About the Event

This multidisciplinary conference will explore the diverse pathways to emotional well-being, from evidence-based to applied contemporary practices. Delve into current trends and innovative strategies that are transforming how we understand and support mental health.


Discover future opportunities and advancements designed to revolutionize emotional well-being in personal, professional, and societal contexts. This conference is a must-attend for anyone passionate about fostering a healthier, more resilient world.

Agenda

General Mental Health Track School Mental Health Track En Español Track
9:00am – 9:25am

Opening Remarks & Orientation to Conference

9:25am – 10:15am

Keynote: Thinking Outside the Crayon Box

While in the psychiatric hospital, a thoughtful nurse handed Amanda a box of crayons. While in the psychiatric hospital, a thoughtful nurse handed Amanda a box of crayons. This kind gesture changed everything in Amanda’s healing and ultimately led her journey in becoming a mental health leader, social entrepreneur, and award-winning documentary filmmaker. Since age 18, Amanda has been giving talks to universities, non-profits, corporations, and health care systems around the U.S. The goal is simple: for audiences to think more deeply about mental health for themselves, and the communities they live and work in. Amanda weaves in her own personal story, tools around wellness and identity, creative exercises using crayons, and shares short films she's produced featuring other people's mental health stories.

Amanda Lipp

(she/her)

Amanda Lipp (she/her) is a filmmaker, consultant, speaker, and entrepreneur working at the intersection of mental health care, storytelling, and technology. She is the Owner of Lipp Studios, Founder at The Giving Gallery, Co-Founder at neuroTree, and Technical Assistance Specialist at the Center for Applied Research Solutions. She previously worked at the California Mental Health Services Authority (CalMHSA). Amanda has created over 100 short films with clients around the U.S. - ranging from university clinics, large healthcare nonprofits, to social entrepreneurs. Latest clients have included Columbia Psychiatry, Sutter Health, Stanford Medicine, and UCSF. She is focused on elevating complex topics like youth psychosis, mass trauma, recreation therapy, and alternative living. Since age 18, she has given over 150 keynotes sharing mental health resources, films, and her own personal story. Amanda connects the art and science of filmmaking, leveraging the power of stories for systems change and personal empowerment.

10:15am – 10:25am Break
10:25am - 11:15am

Leveraging Your Strengths: A Foundation of Success, Recovery, & Happiness

What matters more: our strengths or our weaknesses? While most of us recognize the importance of strengths, we still tend to spend more time trying to fix our deficits. Some attention to weaknesses is certainly important, but real success and long-term happiness depends on our ability to identify and make the most of our unique, individual strengths. This workshop will describe the importance of starting with strengths in our work and our personal lives. Participants will learn about specific tools for identifying and working with strengths and strategies for incorporating a renewed focus on strengths in our work. Our goal is for you to leave with a renewed focus on leveraging who you are at your best.

Tony Zipple

ScD, MBA

is an expert in improving individual, team, and organizational performance in social services and healthcare organizations.During his 45-year career, Tony has served as a senior executive for three nationally recognized behavioral health provider organizations and held positions as an accreditation surveyor, public administrator, and professor at researcher at the Boston University Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation. Dr. Zipple received his Doctorate in Rehabilitation Counseling from Boston University, his MBA from the University of New Hampshire, and his Master’s of Science in Environmental Design and Bachelor’s degrees from the University of Notre Dame. He has multiple certifications in coaching, positive psychology, happiness studies, positive neuroplasticity training, and cognitive behavioral treatment. Dr. Zipple is a Massachusetts licensed psychologist who has published more than 65 articles, monographs, and book chapters, He is a recipient of the Hall-Render Leadership in Healthcare Award and the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association's Beard and Rutman Awards.

11:15am – 11:25am Break
11:25am- 12:15 pm

Motivational Interviewing as a Path to Personal Change

Motivational Interviewing (MI) sounds great on paper and sometimes helpers struggle with when and how to use it in practice. This session is designed to bridge that gap, offering practical strategies to bring MI to life in your work. We’ll dive into the latest insights from the newly released 4th edition of the Motivational Interviewing textbook, including the updated MI spirit language. You'll learn to identify and describe the four tasks of MI and explore key relational skills, such as the spirit of MI and the OARS microskills: open-ended questions, affirmations, reflections, and summary statements.

Additionally, we'll introduce practical MI tools that can be seamlessly integrated into your sessions alongside other techniques. This session will be highly interactive—come ready to explore your personal path to change using MI strategies!

