Valley Vista, the 80-bed inpatient alcohol and chemical dependency treatment center and office-based medication assisted treatment program, will be hosting the Vermont Conference on Addictive Disorders at Lake Morey Resort on September 29th and 30th. The focus of this year’s Conference will be on how addiction treatment clinicians maintain self care in an environment where compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma are the norm. Where death, sorrow and pervasive sadness drive the opiate epidemic and where the LGBTQ community, an openly growing population, is becoming increasingly disenfranchised rather than gaining acceptance. Featured presenters will enlighten attendees of best-practice methods of self-care so that those providing treatment for addiction can continue to provide quality care to their patients seeking enduring recovery. This year marks the 11th Annual Conference, hosted once again by Valley Vista, where addiction treatment professionals share and gain knowledge in a peer-based setting. The annual conference is timed to coincide with National Recovery Month held every September to increase awareness and celebrate the successes of people in recovery.
11th Annual Vermont Conference on Addictive Disorders, Sept. 29th & 30th
“Every treatment professional needs to embrace methods for self care,” states Craig Smith, Clinical Director at Valley Vista. “With the opiate epidemic escalating exponentially creating waiting lists at most, if not all treatment providers, clinician self care can suffer as we strive to meet the needs of those desperately seeking recovery from addiction. But if we can’t take care of ourselves, how can we take care of those under our care? This year’s Conference seeks to provide valuable insight about self care from a world-class panel of presenters.”
Featured presenters at this year’s Conference on Addictive Disorder include Amy Weintraub, MFA, ERYT-Too, LFYP Educator and Beck Gee-Cohen, MA, LADC.
Amy is the author of Yoga Skills for Therapists (Norton, 2012) and Yoga for Depression (Broadway Books, 2004). She is the founding director of the LifeForce Yoga Healing Institute
and a leader in the field of yoga and mental health. Amy is trained in Internal Family Systems, and holds the highest level of Yoga certification. She offers professional trainings in LifeForce
Yoga® for Mood Management internationally. Amy is involved in ongoing research on the impact of Yoga on mood. Her evidence-based Yoga protocol for managing mood is used in healthcare settings around the world and is featured on a number of audio-visual products, including the award-winning LifeForce Yoga to Beat the Blues DVDs. She maintains an archive of news and research on her website, www.yogafordepression.com.
Beck is originally from Los Angeles, CA. He completed his undergraduate work in the field of sociology with a focus on gender, sexuality and addiction from Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana. His undergraduate thesis was a study on addiction among LGBTQI living in rural communities. Beck earned his master’s degree in Addiction Studies from Hazelden. He received an Excellence in Writing Award from Hazelden graduate program; the paper focused on training addiction counselors to give better treatment to LGBTQI clients. Beck has facilitated trainings and given lectures and trainings around the country at conferences, prisons, schools, and treatment centers focusing on LGBTQI communities and addiction. He is very passionate about the transgender community and the effects of addiction and stigmatization within the Trans/LGBQI populations. He continues to train clinicians and facility staff on LGBTQI issues, helps facilities establish LGBT inclusive policies, and provides program development for facilities that want to expand their services to LGBTQI populations. Beck currently works at The Refuge – A Healing Place in Florida as the Northeast Professional Outreach Representative.
Other highly regarded speakers at this year’s conference include, Kerry McCann, MA; Rosalyn Dischiavo, EdD, MA, CSES and Carmen Blandin Tarleton.
Kerry McCann is a vocational rehabilitation specialist and substance abuse counselor having served at the Department of Veterans Affairs for 19 years. Despite personal hardship resulting from domestic violence and traumatic brain injury, Kerry has achieved academic and civic success working with cross-addicted, dual-diagnosed men as well as working with veterans suffering from traumatic brain injury.
Dr. Rosalyn “Roz” Dischiavo is the founder of the Institute for Sexuality Education and Enlightenment, filling a void for training and continuing education in the field of sexuality and sexual health. She is a professor, marriage and family counselor, and sexuality educator. She serves on two AASECT committees and was the Director of both the Women’s Center and the Health Education office at the University of Hartford from 1999 – 2006, where she currently teaches gender and sexuality courses. Dr. Dischiavo has also served as a radio personality/host focused on women’s interests on Hartford, Connecticut’s WTIC-FM.
Carmen Blandin Tarleton is a survivor and frequent speaker at Valley Vista. In 2007, Carmen’s estranged husband broke into her rural Vermont home, beat her with a baseball bat and then doused her with industrial-strength lye. Doctors called it, "the most horrific injuries a human being could suffer.” Yet, despite her injuries, Carmen experienced an awakening. A purpose. Joy. By sharing her struggles and ultimate victory, Carmen proves that life is a choice. In the process, she offers a rare glimpse into the best and worst corners of the human heart.
The 11th Annual Vermont Conference on Addictive Disorders is being made possible by the generous support of sponsors like Dominion Diagnostics, Quest Diagnostics and Geisinger Marworth. There will be more than 15 recovery-focused exhibitors on hand displaying their products all of which play a role in an individuals’ recovery from alcohol and chemical dependency.
Registration for this event is currently underway and there is still availability for attendees. Hotel accommodations are not included. To register for the 11th Annual Conference on Addictive Disorders, call Valley Vista at 802.222.5201 x306 or email [email protected]. CEU credits are once again available at this year’s Conference.
About Valley Vista
Valley Vista is an 80-bed residential alcohol and chemical dependency treatment center and outpatient buprenorphine and Naltrexone/Vivitrol clinic nestled along the banks of the Connecticut River in Bradford, Vermont. The treatment center offers comprehensive, empathetic addiction rehabilitation services for men, women and adolescents in a safe and secure therapeutic environment. Valley Vista uses a best practices abstinence-based approach that is rooted in 12-Step recovery programs such as Alcoholic Anonymous. The goal is to treat patients with the highest addiction acuity, often complicated by co-occurring mental conditions, to live a life that is happy, joyous and free from addiction. From medically monitored detoxification services to aftercare planning, the highly-qualified Valley Vista clinical team works with patients to improve their personal, physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, familial and social functioning helping to rebuild self-esteem and perceived self worth. The end result is a platform from which to build a sober life. For more information about Valley Vista inpatient and outpatient services or to begin the admission process for you, a friend, co-worker or a loved one, visit www.vvista.net or call 802.222.5201.
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