3^rd Annual Mental and Behavioral Health Conference

 Connection of the Mind and Body:

Impact of the Current Social and Political Climate

The Mental and Behavioral Health Conference is an annual training and professional development opportunity for students, practitioners, and community members. Our third annual conference seeks to provide attendees with critical understandings and practical knowledge that can be used to enrich their scholarship, service provision, and relationships while also inspiring thoughtful and intentional community action. For centuries the Cartesian idea of mind-body duality dominated our common conception of how we come to feel what we feel. Today, it is well understood that the mind and body cannot be conceived of as separate from each other. Rather, they are interdependent constructs, constantly interacting, influencing, and interpreting our experiences as we move through the world. What is less understood is how our environment can directly impact this mind and body connection. In this contemporary moment, we are especially concerned with how social and political climates directly affect our mental health and well-being. From immigration law to climate change, the contentious social issues of our time have the greatest effect on the most vulnerable and marginalized populations in society. Our theme this year is a call to counselors, psychologists, educators, scholars, and practitioners to explore connections between mental health and the socio-political environment. 

Keynote Presentations

Dr. Erika Felix

How Do We Make our Schools Feel Safe and Supported?

Schools are one of the safest places for a child to be, yet parents and youth often do not feel that is the case, especially when media coverage of the latest mass shooting grabs our attention. In this presentation, I will present key child and school safety facts to provide context and then discuss how the media cultivates our sense of reality around perceived safety. I will highlight the need to address the most common forms of victimization that youth experience. Finally, I will provide an overview of best practices for preparation, response, and recovery when tragedy does strike, and provide key resources to use in crisis response and for continued learning in this area.

Dr. Erika Felix is an Associate Professor in the Department of Counseling, Clinical, & School Psychology at UCSB, and is a practicing, licensed psychologist serving children and families. She began trying to understand how children and families adapt and recover following collectively-experienced traumas after the 9/11 terror attacks. She received a competitive award from the Research and Education in Disaster Mental Health. In the course of her research, she has learned from the experiences of teachers following the 9/11 terror attacks, and children and families in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Georges; Santa Barbara County following the Tea and Jesusita fires; fires in Colorado; floods in Texas; and now young adults following Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, & Maria and local wildfires. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation. Dr. Felix has also engaged in clinical services and volunteer work to support survivors, including the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka, as an American Red Cross volunteer locally, and following the mass murder tragedy in Isla Vista, Santa Barbara. Through all these experiences with survivors of collectively-experienced traumatic events, she has strived to learn from them what will help others in the future when these types of events happen.

Meditate: Create a life of joy, peace and love

In today’s socio-political climate, stress and trauma are present for many. In this presentation, you will learn how the environment and the effects of trauma shape our experience as school practitioners. You will also learn about how our beliefs about ourselves create our life’s outcomes on a daily basis.  Additionally, children come to us with their own life occurrences. In this interactive session, you will learn a few practical mindfulness tools to begin to create a life of joy, peace and love that will inform your personal and professional work and positively impact and influence the children with whom you work.

Dr. Windmueller has over 40 years of experience as a Special Educator, Public School Administrator, University Professor and Educational Consultant to school districts throughout the United States. Dr. Windmueller completed her Ph.D. in education at the University of Southern California in 2004, where her dissertation titled Early Reading Predictors of Literacy Achievement for English Learners: A Longitudinal Study from First Through Third Gradewon the Dissertation Award of Merit. Her research interests include issues related to effective reading instruction for English language learners, students at risk for reading failure, second language learning, personal and professional growth for educators, and mindfulness practices for educators. 

 In 2002, Dr. Windmueller received the Distinguished Alumna Award from the Charter College of Education at California State University, Los Angeles. She has published in Learning Disability Quarterly, The Urban Education Journal,and The Mentor.Dr. Windmueller has delivered papers at state and national conferences, including the AERA annual meeting, the Council for Exceptional Children convention, the Conference on Learning Disabilities, and the DIBELS Summit. Dr. Windmueller taught reading and special education for 27 years in the urban public schools of East Los Angeles and for 12 years she served as an administrator in public schools throughout the Los Angeles area. In 2012, Dr. Windmueller was named Distinguished Educator of the Year by the Charter College of Education at California State University, Los Angeles. Dr. Windmueller serves as a consultant in reading for state and local education agencies.

She is currently working with teachers, administrators, university faculty and mental health professionals in helping them to transform their classrooms and agencies to places of high learning and to empower practitioners to bring love and kindness into their classrooms. Dr. Windmueller is an Apprentice for Joey Klein’s Conscious Transformation. In all of her studies, she has never found a system that covers all aspects of the self and creates such profound and lasting change as Joey Klein’s Transformation Series. It is her passion and privilege to share this program with everyone she meets.

Register Today!

*Space is not guaranteed for registrations at the door on the day of the event. Last year's conference was at capacity. 

Student Scholarship Application

Scholarships are available to Cal State LA students. The student scholarship application is now open. Click on the link below to submit a student scholarship application. The deadline to apply for scholarships is March 15th, 2019. 

2019 Mental and Behavioral Health Conference Scholarship Application

Call For Proposals

We are seeking papers, posters, and interactive workshop presentations that explore the intersections of the theme areas with these subject areas. Proposals may articulate theoretical possibilities, best practices, and/or evidence-based knowledge grounded in qualitative or quantitative research. We are accepting single presentation proposals, panel presentation proposals, roundtable proposals, and other creative works.

The submission deadline for Call for Proposals is now closed.