Michelle L. Drapkin

Ph.D., ABPP

Dr. Michelle Drapkin has been working in the area of behavior change for over 20 years. She is the Owner/Director of the CBT Center and previously held roles in industry (Johnson and Johnson), academia (University of Pennsylvania and Rutgers) and federal government (Department of Veteran Affairs). She has dedicated her professional career to using psychological research to help people. She is a board-certified Clinical Psychologist and sees patients in her private practice, consults with healthcare tech startups, and delivers trainings and workshops on communication/motivation and health and wellbeing at work and in life. She is the sole author of The Motivational Interviewing Path to Personal Change: The Essential Workbook for Creating the Life You Want from New Harbinger Publications.

Parent and Community Engagement

Participants will understand the importance of family & community engagement within a CSMH system. Consider family and community engagement through a culturally sensitive, trauma-informed lens. AND be able to discuss implementation steps to creating effective School-Family-Community partnerships to support student mental health.

Tania Leonard

MS

Tania has 20 + years of experience identifying and connecting resources for schools, districts, and urban communities. She has a rich history working in the mental health field and education leadership and has worked tirelessly with child servicing agencies at the city and state level. Tania has provided leadership, guidance, and coaching to schools. She’s supported school teams with implementing evidence-based supports, responding to behavioral health emergencies, and managing the aftermath of school and community crises. Tania is committed to providing quality services to the most vulnerable populations.

Radiografía de la comunidad LGBTQ+ en Puerto Rico: Contextos y experiencias

Miguel Vázquez. PsyD

MS

Dr. Miguel Vázquez-Rivera holds a Master's Degree in Research in Clinical Psychology (Autonomous University of Barcelona) and a Master's and a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (Carlos Albizu University). He has researched topics such as sexual and gender diversity and problematic substance use. He has presented his research in Puerto Rico, the United States, Mexico, Spain, The Bahamas, Colombia, South Africa and Peru. He has published social responsibility articles on various topics in psychology and is editor of Problematic Drug Use: Foundations, Intervention, Diversity, is the lead editor of the book Trans, Queer and Non-Binary Communities: Presence and Resistance, a textbook co-written with the community, LGBT 101: An introductory look at the collective, first textbook for LGBT communities in Puerto Rico and author of the manual Salud LGBT+: A therapeutic manual for working with communities. He is the co-founder of Psicoalternativas, is co-founder and Executive Director of True Self Foundation and co-founder of PsychConnection PR, a company that merges technology into psychology services. Throughout his career he has received awards such as: Graduate of the Year 2015 from Albizu University and Psychologist of the Year 2015 and Outstanding Professional in Public Policy and Public Service 2020, from the Puerto Rico Association of Psychology.

12:15pm - 1:05pm Lunch/Networking
1:05pm - 1:55pm

Recovery Innovations Roundtable: Supporting People with Serious Mental Health Conditions Expert Panel Discussion

This moderated roundtable discussion will explore innovative approaches to services and strategies to support recovery for people with serious mental health conditions. We will explore topics such as career path development, recovery-oriented housing services, peer support specialization, and supporting people aging with mental health conditions with experts from Rutgers, Department of Psychiatric Rehabilitation & Counseling Professions.

Ann Murphy

Ph.D., CPRP- Dr.

Ann Murphy, Moderator, is an Associate Professor and Director of the Northeast and Caribbean Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC) in the Department of Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Counseling Professions at Rutgers, School of Health Professions. Dr. Murphy’s work focuses on improving the lives of people with mental health conditions via the development, evaluation, and implementation of evidence-based practices. She currently directs three funded projects related to workforce development, technical assistance, and performance improvement. Through these projects she collaborates with community-based mental health organizations and schools to support the assessment of needs, identification of resources, development and delivery of technical assistance, and establishment of strategies for sustainability.

Amy Banko

MS, CPRP

Ms. Amy Banko is a Lecturer at Rutgers University in the Department of Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Counseling Professions. She works as a trainer and implementation consultant at the Integrated Employment Institute, where she provides trauma-informed supported employment (SE) and supported education (SEd) training and implementation support to community providers. Ms. Banko co-developed the first mobile outreach Supported Education program in New Jersey and serves as a co-investigator for several federally funded studies exploring supported education services. Her research focuses on occupational justice for people with mental health conditions and improving the social determinants of health for individuals in the public mental health service system. Ms. Banko's work is informed by her lived experience with a mental health condition, and she brings this perspective to her roles as an instructor, scholar, and clinician.

