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2027 Breakout SessionsACCA 2027 Annual Conference February 18–21, 2027 | Houston, Texas Holding the Reins: Leading with Strength, Stability, & Support Breakout Session ScheduleSession dates and times will be announced soon. Accepted breakout presentations are listed in alphabetical order by title. Breakout sessions will take place February 19–21, 2027. Accepted Breakout PresentationsExplore the breakout presentations. Select a title to jump to its details.
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 01 "SUPERVISION AS CURE? COMPASSION FATIGUE AND THE HEALING SUPERVISORY RELATIONSHIP"Presenter(s)Holly VanderhoffSUNY Upstate Medical University Instructional Level: Foundation Session Topic(s): Clinical Supervision and Training AbstractCompassion fatigue and its close cousin, professional burnout, are risks inherent to clinical work and, sometimes, an expectable outcome for individuals working within particular settings and systems. Compassion fatigue and burnout can harm clients, systems, and clinicians themselves. Clinical supervisors are well-positioned to detect compassion fatigue among supervisees, whether supervisees are trainees or experienced clinicians. Even so, supervisors may be reluctant to address this problem due to concerns about intruding into their supervisees' emotional lives, feeling unprepared and uncertain how to help, and/or coping with their own competing demands and burnout. This presentation will describe best practices for recognizing compassion fatigue and professional burnout in our supervisees, identify strategies to assist them in recovering, explore how the supervisor role can help us with our own struggles in this area, and survey important practical and ethical considerations for working in this context. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 02 "WHO'S IN THE COUNSELING CHAIR?": CENTERING IDENTITY AND BELONGING IN THE FUTURE OF STUDENT MENTAL HEALTHPresenter(s)Fariba EhteshamiHUEBI University Instructional Level: Advanced Session Topic(s): Growth, Resilience, Instinct, and Tenacity (GRIT), Inclusion and Belonging Abstract"Who's in the Counseling Chair?" invites critical reflection on how identity, belonging, and lived experience shape students' engagement with mental health services. As colleges and universities work to address growing student mental health needs, it is essential to consider not only access to care, but also whether students experience counseling spaces as culturally responsive, affirming, and inclusive. This presentation explores how intersecting identities including race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic background, first-generation status, culture, and other dimensions of identity influence students' perceptions of mental health, help-seeking behaviors, and sense of belonging. Drawing on emerging practices in student mental health and identity-conscious counseling, the session will examine strategies for moving beyond one-size-fits-all approaches toward more responsive and relationship-centered care. Participants will consider how counseling professionals and institutions can create environments where students feel seen, valued, and empowered to bring their whole selves into the counseling relationship. Ultimately, the session position's identity and belonging not as peripheral considerations, but as foundational components of equitable student mental health support and the future of counseling in higher education. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 03 A RESOURCE FOR ALL STUDENTS: AN OVERVIEW OF INCLUSIVE POST SECONDARY EDUCATION PROGRAMS ON COLLEGE CAMPUS AND THE COLLABORATION BETWEEN IPSE AND COLLEGE COUNSELING CENTERSPresenter(s)Kayla Jordan HaywoodNorth Carolina State University Instructional Level: Foundation Session Topic(s): Inclusion and Belonging AbstractMore than 175 colleges across the United States have programs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, Inclusive Post Secondary Education or IPSE programs. Though these students are not traditional college students pursuing 4 year degrees, they are encouraged to participate in the campus life and services offered which may include the counseling center. As with many college students, they are being introduced to a world of "firsts". First time living without parents, first time not being in a small/contained school environment, first time learning to or excersing their advocacy skills, and traditional firsts such as intimacy, work, substances, and interacting with stranger are impacting IPSE students that counseling center clinicians see in many other students. Our centers may encounter students with ASD or ADHD, but many clinicians do not typically have students with Down Syndrome, Fragile X syndrome, or those with ASD or Cerebral Palsy with co-occuring intellectual challenges. These students have been recognized to benefit from additional assistance with vocational, social, and living skills. While the IPSE programs do a majority of the work, our counseling centers can serve as a wrap around support to further encourage healthy emotional and mental health. This collaboration can be beneficial to counseling center staff as this can lead to exploration in training in career counseling and people with various disabilities aside from ASD and ADHD. This presentation aims to introduce clinicians to a population of students on their campus they may not be aware could benefit from services. The goal is to begin discussions of how this collaboration can improve our clinician reach and provide the best support for these students. Lastly, this presentation will discuss how incorporating career readiness/career counseling theory into practice can assist not just IPSE students, but those of the great student population. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 04 ANALOG ETHICS, DIGITAL LIVES: RETHINKING THERAPEUTIC BOUNDARIES WITH GEN Z COLLEGE STUDENTSPresenter(s)Tanya WellmanLindsey Wilson University Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Clinical Supervision and Training, Diversity/Inclusion/Equity AbstractCollege students increasingly navigate identity, relationships, community, and mental health within digitally mediated environments. For Gen Z students, online and offline life are not separate domains but interconnected contexts in which relationships develop, information is exchanged, and identities are constructed. Yet many traditional approaches to therapeutic boundaries were developed within an analog framework that assumed clearer distinctions between professional and personal spaces, public and private information, and interactions occurring inside and outside the counseling relationship. This interactive session examines how digital life complicates familiar ethical questions surrounding therapeutic boundaries in college counseling. Through contemporary scenarios involving social media, algorithmic encounters, online information, digital self-disclosure, session recording and sharing, and generative AI, participants will explore situations in which established ethical principles remain relevant while their application becomes increasingly complex. Particular attention will be given to developmental, cultural, and power considerations that influence how digital boundaries are experienced by Gen Z students. Rather than prescribing rigid rules for rapidly changing technologies, participants will practice identifying the ethical principles underlying boundary decisions and applying a flexible ethical decision-making framework to emerging digital dilemmas. Attendees will leave with practical strategies for navigating digital boundaries while preserving client autonomy, therapeutic trust, and ethical integrity. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 05 ASSESSING SAFETY AND RESTORING AGENCY: A FEMINIST INTERSECTIONAL APPROACH TO CAMPUS SEXUAL ASSAULTPresenter(s)Dr. Kirstin SylvesterUniversity of North Carolina Wilmington Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Innovative Counseling Theory/Practice, Trauma AbstractStandard University Counseling Center (UCC) safety plans often lean on institutional risk-management protocols that fail to capture the complex, lived realities of survivors holding marginalized identities. Rooted in the clinical positionalities of feminist intersectional therapy, liberation psychology, and radical healing, this interactive session moves clinicians past standard behavioral checklists toward a collaborative and empowering practice. This session focuses on the immediate clinical application of an integrated Safety Planning Guide designed specifically for higher education environments. Participants will explore core safety plan components, key considerations for Non-Intimate Partner Violence (NIPV), and a holistic assessment framework that evaluates physical, emotional, and sociopolitical dimensions of safety. Attendees will walk away with actionable tools to co-create safety plans that honor survivor agency, account for institutional betrayals, and mobilize culturally affirming, digital, and community-rooted resources. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 06 BELONGING BY DESIGN: LION LINKUP, ETHICAL AI, AND THE INTENTIONAL CREATION OF FIRST-YEAR COMMUNITYPresenter(s)Christy BeckThe Pennsylvania State University, College of Education Rhea BanerjeeNorth Carolina State University, College of Education Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Diversity/Inclusion/Equity, Inclusion and Belonging AbstractLoneliness and social disconnection have become increasingly important concerns on college campuses, yet many approaches to first-year engagement continue to depend on students finding community through chance encounters, large-scale programming, or self-selected involvement. Students who struggle to establish meaningful relationships may become increasingly isolated before counseling centers or other campus supports recognize a need for intervention. This session introduces Lion LinkUp, a counseling-informed, AI-assisted model designed to create intentional opportunities for connection among first-year college students. Rather than attempting to predict friendship, Lion LinkUp uses an explainable AI framework to identify potential pathways for connection based on students' interests, interaction preferences, community values, and transition goals. Faculty review every recommendation and retain responsibility for final community formation. Small communities of first-year students are then supported by trained undergraduate Peer Leaders through structured experiences designed to promote authentic relationships, campus engagement, and belonging. Participants will explore the conceptual and research foundations of the model, walk through the community-formation process, and examine how human oversight, student agency, privacy, explainability, and limits on AI use are embedded into the design. Particular attention will be given to the potential role of intentional peer connection as an upstream, preventive approach that complements, not replaces, college counseling services. Lion LinkUp is currently a prototype framework rather than an empirically validated intervention. Accordingly, the session will also address implementation questions, ethical limitations, and a proposed assessment strategy for evaluating belonging, peer connection, engagement, and student experience during future pilot implementation. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 07 BEYOND BELONGING: PEER LEADERSHIP AND STUDENT LONELINESSPresenter(s)Amanda AllenWake Technical Community College Instructional Level: Foundation Session Topic(s): Community College Focus, Inclusion and Belonging AbstractCollege can be a time of significant transition in which students confront existential concerns related to identity, social isolation, purpose, and meaning (Monti & Dinero, 2025). For some students, these concerns may manifest as loneliness and disconnection, raising questions that extend beyond academic success: Where do I belong? Do I matter here? Who understands what I am experiencing? And how do I find my path forward? These concerns can be particularly complex for community college students who often navigate work, family responsibilities, financial stress, and other competing demands while pursuing their education (Lipson et al., 2021; McBride, 2019). Peer relationships offer opportunities for students to be known, supported, and connected by others who share the experience of navigating college. Intentional peer support and mentorship can foster interpersonal connection, belonging, and emotional well-being, particularly when shared identities or lived experiences create deeper understanding (Boyce et al., 2025, Caporale-Berkowitz, 2022; Diermeier et al., 2024). Intentionally designed peer programs can therefore move beyond connecting students to resources to create meaningful, supportive relationships. Wake Technical Community College's Student Success Peer Leader Program puts these principles into practice through trained student mentors who collaborate with Success Coaches to provide mentoring, outreach, and connection-focused initiatives. As the program has evolved, Peer Leaders have developed projects and collected data to examine how peer relationships may strengthen students' connections to people, purpose, and their institution. This session will explore student loneliness as an existential concern and peer leadership as a practical strategy for fostering meaningful connection. Participants will explore strategies for developing peer-based initiatives, empowering students to cultivate connection within their campus communities, assessing belonging and connection, and leveraging cross-campus collaboration to create a more connected student experience. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 08 BEYOND PERFORMANCE: A COUNSELOR'S FRAMEWORK FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION WITH COLLEGIATE STUDENT-ATHLETESPresenter(s)Jennifer StoverSam Houston State University Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Innovative Counseling Theory/Practice, Integrative Wellbeing/Wellness AbstractCollege counselors are increasingly working with student-athletes who are navigating pressures that extend far beyond competition. Performance expectations, injury, identity, transitions, and the culture of athletics can all influence how athletes experience psychological distress and whether they seek help. Although suicide prevention is a priority across higher education, many counselors receive little preparation for understanding suicide risk within the unique context of collegiate athletics. This presentation introduces the RESTORE Framework, a practical, counselor-centered approach to working with student-athletes experiencing suicidal distress. Participants will explore athlete-specific risk factors, learn strategies for building trust and strengthening the therapeutic relationship, and discuss ways to assess risk while honoring the cultural context of athletics. Through case examples and discussion, attendees will leave with practical interventions they can immediately apply in their work with student-athletes, as well as strategies for collaborating with athletic departments to support student well-being. This session is designed for counselors who want to move beyond traditional suicide prevention approaches and feel more confident supporting the mental health of collegiate athletes. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 09 BEYOND RESILIENCE: A ROOTED APPROACH TO SUPPORTING BLACK WOMEN'S MENTAL HEALTH AND BELONGING ON COLLEGE CAMPUSESPresenter(s)Taneshia GreenidgeUniversity of Memphis Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Growth, Resilience, Instinct, and Tenacity (GRIT) AbstractBlack women enter college campuses with significant strengths, cultural resources, and resilience; however, resilience can become problematic when institutions rely on students' capacity to adapt while leaving conditions that necessitate adaptation unchanged. Black women may navigate racialized and gendered stress, isolation, identity-related pressures, and expectations to remain strong while pursuing academic success. These experiences have important implications for college counselors when distress is understood primarily as an individual concern rather than within the institutional contexts shaping student well-being. This interactive session introduces the ROOTED Framework, an institutionally focused model informed by Black Feminist Thought, intersectionality, racial socialization, and research on Black women's experiences in higher education. Participants will explore six domains: Recognize Structural Inequities, Offset Institutional Harm, Offer Culturally Grounded Support, Trust-Building Relationships, Empower Identity Development, and Disrupt Inequitable Systems. Through case-based discussion and applied activities, participants will examine how counselors can distinguish individual distress from institutionally produced stress, incorporate culturally responsive and identity-affirming approaches, build trust, and collaborate with campus partners. Participants will leave with practical strategies for applying ROOTED within counseling centers, outreach, consultation, and cross-campus partnerships while supporting environments where resilience is not a prerequisite for belonging, well-being, and success. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 10 BEYOND RESILIENCE: HOW LEADERSHIP SHAPES BURNOUT AND WELL-BEING IN COLLEGE COUNSELING CENTERSPresenter(s)Etisha WilbonStudent Health and Counseling Center Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Growth, Resilience, Instinct, and Tenacity (GRIT), Leadership AbstractCollege counseling professionals are expected to remain resilient while managing increasingly complex student needs, high service demand, staffing challenges, and the emotional demands of clinical work. Resilience and self-care are important, but they cannot be the only response to burnout and secondary traumatic stress. When the focus remains primarily on what clinicians can do to cope, we risk overlooking the role that leadership and the work environment play in clinician well-being. Beyond Resilience shifts the conversation from how clinicians can become more resilient to how counseling center leaders can create environments that support sustainable clinical work. Drawing from the Full Range Leadership Model and original research examining transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership among licensed behavioral health supervisors, the presentation will explore the relationship between leadership and burnout and secondary traumatic stress. Findings showed that transformational leadership predicted lower burnout, while laissez-faire leadership predicted greater burnout and secondary traumatic stress. Transactional leadership was not a significant predictor of either outcome. Participants will consider what these findings look like in the day-to-day operation of a college counseling center, including how leaders communicate, respond to concerns, recognize contributions, support professional growth, provide autonomy, and remain engaged with their teams. Participants will also examine where responsibility for clinician well-being currently sits within their own organizations. The goal is not to move away from resilience, but to broaden the conversation. Supporting clinicians requires attention to both individual well-being and the conditions in which they are being asked to work. Participants will leave with practical ways to examine their own leadership practices and identify opportunities to create healthier, more sustainable clinical environments. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 11 BEYOND SELF-CARE: INTEGRATING A RADICAL HEALING FRAMEWORK TO FOSTER WELL-BEING AS SUPERVISORS WITH MARGINALIZED IDENTITIESPresenter(s)Kirstin SylvesterUniversity of North Carolina Wilmington Jennifer ShirleyUniversity of North Carolina Wilmington Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Clinical Supervision and Training, Diversity/Inclusion/Equity AbstractIn alignment with the ACCA 2027 theme, "Holding the Reins," this presentation equips college counseling clinicians holding marginalized identities with radical healing takeaways to enact personal and collective liberation in the face of ongoing sociopolitical and systemic stressors. Burnout among marginalized clinicians is frequently mischaracterized as an individual failure of self-care. We challenge this narrative, asserting that burnout is an expected physiological and emotional response to chronic institutional friction and systemic oppression. To advance the profession, this session introduces the Psychology of Radical Healing framework (French et al., 2019). Originally developed to guide therapeutic interventions for clients from marginalized racial and ethnic groups, we apply this deeply affirming lens directly to the clinicians performing the labor, utilizing its principles to safeguard their own vitality. By rejecting narratives that pathologize the worker, attendees will explore the framework's five anchors: Critical Consciousness, Cultural Authenticity, Radical Hope, Strength and Resistance, and Collectivism. Participants will leave equipped with actionable, innovative strategies to move beyond conventional self-care, confidently holding the reins to cultivate sustainable wellness in tandem with resistance. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 12 BEYOND THE COUNSELING OFFICE: BUILDING A CAMPUS-WIDE MENTAL HEALTH ECOSYSTEMPresenter(s)Samantha MarcellisCollege of Lake County Josh NovickCollege of Lake County Courtnee Phillips-BonCollege of Lake County Instructional Level: Foundation Session Topic(s): Community College Focus, Inclusion and Belonging AbstractThe counseling center cannot be the only place where student mental health lives. With over 60% of college students reporting symptoms of depression and anxiety and more than 10% of the student body contemplating suicide every year, everyone in the campus community plays a role in assessing, supporting, and referring students. The mental health ecosystem needs to include students, faculty from various disciplines, student affairs, staff from every department, community partners, and college leadership. Individual counseling cannot be the only service provision. Students deserve a full range of mental health support, from peer counseling, case management, and basic needs resourcing to community referral options, crisis support, and low-barrier access. This presentation will highlight ways to recruit a multidisciplinary, interdepartmental taskforce, to develop a student mental health strategic plan, to train faculty and staff, and to create a campus-wide culture shift that supports student mental health in the classroom, common spaces, and the community. The counseling center should be an integral part of the ecosystem, not the entire mental health system Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 13 BEYOND THE NUMBER ON THE SCALE: ADDRESSING WEIGHT STIGMA AND BODY IMAGE IN COLLEGE COUNSELINGPresenter(s)Anjalie SukhwaBarry University Instructional Level: Foundation Session Topic(s): Diversity/Inclusion/Equity, Integrative Wellbeing/Wellness AbstractWeight stigma can shape college students' experiences of body image, eating, self-esteem, relationships, healthcare, and help-seeking, yet it may be overlooked or unintentionally reinforced within counseling and healthcare settings. This session examines weight stigma as a social, cultural, and clinical concern and explores how messages about weight, appearance, health, and worth can become internalized over time. Participants will consider how weight stigma may intersect with culture, gender, disability, chronic illness, socioeconomic status, and eating disorder symptoms, while also examining ways counselor assumptions and language may contribute to shame or barriers to care. Practical weight-inclusive counseling strategies will be introduced, including assessing rather than assuming, using client-preferred language, screening for disordered eating across body sizes, avoiding automatic praise of weight change, and collaborating with interdisciplinary providers when appropriate. Attendees will also be encouraged to examine personal and professional biases that may influence assessment, treatment planning, and student support. The session emphasizes compassionate, culturally responsive care that considers health and wellbeing without reducing students to weight, appearance, or assumptions. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 14 BRIDGING OUTREACH AND CLINICAL CARE: ADAPTING K–12 TIERED INTERVENTIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION LEARNING ENVIRONMENTSPresenter(s)Sarah Kroesser NicholsBerklee College of Music & Berklee Conservatory Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Innovative Counseling Theory/Practice AbstractCollegiate mental health demands innovative models that bridge the gap between traditional clinical therapy and community outreach. Drawing inspiration from K–12 Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), Berklee College of Music adapted Tier 2 targeted interventions to deploy clinical expertise directly into academic and creative spaces. While Tier 1 covers universal campus wellness initiatives and Tier 3 addresses intensive individual therapy, our adapted Tier 2 model pushes clinicians beyond counseling center walls and directly into classrooms, music studios, ensemble rehearsals, and specialized learning groups. By embedding clinicians into these environments, this model delivers specialized, low-barrier psychoeducational support tailored to performing arts education, addressing challenges like performance anxiety, creative block, and emotional regulation within the student's primary learning environment. Crucially, this proactive model builds strong collaborative bridges with faculty. By demystifying clinical support and establishing trusted partnerships, faculty members become far more comfortable and likely to reach out to the counseling office early when they notice students of concern. This presentation explores the structural design, interdepartmental workflows, and outcome data showing how embedded Tier 2 support improves learning outcomes, strengthens faculty-clinician trust, and optimizes Tier 3 capacity. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 15 BUILDING A THRIVING GROUPS PROGRAM: FROM IDEA TO IMPLEMENTATIONPresenter(s)Beth PrullageUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst Amanda DiStasioUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst Instructional Level: Foundation Session Topic(s): Inclusion and Belonging, Innovative Counseling Theory/Practice AbstractBuilding and sustaining a thriving groups program can be challenging, yet when thoughtfully developed, groups can be an effective and scalable way to meet students' diverse needs. The University of Massachusetts Amherst offers approximately 20 groups and workshops each semester through collaboration with seven campus partners. Our program includes three levels of offerings: drop-in spaces, workshops, and closed therapy groups, providing students with multiple pathways to connection, skill development, and therapeutic support. A successful groups program depends not only on the range of offerings, but also on the systems and structures that support staff and trainee engagement. At UMass Amherst, staff participation is central to developing and sustaining an eclectic menu of groups and workshops each semester. This presentation will operationalize our workflow, following the process from the initial conception of a group or workshop through planning, development, promotion, and implementation. We will also explore our approach to training and supporting both trainees and senior staff as they develop the skills and confidence needed to become effective group leaders. Finally, we will examine our collaborative partnerships across campus, including strategies for developing referral pathways, co-sponsoring programming, and co-leading groups. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 16 BUILDING AN INTERDISCIPLINARY HYBRID TRAINING CLINIC WITH BILINGUAL SUPERVISION TO ENHANCE COLLEGE MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTPresenter(s)Tanupreet SuriLehman College Michelle BellLehman College Nicole Saint-LouisLehman College at CUNY Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Clinical Supervision and Training, Diversity/Inclusion/Equity AbstractCollege counseling centers face increasing demand, long wait times, clinician burnout, and growing student mental health needs (Center for Collegiate Mental Health, 2025). At the same time, counselor education and social work programs must provide clinical training experiences that foster counseling competence, connection, and professional identity development (Dollarhide et al., 2023). This presentation describes the development of an interdisciplinary hybrid (in-person and telehealth) university-based training clinic created through collaboration among counselor education and social work faculty and campus stakeholders. Presenters will share the logistical, curricular, and relational foundations of launching a start-up training clinic within a public university system. A central feature of the clinic is its interdisciplinary supervision structure, which promotes collaboration, professional relationship-building, and exposure to diverse clinical perspectives. The model also includes a bilingual supervision group that supports trainees providing services in languages other than English. This supervision space addresses the linguistic, cultural, ethical, and clinical complexities of bilingual counseling while promoting culturally responsive care and strengthening counselor competence and confidence in multilingual practice (Acevedo-Weatherholtz et al., 2023; Tang & Grothaus, 2023; Wang et al., 2024). Attendees will gain a replicable framework for developing hybrid training clinics that strengthen supervision and support bilingual and multicultural counselor development. