Seventh Annual Rocky Mountain Humanistic Counseling and Psychological Association Conference (In Person & Online)

 

Conference Theme

Frantz Fanon (1925-1961) was born in Martinique and trained in psychiatry in France before practicing in Algeria and Tunisia. Despite dying at age 36, he made significant contributions through his psychological writings, innovations to psychological practice, and political writings. His writings have long been under-appreciated in psychology, including most of humanistic and existential psychology. Much of his psychological writings focused on issues of colonization and racism. Throughout his writing and work, Fanon advocated for a new humanism. This new humanism would embrace the humanity and dignity of all people, including the marginalized and oppressed. 

While we will consider proposals that do not focus on Fanon or a new humanism, including proposals on a wide array of topics relevant to humanistic, existential, and transpersonal psychology, we will give preferential review to presentations that consider Fanon and/or a new humanism, particularly for the live presentations. We recognize that many are unfamiliar with Fanon’s work. For those wishing to engage Fanon’s writing to integrate into their presentation, we are developing Frantz Fanon Resource Page. Additionally, we will be developing a number of short videos on Fanon that will be available on our YouTube page and linked to from the Fanon resource page. 

Registration (Use Promo Code “EarlyBird” at checkout through July 31, 2023 to receive $10 off your registration)

Conference Schedule 

Friday

Morning and Afternoon Workshops and Activities are at

1767 S. 8th Street, Colorado Springs, CO, Second Floor

9:00-10:00 AM

Registration at the RMHCPA Building

10:00 AM-12:00 PM

Preconference Workshop

Life-Enhancing Anxiety: Applications to Psychotherapy and Mental Health

Kirk J. Schneider

1:00-4:00 PM

Preconference Workshop

Culturally Sensitive Embodied Practices in Psychotherapy to Foster Recovery from Grief and Trauma

Ilene Serlin

Evening Events are at the Drury Inn & Suites

1170 Interquest Parkway

(Allow about 20 minutes for the drive, Uber, or Lyft)

4:30-6:00 PM

Dinner on your own

5:30-6:00 PM

Registration Open at the Drury Inn & Suites

6:00-7:00 PM

Keynote Address

7:00-7:30 PM

Awards Ceremony

 

Student Poster Awards

 

Emory G. Cowan & Susan Cooper Lifetime Service Award

Recipient: Ron Smith

 

Sandy Sela Smith Humanistic Exemplar Award

Recipient: H. Luis Vargas

 

7:30-8:30 PM

Poster Session & Social

 

Saturday

8:00-8:45 AM

Registration Open at the Drury Inn & Suites, 1170 Interquest Parkway

8:45-9:00 AM

Conference Opening – Ballroom

 

Ballroom

Breakout Room

9:00-10:00 AM

Social Justice, Critical Psychology, and Transpersonal Perspectives on

McMindfulness

Ian Wickramasekera

Addressing Counseling Supervision Pitfalls

Robert Coltharp & Keith Bryant

 

(Tentative)

10:00-11:00 AM

Fostering Socially Just Authenticity in Existential-Humanistic Clinical Supervision

Matthew A. Gonzales & Alfredo F. Palacios

Existential Isolation, Alienation, and Loneliness: Considerations for Psychotherapy from Fanon and Existential Scholarship

Louis Hoffman

 

11:00 AM-12:00 PM

Internalized Classism: Implication for Homelife and Relationships

H. Luis Vargas & Lindsay Edwards

 

12:00 – 1:30 PM

Lunch on your own

1:30-2:30 PM

These Black Kids: Culturally Responsive Poetry and the Lived Experience of African American Adolescent Girls (Invited Presentation)

Jennifer Bacon

2:30-3:30 PM

The Prohibited Substantive Factor in Existential-Humanistic Therapy

Nathaniel Granger, Jr.

3:30-5:00 PM

From Our Roots to Our Future

Panel Discussion

Kirk J. Schneider, Ilene Serlin, Erik Craig, Theopia Jackson,

Leswin Laubscher, & Louis Hoffman

 

5:00-5:15

Conference Closing (Ballroom)

5:00-6:00 PM

Poster Session, Book Signing, & Social (Ballroom)

 

Sunday

8:30-9:00 AM

Welcome with Coffee and Donuts

RMHCPA Building, 1767 S. 8th Street, Second Floor, Colorado Springs, CO

9:00-12:00 AM

Post-Conference Workshop

Dare We Actualize Fanon’s Revoluti7onary Humanism and Traumatology Activism: Implications for Psychological Praxis

Theopia Jackson

1:00-4:00 PM

Post-Conference Workshop

The Radiant Children of the Night: A Depth Existential Approach to Working with Dreams in Psychotherapy and Life

Erik Craig

4:00-5:00

Reception and Tour of the RMHCPA Building

Poster Presentations

  1. The Charting of Aesthetic Chills: Data Analysis by Anompreet Bal
  2. Moving Beyond Ceilings: Utilizing Decolonized and Liberatory Frameworks by Shannon Chang
  3. Black Beats, White Notes: Incorporating Latin Jazz and Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks in Humanistic Psychotherapy by Matthew A. Gonzales
  4. Nurturing Emergence: Exploring Psychedelic Encounters with Gender Identity by Aurore Lyon

Keynote Address & Awards Ceremony 

Friday, October 20, beginning at 6:00 PM

Saying “Yes” to Fanon by Leswin Laubscher

Awards Ceremony begins at 7:00 PM

Pre-Conference Workshops

Friday, October 20, 9:30-11:30 AM: Life-Enhancing Anxiety by Dr. Kirk Schneider

Friday, October 20, 1:00-4:00 PM, Culturally Sensitive Embodied Practices in Psychotherapy to Foster Recovery from Grief and Trauma by Ilene Serlin

Post-Conference Workshops

Sunday, October 22, 9:00 AM-12:00 PM Dare We Actualize Fanon’s Revolutionary Humanism and Traumatology Activism: Implications for Psychological Praxis by Theopia Jackson

Sunday, October 22, from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM The Radiant Children of the Night: A Depth Existential Approach to Working with Dreams in Psychotherapy and Life by Erik Craig

Student Scholarship Fund

RMHCPA is committed to providing opportunities for students who may not have the financial resources to pay for continuing education events and conference registration. Click here or on the link below to contribute to our student scholarship fund. All of the money given to this scholarship go directly to supporting students attending on CE events and conferences for free or a reduced rate. 

https://www.pledge.to/student-scholarship