2026 Conference Sessions
*** Denotes Ethics Session ***
Friday Workshops
9:45am - 5:30pm
Friday CEs Available - 6

Saturday Breakouts
10:00am - 4:30pm
Saturday CEs Available - 5

Friday
Workshop Rotation 1
9:45am - 11:45 am

1)     ***When Is a Client Ready? Signposts for the Earliest Phases of Forgiveness***

Presenter: Patty Dempsey, MSE, LPC-IT, NCC

Robert Enright has provided empirical evidence for the benefit of forgiveness for clients who are ready, including reducing a client's anger, anxiety, and depression, while increasing their sense of hope and self-esteem. This presentation addresses the conflict counselors can experience in discerning when to introduce forgiveness with clients carrying unresolved trauma or hurt. Raising forgiveness work too early could minimize harm or override a client's autonomy. Avoided altogether, clients can stay stuck in old injustices, showing up in patterns that present as hypervigilance, anxiety in relationships, or isolation they can't quite explain. This workshop breaks down how I have guided clients through the uncovering and decision phases of helping them understand what happened and decide what, if anything, they want to do about it. Drawing on the Flowcess® model to discern client readiness, grounded in Robert Enright's forgiveness research, and using case examples from my own practice, I'll illustrate the signposts and strategies available to support a client through both phases.

Friday
Workshop Rotation 2
1:15pm - 3:15pm

1) Teaching and learning empathy for invisible illnesses: The Chronic Illness & Chronic Pain Activity

Presenters: Marion E. Toscano, PhD, LPC(WI), LCPC(MD), NCC, Anna Kraft, MC, LPC, NCC 

Most counselors and counselor educators would not discriminate against individuals with obvious limitations to their abilities, such as those with mobility devices. However, less observable or invisible illnesses, such as chronic illness and chronic pain, tend to be ignored. Chronic illness and chronic pain are the leading causes of disability and death in the United States, with more than half of all adults having one or more chronic health conditions (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017; Hacker, 2024; Watson et al., 2025). Important to counselors is that many of the symptoms and side effects of these conditions or treatments can mimic or exacerbate signs of mental health issues (e.g. sleep disturbances, low energy, trouble concentrating, and loss of or reduction in overall enjoyment in life; American Academy of Pain Medicine, 2017). Additionally, many medical professionals misdiagnose, dismiss, or accuse these patients of drug-seeking behavior (Watson et al., 2025). Such invalidation may become a clinical issue, affecting clients’ worth, value, and overall coping ability. The purpose of this session is to bring to the forefront the struggles and realities of individuals with hidden disabilities and participate in an activity that helps foster empathy and understanding about the daily lives of individuals living with chronic illness and pain. The material in this presentation is not original research, instead is a distillation and interpretation of the data for use in counseling, counseling education, and supervision settings. Including the presentation and utilization of an activity designed for use within classrooms and group supervision settings to help increase knowledge, understanding, and empathy for individuals living with chronic illnesses and pain. This activity has been successfully used in master’s level clinical mental health multicultural courses as well as professional development activities for K-12 professionals since 2019.

2) "I Think I Might Be Autistic": Responding With Confidence, Not Avoidance

Presenters: Tracy Fey Blackstone, MS, CRC, LPC

When a client says, "I think I might be autistic," many counselors freeze. Am I qualified? What if I get it wrong? Should I just send them to a neuropsychologist? For a lot of adults, that reflexive referral is where the conversation stalls and a long waitlist begins. It doesn't have to be that way. You don't have to be the one who delivers a formal diagnosis, and you don't need a specialty credential to help. This workshop helps you name the specific fear that stops you, use informal tools to help a client begin exploring whether they might be autistic, and support them through their everyday challenges with skills you already have. You'll also leave clear on what to do next: when a referral for formal assessment is genuinely warranted, and when you can confidently keep working with the client in front of you. Through honest discussion, skills mapping, and hands-on case practice, you'll learn to respond with confidence instead of avoidance, whether or not your client holds a formal diagnosis.

Friday
Workshop Rotation 3
3:30pm - 5:30pm

1) ***Inside Out: Art Masks in Therapy***

Presenter: Ashleigh Bruns, PhD, LPC

In this session, participants explore art masks as a multifaceted expressive art intervention. Research, ethics, goal development, and treatment plans applicable to various populations are discussed. Participants will create their own two-sided expressive art mask using one of several interventions presented.