Dr. Amy B. Spagnolo

PhD

PhD is a faculty member in the Department of Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Counseling Professions at Rutgers, the State University of NJ who has designed and provided workforce development initiatives for behavioral healthcare providers and supervisors for two decades. She is the Project Director of the Academy of Peer Services as well as the New York Peer Support Services Technical Assistance Center (PeerTAC).

Dr. Michelle Zechner

(she/her)

is an Associate Professor at Rutgers University in the Department of Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Counseling Professions. She teaches, conducts research on aging and wellness, and focuses on inter-professional collaboration to improve the healthcare of people living with serious mental health conditions. Dr. Zechner developed one of the first undergraduate courses on aging and psychiatric rehabilitation in the country and is involved in workforce development initiatives for behavioral health and providers of aging services. She is the Principal Investigator of a federally funded project designed to improve the dental health experiences of people with serious mental health conditions.

Earle Leitch

MS

is a Senior Training and Consultation Specialist at Rutgers School of Health Professions in the Department of Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Counseling Professions. Earle provides in-person and remote training, consultation and technical assistance to New Jersey Community Support Services provider agencies. He also provides training to mental health providers funded through the Washington State Healthcare Authority. Earle has more than 25 years of experience managing and administrating behavioral health organizations in New York, New Jersey, Virginia and Massachusetts. He has extensive experience planning, developing and evaluating Intensive Community Treatment Programs, Mental Health Supportive Housing, Children & Family Services and Intellectual & Developmental Disability Services. Before joining Rutgers University SHP, he served as the Regional Director of Mental Health Residential Services for a private, not-for-profit behavioral healthcare organization in NJ. He worked collaboratively with county mental health boards and local professional advisory committees on alcohol and drug abuse in the northern region of NJ.

School-Based Mental Health Funding

During this interactive, virtual training, participants will learn more about current state and federal funding utilized in New York for behavioral health in schools. Participants will identify needs and gaps, as well as opportunities to garner buy-in and leverage existing funding to implement and sustain school behavioral health efforts.

Amy Dyett

M.Ed.

Amy Dyett is co-founder and owner of a women-owned, mission-driven consulting business called Advancing Dynamic Solutions that works at the intersection of education, public health, and behavioral health to create and advance solutions for youth and communities. Amy has dedicated her career to supporting the integration of health and wellness into educational systems and policies and has worked with state departments and school districts for over 15 years. She has written, managed and implemented numerous federal and state school health funding streams and has a deep understanding of how education systems work, how schools are funded, what funding opportunities exist, and how these can be braided, blended and strategically leveraged to sustain behavioral and mental health efforts in schools.

Amy was Director of School Health at the Colorado Education Initiative for over seven years, supporting over 178 school districts in integrating health and wellness into their systems, policies, and procedures. She has also worked at Tri-County Health Department, and has been a 2nd and 6th grade teacher. Amy represented the United States as a 2017 Global Education Policy Fellow in China and has held numerous membership roles on state and national coalitions and committees. Amy received her B.S. in Biology and Biomedical Sciences from Colorado State University and her Masters in Teaching from the University of Northern Colorado.

1:05pm - 1:55pm

Unlocking Wellness: Adding Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Strategies to Your Clinical Toolbox

This session will provide a foundational guide for clinicians seeking to enrich their therapeutic approach by incorporating Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) into their toolkit to enhance each client’s wellness. This session will delve into practical strategies for reducing emotional vulnerability and increasing resilience through the principles of DBT. Participants will gain a basic understanding of DBT through an introduction to the four core modules of mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. Participants will learn skills within each module to implement into their clinical sessions.

Crystal Socha

MS, LPC, CRC, NCC, ACS (she/her)

Crystal Socha, MS, LPC, CRC, NCC, ACS (she/her) is a PhD Candidate and Senior Training and Consultation Specialist at Rutgers School of Health Professions in the Department of Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Counseling Professions. Crystal’s primary role includes providing in-person and remote training, consultation, and technical assistance to New Jersey agencies that provide Community Support Services. She has over ten years of experience in the behavioral health field, delivering trauma-informed, culturally responsive, gender-affirming care and supporting individuals in building a life worth living. Before joining Rutgers, she provided recovery-oriented services in supportive housing, intensive in-home and in-community settings, community mental health centers, integrated primary care, hospital systems, and private practices. She has received a 40-hour foundational training in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) by a Linehan Board Certified Clinician and utilizes a DBT informed approach within her work as a counselor.

