support, and collaborative practice. She has provided guidance, technical assistance, and training in all of these areas.

Desiree McKinney, CPSS is a START Family Mentor, who utilizes her lived experience to mentor clients with substance use disorder and Child Protective Services involvement, as they navigate their case plan towards reunification. Desiree believes that her lived experience is a light in the darkness of addiction, which models a life of recovery and provides support for others as they begin their own path towards recovery. With seven years of sustained recovery and four years of reunification with her children, Desiree is a Certified Peer Support Specialist in addition to being credentialed as an MRT-Facilitator and WRAP training. Desiree is currently studying to obtain her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a focus in addiction and recovery and is expected to Graduate in May of 2024.

Description

Starleen Scott-Robbins will provide an overview and update on current North Carolina clinical policy, system transitions and new legislation impacting the care of pregnant people, women, and their families in recovery and substance use disorder treatment. Due to its vital nature, this “must know” information is presented to all conference attendees.

Objectives

Upon completion of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Outline current clinical policy, practices, and legislation impacting the care of pregnant people, women, and their families, setting the stage for best practice in the provision of services and the continuation of optimal health outcomes in North Carolina

Starleen Scott-Robbins is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 35 years of clinical and administrative experience in the addictions field. Starleen has been with the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities & Substance Use Services since 1994 and currently serves as the Special Populations Team Lead with the Addictions & Management Operations Section and is the designated Women’s Services Coordinator for the State. In her role with the Division, Starleen is responsible for the coordination of clinical policy development, implementation and monitoring for state-funded substance use disorder treatment services; management of state and federal funds that support family centered substance use disorder treatment & support services for women and their families; provision of technical assistance to adult substance use disorder programs statewide and provides oversight of adolescent substance use disorder treatment services. Starleen also works closely with the NC Medicaid program in the development and implementation of Medicaid SUD clinical coverage policies to ensure coordination with state-funded programming.

Starleen is an appointed member of the NC Judicially Managed Accountability and Recovery Court Advisory Committee and serves as the NC DHHS Secretary’s designee on the NC Domestic Violence Commission. She is a former President of the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors Women’s Services Network and has served as a member of the SAMHSA National Advisory Committee for Women’s Services.

Starleen was born and raised on Long Island, NY. She received her BS in Psychology from St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY and her MSW from Adelphi University in Garden City, NY.

Description

Embracing strength and wisdom, while developing a deep sense of well-being and empowerment in recovery, is clearly a supreme challenge, yet possible through community and connection. We continue to live though an unprecedented time of intertwining public and social health related crises. While we cannot control what happens to us, we are always in control of our response to situations. This talk will summarize the state of intertwining substance use disorders and health related social problems for women and their families. The session will highlight positive psychology science to continue to uplift us, find hope and healing, and to promote resilience for the clients and families we serve, while outlining strategies for true empowerment.

Objectives

Upon completion of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Describe the outcomes of at least two new studies published within the past two years that provide novel interventions to help improve outcomes of women with substance use disorders
2. Demonstrate at least two evidence-based techniques to improve confidence and mood in ourselves and the patients we serve

Hendrée Jones, PhD, is an internationally recognized expert in the development and examination of both behavioral and pharmacologic treatments for pregnant women, people with birthing capacity, and their children in risky life situations. She has received continuous National Institutes of Health funding since 1994 and has written more than 250 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Jones has also authored two books, one on treating patients with substance use disorders and the other on comprehensive care for women who are pregnant and have substance use disorders. She also has written multiple textbook chapters on the topic of pregnancy and addiction, as well as editorial letters and non-peer-reviewed articles for clinicians. In 2012, Dr. Jones won the Betty Ford Award from the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse for her scientific contributions in advancing women’s addiction treatment. She also recently won the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors, Inc. (NASADAD) Women’s Services Champion Award. She is a consultant for the United Nations and the World Health Organization and a contractor for SAMHSA. Dr. Jones leads, or is involved in, projects focused on improving the lives of children, women and families in Africa, Asia, South America, and the United States.