2) ***Why AI Makes a Bad Therapist: How Models Work—and Why AI Companions Don’t***

Presenter: Aaron Mertes Phd, LPC-IT, CRC, Saw Warshaw, Simon Ackaouy, Abbey Shale

Artificial intelligence (AI) language models are increasingly being used as “AI companions” or therapists. Most of us know that computers can’t replace human connection and have heard horror stories about the negative impacts of using AI this way, but not all of us really understand why. In other words, we think AI makes a bad therapist, but what does it do, or not do, that is so bad? This webinar examines how large language models (LLMs) are built, how they generate responses, and how reinforcement learning shapes their conversational style. Participants will gain a clear understanding of what AI systems are designed to do—and what they are not capable of doing. The program then contrasts AI interaction with the neurobiological mechanisms underlying effective counseling. Drawing on attachment theory, interpersonal neurobiology, and affective neuroscience, we explore how therapeutic change occurs through co-regulation, right-brain-to-right-brain attunement, embodied presence, and autonomic nervous system regulation. Special attention is given to how language functions within therapy—not as the mechanism of change itself, but as a scaffold for relational safety, emotional processing, and integration. Finally, we examine the typical behavioral patterns of AI language models, including helping prioritization, affective simulation, and boundary limitations. Participants will critically evaluate the ethical, clinical, and relational implications of AI “companions” in mental health contexts. This session equips counselors to articulate the difference between simulated empathy, or artificial attachment, and embodied therapeutic presence, and to engage in informed conversations about AI’s appropriate and inappropriate uses in clinical practice.

Saturday
Breakout Session 1
10:00am - 11:00 am

1) Developmental Considerations and Recommendations for Supervision In-Training/Associate Level Clinicians

Presenters: Claire Whetter PhD, LPC, NCC, Amanda Arnold PhD LPC NCC

According to existing models of counselor identity development, associate-level counselors face several unique challenges, including a pervasive sense of isolation, reformulating one’s professional identity, and disillusionment with the profession and one’s training. However, much of the existing supervision literature focuses on working with graduate-level counseling students, rather than licensed clinicians. In this session, presenters will utilize existing models of counselor development to outline common challenges associated with this stage of one's career. Presenters will outline practical strategies, such as interventions, documentation practices, supervision contract language, to support supervisors in working with associate-level counselors.

2) There's a Tool for That: Executive Functioning Support for Your Practice and Your Clients  

Presenter: Tracy Fey Blackstone, MS, CRC, LPC

Executive functioning challenges are everywhere. They show up in clients with ADHD, autism, depression, anxiety, trauma, and brain injury, and in the clinicians working with them. The good news is that much of executive functioning support can be externalized into tools, apps, and simple systems, so it doesn't have to live in anyone's head. This session is a practical tour. We'll walk through categories of support (planning and time, task initiation and follow-through, memory and reminders, focus and overwhelm) with specific app and tool examples for each, plus how to help a client choose one and actually stick with it. You'll leave with a curated set of options you can use in your own life and recommend to clients across diagnoses.

Saturday
Breakout Session 2
11:15am - 12:15pm

1) When the Body Won’t Stand Down: PTSD in Law Enforcement, Clinical Implications, and the Role of Service Dogs in Recovery

Presenters: Julie Bates-Maves, PhD, LPC, Amber Roth

Law enforcement professionals are repeatedly exposed to high-stress, unpredictable situations that require sustained alertness and rapid decision-making. Over time, these occupational demands can significantly impact nervous system functioning, contributing to symptoms associated with posttraumatic stress, including hyperarousal, sleep disturbance, emotional numbing, irritability, difficulties with emotional regulation, and avoidance behaviors. This presentation explores the clinical and lived realities of trauma exposure, and related grief and loss in law enforcement through a co-facilitated presentation between a counselor educator and a retired law enforcement officer living with PTSD. Her service dog, Maverik, trained to perform tasks that mitigate trauma-related symptoms, will demonstrate how service animals can support trauma recovery. The primary presenter will focus on hypervigilance as both an adaptive occupational response and a potential clinical concern when it persists beyond the context of threat. Clinical implications will be discussed, with emphasis on stigma, cultural barriers to help-seeking, and trauma-informed engagement strategies. The co-presenter will contribute lived experience to contextualize these key clinical concepts. 