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 17 CALM IN A CRISIS: PROACTIVELY EXPOSING COUNSELORS IN TRAINING TO TRAUMA-INFORMED EDUCATION AND CRISIS INTERVENTION AT PENN STATEPresenter(s)Daniella Aron-SchiavonePennsylvania State University Courtney DixonThe Pennsylvania State University Trent StamerPenn State University Jiayi FuThe Pennsylvania State University Xin ZouPenn State University Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Clinical Supervision and Training, Innovative Counseling Theory/Practice AbstractCounselors have reported feeling unprepared to support individuals who are in crisis or who have experienced trauma. Most counseling programs do not have courses dedicated to crisis or trauma, and individuals across helping professions have reported inadequate training in their programs. The Edwin L. Herr Clinic at Penn State University supports the training of counselors-in-training (CITs) through crisis assessment training and comprehensive crisis protocols. This presentation will address how the Herr Clinic is actively reimagining trauma-informed crisis intervention training for CITs through two developing initiatives. First, the presentation will describe the Herr Clinic's initiative to reduce barriers to community engagement through structured, supervised partnerships with local, accessible, no-cost health initiatives. In Fall 2026, the Herr Clinic began to collaborate with LION Mobile (a mobile community health screening clinic through the Penn State College of Medicine) to pilot a forward-thinking community-based mobile behavioral health intervention team. This initiative provides CITs with supervised opportunities to engage communities disproportionately affected by systemic oppression and elevated rates of trauma and episodic crises, including individuals experiencing homelessness and co-occurring mental, behavioral, and substance use needs. Thus, this model exposes and trains CITs within an alternative pathway to care that seeks to reduce the criminalization of mental health crises and the risk of use of force. Second, this presentation will cover the Herr Clinic's second initiative that centers on establishing an interdisciplinary referral network with local free-to-low-cost providers and exploring partnerships with community spaces, such as the borough library, to provide accessible settings for counseling and basic needs support. Across these efforts, participants will learn how the Herr Clinic looks to further model to CITs the critical significance of client autonomy and self-determination in allowing individuals to determine whether, when, and to what extent they engage in care. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 18 COURAGE IN COMMUNICATING COLLEGE COUNSELING DATA: TELLING DATA SUCCESS STORIES, ESPECIALLY AT COMMUNITY COLLEGESPresenter(s)Janie WangAustin Community College Julianne "Julie" Cuellar ReckAustin Community College Instructional Level: Foundation Session Topic(s): Community College Focus, Research and Program Evaluation AbstractMost counseling centers at community colleges, technical colleges, and small universities are not staffed with data professionals focused on gathering and organizing counseling center data outcomes, so how should college counseling teams respond when college administrators direct us to provide "better data" about our counseling centers to institutional reporting? What does "better data" mean for any college counseling centers already feeling the constraints of limited staffing, reduced budgets, and leadership scrutiny? Developing data reports can feel especially intimidating for community college counseling centers who must rely on clinical staff to build these data programs from the ground up – but in a higher education landscape where showing the empirical value of college mental health investment is increasingly essential to sustaining college counseling on campus, all college counseling centers facing similar challenges can and should take the lead in developing their data work rather than be intimidated by the charge and surrender their data narratives to external institutional data teams that do not always understand or investigate for the working impact of college mental health counseling on students. In this presentation, Austin Community College counseling staff will highlight their journey building college counseling center data strategies that advocate for the mental health needs of community college students and support the evidence-based positive impact counselors have on not only students' wellbeing outcomes, but also student academic outcomes that institutional leaders track. Presenters will introduce relevant research, data frameworks, and assessment tools that ACC Counselors used to create a counseling center data report, as well as provide updates on lessons learned, data strategies outcomes recorded, and data management resources created to help launch your college counseling team's data efforts. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 19 CROSS-CAMPUS COLLABORATION: EQUIPPING FACULTY AND NON-CLINICAL STAFF TO SUPPORT GEN Z STUDENTSPresenter(s)Amy GatlinEndicott College Deidra Smith HortonEndicott College Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Integrative Wellbeing/Wellness, Leadership AbstractCollege counseling centers are increasingly called upon to extend their expertise beyond individual clinical care, equipping faculty and staff to recognize and respond to the mental health needs of Gen Z students. Faculty report growing experiences with students who are struggling with anxiety, depression, academic avoidance, difficulty tolerating feedback, and challenges with independence and conflict, alongside rising requests for extensions and increased parental involvement. While recent data suggest modest improvements in college student mental health since the height of the pandemic, psychological distress remains elevated, and counseling centers are frequently campuses' default referral point for concerns that faculty are not equipped to hold alone. This session presents a practical model for training and consulting with faculty, developed and delivered by college counseling center staff. Participants will examine how developmental factors — including extended adolescence and emerging adulthood, social disconnection, and the lingering effects of COVID-19 — shape classroom presentations, and how counseling professionals can translate this developmental lens into accessible, non-clinical language for faculty and non-clinical staff audiences. Central to the model is the concept of "support without overfunctioning": helping faculty and staff distinguish appropriate accommodation from role drift so counseling staff—not faculty or non-counseling staff—remain the point of clinical contact. Presenters will share strategies for cross- campus collaboration, including working with faculty, career and internship faculty, and accessibility and academic support staff on how to support students and refer them to the appropriate resources. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 20 CULTIVATING THE RESEARCHER-ADVOCATE PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY IN TRAININGPresenter(s)Trent StamerPenn State University Courtney DixonThe Pennsylvania State University Daniella Aron-SchiavonePenn State University Xin ZouPenn State University Instructional Level: Foundation Session Topic(s): Clinical Supervision and Training, Innovative Counseling Theory/Practice AbstractUniversity-Based Counseling Training Clinics (UBCTCs), such as the Edwin L. Herr Clinic at Penn State University, are uniquely positioned to produce counselors with well-rounded professional identities: a priority directly aligned with ACCA's commitment to student development and advocacy in higher education. This presentation examines initiatives at the Herr Clinic that provide counselors-in-training (CITs) with structured, experiential opportunities to develop as researchers and social justice advocates, and how these initiatives can inform the future of UBCTCs, counselor education, and the well-being of the populations they serve. Research and advocacy competencies are rarely prioritized in traditional clinical site placements, since the primary focus of CITs' practicum and internship experience is to develop and standardize their identity as a practicing counselor (e.g., psychotherapy skills, diagnosis, client conceptualization). While CACREP-accredited coursework is often assumed to address these competencies, the current literature repeatedly identifies a significant gap in counselors' sustained identity as social justice advocates and researchers due to a lack of practice, supervision, and hands-on guidance in developing these areas of their professional identity. This presentation centers on two initiatives. First, the Herr Clinic's recent operationalization of a formal research team that provides supportive infrastructure to master's and doctoral students' development as researchers. Second, a proposed model that enables CITs to earn direct hours and grow as social justice advocates by delivering psychoeducational and consciousness-raising initiatives for populations on- and off-campus they feel called to serve. Because psychoeducational service delivery falls within the boundaries of direct hours, this model can begin to systematically prioritize and reframe advocacy as a foundational skill set to develop rather than supplemental. Lastly, presenters will close by mapping their shared vision for the bright future of UBCTCs. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 21 DEVELOPMENT OF THE R.I.S.E. (RESILIENCE, INTERVENTION, SUPPORT AND EMPOWERMENT) PROGRAM - A FOCUSED APPROACH ON ACHIEVING REDUCTION IN SUICIDALITY ON A UNIVERSITY CAMPUS.Presenter(s)Anthony WashingtonTexas A&M University San Antonio Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Research and Program Evaluation AbstractRunning and interpreting reports on clinic data is essential to understanding student population and trendlines, and can be especially helpful when comparing to national averages. During the spring 2026 semester, the Student Counseling Center at Texas A&M University - San Antonio ran a "CCAPS National Comparison - Initial Distress" report, comparing our numbers to national averages, and noticed that regarding the "SI/THO Item Analysis, that the SCC reported suicidal ideation was at the time, nearly 6% points higher than the national average, while also observing an increase in the clinic of reported SI from students over the course of the year. "History of serious suicidal ideation" was also indicated to be higher on yearly basis than the national average, per Page 57 of the "Comprehensive Report 2025 Texas A&M University San Antonio. We wanted to take a targeted approach to addressing suicidality, and had already adjusted our Safety Plan to a "Stabilization Plan" and added a crucial question of "Things that keep me going" in addition to having all full-time staff trained in CAMS (Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality). Going a step further, while recognizing the potential benefits of DBT skills training, we developed a suicide prevention program called the RISE Program. The purpose of the RISE (Resilience, Intervention, Support and Empowerment) Program within the Student Counseling Center is to demonstrate a marked reduction in suicidality from students. This will be evaluated through a combination of utilizing the CAMS weekly, assessing for decreases in suicidality scores across the CAMS, and question #46 on the Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms-62 (CCAPS-62) as well as risk indicated on the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS). Students in the program will also participate in 8-week DBT Skills Group to supplement the individual therapy. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 22 DIGITAL GATEKEEPING: NAVIGATING ETHICAL SUPERVISION FOR TELEHEALTH COUNSELING INTERNSPresenter(s)Terri HoweMidwestern State University Allan Appiah-BoatengEast Texas Baptist University Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Clinical Supervision and Training AbstractThe widespread adoption of telehealth has transformed clinical training, with many counseling interns now accruing their clinical hours exclusively or primarily via synchronous videoconferencing. While telehealth expands service reach and offering training flexibility, it alters the traditional supervisor-supervisee dynamic and introduces distinct ethical vulnerabilities. This presentation addresses the critical intersection of clinical gatekeeping, the ACA Code of Ethics, and distance supervision. Attendees will examine the ethical complexities unique to telehealth training, including managing remote client crises, ensuring data security in home environments, and evaluating clinical competence without physical proximity. Participants will leave with an evidence-based, actionable framework and specific documentation tools to maintain ethical integrity and robust supervisory oversight in a digital landscape. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 23 DISSECTING HEALTH SCIENCE STUDENT ANXIETY: A STEP BY STEP APPROACHPresenter(s)Ariana RivensThomas Jefferson University Jamie HagenbaughThomas Jefferson University Kiran JohalThomas Jefferson University Instructional Level: Foundation Session Topic(s): Innovative Counseling Theory/Practice, Integrative Wellbeing/Wellness AbstractAnxiety symptoms are one of the most common clinical concerns among health science students seeking care from collegiate counseling centers. Manifestations of these symptoms range from normative worry to diagnosed anxiety and related mental health disorders. Health science students may be especially vulnerable to anxiety about their competence and performance and experience the imposter phenomenon, also known as imposter syndrome. Research suggests that health science students may also navigate heightened worry about the health of themselves and loved ones, as well as existential questions about their futures. Counseling center staff who provide care to these students experiencing anxiety are tasked with identifying, implementing, and facilitating targeted interventions that can be integrated within students' demanding academic and clinical environments. This session is designed to provide an introductory overview of anxiety subtypes, psychological and psychiatric treatment approaches, and ways to implement these interventions. Presenters will provide direct instruction, relevant case examples, and discussions prompts that encourage participant engagement throughout the session. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 24 EVERY SESSION HAS TO COUNT: RETHINKING THE SINGLE SESSION EXPERIENCE IN COMMUNITY COLLEGE COUNSELINGPresenter(s)Josh NovickCollege of Lake County Samantha MarcellisCollege of Lake County Courtnee Phillips-BonCollege of Lake County Kat DankowskiCollege of Lake County Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Community College Focus, Innovative Counseling Theory/Practice AbstractCommunity college counseling centers serve students whose lives do not always fit traditional assumptions about ongoing, regularly scheduled therapy. Students may balance employment, caregiving, financial pressures, transportation, changing enrollment, and other demands while seeking mental health support. Research indicates substantial mental health needs among community college students alongside lower treatment utilization than among students at four year institutions. What changes when counselors approach each encounter as potentially complete rather than simply the beginning of an assumed series? This interactive session explores intentional single session counseling within a community college setting. Presenters will distinguish single session work from intake, triage, crisis intervention, and traditional brief therapy and examine when this approach may or may not be clinically appropriate. Through community college case examples and applied practice, participants will explore strategies for identifying the student's priority concern, recognizing strengths and existing resources, providing meaningful therapeutic intervention, and establishing an actionable next step. The session will also address risk assessment, referral, documentation, continuity of care, and operational decisions that shape access. Participants will leave with a practical framework for creating counseling encounters that are focused, therapeutic, accessible, and responsive to the realities of community college students. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 25 FROM GROUP ROOM TO ARENA: MANAGING ANXIETY WITH EQUINE-FACILITATED COUNSELINGPresenter(s)Donna BrooksTexas A&M University Instructional Level: Foundation Session Topic(s): Climate Anxiety, Innovative Counseling Theory/Practice AbstractAnxiety is the number one presenting concern of students at Texas A&M University who utilize the University Health Services Counseling & Mental Health Care Department. Historically, students have been served through individual counseling sessions, Anxiety Intervention sessions, Managing Anxiety groups, and Anxiety Toolbox workshops. In the spring 2026 semester, an additional pilot group was offered that supported anxiety management in students by utilizing the equine-facilitated counseling modality. This was a collaborative effort between University Health Services, the Institute for Equine Sciences, and the Varsity Equestrian Team. Research on equine-facilitated counseling shows benefits in a variety of areas including improving emotional regulation and reducing anxiety and stress. It is also an opportunity for students to enhance their connection with others through the development of their relationship with the horse. This is primarily due to the relational and experiential nature of this treatment modality. This session will provide an overview of the equine-facilitated counseling modality and how it can be used in a university setting. It will also review the steps taken to develop and implement this pilot at Texas A&M University. Lastly, outcomes of the pilot group will be reviewed, and next steps for expanded offerings will be shared. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 26 FROM ISOLATION TO CONNECTION: USING STORYTELLING, BELONGING, AND HUMAN CONNECTION TO ADDRESS THE COLLEGE STUDENT LONELINESS EPIDEMICPresenter(s)Joanna Agnello Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Community College Focus, Inclusion and Belonging AbstractCollege students are more digitally connected than ever, yet many report feeling profoundly disconnected from others, their institutions, and even their own sense of identity and purpose. Loneliness is not simply the absence of social contact; students may feel lonely while surrounded by peers, classmates, roommates, and faculty. This interactive 90-minute session reframes loneliness as both a clinical concern and a campus-wide opportunity to foster meaningful connection and belonging. Drawing from clinical mental health practice, psychology, developmental theory and higher education pedagogy, participants will explore how counseling centers and campus partners can help students move from simply "being around people" to feeling valued, and connected. Particular attention will be given to community college students navigating work and family responsibilities, financial and basic-needs insecurity, commuter status, first-generation experiences, and other barriers to traditional campus engagement. Participants will learn practical strategies integrating counseling, outreach, classroom practices, peer connection, storytelling, and cross-campus collaboration. A central activity will introduce structured storytelling and "human library" approaches as tools for increasing empathy, challenging assumptions, strengthening belonging, and creating psychologically safer opportunities for connection across differences. The session concludes with a practical Connection-to-Belonging Framework that participants can adapt across counseling centers, classrooms, student affairs and campus-wide initiatives. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 27 FROM PROXIMITY TO BELONGING: HELPING COLLEGE STUDENTS BUILD MEANINGFUL CONNECTIONSPresenter(s)Darien WilkersonUniversity of Michigan-Flint Instructional Level: Foundation Session Topic(s): Inclusion and Belonging AbstractStudent loneliness has become an increasingly important concern on college campuses, with many students experiencing disconnection despite being surrounded by peers and opportunities for social interaction. Traditional recommendations to "get involved" may increase social contact but do not necessarily foster the meaningful relationships and sense of belonging students need to thrive. This presentation will explore how collegiate counseling centers can support campus-wide efforts to foster social connection in students that promote belonging, resilience, and student well-being. Participants will examine the distinction between contact, connection, and belonging and explore how each contributes to students' experiences on campus. Attendees will learn practical strategies for identifying barriers to meaningful connection, supporting students in developing reciprocal relationships, and collaborating with campus partners to create environments that make belonging more accessible. In all, participants will leave with innovative, adaptable strategies for addressing loneliness while helping students develop stronger connections to people, places, and communities that can their college experience feel like home. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 28 FROM REACTIVE TO STRATEGIC: ASSESSING NEED, MATCHING SERVICES, AND MEASURING MENTAL HEALTH IMPACTPresenter(s)Tiffany HowardUniversity of South Carolina Casey FoxUniversity of South Carolina Instructional Level: Foundation Session Topic(s): Leadership AbstractCollege counseling centers increasingly recognize outreach, prevention, and campus partnerships as essential components of comprehensive student mental health care. However, growing campus demands can lead to reactive service delivery rather than strategic, data-informed decisions that align resources with identified needs. This presentation introduces a practical framework for building strategic mental health partnerships through four key steps: assessing need, matching the appropriate service, evaluating impact, and improving or adjusting the intervention. Using our embedded counseling process as a case example, presenters will demonstrate how a collaborative needs assessment can help determine whether a campus partner would benefit most from embedded clinical services, targeted outreach and prevention, consultation, or a combination of approaches. Participants will leave with an adaptable framework for moving from campus requests to intentional partnerships that maximize counseling center resources, strengthen collaboration, and connect campus communities with the right level of mental health support. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 29 FROM VOICE TO ACTION: ENGAGING MENTAL HEALTH AMBASSADORS IN PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH TO UNDERSTAND COLLEGE STUDENT HELP-SEEKING BEHAVIORSPresenter(s)Lashia BowersCoastal Carolina University Yashia Holmes-SmithCoastal Carolina University Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Innovative Counseling Theory/Practice, Research and Program Evaluation AbstractCollege students frequently experience mental health concerns, yet many do not engage with available counseling services. This presentation highlights a photovoice participatory action research (PAR) project conducted through a partnership between Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) and a student Mental Health Ambassador program. Attendees will learn how Mental Health Ambassadors collaborated in developing the research question, selecting methodology, collecting data, and analyzing findings, demonstrating the value of student partnership in counseling center research. Using photovoice interviews, students shared visual narratives that illuminated both barriers to help-seeking, such as stigma, uncertainty, and perceived accessibility challenges, and supports, including social connection, mental health awareness, and positive perceptions of counseling services. In addition to discussing implications for counseling center outreach and student engagement, participants will leave with practical strategies for designing a photovoice outreach initiative informed by student perspectives that can be adapted to increase mental health awareness and help-seeking behaviors on their own college campuses. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 30 GROUNDED STRENGTH: SOMATIC SKILLS FOR EMOTIONAL REGULATION AND ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE- INTEGRATING SOMATIC SKILL WORK WHILE COUNSELING COLLEGE STUDENTSPresenter(s)Cheryl DonnellyStony Brook University Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Integrative Wellbeing/Wellness, Trauma AbstractCollege students face increasing levels of stress, anxiety, and emotional dysregulation. While traditional counseling approaches offer essential support, integrating somatic practices can deepen resilience and enhance therapeutic outcomes. This experiential workshop introduces foundational somatic concepts such as interoception, grounding, and nervous system regulation and explores their relevance to the emotional and developmental needs of college students. Participants will learn practical somatic techniques including breathwork, sensory awareness, and movement-based regulation strategies. These tools help students reconnect with their bodies, manage overwhelm, and build emotional self-regulation. The session also emphasizes trauma-informed and culturally sensitive approaches to ensure somatic interventions are introduced with care and inclusivity. Through guided exercises, case examples, and interactive discussion, attendees will gain confidence in applying somatic skills across diverse counseling contexts. Participants will leave with a somatic skills cheat sheet, resource recommendations, and a renewed understanding of how embodied presence can transform the counseling relationship. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 31 HOLDING STEADY IN SUPERVISION: MINDFULNESS, SELF-REGULATION, AND SENSITIVITY TO RELIGIOUS TRAUMAPresenter(s)Corrine BuchananPrescott College & University of Florida Katie SpargoFlorida Gulf Coast University Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Clinical Supervision and Training, Integrative Wellbeing/Wellness AbstractCollege counseling supervisors must foster growth while helping trainees remain steady amid evaluation, complex student needs, rapid campus change, and repeated exposure to distress. Supervision can become a source of stability and support when supervisors recognize dysregulation early and respond intentionally. Mindfulness offers practical ways for supervisors and supervisees to notice activation, pause before reacting, and return to reflective practice; however, it is not universally calming or culturally or spiritually neutral. Some supervisees who have survived religious trauma may experience meditation, inward attention, spiritual language, eye closure, or authority-led exercises as activating or coercive when introduced without context and meaningful choice. This interactive session presents a relational, consent-based framework for integrating brief mindfulness practices into individual and group supervision. Presenters will distinguish self-regulation from co-regulation, examine how supervisor regulation shapes the supervisory climate, and demonstrate practices that fit before feedback, case consultation, or difficult conversations. Options include visual orienting, contact-point awareness, sound-based attention, paced breathing, and intentional pauses, with eyes-open, movement-based, and non-meditative alternatives. Using college counseling supervision vignettes, participants will identify signs of dysregulation, select an appropriate response, and revise mindfulness invitations for supervisees with differing needs and histories. Emphasis will be placed on explaining each practice's purpose, offering genuine alternatives, securing ongoing consent, and making it easy to modify, observe, stop, or decline without penalty. Attendees will leave with two immediately usable practices and a decision guide designed to strengthen reflective capacity, relational safety, supervisee agency, and clinician well-being while addressing risk factors for compassion fatigue. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 32 INTEGRATED WELLNESS ECOSYSTEM: BUILDING A CAMPUS WHERE WELLBEING HAPPENS EVERYWHEREPresenter(s)Melissa ForbesSaint Mary-of-the-Woods College Sara JulianSt. Mary-of-the-Woods Emma CampbellSaint Mary-of-the-Woods College Instructional Level: Foundation Session Topic(s): Inclusion and Belonging, Integrative Wellbeing/Wellness AbstractWhat if student support didn't begin at the counseling center door? What if it existed across the entire campus? This session introduces the Integrated Wellness Ecosystem, a practical, campus-wide approach developed at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College to expand access to mental health and wellbeing support by embedding it into the spaces and experiences students already engage in. Rather than relying solely on traditional counseling services, the model connects people, places, and partnerships to create intentional, low-barrier opportunities for connection, prevention, education, regulation, and early support. Participants will explore how existing campus environments, from student centers and outdoor spaces to athletics, classrooms, and collaborative partnerships, can become meaningful components of an institution's wellness infrastructure. The session will highlight examples of place-based programming, cross-campus collaboration, experiential wellness strategies, and intentional pathways that connect informal engagement with more formal support when needed. Designed to be adaptable across institutions and resource levels, the Integrated Wellness Ecosystem challenges campuses to move beyond asking, "How do we get more students into counseling?" toward a broader question: How do we build a campus where students encounter opportunities for wellbeing everywhere they go? Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 33 INTEGRATING EXPRESSIVE ARTS THERAPY AND MINDFUL MOVEMENT IN GROUP PSYCHOTHERAPYPresenter(s)Donna St. SauverUniversity Of West Florida Instructional Level: Foundation Session Topic(s): Integrative Wellbeing/Wellness, Trauma AbstractThis presentation explores the synergistic integration of expressive arts therapy and mindful movement within group psychotherapy. Combining these modalities offers clinicians a powerful, embodied approach to foster psychological flexibility, emotional regulation, and group cohesion. While traditional talk therapy relies heavily on top-down processing, incorporating creative arts and somatic movement engages bottom-up processing. This approach allows group members to access, express, and process complex emotions that words alone cannot. Attendees will experience and learn how to create a safe, collaborative space where non-verbal expression bridges the gap between internal experiencing and interpersonal connection. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 34 LEADING WHILE BLACK IN COLLEGE COUNSELINGPresenter(s)Shon SmithNorth Carolina Agriculture Technical Sta Instructional Level: Foundation Session Topic(s): Diversity/Inclusion/Equity, Leadership AbstractBlack college counseling professionals may serve simultaneously as clinicians, supervisors, trainers, advocates, crisis responders, and institutional leaders while navigating campus structures in which their competence, authority, communication, and emotional expression are interpreted through racialized expectations. Du Bois's concept of double consciousness offers a useful lens for understanding the self-monitoring involved in leading within systems that may value Black professionals' representation while restricting their power. Contemporary scholarship describes racial microaggressions, racial battle fatigue, isolation, academic activism, and the protective roles of mentoring, autonomy, and community for Black professionals in higher education and counselor education (Barber & Ting, 2025; Chancellor, 2025; DeCuir-Gunby et al., 2020). This session centers college and university counseling centers rather than behavioral-health leadership broadly. Participants will examine double consciousness across clinical consultation, supervision, staff evaluation, hiring, budget advocacy, crisis response, interdepartmental collaboration, and communication with senior administrators. Campus-based scenarios illuminate tokenism, code-switching, invisible diversity labor, racialized scrutiny, representation without decision-making authority, and the expectation that Black clinicians will carry primary responsibility for Black students and institutional responses to racial trauma. The session then moves from experience to organizational accountability. Participants will assess whether their counseling center and institution provide Black professionals with authority, resources, psychological safety, equitable workload distribution, sponsorship, succession pathways, and protection from retaliation. Strategies include culturally responsive supervision, transparent decision rights, shared responsibility for racial-trauma response, workload audits, mentoring and sponsorship, and direct pathways from counseling-center leadership to senior campus decision-making. These practices reflect the ACA ethical commitments to nondiscrimination, competent personnel decisions, constructive action regarding harmful institutional conditions, diversity, and professional self-care (ACA, 2014). ACCA members are required to follow the ACA Code (ACCA, n.d.). The session also aligns with 2024 CACREP standards concerning racism and power, higher-education leadership and personnel practices, systemic barriers, equitable programs, culturally sustaining leadership, and self-care (CACREP, 2024). Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 35 MINDBODY FOR ATHLETES: AN INTERVENTION FOR FOCUS, ANXIETY, AND ATHLETIC PERFORMANCEPresenter(s)Leigh CollinsUniversity of the South Fran SpeerUniversity of the South Instructional Level: Foundation Session Topic(s): Growth, Resilience, Instinct, and Tenacity (GRIT), Integrative Wellbeing/Wellness AbstractCollege athletes face significant physical and psychological demands, including performance pressure, fear of failure, and competition-related anxiety. The MindBody Lab (MBL) for Athletes is a team-based program that integrates mindfulness coaching and biofeedback to support emotional regulation, resilience, and focus. This presentation will discuss an ongoing partnership between a counseling center and multiple sports teams to provide structured training in meditation, including mindfulness and sport-specific visualizations. It will provide techniques that help athletes learn to recognize and regulate physiological and emotional responses to stress, with biofeedback providing real-time information. The presentation will also discuss an ongoing research study, now in its third wave, examining changes in mindfulness, anxiety, and self-regulation among participating athletes. Outcome measures include the Athlete Mindfulness Questionnaire (AMQ) and the Sport Anxiety Scale (SAS). Biofeedback data provide an additional measure of physiological response to stress. We will describe the MBL intervention, research, and emerging findings, highlighting it's potential as an evidence-informed approach to supporting athlete performance and wellbeing. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 36 MORE SKILLS, LESS TIME: IMPLEMENTING A CONDENSED DBT INFORMED SKILLS GROUP IN A UNIVERSITY SETTINGPresenter(s)Candice CliffordStony Brook University Stavroula SassosStony Brook University Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Innovative Counseling Theory/Practice, Research and Program Evaluation AbstractHave you ever been curious about how to implement Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) on a college campus, but felt limited by the time confines of a brief therapy model? The recipients of the 2025 ACCA Research Grant will be presenting on its one of a kind DBT informed skills group, formatted through a brief therapy model. This evidence based group, which consists of four, 45 minute sessions, offers valuable skills to college students in an accessible way. Presenters will provide actionable steps, tools, and confidence to successfully facilitate this group in any collegiate setting. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 37 MULTI-TIERED CRISIS SUPERVISION: PROMOTING PRE-LICENSURE GROWTH AND ETHICAL RISK MANAGEMENTPresenter(s)Fiona VajkThe Claremont Colleges Instructional Level: Advanced Session Topic(s): Clinical Supervision and Training AbstractCollege counseling centers face rising demands for high-acuity crisis interventions while training pre-licensure staff. Traditional supervision models often cause trainee burnout and systemic vulnerability by scattering clinical skill-building. This 90-minute breakout session introduces a structured, three-pillar crisis supervision and training model explicitly targeting crisis intervention skills and competencies. The session outlines an innovative framework: one senior supervisor guides two pre-licensure crisis therapists through a weekly triadic supervision meeting, which supplements individual weekly supervision for each crisis therapist. The framework prioritizes diagnostic formulation, case disposition, validation of clinician reactions, and peer mentorship. Crucially, it is decoupled from an administrative meeting led by the center's Director, which focuses separately on high-level risk management and campus partner coordination. The weekly triadic session enhances trainees' learning and growth via a structured experiential didactic curriculum that includes "standardized client" roleplays, incorporating breaks to discuss various crisis management options at critical junctures within the roleplays, as well as discussion of case scenarios. Finally, the session addresses vital ethical dilemmas in crisis training, including balancing trainee autonomy with client safety and establishing firm boundaries between clinical development and administrative oversight. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 38 NEURODIVERSITY-AFFIRMING COUNSELING: WORKING WITH AUTISTIC STUDENTS ON CAMPUSPresenter(s)Jennifer ShirleyUniversity of North Carolina Wilmington Instructional Level: Foundation Session Topic(s): Innovative Counseling Theory/Practice AbstractCollege counseling centers continue to see a rise in autistic students seeking support. Many of these students present to the counseling center with late or self-identified diagnosis and various intersecting mental health needs. As such, it is imperative that clinicians have the resources and support to best serve these students. Working with autism is viewed as a specialty and there is rarely formal training in graduate programs focused on neurodiversity broadly and especially autism specifically. Previous modalities of therapy with autistic clients focused on deficit-based care which historically has made building a therapeutic alliance engaging in collaborative care challenging. This presentation serves to offer clinicians and student affairs professionals a neurodiversity-affirming framework for understanding autistic students within the setting of higher education. The session will review the varying presentations of autism and co-occurring disorders, the role of self and professional diagnosis, and provide neuro-inclusive strategies and practices. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 39 NO MORE REFERRAL PING-PONG: BUILDING BETTER CROSS-CAMPUS SUPPORT PATHWAYSPresenter(s)Dongze (Lisa) XuNorth Carolina State University Yanying RongNorth Carolina State University Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Diversity/Inclusion/Equity, Leadership AbstractReferrals are a routine part of college counseling services, but making a referral does not necessarily mean that the referral is successful. When campus offices have unclear roles, limited communication, or referral processes that are difficult to navigate, students may feel confused or reluctant to engage. Using international students navigating Title IX-related concerns as a high-stakes case example, this session introduces a literature-informed, adaptable framework for strengthening cross-campus support pathways. The session will focus on language access, role clarity, understanding institutional processes, effective interdepartmental communication, and follow-up support. Participants will examine how counseling centers, Title IX offices, international student services, and other campus partners can reduce "referral ping-pong." Because each institution has its own systems and procedures, participants will complete a referral-mapping activity to identify strengths and potential gaps in their campus pathways, learn from one another, and develop strategies to improve coordination and access to services. Although the session focuses on international students and Title IX, the framework can also be adapted to other student populations and referral contexts in higher education without requiring a single standardized workflow. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 40 OH SNAP! SHARING THE REINS: STRENGTHS-BASED SUPERVISION FOR EMERGING COUNSELORSPresenter(s)Patricia Stewart-HopkinsLindsey Wilson University Analysia HolguinLindsey Wilson University Instructional Level: Foundation Session Topic(s): Clinical Supervision and Training, Integrative Wellbeing/Wellness AbstractEffective supervision balances structure, support, and collaboration (Schreyer et al. 2025). This interactive session introduces the SNAP Supervisee Assessment as a strengths-based tool to guide individualized supervision and professional growth for practicum and internship students in college counseling settings (Stewart-Hopkins, 2026). Participants will explore how identifying supervisees' strengths, needs, abilities, and preferences can inform developmentally appropriate supervisory strategies to enhance clinical competency, compassion satisfaction, and sustainable self-care (Anandavalli et al., 2025; ACES, 2019). Using SNAP assessment findings, participants will develop collaborative professional growth plans that incorporate supervisee input, measurable outcomes, and intentional supervisory support. Grounded in a collaborative approach, this session highlights how supervisors can "hold the reins" alongside supervisees—providing guidance and stability while empowering emerging counselors to take ownership of their professional development (Cook et al. 2018). Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 41 POLARIZATION AND MENTAL HEALTH: DO COUNSELING GROUPS HELP COLLEGE STUDENTS DEAL WITH POLARIZATION DISTRESS?Presenter(s)Lamar MuroTexas Woman's University Instructional Level: Foundation Session Topic(s): Integrative Wellbeing/Wellness AbstractSocietal polarization has increasingly become a public health issue, including among college students (Brown, et al., 2024). While there are many documented impacts to physical and mental health (Brietzke, 2023; Ford, et al., 2023, Nayak, et al., 2021), there are very few resources available to college counselors, or counselors in general, to help clients or students deal with polarization distress. Research on these topics highlight a need for activities that help to decrease polarization and increase protective factors against its negative impacts (Reynolds, O'shea & Swanbrow Becker, 2025). This session explores the impacts of polarization on mental health and the presenter's study with graduate students who participated in counseling groups for polarization distress. Clinical interventions and educational programs that address polarizing conflicts will be discussed. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 42 PRICED OUT, BURNED OUT, AND TOLD TO TRY HARDER: A RELATIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR SUPPORTING STUDENTS WHO'VE STOPPED BELIEVING IT GETS BETTERPresenter(s)Natica BlakeParker University Natica BlakeParker University Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Diversity/Inclusion/Equity, Innovative Counseling Theory/Practice AbstractThe sociopolitical ground shifts under students every semester. Federal borrowing caps took effect this summer, repayment plans students counted on are gone, and the terms keep changing mid-degree. Students arrive at counseling centers describing a future they no longer believe in. They work, borrow, and do everything they were told to do, yet no longer expect it to pay off. When addressing these concerns, standard approaches can misfire. Cognitive restructuring assumes a distorted thought. But when a student says the math "isn't mathing," they are often right, and challenging it confirms their fear that we see them as the problem. This session offers a framework built from Critical consciousness, relational-cultural theory (RCT), and Frankl's tragic optimism, each doing a specific job. Critical consciousness framework explains the systemic conditions; RCT provides clinical tools through exploring power with vs power over and mutuality; and Frankl's tragic optimism helps students explore meaning-making despite conditions they cannot change. Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of how existential distress presents in students, tools for working with it in session, and a way to stay present with students whose circumstances will not improve Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 43 PURITY CULTURE AND ITS IMPACT ON OUR CLIENTS, CAMPUSES, AND COMMUNITIESPresenter(s)Christian (Oliver) SmithUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham Instructional Level: Foundation Session Topic(s): Integrative Wellbeing/Wellness, Trauma AbstractMany of us are familiar with purity culture, its messages, and how these messages were conveyed to our clients and communities. However, how does purity culture impact our clients as well as our campuses? How can we address and discuss purity culture if it comes up in the therapy hour? Join Oliver as he discusses the history, impact, and clinical aspects of this phenomenon Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 44 REACHING THE STUDENTS WHO NEVER REACH OUT: PROACTIVE COUNSELING-CENTER RESPONSES TO LONELINESSPresenter(s)Jamal GrimesNorth Carolina State University Pablo CamposNorth Carolina State University Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Inclusion and Belonging AbstractStudents most affected by loneliness may be the least likely to enter a counseling center. Shame, uncertainty about whether their concerns are serious enough, preference for self-reliance, cultural mistrust, confidentiality concerns, limited awareness of services, and the effort required to initiate care can prevent isolated students from seeking support. This session will examine how college counseling centers can move beyond waiting for students to self-refer and develop proactive, ethically appropriate responses to loneliness. Participants will explore methods for identifying populations and transition points associated with elevated vulnerability, including the first semester, transfer, academic difficulty, return from leave, commuter enrollment, international transition, and separation from established communities. The session will introduce a tiered outreach framework that includes universal prevention, targeted connection-building, early identification, brief intervention, and clinical referral. Strategies may include embedded counselors, screening and follow-up, drop-in consultations, peer connectors, workshops, digital resources, classroom outreach, and partnerships with advising, faculty, residence life, multicultural affairs, international student services, and student organizations. Participants will also examine ethical considerations involving privacy, informed consent, documentation, risk assessment, and the difference between supportive outreach and unwanted surveillance. Through a campus-mapping exercise, attendees will identify where isolated students may become disconnected and design outreach that reduces the number of steps required to receive support. Attendees will leave with a practical plan for bringing counseling-informed resources into the environments students already occupy and a framework for identifying and reaching students who may be least likely to independently walk through the counseling-center door. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 45 RECLAIMING THE REINS: CULTURE, CONNECTION, AND HEALING HISTORICAL TRAUMA AMONG NATIVE YOUTHPresenter(s)Diana CanfieldUniversity of the Cumberlands Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Diversity/Inclusion/Equity, Inclusion and Belonging AbstractAmerican Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth experience mental health concerns within a historical and cultural context shaped by colonization, forced assimilation, boarding schools, displacement, and suppression of language and cultural practices. Although historical and intergenerational trauma are important considerations in understanding mental health disparities, a deficit-focused approach overlooks a powerful source of resilience: cultural connection. This interactive session examines cultural connectedness as a protective factor that buffers effects of historical and contemporary stressors and promotes psychological well-being among Native adolescents. Research associates cultural identity and tribal affiliation with indicators of well-being among AI/AN adolescents and suggests that cultural connectedness buffers Native children from negative effects of stressful life experiences. Participants will explore historical trauma through a strengths-based, culturally responsive framework considering roles of cultural identity, family/community relationships, language, traditional knowledge, spirituality, land, and connection with Elders. Indigenous youth resilience literature reinforces protective factors across individual, family, community, cultural, and societal domains. Through case application and guided discussion, participants will develop strategies for culturally responsive assessment, treatment planning, outreach, and referral while respecting tribal sovereignty and avoiding cultural appropriation. The session reframes culture not simply as a demographic characteristic, but as a potential source of identity, belonging, resilience, and healing. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 46 RESILIENCE IN STUDENT-ATHLETES: EVALUATING THE SPORTING RESILIENCE MODELPresenter(s)Justen SchroederDoane University Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Growth, Resilience, Instinct, and Tenacity (GRIT), Research and Program Evaluation AbstractThis session presents findings from an original quantitative dissertation study evaluating the Sporting Resilience Model (Gupta & McCarthy, 2022) with collegiate student-athletes across NCAA, NAIA, and NJCAA institutions. Grounded in process-based resilience theory (Rutter, 2012) and biopsychosocial frameworks, the model proposes 10 protective filters—including social support, optimism, motivation, metacognitive appraisal, and identity/self-insight—through which adversity is processed. Results revealed that the model's biopsychosocial factors explained a substantial and statistically significant portion of variance in perceived resilience beyond demographic characteristics alone, with one factor emerging as a uniquely powerful individual predictor. Attendees will learn how to apply this model clinically to assess and build resilience in student-athlete clients navigating injury, performance pressure, academic strain, NIL demands, and identity transitions. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 47 RISK ASSESSMENT AND SAFETY PLANNING WITH AUTISTIC CLIENTSPresenter(s)Jennifer ShirleyUniversity of North Carolina Wilmington Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Innovative Counseling Theory/Practice AbstractAutistic college students face higher rates of suicidality, non-suicidal self-injury, and crisis presentations than their neurotypical peers. Knowing that their presentation may be more acute, it is imperative to have risk assessments that provide an accurate picture. Most risk assessments and safety plans are "one-size fits all" and are rarely if at all adaptable to the needs of autistic individuals. This leaves clinicians in college counseling centers to apply generic frameworks that may not be effective. This session serves to bridge the communication gap and provide clinicians with practical adaptations to better assess risk and engage in safety planning. The session will then transition to practical case applications and walk participants through creating a neuro-affirming safety plan. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 48 SAFETY BEFORE GRIT: RETHINKING RESILIENCE THROUGH PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY IN COLLEGE STUDENTSPresenter(s)Sibo ZhaoLindsey Wilson University Janet RodriguezLindsey Wilson University Dori BonnerLindsey Wilson University La Tonya JohnsonLindsey Wilson University Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Growth, Resilience, Instinct, and Tenacity (GRIT), Inclusion and Belonging AbstractWhile higher education professionals frequently encourage students to cultivate grit and perseverance (Akos & Kretchmar, 2017), resilience does not develop in a relational vacuum. Research suggests that students may identify more adaptive responses when considering adversity experienced by others than when imagining the same adversity as personally experienced, highlighting a gap between knowing adaptive responses and accessing them under personal stress (Cassidy, 2015). Psychological safety may provide an important relational condition for narrowing this gap by creating environments in which students can acknowledge difficulty, make mistakes, seek support, and remain engaged without anticipating interpersonal punishment or humiliation (Kolbe et al., 2020). Gonzalez et al. (2026) identify relational enablers of psychological safety across organizational, team, interpersonal, and individual levels, including inclusive climates, trust, open communication, supportive relationships, and capacities such as emotional intelligence. Drawing on this multilevel framework, this breakout session challenges an exclusively "grit-first" approach to student development and explores how college counselors can foster psychological safety, emotional intelligence, adaptive resilience, and sustainable growth across individual, relational, and institutional contexts, particularly for students from historically marginalized and minoritized backgrounds. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 49 SELF‑QUAKE: IDENTITY SHIFTS IN THE COLLEGE YEARSPresenter(s)Oren ShefetStony Brook University Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Growth, Resilience, Instinct, and Tenacity (GRIT), Humanity AbstractStudents arrive on campus expecting to change, but that change might lead them down roads that may surprise them. Students may lose their religion or find it, switch their majors and career plans, explore shifts in sexual orientation, revise their family narratives and life stories, and ultimately construct a sense of self that feels markedly different from the one they brought to college. This presentation will examine the nature of identity, the factors that prompt students to rework their sense of self, and the ways college counselors can intervene effectively to support students navigating these profound and sometimes disorienting transitions. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 50 SHARING THE REINS, EVERYONE GAINS: COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS FOR CAMPUS WELL-BEINGPresenter(s)Christina HartlineNorthern Michigan University Lynne VedinNorthern Michigan University Becca RedmondNorthern Michigan University Instructional Level: Foundation Session Topic(s): Integrative Wellbeing/Wellness AbstractAccording to the 2025 Healthy Minds Study, 37% of college students reported depression, 32% anxiety, and 37% received mental health counseling in the last year. Student mental health is closely connected to academic performance, retention, and graduation outcomes (Chu et al., 2022; Healthy Minds Network, 2025). The growing need for mental health support extends beyond students. Similar rates of depression, anxiety, and stress were found among students and faculty/staff (Meeks, Peak, & Dreihaus, 2023). Supporting mental health takes more than counseling centers alone. By empowering partnerships throughout the campus community, colleges and universities can create a culture where mental health and well-being are shared priorities. Broadening the campus mental health infrastructure will likely increase retention, resulting in an exponential return on investment. This presentation will highlight Northern Michigan University's (NMU) Counseling Center collaboration efforts and mental health initiatives designed to support the University's core value of well-being. Participants will learn about the benefits of partnering with departments across campus, integrating well-being initiatives into university life, reducing stigma, and strengthening networks of care. The Princeton Review's 2026 Mental Health Services Honor Roll recognized these initiatives, placing NMU among 30 institutions commended for exceptional dedication to students' mental health and well-being. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 51 SOCIAL ANXIETY DISORDER: HELPING PEOPLE CONNECT WHEN CONNECTING IS HARDPresenter(s)Brad ImhoffLiberty University Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Growth, Resilience, Instinct, and Tenacity (GRIT), Innovative Counseling Theory/Practice AbstractSocial anxiety is more prevalent than ever, particularly among our youth. This engaging and practical presentation is designed for counselors who want to better understand the nuances of Social Anxiety Disorder and enhance their effectiveness in treating it. Participants will explore the underlying cognitive, emotional, and behavioral mechanisms that maintain social anxiety, while also learning about the role technology plays. With a strong emphasis on application, participants will leave with many ready-to-implement interventions to help their socially anxious clients move from avoidance to engagement. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 52 STUDENT-ATHLETE IDENTITY AND IDENTITY LOSS: STRATEGIES FOR THERAPEUTIC PRACTICEPresenter(s)Sonja LundOld Dominion University Instructional Level: Foundation Session Topic(s): Growth, Resilience, Instinct, and Tenacity (GRIT), Innovative Counseling Theory/Practice AbstractMany student-athletes have participated in their sport/athletics from a young age thus much of their identity has been shaped around this as they continue to work towards higher levels of sports participation. This presentation will focus on how athlete identity is shaped and what happens when it becomes challenged or lost. Identity loss due to events such as injuries can happen at any point in time, often leaving athletes struggling to grapple with the loss of such an integral part of their identity, even when temporary. Grief and loss may also occur during times of transition such as forced medical retirement, life transitions, and the end of an athlete's career. Strategies for building identity outside of sport and finding ways to still honor sports identity will be discussed during this presentation. Multiple theoretical orientations will be discussed to include cognitive behavioral therapy, narrative approaches, strengths-based approaches, and growth mindset approaches when working with clients facing these specific issues. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 53 SUPERVISING WHEN EVERYTHING IS ON FIRE: THE "THIS IS NOT OKAY, BUT I WILL BE" EDITIONPresenter(s)Melissa GalicaPrivate Practice / Grand Canyon University / New Mexico Highlands University / University of Tennessee at Martian Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Clinical Supervision and Training, Growth, Resilience, Instinct, and Tenacity (GRIT) AbstractSupervisors and counseling center leaders are navigating an era where everything feels like it's on fire: rising student acuity, shifting institutional priorities, clinician burnout, and the emotional intensity of supporting increasingly diverse and under‑resourced student populations. This session introduces a research‑supported model of relational safety leadership for supervisors, directors, and senior clinicians in high‑stress environments. Participants will explore how to support clinicians working with underrepresented, neurodivergent, non‑traditional, and international students; guide trainees through existential concerns such as loneliness, basic‑needs insecurity, and identity development; and maintain stability when campus systems are strained. Drawing from recent literature on trauma‑informed supervision, counselor resilience, and developmental leadership, the session provides practical tools for reducing reactivity, strengthening ethical decision‑making, and promoting growth during supervision. Attendees will learn strategies for navigating diagnostic ambiguity, supporting clinicians during emotional activation, and fostering GRIT‑aligned resilience without slipping into grind culture. The session also addresses cross‑campus collaboration, offering guidance on partnering with student affairs, athletics, accessibility services, and threat assessment teams to build shared language, mental health literacy, and coordinated support for complex student needs, equipping leaders to say, "This is not okay… but I will be." Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 54 SUPERVISION OF SUPERVISION: A MENTORSHIP MODELPresenter(s)Nicole MatrosUniversity of South Carolina Jennifer CrossUniversity of South Carolina Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Clinical Supervision and Training AbstractClinical supervision is a foundational competency within mental health disciplines, yet the research continues to show a gap within this area of training (Borders, et al, 2023). Furthermore, without clear supervision training, supervisees may have negative experiences, which can be harmful to their development and contribute to poor client outcomes (Chircop Coleiro, et. al, 2023). This presentation will highlight a model created for USC's Counseling Center to help prepare pre-doctoral interns for supervisory experiences while promoting cross-disciplinary training with master's level counselor trainees. This approach was created in an effort to model real world experiences where traditional programming has lacked emphasis on the preparation, training, and education for supervision processes. A primary feature of this model is a scaffolded learning approach, which is consistent with traditional developmental supervision models (Bernard and Goodyear, 2022) and incorporates didactic and experiential opportunities. Overviews of experiential activities, including sculpting, reflection teams, and live supervision will be provided. A review of the feedback structure incorporated and relationship building opportunities between all participants will also be shared. This supervision of supervision approach allows the chance for supervisees to discern professional investment in future supervision opportunities and identifies ways to include other staff in the process for training and relationship building. The hope of this presentation is for the providers to leave here with a model that they can practically apply to their practice settings. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 55 SUSTAINING THE SUSTAINERS: A CULTURALLY ATTUNED, TRAUMA-INFORMED MODEL FOR COLLEGE COUNSELORS SERVING BIPOC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS USING AEDPPresenter(s)Heloise (Lois) RidleyWilkes University / NEW HOPE Counseling & Wellness Instructional Level: Foundation Session Topic(s): Diversity/Inclusion/Equity, Innovative Counseling Theory/Practice AbstractWho sustains the counselors doing the work of sustaining students? Fostering practices that sustain both students and the counselors doing the work will support us in leading our future with resilience and purpose. Primarily, this presentation will address how counselors navigate complex, layered systems while fostering safe healing spaces for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and international students facing family pressures, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), race-based stress (RBS), and academic pressures. Additionally, at the organizational level, participants will also evaluate culturally attuned, trauma-informed (CATI) supervision practices that inform healthier support structures capable of sustaining counselors and reducing clinician attrition driven by allostatic load. Effective therapy with BIPOC and international students requires CATI practices that foster right-brain-to-right-brain communication while honoring their cultural experience as a neurobiological reality. This strength-based experiential session will operationalize CATI care principles using Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP) interventions. Participants will analyze clinical vignettes of therapeutic interactions with BIPOC and international college student clients to identify cultural attunement practices and trauma-informed interventions within AEDP attachment-focused counseling dyads. They will examine attachment-focused co-regulation strategies and analyze approaches for expanding their own window of tolerance to sustain an embodied, loving therapeutic presence while supporting students within their educational systems. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 56 TAKING THE REINS WHEN THE SYSTEM PULLS BACK: MORAL DISTRESS, ETHICAL DECISION-MAKING, AND SUPERVISION IN COLLEGE COUNSELINGPresenter(s)Allison TomlinsonUniversity of North Texas Dallas Armani MurphyThe University of North Texas Dallas Nishika PeerisThe University of North Texas Dallas Ratisha SmithThe University of North Texas Dallas Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Clinical Supervision and Training AbstractCollege counseling centers face increasing student acuity, complex psychosocial needs, workforce shortages, short-term treatment models, limited referrals, and heightened expectations for access, accountability, and risk management. Clinicians may recognize an ethically appropriate course of action while encountering organizational or resource constraints that limit their ability to act, creating moral distress associated with burnout and workforce attrition (Helmers et al., 2020). Taking the Reins When the System Pulls Back examines moral distress through the intersecting perspectives of supervisors and supervisees navigating ethical decision-making in contemporary college counseling. Supervisees may experience conflict when professional values, clinical judgment, and student needs collide with treatment limitations, policies, or supervisory authority. Supervisors simultaneously balance student welfare, supervisee development, ethical responsibilities, risk, institutional expectations, and finite resources. Structural barriers can intensify helplessness and disempowerment that individualized self-care cannot resolve (Olcoń & Gulbas, 2021). Moreover, resolving an ethical concern does not necessarily alleviate moral distress (Butler et al., 2026). Through paired supervisor-supervisee cases and ethical decision-making exercises, participants will examine power, ethical agency, and institutional constraints while identifying reflective supervision, psychological safety, moral resilience, and organizational accountability as strategies for strengthening moral community and reducing burnout and attrition among college counseling professionals (Epstein et al., 2020). Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 57 THE EMPOWERING INTAKE: USING SFBT PERSPECTIVES AND TECHNIQUES TO PROMOTE GROWTH AND RESILIENCE IN COLLEGE STUDENTS FROM THE FIRST MEETINGPresenter(s)Kaitlyn McDonaldStony Brook University Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Growth, Resilience, Instinct, and Tenacity (GRIT), Innovative Counseling Theory/Practice AbstractCollege students show us that they are hopeful and ready for change through the brave, simple act of scheduling their first appointment at the campus mental health center. In the dynamic setting of a college campus, often at stages of life associated with deeply significant transitions, students come to us eager (and sometimes impatient!) to see this change start to happen quickly. Yet, campus mental health counseling centers hold the tension between the student's desire to see a quick improvement and the need to responsibly gather information, assess the student's needs and risk, and develop a clinical formulation. The Empowering Intake provides a framework for integrating the principles and techniques of Solution-Focused Brief Therapy into the intake process to help clinicians conduct intakes that uplift and empower students, making the most of their readiness for change. This breakout session will discuss common challenges associated with the intake process in college mental health centers, provide a grounding in the principles and techniques of SFBT, and provide tangible strategies for integrating SFBT principles and techniques into the intake process to foster students' potential to begin to make positive changes starting at their very first visit. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 58 THE ROLE OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES IN SUPPORTING FIRST-GENERATION STUDENTS OF COLOR AT PREDOMINANTLY WHITE INSTITUTIONSPresenter(s)Mariam DembelePennsylvania State University Kaila SummersPennsylvania State University Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Inclusion and Belonging, Integrative Wellbeing/Wellness AbstractThis presentation will examine the role that the broader community at colleges and universities plays in supporting and retaining students of color at predominantly white institutions (PWIs). Students of color, specifically first-year Black and brown students who are first-generation, often face unique challenges, including lack of representation in the broader college community, decreased sense of belonging, cultural isolation, and lack of support in many areas, such as mentorship, academic, social, or financial support. As Black counselors and professionals, we share similar lived experiences to the students we support, and we offer personal and professional perspectives on this important topic. In our presentation, we will explore barriers and institutional practices that create challenges for Black and Brown students in higher education, including financial constraints and limited access to culturally responsive support. We will also highlight strategies that promote student success, including mentorship and improved access to academic and mental health resources. Attendees will leave with insight and practical tools to better understand and serve Black and brown students in PWI settings. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 59 THINKING WITH, NOT INSTEAD OF: ETHICAL AI SCAFFOLDING FOR NEURODIVERGENT COLLEGE STUDENTSPresenter(s)Jon ThomasLife Solutions Counseling Group/ The ADHD College Success Guidance Program Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Innovative Counseling Theory/Practice AbstractGenerative AI is already functioning as an informal executive-function aid for many college students. For neurodivergent students, it may help translate intention into action by clarifying assignments, breaking down tasks, organizing ideas, rehearsing difficult communications, and supporting self-advocacy. The same tools can also reinforce avoidance, weaken skill development, create academic-integrity problems, expose private information, and encourage dependence on unreliable output. College counselors need a practical way to distinguish between AI that restores access to a student's existing capacities and AI that substitutes for thinking the student still needs to do. This interactive session introduces a "scaffold, substitute, or dependency" framework for evaluating student AI use across five common domains: activation and planning, studying and comprehension, writing, communication, and emotional self-reflection. Participants will work through brief case examples involving ADHD and other neurodivergent students and consider the roles of developmental readiness, academic policy, privacy, accuracy, equity, and clinical boundaries. The session emphasizes a student-in-the-loop approach: AI may provide structure, questions, options, and feedback, while the student retains authorship, judgment, and responsibility. Participants will leave with a decision guide, counseling questions, and sample prompts that support agency and can be gradually faded as students develop greater independent capacity. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 60 TRAINING COUNSELORS FOR TODAY'S CAMPUS: AN IDENTITY-RESPONSIVE APPROACH TO COLLEGE COUNSELING INTERNSHIPPresenter(s)Cassidi LongMeredith College Jeremy Dela Dela PazMeredith College Instructional Level: Foundation Session Topic(s): Clinical Supervision and Training, Diversity/Inclusion/Equity AbstractCollege counseling centers serve increasingly diverse populations while responding to complex clinical, developmental, and systemic concerns unique to higher education. Preparing counselors-in-training for this environment requires more than developing foundational counseling skills. Internship experiences must intentionally foster clinical competence, professional identity, cultural humility, and an understanding of how students' intersecting identities and campus environments shape their mental health and experiences of care. This presentation describes the development and implementation of a structured graduate counseling internship program within a small college counseling center serving an increasingly diverse student population. The presenters will discuss strategies for creating an internship experience that integrates clinical practice, supervision, crisis response, outreach, consultation, professional development, and identity-responsive care. Particular attention will be given to the role of supervision in helping interns move beyond individual-level conceptualizations to consider identity, belonging, relationships, campus climate, and broader systemic influences on student well-being. The presentation will highlight practical strategies for integrating cultural humility and identity-responsive case conceptualization throughout the internship experience rather than approaching multicultural counseling as a stand-alone training topic. Attention will also be given to developmental supervision, reflective dialogue around counselor identity and assumptions, balancing support with challenge, and helping counselors-in-training navigate clinical work. Participants will leave with practical considerations and an adaptable framework for developing or strengthening internship and supervision practices that prepare counselors to meet the evolving needs of today's college students. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 61 USING THE REALITY THERAPY WDEP SYSTEM TO HELP COLLEGE STUDENTS NAVIGATE ANXIETIZINGPresenter(s)Molly TechauLindsey Wilson University Michelle CaudillMountain Comprehensive Care Center; Lindsey Wilson University Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Climate Anxiety, Innovative Counseling Theory/Practice AbstractAnxiety and loneliness are two well-known issues plaguing the college student experience. This session will provide practitioners practical tools to challenge students' patterns of anxieizing and empower individuals to make more advantageous choices that align with their Quality Worlds, thus alleviating overall anxiety and loneliness. With anxiety overshadowing the college experience, clinicians spend a significant amount of their time navigating students through anxietizing habits; this session will demonstrate for clinicians how to capitalize on utilizing students' values and intrinsic motivation to develop a more effective decision making process. The WDEP and Quality World from Reality Therapy and Choice theory model will be applied with case scenarios to demonstrate how to navigate students through decision making processes within their values systems and alleviate patterns of anxietizing and choosing loneliness. Presenters will provide learning materials through handouts and experiential opportunities through two activities during session for participants to reflect on practical application of the WDEP with students and troubleshoot unique situations. Participants will leave with a thorough understanding of the WDEP and how to employ this tool as means to mitigate anxietizing and bolster students' capacities to more efficaciously navigate the decision making process in alignment with their Quality Worlds. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 62 UTILIZATION OF MODERN BOARD GAMES AS THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTIONSPresenter(s)Luke StrawnNorth Carolina State University Instructional Level: Foundation Session Topic(s): Inclusion and Belonging, Innovative Counseling Theory/Practice AbstractWhile the cognitive and physical benefits of board games have been studied for decades (Alweis, E. & Alweis, R. 2025), modern board games have seen a renaissance during COVID-19, becoming a household activity. Additionally, mainstream outlets sell games, like We're Not Really Strangers, that promote connection, complementing recent research that indicates a current loneliness epidemic among college students who express challenges with communication skills, social anxiety, and developing deep relationships with their peers (Cornett 2026; Kindred & Bates, 2023). Acknowledging the growing popularity of modern board games and the aforementioned presenting concerns from students, there is an opportunity to integrate modern board games in both individual and group therapeutic settings. This presentation will explore utilization of Expressive Arts Therapy interventions through intentional modern board game mechanics so that students may learn how to cooperate with others, self-advocate through decisive actions, develop tenacity, and develop comfort within group activities. This presentation will discuss: A foundational understanding of relevant board game mechanics and terms relevant to a therapeutic setting ("Co-operative," "Solo," "Worker Placement," "Area Control," "Social Deduction," "Legacy") Maladaptive behavioral patterns in board game settings, as well as their impact on general social interactions ("Quarterbacking," "Kingmaking," cheating) How different categories of board games may be used to address different presenting concerns, such as communication skills, distress tolerance, and social anxiety Opportunities to collaborate with campus partners for referral, event space, and support Strategies for utilizing board games within individual and group therapeutic spaces Successes and challenges of integrating board games into a therapeutic space at NC State Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 63 WHEN "TRY HARDER" STOPS WORKING: SELF-COMPASSION FOR STRESS, PERFECTIONISM, AND RESILIENCE IN COLLEGE STUDENTSPresenter(s)Isabel Rayo CastrejonUniversity of Texas Rio Grande Valley Corrine BuchananPrescott College Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Innovative Counseling Theory/Practice, Integrative Wellbeing/Wellness AbstractCollege students often navigate academic pressure, perfectionism, self-criticism, uncertainty, and persistent expectations to perform while simultaneously managing relationships, identity development, financial concerns, family expectations, and decisions about their futures. Although resilience is frequently framed as the capacity to persevere through these demands, an exclusive emphasis on persistence may inadvertently reinforce the belief that students should simply cope better, work harder, or manage distress independently. The idea is to offer a different clinical pathway through self-compassion. This 90-minute experiential breakout session introduces self-compassion as an evidence-informed approach for supporting college students experiencing stress, self-criticism, perfectionistic expectations, and emotional distress. Grounded in the interconnected processes of self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness, the session will examine how self-compassion can help students acknowledge difficult experiences without becoming overwhelmed by them or defining themselves through perceived failures. Participants will distinguish self-compassion from self-pity, self-indulgence, and self-esteem and explore common misconceptions that may prevent students from responding compassionately to themselves. Through a college-student case application, attendees will practice identifying self-critical narratives and translating them into compassionate counseling responses that maintain accountability while reducing shame and isolation. The session will move from conceptual understanding to clinical application through brief experiential exercises and a guided self-compassion meditation that counselors can adapt for individual counseling, group work, outreach, and wellness programming. Particular attention will be given to using these practices in an invitational and responsive way, rather than presenting self-compassion as another expectation that students must perform successfully. Participants will leave with practical strategies for helping students shift from harsh self-evaluation toward greater emotional balance, connection, and resilience. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 64 WHEN BELONGING COMES AT A COST: RELIGIOUS TRAUMA AND LGBTQ+ COLLEGE STUDENTSPresenter(s)Katie SpargoFlorida Gulf Coast University Corrine BuchananPrescott College Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Inclusion and Belonging, Trauma AbstractCollege is a critical period of identity development as students explore who they are, what they believe, and where they belong. For LGBTQ+ students, sexual and gender identity development may intersect with the exploration of religious, spiritual, and moral identity. LGBTQ+ students who have survived religious trauma or spiritual abuse may experience identity confusion, internalized homonegativity, suicidality, relational disruption, and loss of belonging due to rejection or disconnection from religious communities or family. Yet, for many clinicians, the effects of religious trauma may go unrecognized when students initially present with anxiety, depression, family conflict, relationship difficulties, loneliness, or broader concerns related to identity and adjustment. In this interactive session, presenters will invite attendees to examine the experiences of LGBTQ+ college students who have survived religious trauma and spiritual abuse, with particular attention to developmentally informed best practices. Participants will explore how religious and LGBTQ+ identity development may intersect with experiences of acceptance, rejection, belonging, and harm. The session will consider how religious trauma may disrupt identity development without assuming that religious, spiritual, and LGBTQ+ identities are inherently incompatible. Participants will also examine considerations for differentiating normative identity exploration and religious or spiritual questioning from concerns associated with religious trauma. Experiential learning activities, case-based exercises, and small-group discussion will encourage participants to apply concepts to college counseling practice. Participants will examine the roles of belonging and social support and consider developmentally responsive interventions. Emphasis will be placed on cultivating student autonomy in decisions related to identity, faith, family, and community while developing affirming sources of connection and support. Attendees will leave with practical strategies for recognizing religious trauma and supporting LGBTQ+ college students as they navigate identity, meaning, healing, and belonging. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 65 WHEN HEALTH MEETS HIGHER EDUCATION: SUPPORTING GRADUATE STUDENTS THROUGH ILLNESS, UNCERTAINTY, AND LOSSPresenter(s)Kiran JohalThomas Jefferson University Jamie HagenbaughThomas Jefferson University Ariana RivensThomas Jefferson University Jennifer FogertyThomas Jefferson University Instructional Level: Foundation Session Topic(s): Innovative Counseling Theory/Practice, Integrative Wellbeing/Wellness AbstractGraduate and professional students living with chronic or serious health conditions face the challenge of managing complex health needs while meeting demanding academic and professional responsibilities. Chronic health conditions can interfere with academic functioning, increase illness-related academic interference, and contribute to anxiety, dissatisfaction, and reduced sense of campus fit. At the same time, graduate students experience substantial mental health challenges, with significant levels of depression and anxiety among postgraduate students. When illness affects academic progress, students may need to navigate systems simultaneously, including campus health, mental health services, student affairs, disability/accessibility resources, academic programs, faculty advisors, research responsibilities, and clinical training. Fragmentation among these systems can leave students responsible for coordinating their own care and educational needs during periods when their health may make that particularly difficult. There is also a need for institutions to prepare for the possibility that serious illness may result in death. Research examining university communities affected by student death identified the need for clear processes, flexibility, proactive support, recognition, and improved communication. This session addresses these needs through a case presentation with a multidisciplinary panel. The participants will examine practical strategies for supporting graduate students across the continuum of illness, uncertainty, and loss. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 66 WHEN HELPING HURTS: RECOGNIZING AND REPAIRING RETRAUMATIZATION IN SEXUAL ASSAULT COUNSELINGPresenter(s)Mahalia CainLindsey Wilson University Patricia Stewart-HopkinsLindsey Wilson University Instructional Level: Intermediate Session Topic(s): Growth, Resilience, Instinct, and Tenacity (GRIT), Integrative Wellbeing/Wellness AbstractMoving beyond general descriptions of what trauma-informed counselors should do, this interactive session examines how well-intended clinical practices may inadvertently undermine safety, autonomy, and trust. Even well-intentioned counselors can cause retraumatization (Brown et al., 2021). Participants will analyze practices that can contribute to retraumatization, using a "What we say—What the survivor may hear—perspective shift. Grounded in SAMHSA's Four Rs (2026), participants will use a practical relational-repair framework to recognize potential retraumatization, pause the harmful interaction, acknowledge its impact, restore the survivor's voice and choice, and collaboratively determine next steps. Participants will practice identifying potential harm and responding through acknowledgment, accountability, restoration of choice, and collaborative repair. The session also addresses the emotional impact of sexual trauma work on counselors. Ongoing clinical work with sexual trauma places professionals at acute risk for burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious traumatization (Best & Jun, 2017). Participants will examine indicators of vicarious trauma, countertransference, overidentification, and emotional activation that may influence clinical responses. Supervision, consultation, personal therapy, professional boundaries, and intentional self-care will be presented as essential supports for ethical, sustainable, and compassion-informed practice. This session advances the conference theme by helping college counselors provide stability and support to survivors while sustaining their own capacity to remain present and effective. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 67 WHEN SUPPORT SYSTEMS SHIFT: COUNSELING LOW-INCOME FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS IN A CHANGING HIGHER EDUCATION LANDSCAPEPresenter(s)Angelica TelloAdler Graduate School Instructional Level: Foundation Session Topic(s): Climate Anxiety, Inclusion and Belonging AbstractFirst-generation college students (FGCS), particularly those from low-income families, continue to experience significant barriers to college persistence and degree completion. According to recent national data, only 24% of FGCS had earned a bachelor's degree in six years compared with 59% of continuing-generation students (RTI International, 2024). For low-income FGCS, financial insecurity, limited cultural and social capital, and family responsibilities can further complicate their college experience. Moreover, these challenges are occurring within a rapidly changing higher education landscape. Across the US, legislative and institutional changes have resulted in the elimination or restructuring of diversity and inclusion offices, programs, and initiatives. Consequently, FGCS from low-income backgrounds may have reduced access to programs that previously provided mentorship, community, and pathways to campus resources. College counseling professionals are uniquely positioned to help low-income FGCS navigate these challenging environments while supporting their mental health, college persistence, and sense of belonging on campus. This presentation will examine the psychosocial needs of low-income FGCS, including financial stress, limited cultural capital, imposter feelings, completing family and academic expectations, and college self-efficacy. Particular attention will be given to culturally responsive, strength-based strategies counselors can utilize within changing institutional and legislative environments. Participants will learn approaches for fostering belonging, strengthening college self-efficacy, supporting self-advocacy, and identifying alternative pathways to mentorship and community. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 68 WHEN THE GROUND KEEPS MOVING: HOW WE STAYED GROUNDED THROUGH YEARS OF CHANGEPresenter(s)Melissa Porter, PsyD/HSPVanderbilt University Mary Clare ChampionVanderbilt University Instructional Level: Foundation Session Topic(s): Climate Anxiety, Leadership AbstractCollege counseling centers have experienced years of continuous change marked by leadership transitions, staffing shortages, increasing clinical acuity, shifting institutional priorities, and the lasting effects of the pandemic. Throughout these challenges, counseling center professionals have remained a steady source of support for students while adapting to an evolving landscape. Through a candid conversation between two counseling center professionals who navigated these challenges together, this session explores lessons learned while creating stability for staff and sustaining high-quality, student-centered care. Rather than presenting a model of success, the presenters share an honest narrative of uncertainty, difficult decisions, missteps, resilience, and growth while highlighting practical strategies that strengthened both their team and the services they provided. Participants will explore how intentional communication, shared leadership, operational consistency, psychological safety, and mutual support foster resilient counseling center teams during ongoing change while maintaining a clear focus on students. Attendees will leave with practical strategies to strengthen trust, navigate difficult conversations, support colleagues through change, and create greater stability within their own counseling centers. This session invites participants to reflect on their own experiences and identify actionable approaches for fostering resilient, student-centered teams in an evolving higher education landscape. Learning Objectives
BREAKOUT PRESENTATION 69 YOU MOVED. SO DID YOUR BODY: CONSIDERING SAD, SEASONALITY, AND GEOGRAPHIC RELOCATION IN COLLEGE STUDENTSPresenter(s)Leslie WeaverSpring Hill College Linda HayesSpring Hill College Instructional Level: Advanced Session Topic(s): Innovative Counseling Theory/Practice, Integrative Wellbeing/Wellness AbstractCollege students come to campus from across the country and around the world. We routinely consider the emotional, social, and cultural adjustments that come with that move. But how often do we consider the physical environment a student's body just left behind? What happens when a student who grew up with one pattern of daylight and seasons moves somewhere very different? Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is often thought of as winter depression associated with reduced daylight, but the picture is more complicated. Research suggests that latitude, seasonality, light exposure, and a person's previous environment may all be important considerations. Research with undergraduate students has also found that students from less-seasonal hometowns may experience greater increases in seasonal symptoms when attending college in a more-seasonal environment. This advanced session looks at SAD through the lens of college student mobility. We will explore how changes in daylight, season, geography, and circadian rhythms may affect students who move for college, whether that move is across a state, across the country, or across the world. International students, students crossing hemispheres, and students repeatedly traveling between home and campus provide particularly interesting examples. Participants will leave with practical questions they can add to their assessment of seasonal concerns, including where symptoms first began, what seasons were like at home, whether symptoms changed after moving to college, and what happens when students travel home and return. We will also address differential diagnosis, treatment considerations, and ways counseling centers can better recognize and support students experiencing seasonal concerns. Learning Objectives
Join Us in Houston!Explore new research, clinical approaches, and ideas from college counseling professionals. Explore the 2027 Annual Conference | 2027 Annual Conference
February 18–21, 2027 Conference Overview Attendee Registration Conference Schedule Hotel & Transportation Exhibits & Sponsorship Exhibitor & Sponsor Registration
Houston, Texas
Early Registration Deadline
January 10, 2027 |