Clients navigating undiagnosed or difficult-to-diagnose chronic conditions face a unique form of suffering that extends far beyond physical symptoms. The absence of medical validation can trigger intense psychological distress, social isolation, medical trauma, and a crisis of identity and self-trust. Additionally, clinicians working with these clients risk inadvertently reinforcing fear-avoidance patterns that worsen both physical and psychological outcomes. Mental health professionals are often the frontline support for clients caught in this limbo, yet may lack frameworks for addressing the complex interplay of somatic experiences, anxiety responses, systemic medical dismissal, and pain-fear-avoidance cycles. This workshop explores how to provide affirming, trauma-informed care to clients whose bodies are speaking but whose suffering has yet to be named by the medical system, while avoiding clinical pitfalls that can perpetuate disability and distress.

• Presented by Destiny Davis, LPC, CRC

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will identify the biological, psychological, and social impacts when clients experience chronic symptoms without medical diagnosis or validation, including effects on mental health, relationships, identity, and healthcare trust. 

2. Participants will differentiate common psychological presentations in diagnostically ambiguous cases (including health anxiety, hypervigilance, medical trauma, and grief) and identify client pain-fear-avoidance patterns that can inadvertently worsen client outcomes. 

3. Participants will demonstrate skills for supporting clients through diagnostic uncertainty while avoiding fear-avoidance traps, including validating experiences, reducing distress, collaborating with medical providers, and fostering resilience amid unanswered health questions.

Graduate programs often prepare therapists to address client wellness through traditional self-care frameworks, yet these approaches may fall short for clients navigating chronic health issues and disability. Clients with chronic conditions face unique barriers to wellness including systemic ableism, institutional failures, financial strain, and social isolation that require specialized clinical understanding. This presentation explores how mental health professionals can effectively support the wellness and career development of chronically ill clients by understanding the 8 dimensions of wellness through both clinical and lived experience lenses, promoting sustainable functioning and preventing burnout in clients managing chronic health challenges.

• Presented by Victoria Rodriguez, PhD, LPC

Learning Objectives

• Participants will identify barriers to wellness experienced by chronically ill and disabled clients, including systemic, institutional, interpersonal, and workplace challenges that impact functioning.

• Participants will analyze how supporting client wellness in the context of chronic illness impacts therapeutic outcomes, career sustainability, and identity development for clients managing health conditions.

• Participants will evaluate ethical considerations when working with chronically ill clients through case study analysis, including issues of disclosure, accommodation, and professional boundaries.

Disabled persons experience stigma with both visible and invisible disabilities, creating barriers to discussing sexuality and kink practices openly in therapeutic settings. Sexual exploration, including kink, can offer empowerment, improved communication, and reclaimed autonomy for clients navigating chronic conditions. This workshop prepares clinicians to provide affirming, competent care at the intersection of disability and kink, addressing both communities with cultural humility and clinical skill.

• Presented by Sarah Stillwell, PhD, LPC-S, NCC

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will identify unique clinical considerations when working with clients who have chronic conditions and engage in kink practices.

2. Participants will examine their own biases toward the disabled and kink communities and evaluate how these biases impact therapeutic rapport and treatment outcomes.

3. Participants will demonstrate skills for broaching and discussing the intersection of kink practices and chronic illness/pain to support community building, communication, and the therapeutic relationship.

Many clients experience their bodies as adversaries, particularly those navigating chronic pain, illness, trauma, or injury. This adversarial relationship creates disconnection, shame, fear-avoidance, and heightened distress that undermines both physical rehabilitation and mental health treatment. Whether in the therapy room or the treatment clinic, providers can help clients shift from body betrayal to Program Description: Many clients experience their bodies as adversaries, particularly those navigating chronic pain, illness, trauma, or injury. This adversarial relationship creates disconnection, shame, fear-avoidance, and heightened distress that undermines both physical rehabilitation and mental health treatment. Whether in the therapy room or the treatment clinic, providers can help clients shift from body betrayal to body collaboration through compassionate education, therapeutic rapport, and mindfulness-based skills. This interdisciplinary workshop explores practical strategies for helping clients develop body partnership, honoring both the physical and psychological dimensions of healing.

• Presented by Jason Therrien, DPT

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will identify signs of adversarial body relationship in clients across clinical settings, including body distrust, fear-avoidance behaviors, hypervigilance to symptoms, and disconnection from helpful body signals.