2) ***Ethical Enforcement: The Sausage-Making Process of Professional Self-Regulation***

Presenter: Aaron Mertes, Phd, LPC-IT, CRC, Sam Chapman, Grace Carpenter, Hannah Chart 

Licensing boards are one of several forces that shape what counseling is and how it’s practiced—alongside accreditation standards that set curriculum, payment systems that determine reimbursed, and legislation that defines scope of practice. This webinar puts licensing boards under the microscope as the force individual counselors can most directly understand and engage: what a board actually does (and doesn’t do), what conduct genuinely warrants a complaint, and what any counselor can do to actively advocate for strong, ethical practice. Participants learn how a profession self-regulates to keep clients safe, define what effective practice is, and build professional identity. Using the ACA Code of Ethics as a reference point, we’ll explores disagreements or difference in clinical style or professional foundation—calibration that reduces both needless fear and passive tolerance of real harm. The session then turns to agency: addressing a colleague’s concerning practice directly and restoratively as advocacy in itself, and the formal paths for shaping standards going forward.

3) You can do it! Write a conference proposal! - No CEs available for this session.

Presenter: Amy L. Barth, PhD, LPC(WI), LCPC(IL)

Ever considered writing a proposal for the WCA conference but did not feel confident enough? This interactive session is for you! Bring your ideas and the presenter will walk you through writing the various parts of the proposal. You will leave with a proposal ready for next year’s conference.

Saturday
Breakout Session 3
2:15pm - 3:15pm

1) The Supervisory Relationship: Why It Matters and How to Support It

Presenter: Lindsay Woodbridge, PhD, LPC, NCC, Carly Boens, MS, LPC-IT, Michael Johnson, MS, LPC

Through clinical supervision, supervisors and supervisees help ensure that clients receive high-quality services and that supervisees learn and grow. The relationship between supervisor and supervisee is at the heart of the supervision experience. When the relationship is strong, supervisees feel comfortable bringing important topics to supervision, report greater satisfaction with the process, and are more likely to state that supervision positively impacted their work. When the relationship is not strong, supervisees are less likely to view the process as valuable and more likely to withhold information from their supervisors. Given the importance of the supervisory relationship and the challenges that can arise when there are issues in the relationship, it is in supervisors’ best interest to take active steps to build and maintain the relationship. Fortunately, the supervision literature includes a number of strategies that supervisors can implement to support the relationship. We will review several strategies, including balancing support and challenge when giving feedback, engaging in metacommunication, and attending to how power works in the relationship. For each strategy, we will introduce it, discuss how it can help, and give one or more examples of what it looks like in practice. Before the breakout session concludes, attendees will be invited to identify a strategy that they would like to try and plan how to implement it. In doing so, attendees will move beyond a conceptual understanding of this information to determine how they can apply it in their professional practice. 

2) ***Social Moral Injury: Identifying Institutional Betrayal in Session*** 

Presenter: Stefan Vasic, Ph.D, LPC (IL)

A novel construct, social moral injury captures feelings of helplessness and powerlessness people may experience in the face of unjust actions or inaction of systemic agents and institutions. Moral injury was first constructed by Johnathan Shay, and then operationalized by Litz and colleagues (Litz et al., 2009). Subsequent research has identified moral injury outcomes, including self-perception, moral thinking, social impacts, self-harming/self-sabotaging, impairing moral emotions, and beliefs about meaning and purpose (Litz et al., 2022), culminating in a conceptualization of moral injury syndrome (Litz and Walker, 2025). Vanderweele et al (2025) have a different conceptualization of moral injury disorder that is slightly more inclusive of systemic conditions. I argue that both conceptions of moral injury are grounded in a value neutral scientific framework (Longino, 1995) and thus inadequately address social justice concerns in their conception of moral injury. I offer social moral injury as a conceptualization of moral injury explicitly grounded in social justice values. I argue that manifestations of systemic oppression like disregarding the autonomy of indigenous communities and illegal deportations lead to similar moral injury outcomes (Cianconi et al., 2023; Evteeva and Burges, 2024; Gupta et al., 2023 Parel and Balamurugan, 2021; Peterson and Kozlowski, 2024; Yoon et al., 2015).

Saturday
Breakout Session 4
3:30pm - 4:30pm

1) "Getting Old Ain't for Wimps": Best Practices for Counseling Senior Citizens 

Presenter: Christine H Batzer, MS, LPC, Ronald C Szep, MA, M-Div, LPC-IT

2) Learning from COVID-19 to Benefit Older Adults with Substance Use Disorders 

Presenters: Christine M. Dawley, MS, LPC, Terri L. Jashinsky, PhD

Older adults with substance use disorders (SUD) faced unique challenges in seeking and accessing treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic. This session will seek to process the following questions: for older adults with substance use disorders, what variables existed before and during the pandemic which served to help or hider them from seeking treatment? How effectively was telehealth used to bridge the gap to ensure older adults received the support they needed? What lessons were learned that can be applied now so older adults receive the care they need whether or not there is a worldwide pandemic?