AMHCA has mapped out several suggested tracks/itineraries to make it easier for attendees to select their sessions.
*Suggested track sessions are completely optional.
Suggested Tracks
- Neuroscience Track
AMHCA continues to be a leader in promoting our understanding of the role of neuroscience in the training, research, and practice of clinical mental health counseling. In addition to a robust interest network, AMHCA is the first counseling association to establish neuroscience-related standards, publish a special edition and create a special section in our journal, and establish a task force to provide direction on the future of neuroscience in our field. These sessions focus on the role of neuroscience in a variety of specialties including trauma, integrated care, child/adolescent, and depression.
Neuroscience Suggested Track PDF
- Integrated Behavioral Health Care Track
AMHCA believes that mental health counseling is at the core of healthy individual. Integrated care models hold promise in addressing many of the challenges facing our health care system. We believe that the clinical and policy expertise that CMHCs possess and can provide will be invaluable to other primary care physicians in developing innovations in integration to improve the nation’s public’s health, with the goal of dramatically reducing the unacceptable high morbidity and mortality rates experienced by Americans with mental illness. Sessions in this track focus on the link between physical health and mental health. More specifically sessions cover the food-mood connection, inflammation and depression, mindfulness-based stress reduction to reduce pain and more!
Integrated Behavioral Health Care Suggested Track PDF
- Trauma Track
Many individuals seek counseling to resolve symptoms associated with traumatic or chronically distressful experiences. Those experiences may include single-episode traumatic events (such as a mugging, assault, tornado, etc.), or complex trauma (sometimes referred to as developmental trauma or poly-victimization) experienced in childhood, adolescence, or adulthood featuring chronic abuse, neglect, or exposure to other harsh adversities. Sessions in this track focus on effects of childhood maltreatment on brain development, helping adults help children/adolescents with grief or personal trauma, psychological hardiness and much more!
Trauma Suggested Track PDF
- Substance Use/Addictions Track
Practitioners working in substance use and addictions must be knowledgeable with the distinctive ethics and standards of practice in the treatment of substance abuse and co-occurring disorders. Counselors must be committed to comply with legal, ethical, and practice standards related to this work: e.g. consent to treat, confidentiality; mandated reporting, appropriate treatment facilities; referral relationships; etc. This year at the AMHCA Conference our substance use/addictions track focuses on teens, trauma and substance use, helping difficult clients, complex trauma, building resilience, medical marijuana and more.
Substance Use/Addiction Track PDF
- Supervision Track
Supervisors possess a strong working knowledge of evidence based and best practices orientation with clinical theory and interventions and application to the clinical process. It is important that they maintain a working knowledge of the most current methods and techniques in clinical supervision knowledge of group supervision methodology including the appropriate use and limits of this modality. This year our supervision track has sessions about supervising counselors experiencing impairment, ethical issues in supervision, and self-disclosure and cultural humility in support of supervisees in crisis.
Supervision Track PDF
- General Track
Our general track this year contains integral pieces of the counseling world that are not dedicated to any of the other specified tracks. Sessions in this track include those on immigration, geriatric counseling, crisis and ethics. These sessions are not to be missed!
General Track PDF
- Child/Adolescent Track
Children and adolescents often present different symptomatic presentations of these disorders compared with adults, requiring specialized knowledge of diagnosis and treatment. Several notable neurodevelopmental conditions emerge during early childhood, including autism and spectrum disorders and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Late adolescence is also the time when major mental disorders such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia develop, with prodromal symptoms often appearing earlier in adolescence. AMHCA is offering several sessions this year focusing on child/adolescent topics including traumatized child and adolescent refugees, teens, trauma and substance use, using expressive art therapy with LGBTQ youth, and engaging avoidant teens.
Child/Adolescent Track PDF
- Military/Veterans Track
Counselors working with military personnel require knowledge of military culture and military service and have a strong background in counseling behavioral health disorders and evidence based therapy approaches, techniques and methods. They help active duty service members, veterans and their families manage a variety of behavioral health issues such as: depression, anxiety, generalized stress, stress-related combat issues, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance misuse and service connected disabilities. They also assess and treat for self-harm and the prevention of suicide. The AMHCA Conference this year offers a military/veterans track that has sessions devoted to military cultural competency and understanding veteran identity.
Military/Veterans Track PDF