Ninth Annual Rocky Mountain Humanistic Counseling and Psychological Association Conference
“The Power of Possibility: Rethinking Mental Wellness & Social Systems”
October 18-19
(Pre-conference October 17)
Colorado Springs, CO
The Ninth Annual Rocky Mountain Humanistic Counseling and Psychological Association Conference will be in-person and virtual. The pre-conference will be at the RMHCPA building on October 17, 2025. The main conference will be held at Mt. Carmel Veterans Center in Colorado Springs on October 18-19, 2025. This is a short drive from the RMHPCA building near downtown Colorado Springs.
Conference Theme
Our conference theme is “The Power of Possibility: Rethinking Mental Wellness & Social Systems.” We will consider presentations not directly connected to the conference theme; however, preferential consideration is given to presentations relevant to the conference theme.
Conference Schedule
Preconference: Friday, October 17, 2025
Rocky Mountain Humanistic Counseling and Psychological Association Building
1767 S. 8th Street, 2nd Floor, Colorado Springs
| 11:00 AM-12:00 PM | Registration and Lunch Provided (free with Preconference Registration) |
| 12:00 PM-2:00 PM | Creating New Worlds as Clinicians: Developing Strategies for Collective Safety (CE)
Darius Green |
| 2:00 PM-4:00 PM | Attachment-Based Supervision: A Humanistic Approach to the Clinical Development of Supervisees (CE) Jose Tapia, Jr. |
Conference Opening: Friday Evening, October 17, 2025
Mt. Carmel Veterans Center
530 Communication Cir., Colorado Springs, CO
| 6:00-7:00 PM | Keynote Address
Creating Meaning and Becoming in Psychotherapy: Self-Definition as a Personal and Sociopolitical Imperative (CE) Alfredo Palacios |
| 7:00-8:30 PM | Poster Session & Social
Posters: · Feeling His Way to Himself: Expanding Possibility and Cultivating Experiential Attunement in Young Men by Mariah Menaker · Organized Existential Resistance: Philosophy, Force, and Art by Benjamin Taft · Dreams Through the Decade by Lucy Redlich · Eco-Martyrdom: The Fight for Environmental Accountability by Elysha York · History Repeats Itself: Analyzing Rain Ceremonies to Anticipate Client Reactions to the Climate Crisis by Kaitlin Leahy · Who’s Laughing Now?: Examining Gender Bias in Humor Perception by Isabel Cameron · Navigating Loss and Grief in LGBTQ+ Adolescents Using Cultural Resiliency by Jane Boone · Psychoanalytic Theory Impacts on Substance Use by Alleson Schlosky · Can Helms’s White Racial Identity Model be adapted to describe neurotypical identity development? by Samuel Kohlenberg |
Main Conference: Saturday, October 18, 2025
Mt. Carmel Veterans Center
530 Communication Cir., Colorado Springs, CO
| 8:30-9:00 AM | Registration & Donuts | |
| 9:00-10:00 AM | Possibility: Therapeutic Photography as Embodied Mental Wellness
Sarah Byrd |
2Pac, Bruce Springsteen, and Existential Therapy: Lessons for Social Justice and Clinical Practice
L. Xochitl Vallejos, Eden Vallejos, & Louis Hoffman (CE) |
| 10:00-11:00 AM | Storying Survival: Cultivating Healing from Racial Trauma After Experiencing Police Violence (CE)
Darius Green |
When the Ground Shifts: A Cross-Cultural Exploration of Awe and Boundary Experiences
Jeff Singer & Tyler Gamlen
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| 11:00-11:30 AM | Coffee & Tea Break | |
| 11:30-12:30 PM | Multicultural Considerations in Adapting Therapeutic Presence (CE)
Louis Hoffman
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A Pragmatic Shift in Consciousness: A Psychology of Mindfulness
Ven. Sucandra (Alena Gripass)
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| 12:30 PM-2:00 PM | Lunch on your own | |
| 2:00-3:00 PM | The Existential Psychology of Star Trek: Lessons for Therapy (CE)
Jason Dias
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Understanding the Glass Child: Sibling roles in families with chronic illness
Eden Vallejos |
| 3:00-4:00 PM | Program Evaluation of a Self-Defense Group Therapy Program and Considerations for Rethinking PTSD Treatment and Care (CE)
K. P. Hartman & Dan Hugill |
Early Career Perspectives on Practicing Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy Ash Lee, Edbury Enegren, Tyler Gamlen, Heidi Streicher, & Rebecca Wickersham |
| 4:00-5:00 PM |
Awards & Recognition Ceremony Remembrances · Ilene Serlin · Erica Palmer · Jim Oraker Honoring Board Members · Brittany Varisco · Lindsay Edwards · Dan Johnson · H. Luis Vargas Center for Humanistic & Interpersonal Psychotherapy Practicum Completion · Jeff Singer Awards · Undergraduate Student Poster Award (TBD) · Graduate Student Poster Award (TBD) · Lifetime Achievement Award: Brent Dean Robbins · Sandy Sela-Smith Humanistic Exemplar Award: Matt Thelen · Humanistic Exemplar Award (Student): Edbury Enegren · Humanistic Exemplar Award (Student): Olivia Michael
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| 5:00-6:30 PM | Social Hour | |
Main Conference: Sunday, October 19, 2025
Mt. Carmel Veterans Center
530 Communication Cir., Colorado Springs, CO
| 8:30-9:00 AM | Donuts & Networking | |
| 9:00-10:00 AM | Our Search for Meaning: Finding Solace Amid the Chaos (CE)Nathaniel Granger, Jr. | TBD |
| 10:00-11:00 AM | You Don’t Own Me: Existential-Humanistic Perspectives on Relationship Anarchy and Liberation (CE)
L. Xochitl Vallejos |
TBD |
| 11:00-11:30 | Coffee & Tea Break | |
| 11:30-12:30 | Reclaiming the Empathy and Resilience of Dissociation
Ian Wickramasekera, II |
TBD |
| 12:30-1:00 | Conference Photo & Conference Closing | |
Registration