Friday’s schedule begins with a presentation on the behavioral health issues our Veteran’s face, followed by the concluding keynote. The Ethics Intensive is six hours in length and runs concurrent to the closing keynote. There will be a 75 minute lunch break for those taking the Ethics Intensive.

8:00 – 8:30 am

Registration/Continental Breakfast

8:30 – 10:30 am

Welcome and General Session

Welcome: Alfredo Vigil, MD, Cabinet Secretary,

New Mexico Department of Health

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GENERAL SESSION

Building Department of Defense, VA and Community Partnerships: Working to Support Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and their Families 

Presenter: Kristy Straits-Tröster, PhD, ABPP, Assistant Clinical Co-Director, Department of Veterans Affairs Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, and adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University

Veterans returning from a war zone face a broad range of challenges during readjustment to civilian life, and so do their families. A public health approach calls for services to be made available across multiple settings where veterans and their families may turn for help. The Department of Defense, Veterans Affairs, state and community agencies can create effective partnerships to bridge gaps in service and reduce stigma associated with seeking help through greater understanding and collaboration. Specific examples of successful state-based models will be presented with strategies for building partnerships.

Participants will learn

• a range of readjustment issues and functional problems faced by returning war zone veterans and their families.
• about the need to incorporate a public health approach to provide services to returning veterans and their families.
• about the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and understand how veterans may gain access to services.
• key barriers and specific strategies for integrating with federal, state and local agency resources to support returning veterans and their families.

The New Mexico Perspective on Veterans Support Services: John M. Garcia, Cabinet Secretary, New Mexico Department of Veterans' Services

10:45 – 11:45 am

CLOSING KEYNOTE PRESENTATION 

Walking the Walk: Taking Transformation to Scale

A. Kathryn Power, MEd, Director, Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

Ms. Power discusses what a recovery-oriented systems of care means in practice. She will highlight the importance of leadership in creating and sustaining such a system and in guiding ever evolving cycles of change. Finally, she will make note of the wonderful work New Mexico has done vis-à-vis transformation and will help attendees leave with a renewed appreciation for the important work they do.

9:00 am – 4:15 pm

Ethics Intensive (Concurrent to Conference Conclusion)

12:30 - 1:45 pm LUNCH (Bring Your Own)

Ethics for Behavioral Health Professionals

Presenter: Amy De Bernardi, PsyD, Psychologist, Rancho Valmora, Valmora, NM

Meeting consumer needs in the face of challenging legal and ethical issues can be confusing.   This seminar is designed to help practitioners understand the ethical requirements within their disciple, to identify when they are facing an ethical dilemma, where to seek out further information, and how to make effective decisions around the problems they face. The presenter will focus on assisting participants in recognizing the consumer rights issues that are present when making treatment decisions, including issues related to confidentiality and informed consent. Other issues addressed include therapist sexual misconduct, non-sexual boundary violations, research and emerging issues, dual relationships, and duty to warn.  Additionally, the issue of making ethical decisions with culturally diverse populations will be discussed.  A combination of lecture, case examples, and group discussion will allow participants to gain greater understanding of these complicated issues, and the confidence to manage them effectively.

Participants will learn

• how to identify and understand potential ethical dilemmas in the field of mental health, and be able to utilize decision making models to effectively manage those dilemmas.
• the main points of the Codes of Ethics for your discipline, and to be able to apply those ethical principles in clinical settings.
• about  consumer rights and professional obligations.
•  the complexity involved in making ethical decisions around the treatment of culturally diverse populations.

Program Content: The information, comments, and opinions expressed in the workshops and general sessions as well as the content of any material utilized or distributed during the programs do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of the Behavioral Health Collaborative, conference sponsors, or Kesselman-Jones, Inc. Therefore, no organization endorses nor assumes responsibility for the concepts expressed during these programs.