2024 Conference Information

May 8 – 10, 2024

Wednesday, May 8th, 2024 – Pre-Conference Sessions (online only)

Thursday, May 9th & Friday, May 10th, 2024 (main program)

Sheraton West Des Moines Hotel (in person) and Whova (online)

1800 50th St. West Des Moines, IA 50266 | 515-223-1800

Click here for Conference Brochure.

Click here for Conference Program Full Descriptions with presenter biographies.

Thank you to our sponsors.

Announcements for Attendees:

Parking:

The hotel has free parking in the lot. There should be ample room, but we are always grateful to those who can carpool.

What to wear:

Wear what makes you feel powerful and confident. Or just what helps you learn. Come as you are.

Thursday, May 9th we are aiming to “Be seen in green!” Wear your green for mental health awareness month. Mental Health America has been promoting this and IMHCA has often shared their posts or used their toolkits for awareness campaigns throughout the year.

Friday, May 10th wear your favorite therapist t-shirt. Promote your organization, or maybe you have a fun/snarky shirt that you can sport. However you want to show your support for the profession. We are excited to see what you come up with.

Schedule: Click here for full brochure.

We have two updates to Speakers that have been completed on the Brochure and Program Description:

2B: “Support Our Supervisees before they are gone: How to help young human service workers in the field” will be Eric Nance, MSW, LICSW independently.
2C: “TMS and MeRT Therapies” will be with Erin Hatcher, PMHNP

PRE-CONFERENCE: this year include a choice between an ethics topic or two additional 90-minute sessions; offered virtually through Whova on Wednesday, May 8th 5:30-8:45pm.

The 2024 IMHCA Conference on May 9th and 10th will be a hybrid conference; held live at the West Des Moines Sheraton and available virtually through Whova on Thursday, May 9th and Friday, May 10th.

Don’t forget about Yoga both mornings starting at 7:15 in the Woodburry Room or “Zen Den.” We are excited to have Sarah White with us again to start your morning off right. We will have water and towels available. If you need a yoga mat, we will have a handful of extras, but feel free to bring your own. Feel free to come as you are for the conference, or if you need a place to change, we have a room that you can utilize in the hotel (see a conference committee member to use this room).

Breakfast starts at 7:15 AM on Thursday and 7:30 AM on Friday in the main ballroom. There will be a continental breakfast provided. This will include sliced fresh fruit, assorted pastries, muffins, donuts, bagels, jams and butter, and yogurt. Breakfast Buffet includes assorted chilled juices, Starbucks coffee, Teavana Teas & Milk.

Opening remarks each day are an important time to gather and get crucial information about your conference experience. You won’t want to miss these morning announcements. Please plan to be in the ballroom for the opening remarks at 8:15AM Thursday and 8:30AM Friday.

KEYNOTE: We start the conference with a Keynote session from Lindsey Olsen, MS, LMFT. Lindsey Olsen, LMFT received her Bachelor’s degree in Child, Adult and Family Services and received her Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Iowa State University. Lindsey has an interest in complex trauma and dissociative disorders. She’s taken many specialty trainings on dissociation and has spent much time gaining valuable consultation to work with her clients.

Lindsey has a private practice in West Des Moines where her primary focus is adolescents and adults. She’s an EMDRIA Certified Therapist and EMDRIA Approved consultant. She holds two separate contracts with the FBI working with victims of federal crimes and works as a consultant with the US Attorney General’s Office.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will be able to identify the 2 action systems in structural dissociation.
2. Participants will begin to learn the theory of Structural Dissociation.
3. Participants will be able to define ANP and EP.
4. Participants will learn 2 techniques to titrate the client.
5. Participants will learn the components of Fraser’s Table.

NETWORKING: For the second year, IMHCA will be hosting a networking event following the first full day of our conference on May 9th, 2024. This will be promoted to all IMHCA members, the general public, and conference attendees. We had great success last year and plan to continue this with a “Counseling Connections” event this year.

Appetizers and cash bar are provided. We will indicate various opportunities with ballons and are excited to have the following opportunities present for this event:

Practicum/internship opportunities = Red balloons
Agencies/Organizations Hiring = Yellow balloons
Openings for volunteer or board positions = Blue
Experts in the field = Green
Business services/supports = White

About:

The IMHCA Conference is a state-wide professional conference focused on licensed clinical mental health counselors (LMHC) and licensed marriage and family therapists (LMFT). IMHCA members, mental health counseling students, and other mental health professionals gather to share their expertise at this conference. Take this opportunity to get involved and share your work with your colleagues. IMHCA is an approved continuing education provider (ACEP) for NBCC. As an NBCC ACEP provider, IMHCA is responsible for ensuring that all aspects of our continuing education offerings comply with the NBCC Continuing Education Provider Policy. The IMHCA Conference also provides continuing education hours for alcohol and drug counseling professionals certified through the Iowa Board of Certification. Please note that the IMHCA Conference is unable to provide CEs for Certified Rehabilitation Counselors certified through the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification this year. Tentative schedule indicates up to 15 continuing education hours for LMHC’s, LMFT’s, Social Workers, and CADCs/IADCs. A 3-hour ethics session for satisfying ethics licensure requirements will be provided through the pre-conference session online Wednesday evening.

CE Hours: IMHCA issues certificates of attendance, publishes objectives of the courses, and uses experts in the field. These standards make it possible for licensed mental health professionals in Iowa to receive CEs based on state licensure standards (LMHC, LMFT, and LISW). See our “conference program full descriptions” for additional session information. IMHCA has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 2060. IMHCA is solely responsible for all aspects of the program. This Conference has up to 15 CE hours if all sessions are attended.

Iowa Mental Health Counselors Association (IMHCA) has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 2060. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC are clearly identified. IMHCA is solely responsible for all aspects of the program.