Embodiment in the Counseling Classroom: Perspectives from the Professor and Student – Presented by Amanda Grieme and Mary Ellen Alexander

With the emerging emphasis of including the body in counseling, counselor educators could benefit from integrating embodiment into the classroom. This presentation will offer participants the opportunity to learn more about embodiment and how it can be incorporated into the student experience. Through the perspective of the professor and student, each will provide practical tools in which embodiment can be assimilated into the classroom in order to facilitate a richer experience in counseling education.

Creative Ideas for Students and Professors During In-Person Counseling – Presented by Meg Bauhof and Kristy Eldredge

Learning counseling skills is one of the most daunting tasks of counselor training. Similarly, faculty are charged with helping students master skills while also regulating student emotions and building confidence. Studies show that differentiated instruction can reduce anxiety and promote learning, especially with skills-based material (Tolleson et al., 2017). In this interactive presentation, participants will learn creative activities for student and faculty approaches to in-person residencies.

Mitigating Intolerance of Uncertainty in Pediatric Patients with Comorbid Medical and Psychiatric Conditions – Presented by Andrea Hanna, Robert Friedberg, and Megan Neelley

Chronic medical conditions are highly comorbid with pediatric mood, anxiety, and behavior problems. Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is associated with both physical and mental illnesses. Counselors often fail to target this important common factor. A variety of CBT procedures including psychoeducation, mindfulness, cognitive restructuring, behavioral experiments, and exposure are well-suited to mitigating IU. This poster presents counselors with information on comorbidities, IU, and recommended interventions.

Got Skills? Core Competencies for Working in Integrated Pediatric Behavioral Health Settings — Presented by Yasaman Movahedi, Robert Friedberg, Callie Goodman, and Joe Zucker

Integrated pediatric behavioral healthcare offers advantages including better clinical accountability decreased stigma. Workforce trends show growth in job openings in these clinics. Behavioral health professionals must be equipped with proper skills. This presentation outlines unique core competencies such as reliance on the biopsychosocial model, focus on population health, familiarity with a primary care medical culture, skills in functional analysis, brief assessment/therapy, consultation, and practice management.

The Transformational Leader: Tools and Approaches to Conflict Resolution — Presented by Dr. Shawn Davis and Kimberly Judd

Conflict takes on many forms and can impact both groups and individuals. In business, a goal of the transformational leader is to minimize negative conflict and successfully utilize positive conflict. There are many approaches to managing conflict available to the transformational leader, however, not all have been found to be equally effective when wrongly applied. Methods of successful conflict resolution will be discussed along with how these methods relate to the counseling profession. This program does not offer NBCC Clock Hours.

Mentoring for Counselor Longevity — Presented by Jeff Rice

This presentation will address the reason counselors leave the field and explore the ways that having a mentor can alleviate some of the stressors. New counselors can become jaded by resistant clients, third party payers, organizational politics and a host of other reasons that can lead to counselor burnout or frustration. By gaining a mentor there can be a shift of expectations. to ensure that neophyte counselors have the tools and resources to succeed beyond the scope of supervision for licensure.

Presented by Michelle Colarusso and Cody Dickson

Practicing counselors are often asked to supervise counselors-in-training without having been taught supervisory skills in their master’s program (Bernard & Goodyear, 1998; Lazovsky & Shimoni, 2005). Lack of training can lead to a variety of concerns with supervisors that will be reviewed in depth. In this presentation, participants will review the importance of regular supervision, review best practices for site supervisors including supervision agreements and informed consents, and assess gatekeeping from each roles’ perspective.

The Importance of Self-Care in Counselor Identity: An Experiential Practice for Supervisors and Supervisor Trainees – Presented by Tricia M. Mikolon, PhD, CRC, LPC, BC-TMH, Debra Perez, and Brooke Murphy

Wellness is especially important because counselors are one of the primary instruments in their own work (Shallcross, 2011). Supervision provides a structured interaction with the counselor trainee in which self-care education and techniques can be incorporated, intertwining it with the foundational core of counseling and counselor identity. Assisting supervisors and counselor trainees identify how to incorporate self-care into counselor identity is essential.

