ACEG has always held its Professional Development Institute (PDI) in conjunction with the American Counseling Association’s Annual Conference and Exposition. Join ACEG in Orlando, Florida, March 12-15, 2015.
ACEG Events Schedule March 13 – The Hyatt Regency Orlando Hotel (Please note that all dates, times, and meeting rooms are subject to change without notice or permission. Check the ACA Program Guide and Addendum for final meeting locations.)
ACEG Annual Director’s Board Meeting – Columbia 35 – 1400-1500
ACEG Membership Business Meeting – Discovery 46 – 1500-1600
ACEG & NECA Military University Reception – Columbia 37 – 1800-2000
| PDI related activity – see below |
ACEG Sponsored ACA Education Sessions (see ACA Program Guide and Addendum)
90 minutes – Angie Waliski, PhD, LPC, NCC (Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System) and Lynna Meadows Morton, MS, SLPC (ACEG) – Counselors Assisting Military Veterans Engage in Services: Building a Partnership with the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense. WE NEED YOU! Are you a counselor, a Veteran, a military service member, or family member of a Veteran or military service member, a friend of a military service member, Veteran, or family member. If so this presentation is for you. This AECG sponsored and led presentation will identify their strategies to advocate for counselors as mental health providers within the VA. This presentation includes several leaders of ACA division and branches to all counselors to unite for the recognition of our clinical abilities and expertise
60 minutes – Dixielynn Johnson, MA, CMHT (Hope for Heroes Project) – Embracing the Suck of Combat: Suicide in the Ranks. Military suicide numbers are increasing to one suicide every 65 minutes; however, prevention programs are not targeting veteran’s life experiences to heal their anguish. Therapists must change their way of working with vets. This session creates a framework for counselors to help our nation’s veterans.
Poster Session
Jennifer Sztalkoper (Capella University – PhD Learner) and Benjamin V. Noah, PhD, LPC, NCC, NCCC, ACS (Capella University) – Left Behind: Army Wives’ Afghanistan Deployment Experiences. Army wives describe their personal experiences during an Afghanistan spousal deployment and the supports that they use in order to cope during the spousal separation.
Our PDI will be a joint effort with the National Employment Counseling Association (NECA). Thus, ACEG will provide half of the sessions and NECA the other half. We will be having an Awards Lunch. More information and registration details will be posted as it becomes available.
PDI Schedule and Location Information
The Hyatt Regency Orlando Hotel (Please note that all dates, times, and meeting rooms are subject to change without notice or permission. Check the ACA Program Guide and Addendum for final meeting locations.)
ACEG & NECA PDI – March 12 – 0800-1700 – Blue Springs Room
ACEG & NECA Awards Luncheon – 1200-1400 – Rainbow Springs 1
PDI Sessions – March 12
Tami Frye, PhD, LMSW (Walden University) – Grief Experiences of Young Recent War Widows and How Effective Current Counseling Strategies Meet Their Needs. Widows between 18-25 who were widowed as the result of wars in Iraq or Afghanistan are resulting in higher numbers than any previous wars. Prior research on widows was with much older women. Our counseling theories driving grief counseling is not adequately meeting the needs of widows at these stages of development. More research and a change is strategies is necessary to adequately help these women.
Judith Mathewson, MEd, MS, RMFT-I (USAF) and Emily Hain (Grove Street Wellness Retreat) – Introducing i-Rest as a Stress Reduction Tool for Veterans. Counselors will experience an adjunctive therapy to assist veterans with combat trauma symptoms. I-Rest is a simple tool for healing, creating deep relaxation and meditative practices that release negative emotions and thought patterns, calms the nervous system, and a positive capacity to meet distressing circumstances.
David L. Fenell, PhD (University of Colorado Colorado Springs) – Top Ten Reasons Why Professional Counselors are the Therapists of Choice for Combat Veterans and their Families. There have been more than 200 interventions proposed to provide mental health support for combat veterans and their families. This presentation will describe ten important reasons why professional counselors are among the most qualified to serve service members and their families.