McHenry County Suicide Prevention & Mental Health Recovery Conference
Friday, September 13, 2019 - 9:00 am to 3:30 pm
McHenry County College
Luecht Auditorium
5 Free CEU's & complimentary lunch provided
(IOADAPCA included )

Registration is closed. For additional information,
please contact Kris at kdoherty@mc708.org.

Join us for the 3rd Annual Suicide Prevention & Mental Health Recovery Conference. This event is a collaborative effort between the McHenry County Mental Health Board and the McHenry County Suicide Prevention Task Force which focuses on suicide prevention,
mental health and substance abuse. 

Who Should Attend: Behavioral Health Providers, Mental Health Professionals, Survivors, Mental Health Consumers, Students and the general community. ALL are encouraged to attend! The conference will provide a space for professionals & the community to discuss their concerns, successes, and challenges, and share tools and best practices.

If conference space capacity should become limited, priority status is given to individuals who reside in McHenry County or are employed within McHenry County.

Featured Keynote Speaker: Dese'Rae L. Stage

Dese’Rae Stage is an artist, public speaker, and suicide education activist. She created Live Through This, a multimedia storytelling series that aims to reduce prejudice and discrimination against suicide attempt survivors. Live Through This reminds us that suicide is a human issue by elevating and amplifying survivors’ voices through raw, honest stories of survival, and pairing them with portraits—putting faces and names to the statistics that have been the only representation of attempt survivors in the past. Dese’Rae has received several awards for her work, including the SAMHSA Voice Award, the SXSW Community Service Award, Investigation Discovery’s Inspire a Difference Everyday Hero Award, and the American Association of Suicidology’s inaugural Transforming Lived Experience Award. Live Through This has received media coverage from TIME, New York Times, CBS Evening News, NPR, and Dese’Rae is featured as the main character in a documentary about suicide prevention advocates called The S Word, screening nationwide.

Breakout Session Topics & Presenters 

Breakout Session I (10:45 - 11:45)

• Effective Advocacy for Illinois Mental Health Panel - Ali Poole, BA, Tina Karaway, CRSS, FSA, & Hugh Brady, MA
• "Little Things" a Nuño Twins Short - Adrian Nuño & Andrew Nuño
• Vicarious Trauma: Understanding and Addressing the Effects of Working with People with Traumatic Backgrounds - Shira Greenfield, LCPC
• (FULL) Working with Survivors of Suicide Loss - Jennifer Balleto, LCPC & Rose Hamann 

Breakout Session II (12:45 - 1:45)

• (FULL) Family Interventions - Geri Condon, LCPC
• (FULL) It Takes a Village: Fostering Resilience in High School and College Students - Rachel Boldmen, MS, LCPC & Tami Broskow, LCSW
• Peer Support Panel - Gina Lawrence, MA, LCPC, CRSS, Chris Reed, Michael Flanagan, & Randy Patterson, CPS
• Potential Impacts of Legalized Marijuana in McHenry County Panel - Tom Faber, CWDP, Karen Wolownik Albert, LCSW, Patrick Kenneally, SA, Pam Althoff, MA, & Laura Crain

• Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS) - John Tumino, MA, LPC
• (FULL) Harm Reduction Panel - Jessica Longhi, LCSW, Carlene Cardosi, LCSW, CADC, & Alex Mathieson, PRSS 
• (FULL) Sustainable Recovery - Sara Lemke, LCPC, CADC, & Larry Walsh Sr., PRSS
   

  For the Conference Schedule and a brief description of breakout sessions & presenter bio's CLICK HERE.

Special Accomodations

Become a Sponsor or Exhibitor

The Suicide Prevention & Mental Health Recovery Conference has several opportunities for corporate and individual sponsorship. Please contact Kris Doherty at kdoherty@mc708.org  for additional information.