Welcome to the 2021 Colorado Counseling Association Spring Conference!

 

For several years the Colorado Counseling Association has focused one of its yearly conferences on student members, both from the standpoint of featuring presentations with topics of particular relevance to student members, and on giving our student members a chance to submit proposals and conduct professional presentations in a conference setting.  This year, while the spring conference is once again being held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re delighted to feature presentations representing a diverse array of educational institutions, including Regis University, Adams State University, Walden University, Colorado Christian University, and the University of Colorado-Denver.

So whether you’ve been looking for information on secondary trauma for helping professionals or you’ve been wondering how to incorporate basic yoga techniques into your treatment of trauma disorders, this conference has something for you.  If you’ve been wanting to incorporate creative counseling techniques into your practice but don’t know where to start, this conference has got you covered!  Take a minute to peruse the 10-hours of educational sessions available to you this spring.  One silver lining of a virtual conference is you don’t have to pick and choose – you can attend any or all of the presentations that sound interesting to you!

When the CCA Governing Council made the difficult decision to move the Spring Conference online again this year, our conference partner, Regis University, immediately stepped up and committed to hosting an in-person conference in the Spring of 2022.  So as Colorado and the United States slowly move toward a return to in-person gatherings, know that we have exciting conferences planned both for the Fall of 2021 in Pueblo featuring a nationally-recognized speaker, and hosted by Regis University in the Spring of 2022.  Watch your email and stay tuned for more information in the coming months.

In the meantime, grab a snack, sit back, and learn about working with children in the midst of a custody battle.  Or dive into best practices and strategies for starting a private practice.  No matter what your area of interest is, the 2021 Colorado Counseling Association Spring Conference has got you covered!

 

Conference Presentations

Dr. Chaya Abrams and Lisa Schoenstein

Restoring care in Trauma Informed Care: Decolonizing trauma treatment through embracement of indigenous and collective trauma experiences

TIC considers trauma pervasiveness and promotes healing rather than practices that re-traumatize survivors. A limitation in TIC is its adherence to a traditional event -based model indicating that trauma results from a single event (Andermahr, 2015). The model often disregards historical trauma experiences and systemic oppression in marginalized communities. This presentation introduces participants to a decolonized approach to TIC and provides therapeutic goals inclusive of group trauma

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Dr. Gregory Elliott and Jacie Vanderloo

 

Body Ready: How Incorporating Yoga into Counseling Can Aid in Client Healing

Yoga is one of the most effective approaches for treating client trauma (van der Kolk et al., 2014). What many counselors do not recognize, however, is that you do not need years of training to integrate basic yoga principles into your counseling interventions. If you can inhale and exhale, you can do yoga. This session will present how incorporating simple yoga postures along with breathing techniques into sessions with clients can benefit clients in their healing journeys.

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Dr. Ryan M. Burkhart and Hannah Hughes

The counselor's role in addressing barriers to pediatric mental health services for low-income Colorado families

Children living in poverty or low-income households experience a great need for mental health outpatient services and support, yet often experience the greatest barriers to appropriate care. With 22% of children in this demographic living with a mental health condition (CDC, 2021), access to outpatient care is crucial. By proactively identifying barriers to care and implementing potential clinical modifications, counselors can become better equipped to serve the unique needs of this population.

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Evan Woodall and Ilyani Abourezk

Virtual Intake Process and Rapport Building

Telehealth allows counselors the opportunity to provide services to clients in rural areas and those practicing social and physical distancing. This workshop will review a basic intake process and rapport building in virtual counseling settings. This workshop will address learning points and give participants time for experiential practice.

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Dr. Gregory Elliott and Elizabeth Leahey

Examining Existential: A Review of the Growing Evidence Base for the Existential Approach

The evidenced-based practices (EBPs) movement in the counseling profession has had a significant impact on the counseling approaches taught by counseling programs, utilized by counselors, and reimbursed by third party payers. This presentation discusses common factors, evidence-based relationship, framework of practice research, and growing research from the field of Neuroscience to discuss how the Existential approach may have more evidence supporting its use than you realized.

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Dr. Krystyne Mendoza

 

Working with Children in the midst of a Custody Battle: Legal, Ethical, and Best Practice Tips

This presentation will provide training to counselors who work with children whose parents/caregivers are involved in a legal custody battle. Most often, these cases yield high grievance rates, as counselors often have difficulty in navigating and maintaining appropriate professional boundaries. We will review how to ethically respond to these cases, how to document, and how to ensure best practice. This presentation will enhance counselors' ability to confidently take on these complex case.

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Dr. Marta Sheridan and Dr. Alejandra Chavez Stuart

 

What School Doesn't Tell You About Starting a Private Practice, and How to Do it

Are you a student interested in private practice but don't know where to begin? Have you expressed interest but feel like the idea is not supported or given direction? Well then you are in the right place! This seminar is intended to support your goal of starting a private practice by giving you the hard truth about what to expect, what is expected of you, and what you will need to get off the ground. We will provide a to do list and resources to help you be successful.

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Credit Hours