Ending the Vicious Cycle: Play Therapy with Diverse Families in Conflict, Chaos, and Crisis — Presented by Ruth Ouzts Moore, Ph.D., NCC, and Cheyenne Gonzales

Adolescents involved in play therapy often struggle with depression, anxiety, and trauma-related symptoms. Many conceal their emotions from others, and as a result, their underlying feelings manifest into problem behaviors. Unsurprisingly, they are often later diagnosed with disruptive behavior disorders, because their primary emotional disorders have not been treated. The presenters will provide techniques that can be implemented with culturally diverse families who are experiencing severe conflicts and crises.

Licensed to Lead: ​ A Need for Leadership Development for Professional Counselors – Presented by Lawrence Richardson and Guy Beauduy

As a profession, we primarily focus on counseling practice and clinical supervision; however, many professional counselors eventually find their way into leadership positions that focus on managing and leading teams. The counseling profession needs to accommodate the professional development of early-career counselors. By integrating concepts from human resources management and organizational development, this session will focus on maximizing the potential of professional counselors into professional leaders.

Integrating Creative Strategies in Group Therapy — Presented by Kellie Forziat-Pytel, Ph.D., Karissa Celona, Anja Whitehead, and Laura Matheny

Group counseling is a powerful therapeutic option that allows several individuals to grow and change together. Participants who attend this session will learn 3 creative group counseling techniques that can be used in many settings of practice, to facilitate group members self-awareness and progress towards their identified goals. Participants will have the opportunity to be a group member to deepen their level of understanding of how effective one of these techniques can be in the virtual setting.

The Journey of Cultural Competence: Implementing a Life-Long Model – Presented by Dr. Shanel Robinson, Jacob Hill, and Lucy Tykal

Alongside technical and theoretical skills, counselors practice cultural humility and competency to provide equitable and ethical care to diverse clientele. Many existing models used to track cultural skill formation approach the concept analytically as a linear progression with a finite destination, however, cultural identities evolve over time in response to novel or existing environments. Counselors are called to consider cultural competency as a continuum rather than destination in our learning.

International Students of Color: Members of the $45 Billion Club — Presented by Dr. Tremaine Leslie, Hilda George, Shu-Han Su, and Smruthi Vaishnavi Chintakunta

International students of color come from more than 100 countries across the world (Institute of International Education [IIE], 2021). Eleven percent hail from Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and the Sub-Saharan Regions (Open Doors, 2019). Additionally, eighty percent of international students studying in the US are students of color (Yao et al., 2019), and are enrolled in accredited, degree-granting institutions in the United States (IIE, 2021; Stein & Andreotti, 2016).

Poster Presentations – Doctoral Students

Poster sessions are designed to convey a research idea supporting a formal topic, which may include a novel approach to an area of study within the field of Counselor Education. Through Zoom, attendees will visit with one or as many of the presenters of the sessions as they want and engage in interactive dialogue. Participants may stay for only a few minutes and then move on to another presentation. Presenters will remain with their posters to discuss their dissertation topic, research findings and/or novel approaches with attendees. This program does not offer NBCC Clock Hours.

Examining the Relationship Between Misdiagnosis, The Legal System & Life Beyond It — Presented by Heidi Kiesling and Shannon Lott- SESSION CANCELLED 

This program will take a deep dive into the long-term effects of misdiagnosing individuals who have been incarcerated. This sample population will consist of people from various backgrounds – sexual orientation, race, socioeconomic status. This is a daily occurrence both globally & in the US. Young children are stigmatized and labeled as troublemakers at home, in the community & at school. Often leading to social isolation, misdiagnosis & has lasting repercussions for the individual’s health & quality of life.