POWER: Positive Outcomes with Emotional Regulation – A Tier 2 Group Intervention

The POWER program is a free manualized 8-session group school-based intervention program designed to promote emotion regulation skills for middle and high school students with or at risk of developing mental and behavioral health needs. The POWER program incorporates techniques that have been found to be effective across adolescents with different types of emotion-related mental and behavioral health needs. As a targeted intervention, the POWER program is designed to be implemented at Tier 2 within the multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) framework.

This 50-minute workshop will introduce participants to The POWER Program, its key intervention resources, and discuss strategies for implementation in the school setting.

Stuart Luther

MS, LAC, NCC

Stuart Luther, MS, LAC, NCC is a senior training and consultation specialist for the Rutgers-CCSMH. He has diverse background in supporting youth and schools as a regional youth development program director, school-based clinician, and policy advocate. Stuart has extensive experience equipping schools with knowledge and practical strategies through training and coaching to implement school mental health evidence-based practices and programing. He specializes in service delivery and inclusion of LGBTQIA+ youth. Stuart also supports NJ youth and children in crisis as an intensive in-home counselor.

1:55pm – 2:05pm Break
2:05pm - 3:00pm

Using Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) to go from Self-care to Community Care

Mental health has increasingly become an area of concern for children and adults around the world. In response to this need, many different approaches have been promoted on how individuals can become more resilient and engage in better self-care. However, considerably less attention has been paid to how we can engage in community care, where the groups and organizations we are part of are re-conceptualized to support mental well-being of everyone. This presentation will describe an approach using Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT) that provides tools to both enhance our individual ability to take ourselves and help to shift our broader community context for other care.

Imad Zaheer

Ph.D.

Dr. Imad Zaheer is an Assistant Professor of School Psychology in the Department of Psychology, at St. John’s University and co-founder of the Nurturing Environments Institute (NEI). Dr. Zaheer is a pediatric school psychologist and has worked on numerous projects in clinics, hospitals, and public and alternative school settings that involve direct and indirect (consultation) services across individual, group, and systems level. His research interests are in application of implementation science towards creating and sustaining school prevention and intervention programs (School mental health, SEL, PBIS, & RTI) within a multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) framework, with a particular focus of using third-wave behavioral approaches as both a service delivery method and enhancing existing interventions. For his work in these areas, Dr. Zaheer was awarded the Council for Exceptional Children’s (CEC) Professional Performance Award in 2019. Additionally, Dr. Zaheer sits on the steering committee for the national group, Family School Community Alliance (FSCA), which is an organization dedicated to creating robust collaboration and engagement across schools and families/community settings.

3:00pm – 3:30pm Closing Remarks

Speakers

Amanda Lipp

Tony Zipple

ScD, MBA

Michelle L. Drapkin

Ph.D., ABPP

Tania Leonard

MS

Amy Dyett

M.Ed.

Crystal Socha

MS, LPC, CRC, NCC, ACS

Stuart Luther

MS, LAC, NCC

Imad Zaheer

Ann Murphy

Amy Banko

Dr. Amy B. Spagnolo

Dr. Michelle Zechner

Earle Leitch

Miguel Vázquez. PsyD

Frequently Asked Questions


Please visit the Conference Session Links tab on this webpage to access each session's direct Zoom Webinar links. No further registration is required.
No, we will provide certificates of attendance for each conference session.
Our center does not offer CEUs. We invite you to download the presenter’s slides and certificate of completion and submit them to your credentialing agency for review.
Yes, each conference session will be recorded and posted to this conference webpage within a week after the conclusion of the conference.
Yes, you may attend any of the sessions you choose to customize your learning experience.
Yes, we will post our Presenter’s slides to our conference website within one with after the conclusion of the conference.
We will host the conference on the Zoom Webinar platform. We advise all registrants to download this application before the Conference to ensure that each session will launch successfully on your computer or mobile device.
We will launch each conference session at the scheduled start time.
Yes, you can join the session at any time.
All sessions will be held in Eastern Standard Time. Please adjust the time to your time zone as needed.
Please contact mhttc@getvfairs.io should you have any difficulties in joining the conference session.
Yes, we will offer closed captioning and American Sign Language interpreters for each session.