14th Annual Conference
May 30, 2025
Keynote: Hasan Davis, J.D.
Available on Amazon.com and booksellers everywhere
Morning Workshops
Suicidality Through a Cultural Lens: Supporting Loved Ones with Understanding and Care
Vesper Moore (they/them)
Chief Operating Officer, Kiva Centers
https://kivacenters.org/
When a family member or friend is struggling with thoughts of suicide, cultural beliefs and traditions often shape how support is given and received. This presentation explores how diverse cultural perspectives influence conversations around mental health, grief, and healing, emphasizing the importance of culturally responsive approaches in providing meaningful support.
We will discuss Peer Support as a powerful and effective approach in navigating sadness, anger, and grief while fostering connection, shared understanding, and hope. Additionally, we will introduce the Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) as an advocacy tool, helping individuals prepare strategies during times of wellness to support themselves and others in moments of emotional distress.
Join us in a compassionate discussion that empowers families, friends, and communities to support loved ones in crisis with cultural humility, peer-led strategies, and proactive recovery planning.
Nuts and Bolts of CRAs
Rebecca Amdemariam (she/her), Attorney, Training Unit, Children and Family Law Division, Committee for Public Counsel Services
Catherine A. Madsen, M.A., Esq. (she/her), Staff and Legal Training Attorney, Committee for Public Counsel Services
Rebecca Amdemariam and Cathy Madsen, CPCS Legal Training Attorneys, will break down how CRA law works in MA and explain what happens once initiated in court. They will talk about the various challenges in getting needed family assistance within the judicial system and review some community alternatives to court involvement.
Breaking Barriers: Empowering Families & Professionals to Overcome Systemic Trauma
Dr. Christian H. Bijoux
bijoux Consulting Group LLC
https://bijouxconsultinggroup.com
Systemic trauma affects families, professionals, and communities, creating barriers to success and well-being. In this interactive 90-minute virtual workshop, participants will explore the lasting impact of systemic trauma and learn practical strategies to encourage resilience and advocacy. Through guided discussion, real-world examples, and actionable tools, attendees will gain insights into overcoming institutional challenges, building supportive networks, and advancing meaningful change. Whether you are a parent, caregiver, or professional, this session will equip you with the skills to navigate and transform systems for long-term success.
Understanding and Responding to Self-Injury in Adolescents and Young Adults
Barent Walsh, Ph.D.
Executive Director Emeritus and Senior Clinical Consultant at Open Sky Community Services
Recent statistics from the Mass. DOE report that 19.7% of high school students (up from 16.4%) and 26.5% of middle school students (up from 16.8%) have reported “injuring self intentionally without wanting to die.” Non-suicidal self-injury consists of such behaviors as self-cutting, hitting, scratching, skin picking, head-banging and many other methods. This workshop will differentiate non-suicidal self-injury from suicidal behavior. It will review the appropriate forms of treatment including careful behavioral assessment, training in emotion regulation skills, and strategies for parents and other adults to manage and reduce the behavior. The topic of social contagion among peers will also be addressed.
Understanding Teen Depression
Rebekah Gibbons, LICSW
Families for Depression Awareness
Florcy Romero
Families for Depression Awareness
How can you ask your teen if they are feeling depressed? This virtual workshop is facilitated by FFDA staff and delivered by a mental health professional. Participants learn how to recognize depression in teens, communicate effectively with teens about depression, find treatment, and access community resources.
Derechos en educación especial para estudiantes y familias multilingües e inmigrantes
Diana I. Santiago, Esq.
Legal Director, Massachusetts Advocates for Children
Con un enfoque en los estudiantes con discapacidades emocionales, este taller describirá las protecciones legales básicas en la educación especial para estudiantes y familias inmigrantes y multilingües. También se incluirá herramientas de abogacía que los padres pueden utilizar para conseguir los servicios y apoyos que sus hijos requieren en la escuela.
Afternoon Workshops
Gut Health and The Connection to Mental Health
Olivia Nakimera
Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach
CEO, Liv Wellness
All health starts in the gut. In this session, learn about how you can be empowered to add health and hope to your everyday, through small shifts in choices we make that affect our gut health, and mental health. This session will cover:
- The science of gut health and how its connects to mental health
- Daily choices we make that could be unknowingly sabotaging gut and mental health
- Lifestyle habits you can start to implement today to see improvements
Hope is the feeling that there is something you can do to influence a better outcome. This session will shed some light on how to navigate the mental health journey through improving gut health, and leave you feeling hopeful.
WhatsOK? Promoting safe and healthy development in youth sexual behaviors
Jenny Coleman, MA, LMHC
Director, Stop It Now!
WhatsOK was developed by Stop It Now! to meet an urgent need for resources to support youth and young adults who have questions about their own concerning sexual behaviors. While there are resources to address other areas of sexual health and wellbeing, there are few resources available for youth to inquire specifically about their own sexual interests and behaviors, particularly when they are feeling concerned about what they are interested in or doing. Additionally, services for youth are most often designed to address behaviors after harm has occurred. With WhatsOK, parents, caregivers and professionals have access to a new resource, an early prevention strategy that offers tools, information and guidance to youth and young adults specifically in order to deter criminal and illegal sexual offending behaviors. This workshop will discuss this resource, as well as explore protective factors all adults caring for and working with youth and young adults can engage to keep young people safe from experiencing sexual harm – or from causing sexual harm.
The Five Principles To Better Supporting All Children
Guy Stephens
Founder & Executive Director
Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint
A common question from school staff, administrators, and members of local school boards is, ‘If not restraint and seclusion, then what?’ It is time to shift to approaches that are trauma-informed, neuroscience-aligned, neurodiversity-affirming, relationship-driven, and collaborative to support all children in schools across the nation. The solutions that will improve the educational system and improve outcomes for students are the same solutions that will eliminate restraint and seclusion in schools.
Early Psychosis: Symptoms, Identification, and Treatment
Emily Gagen, PhD
Director of M-PATH
Tanya Trevett, M.Ed.
M-PATH Family Partner
This presentation aims to provide participants with information about common symptoms of psychosis and what kinds of signs to look for to indicate that a young adult may be experiencing psychosis. We will also discuss how to ask and talk about these experiences and identify some common screening strategies that may help with this process. Finally, we will review specialized treatment approaches for early psychosis and discuss a new referral and triage program (Massachusetts Psychosis Access and Triage Hub, or M-PATH) that can help to connect clients, families, and providers to these types of resources.
Addressing Anxiety in Children: A Comprehensive Approach
Marsha Charlton, NP
Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
Through this workshop, you will understand the importance of advocacy and comprehensive support for children with anxiety. It will discuss the need for collaboration between families, healthcare providers, and schools. Additionally, it will emphasize the role of cultural competency in effective treatment.
Comprendiendo La Depresión En Los Adolescentes
Florcy Romero
Families for Depression Awareness
Como puedes preguntar si tu adolescente se siente deprimido/a/x? Esta programa es presentado por una professional en la salud mental. Participantes aprenden como reconocer las simptomas de depression en los adolescentes, hablar sobre la tema de depression, como buscar tratamiento y donde acesar recursos en su comunidad.