2025 Family Matters Conference

October 24, 2024
9:00-9:50am
CE credit

Anna Thomas has been part of the Voices for Utah Children team since 2017. As a senior policy analyst, she has focused on issues related to juvenile justice, early care and education, and a few others as they arise. Prior to joining the Voices team, Anna spent ten years working at the ACLU of Utah, first as Development Director, and then as a Policy Advocate and Communications specialist. She has been working in the non-profit and public sectors, in both Utah and Colorado, for more than 25 years. Anna is a Salt Lake City native and West High School graduate (go Panthers!). She has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Denver and a Master's degree in public administration from the University of Utah.

Topic: Supporting Utah’s Young Families: Advocating for Public Investment in Childcare
Raising a strong, healthy family these days is a serious challenge - emotionally, physically, and financially. though our entire community benefits when families succeed, there is very little public support offered to parents with young children. This presentation will discuss how Utah came to be struggling with the same childcare crisis as the rest of the nation, and what we can do - together - to better support Utah’s young families.

October 24, 2024
10:00-11:15am
CE credit

Topic: Putting on your Oxygen Mask: Mindfulness for Adults who work with Kids
Life can be filled with worry, distraction, and emotional pain. Living a rich and full life is often not about getting rid of challenges but changing our relationship to our challenges. This session will teach basic mindfulness and meditation principles that can be applied in your personal life so you can be present to the joys and challenges of working with children and adolescents. Ideas for engaging children in mindfulness activities will also be discussed.

Shawn L. Christiansen is a professor of Family Life and Human Development at Southern Utah University. He has also taught at Penn State Scranton and Central Washington University. He has an M.S. from Brigham Young University in Family Life Education, an M.S.W. from the University of Utah, and a Ph.D. from the University of Delaware in Individual and Family Studies. He has published and presented in the areas of mindfulness, father involvement, service learning, experiential learning, and Japanese families and culture. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in private practice, he uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to teach clients mindfulness skills to deal with anxiety and depression. In his work with couples, he uses Emotionally Focused Therapy and The Gottman Method to help couples through conflict and create more emotional connection. He enjoys yoga, meditation, hiking, cycling, travel, music, movies, and spending time with his wife Tiffiney and their four children and three grandchildren.

October 24, 2024
11:30am-12:30pm
CE credit

Topic: Delivering on the Promise of High Quality Early Childhood Education

Rhian Evans Allvin owns Brynmor Holdings, LLC. Brynmor Holdings operates Brynmor Early Education & Preschool which was founded in 2022 and opened its first center in October 2023 in Lorton, VA. The Lorton program is housed in two historic buildings that, for one hundred years, were part of a maximum-security federal penitentiary. Brynmor’s second center opened in July 2024 when the company assumed operations for the U.S. Department of State at Diplotots. Brynmor is a Certified Women-Owned Business, Virginia Values Veterans Certified.

In 2022 Rhian stepped down from serving for nine years as the chief executive officer of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). During Rhian’s tenure, NAEYC went through a dramatic structural transformation to reverse 15 years of membership decline, exert strong policy and advocacy leadership, provide unequivocal guidance through the development of position statements and streamline the early childhood program accreditation system. Also during this time, NAEYC conceptualized and convened Power to the Profession, a national collaborative between 15 organizations representing the early childhood field which resulted in the release of a Unifying Framework to create an aligned professional field of practice for early childhood educators. During Rhian’s tenure, NAEYC participated in securing the largest increase in federal funding in the history of child care in the US totaling $5.4 billion over two years with an additional $50 billion in federal stimulus funding. Under Rhian’s leadership, NAEYC undertook a strategic real estate plan that resulted in a complex real estate transaction to successfully sell NAEYC’s 75,000 square foot property in Washington, D.C.

Before joining NAEYC, Evans Allvin was a guiding force in Arizona’s early childhood movement for more than 15 years. In 2006 she co-wrote the citizen’s ballot initiative that created First Things First (FTF) which set aside $130 million in annual Arizona tobacco tax monies for children birth to five and created a state agency whose purpose is to ensure all Arizona children start kindergarten prepared to be successful in school and in life. Governor Janet Napolitano appointed her to FTF’s inaugural state board, where she served before resigning to become the organization’s chief executive officer (CEO).

