This inspirational talk breaks down the research behind our current mental health crisis and the path forward. Collectively, we all have the power to impact the mental health of ourselves and those around us. Participants will:

1. Learn about the latest research around the mental health crisis
2. Discover the path forward and how they can contribute to a solution
3. Acquire tangible tips that they can use to support others when they are struggling

Suicidal thoughts are a more common human experience than you may realize, and many lives are impacted by suicide. Often, suicidal thoughts are an indication that a person is in emotional pain, and there are tools that can help. Talking more openly about suicide can help to reduce stigma and encourage people to reach out for support. Learning Outcomes:

• How stigma about suicide can get in the way of much-needed support, and why it is important to talk more openly about suicidal thoughts.
• Why people think about suicide
• Ways to cope with suicidal thoughts and urges
• The role of hope and hopelessness in suicidal thinking
• The importance of belonging and meaning in suicide prevention
• How to support a loved one who is thinking about suicide.
• Safety planning for a suicidal crisis

The Fostering Connections for Families session emphasizes the importance of collaboration in the well-being of children in out-of-home care, with a particular focus on supporting the relationships between birth, resource, and kinship caregivers. Participants will gain an understanding of the beliefs and barriers that can hinder these relationships by hearing from an individual with firsthand lived experience as a caregiver who partnered with the parents of the children in her care. Through engaging activities and discussions, this workshop provides participants with the practical tools and strategies they need to confidently encourage and support these uniquely complex yet essential relationships

Learning Outcomes:

1. Identify common beliefs, barriers, and challenges that can affect collaboration among birth, resource, and kinship caregivers in the context of out-of-home care.
2. Examine real-life scenarios to identify opportunities for collaboration and respectful engagement across roles.
3. ncrease confidence in initiating and maintaining relationship-building efforts with birth families and other caregiving partners.

Do any of these resonate with your experience at work? Wishing a client would cancel or not answer the door, avoiding conflicts or hard conversations, feeling isolated in your work. You’re not alone? These common patterns often emerge from stress, burnout, or systemic pressures. Over time, they can unintentionally impact the safety and well-being of the families we aim to support—a concept known as Professional Dangerousness (PD). PD refers to the often-unconscious ways that professionals may contribute to the harmful dynamics of the families they are intending to help. This engaging and reflective training will equip professionals working with children and families with the awareness and tools needed to recognize and address PD in their work. Curating more supportive environments for everyone.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Participants will develop awareness and ability to define what Professional Dangerousness is, how it shows up in practice and why it shows up.
2. Participants will understand the necessity of self-awareness in mitigating Professional Dangerousness.
3. Participants will understand options and strategies for supporting self and organizations in their exploration of how Professional Dangerousness is showing up in their workplaces.

In the demanding fields of health and human services, compassion fatigue and burnout can slowly erode the passion that once fueled the work. This presentation is an opportunity for professionals to reconnect with their purpose, reflect on their impact, and rediscover the "why" that brought them into this field. Through practical strategies we will explore ways to foster resilience, sustain motivation and well-being in the face of daily workplace challenges. By reaffirming purpose, professionals can continue making a meaningful difference—without losing themselves in the process.

Learning Outcomes:

• Identify key indicators of compassion fatigue and burnout in health and human service settings, and describe their impact on professional motivation, engagement, and overall well-being.
• Apply practical, evidence-informed strategies to foster personal resilience, maintain emotional balance, and sustain long-term commitment to purpose-driven work.
• Reflect on personal and professional values to reconnect with one’s core motivation ("why") and develop an individualized plan to enhance meaning, satisfaction, and effectiveness in one’s role.

Wraparound has always promoted the use of natural supports in the process and this talk kicks that up a notch. Behavioral health professionals struggle with how to engage natural supports and how to assist families in building supports. This training provides the tangible tools to expand support systems with families.

Participants will:

1. Gain an understanding of the value of supports
2. Learn techniques to expand supports
3. Know where to access resources for further knowledge on this topic.

In an era where online sports betting is more accessible than ever, teenagers are increasingly drawn into the high-risk world of gambling. This presentation explores the factors fueling this growing trend, including social media influence, targeted advertising, and the allure of quick financial gains. We’ll examine the psychological and financial risks, legal implications, and the role of technology in enabling underage betting. Finally, we’ll discuss strategies for parents, educators, and policymakers to mitigate harm and promote responsible digital behavior. Join us as we uncover the hidden dangers of online sports betting and what can be done to protect young minds from its grip.