2. Participants will demonstrate techniques for fostering body partnership within their scope of practice, including pain education, body awareness, compassionate reframing, sensory re-processing (aka: graded motor imagery) to movement or sensations, and collaborative goal-setting.

3. Participants will apply interdisciplinary communication strategies that help clients distinguish between protective body signals and anxiety-driven responses while rebuilding trust, agency, and collaboration with their physical selves.

Caregivers of children and adults with chronic illness and rare disease face unique mental health challenges that are often overlooked in clinical settings. These caregivers navigate complex medical systems, witness their loved ones' suffering, manage financial strain, and experience chronic grief while maintaining their caregiving role. Mental health professionals are often unprepared to address the specific stressors, trauma responses, and systemic barriers that rare disease and chronic illness caregivers encounter. This workshop provides clinicians with practical tools and frameworks to recognize caregiver burnout, validate the caregiving experience, and support resilience in families managing medical complexity.

• Presented by Ronda Thorington, LPC

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will identify the unique mental health challenges faced by caregivers of individuals with chronic illness and rare disease, including anticipatory grief, medical trauma, caregiver burnout, and systemic isolation.

2. Participants will demonstrate assessment skills for recognizing signs of caregiver distress and differentiating between typical adjustment responses and clinical mental health concerns requiring intervention.

3. Participants will apply evidence-based strategies for supporting caregiver mental health, including validation techniques, resilience-building interventions, and collaboration with medical teams to promote family wellbeing.

Children and adolescents living with chronic illness face heightened risk for anxiety, depression, social isolation, and medical trauma, yet clinicians often lack frameworks for recognizing and responding to these psychological needs within their scope of practice. Whether in schools, mental health sessions, or physical therapy appointments, providers are uniquely positioned to identify early signs of distress and provide compassionate, trauma-informed support. This workshop adapts Mental Health First Aid principles for clinical application with chronically ill pediatric populations, equipping all clinicians to recognize distress signals, respond with evidence-based strategies, and collaborate across disciplines to promote emotional wellbeing alongside physical care.

• Presented by Rachel Hopkins, LPC, CRC

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will identify how chronic illness impacts mental health in children and adolescents, including the roles of medical trauma, treatment burden, body image concerns, and peer relationship disruption in psychological distress.
  
  

• Participants will recognize early signs of anxiety, depression, and trauma responses in chronically ill pediatric clients and apply Mental Health First Aid strategies within their clinical scope of practice.
  
  

• Participants will demonstrate collaborative communication techniques for coordinating mental health support with families, medical teams, and interdisciplinary providers to ensure holistic care for chronically ill youth.

Chronic illness often brings not only physical and emotional challenges but also significant financial stress that can impact treatment engagement and overall well-being. This presentation introduces healthcare professionals to the field of financial therapy and its relevance in supporting clients managing chronic illness. Participants will learn how to identify when financial concerns are affecting mental health, when to refer to or collaborate with a financial therapist, and how interdisciplinary teamwork can enhance holistic, client-centered care. 

• Presented by Megan Stevenson, LCSW, CFSW

Learning Objectives:

• Explain the relationship between financial stress, emotional well-being and chronic illness across diverse healthcare settings.

• Identify signs that suggest when referral to a financial therapist may benefit client outcomes.

• Demonstrate strategies for interdisciplinary collaboration between financial therapists and healthcare professionals to enhance care.

Neurodiversity has received considerably more attention in recent years within research and therapeutic realms. While recent studies shed light on the mental and physical health needs specific to neurodivergent individuals, the implications more commonly focus on neurodivergent clients and leave neurodivergent clinicians out of the discussion. Empirical evidence reveals the correlation of neurodivergent individuals having a co-occurring chronic illness diagnosis, posing the threat of increased barriers faced within the therapeutic environment. With the clinical relationship itself being empirically identified as the primary catalyst for therapeutic change, clinicians must consider how they influence the therapeutic process as well. This presentation will provide participants with practical strategies on how to cultivate inclusive clinical spaces in order to improve client outcomes.

• Presented by Heather Olivier, PhD, LPC, NCC

Learning Objectives:

1. Explain co-occurring diagnoses among neurodivergent and chronically ill individuals;

2. Discuss barriers faced by neurodivergent and chronically ill clinicians that impact the therapeutic process; and,

3. Implement practical strategies and accommodations for an inclusive clinical experience for both the client and clinician.