Early in her career, Rhian was a founding partner in the Brecon Group where she specialized in public policy, philanthropy and community engagement. As senior advancement officer at the Arizona Community Foundation, she used her knowledge in community organizing, communications, fundraising and nonprofit management to help donors connect their philanthropic interests with community needs. Additionally, she served in leadership roles with Libraries for the Future, a national nonprofit dedicated to bolster the value of
libraries in America’s democracy and bridge the digital divide, and Children’s Action Alliance, Arizona’s state- based child advocacy organization.

Rhian has authored a number of white papers, articles, policy briefs and reports on various topics and she regularly serves as a presenter for diverse international, national, state and community conversations. She has testified before the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions and she is a relied upon source on the economics, policy and implementation of high-quality early education for broadcast and print media including Good Morning America, The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, U.S. News and National Public Radio.

Rhian holds a bachelor’s degree from Northern Arizona University and a master’s degree in business administration from Arizona State University. She is a Trustee of the Institute for Citizens and Scholars and has received various honors and recognition for her work on behalf of children including being inducted into the Northern Arizona University College of Education Hall of Fame in 2016, Smithsonian Early Education Center Excellence in Early Education 2015, The Junior League of Phoenix Valley Impact Award 2011, Reach out and Read Storyteller of the Year and the Southern Arizona AEYC Board Award 2014. She is married to Paul Allvin and they live in Falls Church, VA with their three children.

October 24, 2024
1:30-2:20pm
CE credit

I hold a Master's Degree in Human Development, a social work license, and an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation certificate from Georgetown University. I have a Certification in the FAN Approach (Facilitating Attuned Interactions) level 3 and an early childhood coaching certificate from Weber State University. I have extensive experience using a reflective, relationship-based approach in my work with children, parents, early childhood professionals, and college students. I work at The Children’s Center Utah, a non-profit mental health agency serving young children and their families. I am an adjunct Family and Consumer Studies Department professor at the University of Utah.

Topic: Trauma-Informed Practices-Creating Healing Relationships and Environments for Young Children
Research and decades of evidence that trauma experiences in the first 5 years can have a significant negative impact on a child’s development. Trauma disrupts a child’s capacity to develop relationships to learn and play. Trauma experiences make it very difficult for children to regulate their emotions Without treatment, repeated childhood exposure to traumatic events can affect the brain and nervous system and increase health-risk behaviors (e.g., smoking, eating disorders, substance use, and high-risk activities). Research shows that child trauma survivors can be more likely to have long-term health problems (e.g., diabetes and heart disease) or to die at an earlier age. Traumatic stress can also lead to increased use of health and mental health services and increased involvement with the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Adult survivors of traumatic events may also have difficulty in establishing fulfilling relationships and maintaining employment.

October 24, 2024
2:30-4:00pm
CE credit

Milton McLelland, Clinical Mental Health Counselor (CMHC)
Milton D. McLelland graduated from the University of Phoenix with his Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling in 2012. He worked for the local Medicaid provider (Southwest Behavioral Health Center) in Iron County from 2012- 2018. He had the honor of working with the most acute mentally ill clients there. They taught him that a disease does not define a person and that they can build the life they want, even with the hardest of disabilities. In Milton’s opinion, every mental health practitioner would benefit from spending a few years in those clinics. In 2016 Milton started Roots Counseling with his wife, Rochelle, who is also a mental health counselor. They worked part-time until 2018, when they took the leap into full entrepreneurship. Since 2016 they have grown to 5 total therapists and have built a successful practice. Roots Counseling specializes in trauma recovery through understanding and learning how a person got to where they presently are in life, healing through connection with the whole person, mind, body, and spirit. They also help clients obtain growth and strengthening through skills development to drive and build their own life worth living. Hence the Roots’ motto: Learn, Heal, Grow, Strengthen. Milton and Roots’ main therapeutic methods are Internal Family Systems (IFS), Dialectal Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (better known as EMDR). Milton has also trained with The Amen Clinic, the world leader in brain health, and The Gottman Method, which specializes in couples’ mental wellness.