Learning Outcomes:

• Identify key risk factors contributing to the rise of online sports betting among adolescents, including the role of technology, social media, and targeted marketing strategies.
• Describe the psychological, developmental, and financial consequences associated with adolescent gambling behaviors, as well as the legal and ethical considerations surrounding underage access.
• Apply prevention and intervention strategies that parents, educators, and community stakeholders can use to promote digital literacy, reduce harm, and support responsible behavior among youth.

Clear communication is kind. Yet in the work of child welfare and human services we often skirt around, avoid or too harshly deliver messages to families/clients out of our own fear of the information. We too easily forget that we are working in relationship with adults, children and families. To effectively have difficult conversations you have to start with connection. This training will discuss what gets in our way, you will identify for yourself what gets in your way and we discuss the importance of working through this and find ways to become more comfortable with having difficult conversations.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Participants will be able to define what difficult conversations really are and in turn will be able to identify that they are a necessary part of their work.
2. Participants will discover what gets in their way of having difficult conversations.
3. Participants will identify at least one strategy to try during their next difficult conversation.

The Neuroscience of High-Risk Behavior explores how substances and other high-risk behaviors such as alcohol/drugs, food addiction, depression/anxiety, and technology overuse affect healthy brain development. Participants learn how to protect brain development and prevent children and adolescents from engaging in such risky behavior.

Learning Outcomes

• Participants will learn how to teach neurodevelopment to students and parents.
• Participants will learn how to teach the neurodevelopmental effects of high-risk behavior to students and caregivers.
• Participants will learn how to implement effective prevention that teaches the neurodevelopmental effects of high-risk behavior.

Based on his memoir, David shares his early experiences navigating homelessness with a mentally ill parent to his time in foster care and eventually escaping the cycle of poverty that traps generations of families. A graduate of both Vassar College and UCLA School of Law, David’s inspirational story recounts how he’s spent decades as a child welfare expert and advocate, working to effect change in major corporations like Disney and Amazon, and through governmental changes in Washington, DC, being recognized by President Barack Obama as an American Champion of Change. In his talks and through his work, David continues to uplift the communities from where he began – those in poverty, foster youth, families, and individuals struggling with mental illness, and the LGBTQ+ community.

Learning Objectives:

• Attendees will reflect on a personal story about resilience and the child welfare systems response to families facing mental health diagnosis, homelessness and poverty.
• Attendees will strengthen their resolve and commitment to youth by learning how to intercede with families without judgment and how to engage through compassion and empathy.
• Attendees will learn how they can be a part of activism and social justice in order to change current systems, and as a result, actively advocate for children and families facing mental health struggles, poverty and homelessness.
• Throughout the session, attendees will be provided many opportunities for self-reflection and to examine their responsibility in making our communities safer for those that enter our world unprotected

Technology is shaping how our brain develops with positive and negative effects. More teens are suffering from depression and anxiety than any other time in our history due to too much screen time. Video game manufacturers hire teen testers to study the addictive nature of games in order to increase sales. Dating sites are teaching youth that the “hook-up” is the norm. This presentation elucidates how screen exposure affects mood, learning, memory, sleep, and relationships as well as setting healthy tech limits.

Learning Outcomes

• Participants will learn how the brain is affected by technology overuse.
• Participants will learn how to identify problematic technology use.
• Participants will learn how to create healthy technology use rules that balance brain development.

Coming soon

There has long been a canyon of understanding between the fields of substance misuse prevention and substance use disorder treatment. While treatment views substance misuse as a disease, prevention aims to help people make better choices. The opioid and mental health crisis in America has exacerbated this rift, overwhelming treatment and recovery centers while prevention professionals work to put out fires in communities rather than focusing on upstream, primary prevention efforts. The relatively new field of epigenetics provides both a literal and metaphorical way to build a bridge between prevention and treatment. This presentation provides knowledge prevention and treatment professionals need to understand each other and work in partnership to build a system that works to abate our substance misuse problems.

Learning Outcomes

• Participants will learn the basics of epigenetics and how it relates to their prevention and treatment work.
• Participants will understand the difference between epigenetics (how our environment influences our genes) and eugenics (a practice of controlled breeding to influence genetic composition).
• Participants will discover how prevention and treatment efforts can work together to improve community outcomes.
• Participants will consider how the field of epigenetics provides a way to metaphorically plan comprehensive prevention efforts.