Dr. Jones is the Senior Advisor to UNC Horizons, a substance use disorder treatment program for pregnant and/or parenting women and their children, including those whose lives have been impacted by abuse and violence. It is a program of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Medicine, where she serves as a professor.

Description

Staying centered and balanced is a superpower in a world that is full of distractions, chaos and challenges. This session focuses on how to help clients discover their “center” to become more grounded in recovery, realign priorities, let go, and find a deeper well of strength, love, joy, inner wisdom, and peace. Having an inner, balanced, centered place supports all of us through life’s ups and downs. It is a well-spring of solutions and rejuvenation, where it is possible to connect with one’s center, regardless of life’s circumstances. Discover how to help clients thrive and find a wellspring of support, despite chaos around them, so that they may experience greater health, joy, peace and love.

Objectives

Upon completion of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Describe ways to help clients identify their centered, balanced Self and how to align with it.
2. List 10 keys to help maintain balance and let go of chaos and stress.
3. Explain how to apply exact tools to release chaos and tap into lasting health on a mental, emotional, and spiritual level.

Shannon D. South, ThD, aka the “Joy Doctor," is an award winning therapist, an Amazon best-selling author, and an inspirational speaker. As an expert in the field of spirituality and healing trauma for more than 25 years, she knows how to naturally assist people in finding wholeness and joy. In 1994, Shannon had a spiritual experience during meditation that healed her debilitating anxiety and depression permanently. Since this transformative experience, Shannon has helped thousands of clients connect to their most loving, abundant, and joy-filled selves. Shannon is the founder of the Ignite Your Life! programs, Heal Your Way to Success course, and the "Grow Your Business by Growing You" Breakthrough Day.

She is a sought out, international trainer and coach, helping spiritually-minded entrepreneurs breakthrough what is standing in their way towards abundance, joy, and success. Her recent book, Grow Your Business by Growing You: The spiritual entrepreneurs guide to maximum joy, abundance and success, is a roadmap to this unique, healing process. She also trains other clinicians on how to bring Spirit and Soul into their practice for deep and lasting healing for their clients.

Description

Health professionals currently work in a constantly changing professional environment. This session focuses on maintaining a “Teeter-Totter Balanced Lifestyle” that is anchored in serenity and hope. Through a community of support that encourages serenity and hope, health professionals can “live life on life’s terms” while insisting on enjoying life.

Objectives

Upon completion of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Describe the stressors health professionals face that require a balanced lifestyle.
2. List at least 3 sources of community support and self-care techniques that may be used to ensure such balance.

Geri Miller, PhD, Diplomate in Counseling Psychology, American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP); Licensed Psychologist (LP) (NC); Licensed Clinical Addictions Specialist (LCAS) (NC); Certified Clinical Supervisor (CCS) (NC); Master Addiction Counselor (MAC) (NCCAP) is a Human Relations Trainer/Consultant. She taught in higher education for 32 years and retired as Professor in 2022. Dr. Miller has worked in the counseling profession since 1976 and in the substance use disorders field since 1979. She was a volunteer with the American Red Cross Disaster Mental Health Services and worked as a volunteer psychologist at the Watauga County Health Department for 25 years through December 2020. Dr. Miller has published and presented research on counseling. She currently has a book in press with Cognella, A Practical Guide to Facilitating Substance Use Disorder Recovery, which is scheduled for publication in the fall of 2024. In 2023 she published another book with Cognella, Academic Violence and Bullying of Faculty. She has published multiple books with Wiley Press: Incorporating Spirituality in Counseling and Psychotherapy (2003), Fundamentals of Crisis Counseling (2011), Group Exercises for Addiction Counseling (2012), and Learning the Language of Addiction Counseling (5th Edition) (2021). She is a member of the American Counseling Association's divisions of the Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling (ASERVIC) and the International Association of Addictions and Offender Counselors (IAAOC); and the American Psychological Association's Psychology of Religion (Division 36) and Addictions (Division 50). She has served on The North Carolina Addictions Specialist Professional Practice Board.