October 25, 2024
9:00-9:50am
CE credit

Annie Deming PhD, Intermountain Health Pediatric Psychology Director
I have 20 years of clinical experience, and I have been licensed as a psychologist since 2010. Utah became my home after being matched for a psychology internship at Primary Children's Center for Safe and Healthy Families. I completed my post-doctoral fellowship at Huntsman Mental Health Institute (previously University of Utah's Neuropsychiatric Institute). My job at Primary Children's Wasatch Canyons Behavioral Health Campus began in 2010, and I became the Clinical Director of the Pediatric Behavioral Health service line in 2022. I value multidisciplinary collaboration, and I helped our outpatient clinic transition to a team-based approach to evidence-based care in 2021.

Topic: Being Trauma Informed
Trauma is universal, common, crosses demographics, and has identifiable impacts on development. Being trauma-informed is a broad term, but this presentation gives accurate statistics and information about trauma prevalence and the effects of trauma on the brain and on behavior. Learning about the links between trauma and behavior can help parents, teachers, and clinicians better understand behaviors and have more effective responses.

October 25, 2024
10:00-10:50am
CE credit

Colleen Cowperthwait PhD, Duke University
Dr. Colleen Cowperthwait is a licensed clinical psychologist, Assistant Professor, and Associate Director of the Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Program in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center. Clinically, she provides individual and family-based cognitive behavioral interventions for adolescents, young adults, and adults with a variety of psychiatric and medical diagnoses, including personality pathology, chronic suicidality, non-suicidal self-injury, mood and anxiety disorders, and PTSD and trauma-related disorders. In her faculty role, she provides training, supervision, and education for graduate students, clinical psychology interns, and psychiatry residents. Dr Cowperthwait has been recognized for her clinical teaching with an Outstanding Didactic Teaching Award from the Duke Psychiatry Residency Program. Her research focuses on adaptation and implementation of contemporary, family-based and cognitive behavioral and dialectical behavioral therapies.

Topic: Understanding and Supporting Emerging Adults in the Post-COVID Era
Emerging adulthood is a developmental stage distinct from both adolescence and adulthood (Arnett, 2007). This concept arose at the end of the 20th century from significant shifts in the age at which traditional adult milestones - such as social and financial independence, marriage, parenthood, and stable career - are typically reached. Recent research shows that brain development, especially in the prefrontal cortex, and skills like problem-solving and delaying gratification continue to evolve well into a person’s twenties (Wood et al., 2017). Consequently, emerging adulthood is characterized by significant change, ambiguity, identity exploration, and personal development. Developmental norms for emerging adulthood have changed rapidly, trends that have been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Emerging adults have faced declines in job opportunities and increased financial instability, lower levels of life satisfaction, and higher rates of depression and anxiety compared to other age groups (Preetz et al., 2022). Although more 18- to 24-year-olds are employed full time now than 30 years ago, fewer than 20% are financially independent, and nearly 60% live with their parents (Minkin et al., 2024). What was once seen as "failure to launch" is now a typical pathway to adulthood (Bartolomeo et al., 2022). Emerging adults are increasingly dependent on family and situated in their parents’ homes during a period characterized by constant change and ongoing skill and identity development. In this presentation, Dr. Cowperthwait will review current research to better understand the unique needs of emerging adults and their families, highlight key implications, and provide recommendations for delivering family-inclusive and developmentally responsive care.

October 25, 2024
11:00-11:30am
CE credit

Kristin Wyatt, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist and co-founder of Arise Psychological Wellness and Consulting, PLLC, a private practice dedicated to trauma-informed care and empirically-supported practices to foster patient and provider wellness. She was formerly faculty in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center, where she was involved in clinical education, clinical service, and research. In this role, Dr. Wyatt supervised psychiatry residents and clinical psychology graduate students and predoctoral interns in DBT, trauma-informed CBTs, family-integrated CBTs, and inpatient consultation models, as well as co-founding and co-directing family-integrated DBT-YA services for young adults and their families. In addition to her clinical practice, she is active in providing trainings for mental health providers and scholarly writing on DBT-related topics. She specializes in the treatment of young adults and adolescents, with emphasis on contemporary CBTs, DBT, family integration into evidence-based models, trauma-informed care, and exposure-based treatments.

Dr. Zach Rosenthal is a clinical psychologist and Associate Professor with a joint appointment in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University. He is Director of the Duke Center for Misophonia and Emotion Regulation (CMER), where he leads a team conducting research, providing education, and developing clinical care pathways for Misophonia. He also directs the Duke Cognitive Behavioral Research and Treatment Program (CBRTP), is Co-Chief Psychologist for Duke University Medical Center, and was the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences Vice Chair for Clinical Services from 2015-2019. Dr. Rosenthal has published and presented research extensively, and has received grants to conduct research from a range of funding sources, including the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, numerous foundations, and from major donors. He is a licensed psychologist in North Carolina with expertise in contemporary cognitive behavioral therapies (CBTs), and is an expert in the treatment of misophonia, borderline personality disorder, process-based CBTs, and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). In addition to research, administrative duties, and clinical practice, Dr. Rosenthal enjoys teaching undergraduate and graduate students, mentoring students, interns, post-docs, residents, and faculty, consulting with digital health companies, and training clinicians in best practices using cognitive behavioral therapies for adults nationally and internationally. In his free time, he loves to watch his two teenage sons play ice hockey (yes, ice hockey in North Carolina!), and to camp around the West on long road trips.

Noga Zerubavel, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist and co-founder of Arise Psychological Wellness and Consulting, PLLC. She is also an Assistant Consulting Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center, where she is involved in clinical education and research. Dr. Zerubavel is the former director of the Stress, Trauma, and Recovery Treatment (START) Clinic at Duke, where she led a trauma consultation team and supervised psychiatry residents and clinical psychology graduate students, predoctoral interns, and postdoctoral fellows in trauma-informed psychotherapy. She is active in providing trainings for mental health providers, social service administrators, and physicians and other health care providers. Dr. Zerubavel has expertise in organizational development of trauma-informed practices with an emphasis on addressing burnout and enhancing wellness and resilience. She specializes in treatment of trauma survivors using empirically supported treatments, with an emphasis on contemporary CBTs and mindfulness-based psychotherapy

October 25, 2024
12:00-1:20pm
CE credit

Kristen Neff PhD
Dr. Neff is an Insight Meditation practitioner and an associate professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Atlantic, and Harvard Business Review, among others, and her TEDx talk has been viewed over 1.7 million times. She’s also the co-developer of an empirically supported training program called Mindful Self-Compassion, which is taught by thousands of people worldwide, and the co-author of The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook as well as Teaching the Mindful Self-Compassion Program: A Guide for Professionals. She is also co-founder of the nonprofit Center for Mindful Self-Compassion.

Keynote: Self-compassion involves treating ourselves kindly like we would a close friend we cared about. Rather than continually judging and evaluating ourselves, self-compassion involves generating kindness toward ourselves as imperfect humans and learning to be present with the inevitable struggles of life with greater ease. This talk will present theory and research on self-compassion, which a burgeoning empirical literature has shown to be powerfully associated with psychological wellbeing. It will also discuss the crucial role that self-compassion plays for caregivers in order to reduce burnout. A practice will be taught that can help individuals maintain balance in difficult situations involving caring for others.

Mindfulness breakout: The ability to be mindful of our difficult emotions is necessary to be self-compassionate. In this breakout session, we will explore how mindfulness relates to self-compassion, and how they can be used together to work with difficult emotions in a skillful manner.

October 25, 2024
1:40-2:30pm
CE credit

Annika Hunt LCSW

Katie Mansell
Katie has been involved in association management for over 10 years. She has managed several different trade associations from medical to professional. She is actively working on obtaining her Certified Association Executive along with pursuing additional educational opportunities that will bring new and innovative ideas to increase the success of trade associations. Katie genuinely cares about the success and growth of each organization and shows it through the quality services she provides.

October 25, 2024
2:40-5:10pm
CE credit

David Derezotes PhD, Supervision Training for Mental Health Providers
David Derezotes is a Professor in the College of Social Work, Director of Peace and Conflict Studies in the College of Humanities, Facilitator of the President's Anti-Racism Task Force, and Director of Transforming Classrooms into Inclusive Communities at the University of Utah. Dr. Derezotes earned his Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley, and has practiced as a social worker, clinical supervisor, community therapist, and dialogue facilitator. He has authored numerous books, chapters, and articles related to mental health, dialogue, spirituality, and global transformation. When not working, he often wanders in the deserts of the Colorado Plateau.