This session offers an in-depth update on how the Training Academy for Addiction Professionals (TAAP) is utilizing the Opioid Settlement Fund to strengthen North Dakota’s addiction counseling workforce. Learn how this funding is being directed toward expanding training opportunities, scholarships, continuing education, and retention strategies—especially in rural and underserved areas. The session will also outline how professionals and supervisors can engage with and benefit from these evolving initiatives.

Learning Outcomes

• Describe the key goals and initiatives funded by the Opioid Settlement Fund to support the addiction counseling profession in North Dakota.
• Identify new opportunities for training, continuing education, and workforce development made possible through this funding.
• Understand how the fund aligns with state priorities for addressing substance use disorders and closing treatment gaps.
• Explore ways addiction professionals and clinical supervisors can participate in and benefit from the initiatives supported by the settlement.

Since its inception in 2021, Kinship- ND has provided services to 1,230 families and 2,204 children. It has also provided $1,135,000.00 in reimbursement to Kinship providers in the state of North Dakota. Kinship-ND is a program providing support for caregivers who provide full-time care and protection for a child who cannot remain in their home. This could be through an informal arrangement between the parents and the caregiver, or through a more formal arrangement when the Human Service Zone is involved. Kinship placement can be with either a relative or a non-relative caregiver. This program is critical in keeping children with kin, and in their own communities, by providing one-on-one support, financial assistance and additional resources.

Come learn more about the program, meet kinship providers that are providing the care and learn how Kinship ND has assisted their families. You will also learn how you, as a community member, or service provider, can refer families to Kinship ND. Learning outcomes:

• Participants will learn what services are offered through Kinship ND and how to access them.
• Participants will learn the benefits of referring families that are caring for youth and how to approach this with individuals.
• Participants will learn first hand from panelists how Kinship services have benefited their families, why some families are reluctant to participate or ask for assistance and why these services are critical in keeping children with kin

Coming soon

In her memoir, “The Many Lives of Mama Love”, Lara Love Hardin recounts her extraordinary journey from Suburban soccer mom to opioid addict, jailhouse shot-caller and, ultimately, a successful ghostwriter and literary powerhouse. Convicted of 32 felonies, Lara learned to navigate the harsh realities of incarceration, bringing love and healing to her fellow inmates while rebuilding her life from the ground up after her release. Lara is the co-founder of The Gemma Project, which provides support and reentry programming for currently and formerly incarcerated women. Through her inspiration talk, Lara will share her deeply personal story of shame, redemption, and resilience, challenging a system that often defines people by their worst mistakes.

This keynote will center on the vital importance of relationships and collective care in the work of helping professionals, particularly those serving in Tribal and urban Native communities. Drawing from Indigenous knowledge systems, Dr. Julie Smith-Yliniemi will emphasize how healing is rooted in connection—to land, to culture, and to one another.

Attendees will explore how authentic partnerships, built on trust, respect, and reciprocity, are essential to addressing behavioral health needs in Native communities. In addition, the keynote will highlight the importance of self-care—not as an individual luxury, but as a communal responsibility and spiritual practice. Through guided experiential activities such as tobacco tie making, land-based reflection, and culturally grounded wellness exercises, participants will gain tools to care for themselves while strengthening their work with others.

This session invites attendees to reflect, restore, and recommit to the powerful work of collective healing through an Indigenous lens.

Learning Objectives

• Identify three relationship-based strategies to support collaboration in Tribal and urban Native settings.
• Describe the cultural significance of reciprocity in Indigenous approaches to wellness.
• Recognize early signs of burnout and compassion fatigue in helping professionals and identify culturally grounded practices to address them.
• Engage in an experiential Indigenous wellness activity that supports self-care and community resilience.
• Reflect on how self-care, when viewed through an Indigenous lens, contributes to collective healing and sustainable professional practice.

Lahey offers an evidence-based exploration of what it means when experts proclaim, “Substance abuse is preventable.” She begins with an overview of why humans use and abuse substances, an explanation of why the adolescent brain is uniquely wired for novelty and the risk of substance use while being uniquely vulnerable to those substances in very specific ways. She will identify the major risk factors for substance abuse and explain what adults can do to overcome the weight of a given child's risk factors. Lahey offers an overview of the research as well as concrete, practical takeaways adults can use to change their thinking and behavior and begin preventing childhood substance use and abuse at home. Participants will leave Lahey’s talks feeling informed, challenged, empowered and entertained.

Attendees will learn:

1. How to identify risk factors for substance use and substance use disorder.
2. Understand a range of protection factors that can outweigh risk factors and reduce the statistical risk of adolescent substance use and substance use disorder.
3. Identify a particular child’s risk factors at various ages and stages and target those with evidence-based preventions to optimize prevention.
4. Know various approaches into the substance use prevention discussion with kids, parents, teachers, coaches and other mentors.
5. Understand some of the ways substance use prevention is intertwined with school, peers, sports, mental health, family systems, community and societal norms.

