Protecting Their Future:
Finding and Helping Stressed Children & Families

Annual Statewide Conference on
Traumatic Stress in Children and Families

June 1, 2012. 8:30 - 12:30. Free to Attend - Register Today!

Ambit Network at the University of Minnesota invites you to join us to explore the effects of traumatic and highly stressful events on children and families and the ways in which systems can best serve them. We will introduce professionals across the state to the latest research and best practices in identifying and supporting military and civilian families under stress, in educational and healthcare settings.

The intended audience includes professionals serving families under stress: mental health clinicians, military service providers, healthcare professionals including public health nurses, education professionals including social workers, child welfare professionals, and early childhood providers. There is no charge for this conference.

Featured Speakers Include:

United States Senator Al Franken
Champion in the US Senate for children, families, and our men and women in Military Service.

Ellen Gerrity, Ph.D
Associate Director and Senior Policy Advisor, National Center for Child Traumatic Stress and Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center

Abigail Gewirtz, Ph.D., LP
Associate Professor, Department of Family Social Science and the Institute of Child Development and Director of Ambit Network at the University of Minnesota. Her research focuses on the implementation and dissemination of evidence-based practices focused on parenting in highly-stressed families.

Nancy Kassam-Adams, Ph.D
Associate Director for Behavioral Research, Center for Injury Research and Prevention, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; Co-director, Center for Pediatric Traumatic Stress. Her research focuses on posttraumatic stress in ill and injured children and their parents.

Audra Langley, Ph.D
Assistant Professor and Clinical Child Psychologist, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. Dr. Langley is also the Director of Training for the Trauma Services Adaptation Center for Resiliency, Hope, and Wellness in Schools and serves as Chair of the NCTSN School Committee.

Major General Larry W. Shellito, Ph.D.
Commissioner, Minnesota Department of Veteran Affairs and former Adjutant General, Minnesota National Guard. Commissioner Shellito's military service began in 1968 when he enlisted in the active-duty Army.

Parent Panel
Moderated by Sue Abderholden: Executive Director, National Alliance on Mental Illness –Minnesota (NAMI-MN) with over 30 years experience in public policy development and advocacy to improve the lives of children and adults with mental illness. Panel members include: Barb O'Reilly, military parent and Director of Women Veteran and Employment Programs, Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs and volunteer, Washington Co. Yellow Ribbon Network; Kristy Collier, healthcare parent and Parent Leader, NAMI-MN.

Further Information

To register for the conference, please visit http://2012traumaconf.eventbrite.com. Participation in the conference may either be in person at the McNamara Alumni Center, University of Minnesota, east campus, or via live video stream. A link will be sent to all who register for the video stream.

A certificate of participation will be generated from our ticket list. If you are viewing the conference over the internet as a group, please be sure that all group members register for a ticket to ensure that everyone receives the certificate. Certificates will be distributed via an evaluation survey of the conference the week after the conference.

Event Co-Sponsors: