Call for Programs Submission Form
2026 Conference Call for Programs
Iowa Mental Health Counselors Association (IMHCA)
20th Annual Conference
May 6-8th, 2026
Submission Deadline: December 19, 2025
IMHCA members and mental health professionals are invited to submit a proposal to present a 90-minute or 3-hour breakout session on a mental health counseling topic at the 20th Annual IMHCA Conference. If you have any problems filling out the program submission form please contact IMHCA’s conference chair, Rebecca Spiess at conferencechair@imhca.net
We are opening the call again for some specific topic areas:
- Multicultural and Social Justice Issues
- State licensure or state licensing board information (AASCB)
- Rural practice issues
- Private Practice Topics
About the Conference
The IMHCA Conference is proud to provide a state-wide professional conference for licensed mental health counselors. 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. Tentative schedule indicates approximately 15 continuing education hours for LMHC’s, LMFT’s, and Social Workers. Additionally, a 3-hour ethics session for satisfying ethics licensure requirements will be provided.
Proposed Schedule: Wednesday, May 6th will offer online only sessions from 5:30-8:45pm and is primarily reserved for Ethics. Additional sessions may be offered as needed. Thursday, May 7th and Friday, May 8th will be offered in a hybrid format: in-person at the West Des Moines Sheraton and streamed online via zoom for additional attendees.
Submission Guidelines
- Presentations must be received by December 19, 2025.
- Incomplete information may result in presentations being excluded from the conference committee review process.
- You will be asked to indicate the intended audience for your presentation (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced).
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- Beginner: 80% of your presentation is background, research, or theory-based information with some application, intended for participants new to this topic.
- Intermediate: 50% of your presentation is background, research, or theory-based information and 50% application, intended for participants familiar with and have some experience in this topic.
- Advanced: Your presentation is 80+% application intended for participants with background knowledge and experience in this topic.
- The conference committee will review all submissions in December 2025, following NBCC guidelines.
Oral Presentation Format
- Presentations can be either 90 minutes, or 3 hours (including a 10-15 minute Q/A).
- Presentation should be designed to be interactive and produce identifiable outcomes.
- Presentations may be made by single or multiple presenters or in panel formats.
Next Steps
- Submissions must be made through the IMHCA website. You will find the online program submission form at the bottom of this page.
- You will receive an automatic response once your proposal application is received.
- If you do not receive an automatic email acknowledgment within 7 days of submission of your program, please contact IMHCA’s Conference Committee Chair, Rebecca Spiess, at conferencechair@imhca.net.
Abstract Review Process
- The IMHCA Conference Planning Committee will review all presentations that have been submitted with complete information in December 2025.
- Presentations will be selected based on NBCC guidelines, topic, speaker qualifications, and intended audience.
- Additional considerations will be made based on previous conference feedback and requests for session topics.
- The Committee will send notification by email to the main presenter indicating acceptance or rejection in January 2026.
- The main presenter will be responsible for notifying others participating in the program of the outcome.
Presenters will receive a complimentary conference registration. All accepted presenters will need to register for the conference if they plan to attend and receive CEs.
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.
Contact Information
Rebecca Spiess, LMHC
Conference Committee Chair, IMHCA
515-822-1269
conferencechair@imhca.net