Yes, it can be challenging to get peopleto attend talks on substance use prevention. This may be because of shame and stigma around the topic of substance use disorder, because they are dealing with substance use problems themselves or in their family, or because they erroneously believe all kids drink or use drugs and there’s nothing we can do about it. The talk that has become one of Jess’ most popular is a talk on Gift of Failure topics - increasing motivation, engagement, competence, self-efficacy and self-advocacy in kids - while giving audiences evidence-based information on how increasing motivation, engagement, competence, self-efficacy and self-advocacy in kids also reduces their risk for substance use. Audiences come for The Gift of Failure topics and leave with information on substance use risk, preventative factors, and myth-busting revelations regarding adolescence and substance use (e.g. sipping at home increases risk for developing substance use disorder, as do those “kids are going to do it anyway, we might as well do it in our home and take keys away” parties. Call it what you want, I call it Process Over Product: Increasing Motivation, Engagement, Competence and Self-Efficacy in Kids.

Attendees will learn:

1. How to engage in conversations about substance use prevention with people who do not want to engage in this subject.
2. How to prime conversations between children and their guardians.
3. How to prime conversations between school and family.
4. How to engage people on the topic of substance use prevention via discussions of mass media, alcohol marketing, school and learning, peers, sports, mental health, family systems, and community and societal norms.

This training will focus on identifying the secondary trauma workers in helper professions are exposed to and the importance of self-care. We will discuss the everyday stressors as well as the new stressors identified during and in the aftermath of the pandemic. Strategies for promoting self-care including mindfulness and meditation will be discussed as well as techniques to become more stress resistant and promote a healthy work/life balance.

Upon completion participants will be able to:

• define & identify secondary trauma and risk factors;
• describe the mind-body connection to secondary trauma in work and life;
• complete a variety of self-assessment tools, practice, reflect upon and develop coping skills to build resiliency for self and peer support.

Dr. Katie Johnson is a child abuse pediatrician at Mayo Clinic and an emerging leader in child abuse education and medical child abuse. This presentation is a module from her “CAP-CuP” series (the “Child Abuse Pediatrics Curriculum for Physicians”), which has been requested by over 80 child abuse programs across the world. Prioritizing interactive education and foundational knowledge, this module is applicable for a broad audience of multi-disciplinary team members and will leave attendees with a better understanding of how to recognize and respond to concerns about medical child abuse.

By the end of this activity, learners will be able to:

1. Define medical child abuse
2. Identify red flag features that may help distinguish medical child abuse from a child with medical complexity
3. Outline a management plan for times when medical child abuse is suspected

Most organizations struggle to build dynamic teams and keep good people, because they neglect their most powerful resource--relationships. We know what DOESN'T work... an office espresso machine, bonus vacation days, and lavish staff parties. Dangling perks doesn't make a good team great for the long haul. Rather, such "carrots" invite staff to passively wait for management to build a culture that can only arise when everyone grasps a shared vision and accepts personal ownership. Hybrid or remote staffing, interpersonal conflict, and workplace silos create isolation and hinder the trust needed for teamwork and innovation. When people feel valued and connected as part of something bigger than themselves, job satisfaction skyrockets along with organizational effectiveness.

Participants will:

• Discover the "flaw" with many traditional staff-management systems
• Learn the four actionable steps for building real community at work
• Gain three simple "shifts" for prioritizing relationships among staff
• Utilize an assessment tool for measuring staff relationships (The Kindness Factor)
• Reflect on how to move team members past the “bare minimum” to work from the heart.

The reaches of trauma extend beyond our clients. As a supervisor, you and your staff will experience not only your own traumas but those of your clients. That toxic stress and secondary trauma can lead to post traumatic stress, compassion fatigue, and burn out with your team and potentially yourself. Trauma-Informed Supervision can mitigate some of those effects on staff by focusing on the core principles of Trauma-Informed Care, especially relevant to exposures experienced in helper professions. This type of supervision fosters a culture of empathy, safety, healing, and peer support within your team and beyond.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Define trauma-informed supervision and recognize its impact on employee growth and client care.
2. Describe the core principles of trauma-informed care and identify ways to apply each principle in supervision.
3. Discuss effective strategies for building trust and transparency in supervision, while promoting collaboration and peer support among staff.