2021 Conference
Thank you to our sponsors!
Workshop Presentations
Emily Ferris - Magellan Behavioral Health
Community is often the foundation of recovery. As we learn to navigate a world reshaped by the isolation of the Covid-19 Pandemic, Certified Peer Support Specialist Emily Ferris will reflect on what we have learned as a peer support community about not only coping but thriving in times of difficulty and uncertainty. This keynote is an opportunity to mindfully reflect on strategies to find meaning and connection in the collectively lonely experience of Covid-19, and on ways we can cultivate hope for our futures.
Amey Dettmer - The Copeland Center
*Sponsored by Northampton County Mental Health*
Join this powerful presentation from Amey Dettmer as she shares about her own personal journey with Peer Support, not only as a career but as the catalyst for finding recovery. In 2020, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration called for a 4693% increase of peer supporters throughout the behavioral health workforce. This keynote will speak to why there is such a demand for peer support and how peer support, which is recognized as an evidence-based practice, can begin to transform the ways healing can occur in our communities and for those receiving services.
Christiana Kitchen Silcox - Lehigh County Mental Health
What is psychosis? Why is it stigmatized? How do we know if a loved one is experiencing psychosis? How does someone get the support they need? Join members of Lehigh County’s On My Way team, a First Episode Psychosis program, for an interactive experience on defining psychosis from a lens of instilling hope and recovery.
Mike Ware - St. Luke's Hospital Network
By looking at the past, current, and future of Telehealth, we will explore what we have learned and know. Using that knowledge, we will examine the personal impacts as well as impacts to others and other organizations. This interactive presentation will allow us to benefit from the experiences and thoughts of others. Come prepared to engage.
Judy Yanacek - New Vitae Wellness & Recovery
Nutrition in recovery, as in life in general, is a complex mosaic involving multiple factors. Cutting edge concepts that seem new are in reality as old as medicine itself. This presentation attempts to connect these longitudinal concepts.
Tracey Carney - Community Care Behavioral Health
*Sponsored by Liberty Cannabis - Holistic Industries*
Tracy Carney recalls her experience hiking the 2,190- mile Appalachian Trail and how this journey parallels the journey she took from mental illness to wellness. She shares important recovery principles like hope, education, personal responsibility, and peer support and how these principles can lead to a pathway to wellness. This workshop includes reflections of her hike but, more importantly, how these recovery principles can support a person on their recovery journey.
Steven Burkitt - Horizon House
Working with a population with a high rate of trauma histories increases the potential for staff to experience a secondary or vicarious trauma response. This training was designed in order to help staff understand, identify, and learn ways to manage vicarious trauma in order to maintain their own wellness.
Courtney Chellew - Lehigh Valley Health Network
This workshop will focus on a non-medication treatment option for depression called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). TMS is a non-invasive procedure that uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells in the areas of the brain that control mood and depression. The benefits and success rates of this FDA-approved treatment as a safe alternative to traditional medication to treat depression will be discussed.
Greg Krausz - MARS
Substance use continues to impact many lives and has shown increasing impacts during COVID-19. The good news is that Recovery is likely with help and support. We will be discussing the ability to dream again and meet together where we dream and hope and recognize as a former president said, "The miracle of recovery is possible and it could be you."
Erica Panella - Lehigh County Drug & Alcohol
*Sponsored by Step by Step*
This workshop explores the criminal justice system and the lack of mental health resources available. Erica will discuss how recovery and mental wellness looks before, during, and after incarceration.