2026VIRTUAL CONFERENCE
SESSION DESCRIPTIONS



Georgia Society of Adlerian Psychology
ADLERIANS IN ACTION 2026 CONFERENCE






The Georgia Society of Adlerian Psychology has been Approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6816. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Georgia Society of Adlerian Psychology is solely responsible for all aspects of the program.

VIRTUAL:
The below sessions are being offered synchronously/virtually. You must attend in real time. Sessions will not be available post conference.

The conference provides skill & education at the INTRODUCTORY, INTERMEDIATE, and ADVANCED levels and is intended for mental health professionals in a variety of settings, as well as students. You do not need to be at a particular level of experience to attend intermediate or advanced level sessions.



FRIDAY
AUGUST 21st



(Lunch 12PM-1PM)



FRIDAY SESSION
8:30AM-4:15PM
(6 CE HOURS with lunch and breaks)





In the Face of Loss and Trauma: Adlerian Use of Creativity to Heal the Whole Self

(INTERMEDIATE)

Stacy Sampson, MS, LPC, CPCS, NCC &
David Hough, CPS-AD



This presentation explores the use of Narrative Therapy and other creative strategies to aid in the healing process for those experiencing grief, trauma, or other difficulties. This highly participatory demonstration-based training will explore techniques for finding survivors’ voices, exploring meaning making for their lives while focusing on client's strengths, choices, and future goals.

This workshop is designed to help you:

1. Discuss populations for which Narrative Therapy and other creative outlets will be beneficial and appropriate strategies to prepare and support clients throughout their process.
2. Utilize Adlerian therapy concepts, discuss ways to aid clients with creating meaning for their lives and focus on growth from painful and difficult experiences.
3. Outline and discuss the foundations for the Narrative Therapy process, including storytelling rights and finding one’s voice.
4. Discuss brainstorming, journaling, and other methods to prepare clients for the deeper work of Narrative Therapy and other creative therapies.
5. Demonstrate narrative therapy strategies and use of art and other creative outlets for aiding in healing by telling their stories, with a focus on client’s goals, strengths, superiority, and choices.
6. Use creative activities in order to fully understand the process and benefits clients will derive from processing painful experiences.





FRIDAY EVENING SESSION
4:30PM-6:45PM
(2 CE HOURS)





Addressing Lifestyle Dynamics in Clinical Supervision

(INTRODUCTORY) CLINICAL SUPERVISION

Susan Belangee, PhD, LPC, NCC, ACS, DNASAP



This session explores how lifestyle dynamics, as measured by scales on the BASIS-A Inventory, influence the supervisory relationship. Attendees will self-reflect on their own lifestyle traits and the impact, both positive and negative, they have had on past/current supervision relationships. A demonstration will be conducted to illuminate these connections.

This workshop is designed to help you:
1. Describe lifestyle from an Adlerian psychology perspective.
2. Analyze your own lifestyle dynamics and how they influence supervision.
3. Discuss how the counselor-client relationship is affected by the counselor's lifestyle dynamics.





SATURDAY
AUGUST 22nd
(Lunch 12PM-1PM)





SATURDAY MORNING SESSION
8:30AM-10AM (1.5 CE Hours)





Technology Integration in Adlerian Focused Counseling

(INTRODUCTORY)

Timothy Pierce-Tomlin, MS, LPC



Ever increasingly, people build their personal identities in online spaces. During this session, you will work to further develop your abilities to meet clients at the intersectionality of their real and digital selves and join the discussion to determine where the lines between technology adoption and ethics interact.

This workshop is designed to help you:
1. Identify and compare various forms of technology available for use in a clinical setting.
2. Discuss and critique technology as it has been used in the past and predict where it may be used in the future within counseling.
3. Analyze the benefits of certain technologies through an Adlerian framework and design therapeutic interventions based on the presented case studies.





SATURDAY MORNING SESSION
10:15AM-11:45AM
(1.5 CE Hours)





Suicide Prevention Through Connection: Exploring Adler and the Crucial C’s

(INTRODUCTORY)

Tara Overzat, PhD, LPC, NCC, ACS &
Kishon Kelley, LPC, NCC



Suicide rates are increasing in the US. This interactive session will explore Adlerian strategies for suicide assessment and prevention. The Crucial C’s and other Adlerian techniques’ ability to reduce suicide risk will be highlighted and ways to connect these interventions to clinical practice will be explored.

This workshop is designed to help you:
1. Describe the challenges contributing to the increasing suicide rate among youth and the overall US population in recent years.
2. Apply Adlerian therapeutic techniques, with a focus on the Crucial C’s, to case studies on suicidal ideation and attempt.
3. Synthesize your current therapeutic modality with suicide prevention techniques and interventions through an Adlerian lens.





SATURDAY AFTER LUNCH SESSION
1PM-2:30PM
(1.5 CE Hours)





Chronic Illness Impact on Adler’s Tasks of Life and Utilizing Concepts of Strengths and Crucial C’s To Aid Clients with Self Advocacy

(INTERMEDIATE)

Stacy Sampson, MS, LPC, NCC, CPCS



Chronic illness makes navigating Adler’s Tasks of Life difficult and has a significant impact on mental health. The application of the Adlerian concept of Crucial C’s and focus on client’s strengths will aid in the empowerment of clients’ managing these chronic conditions within the maze of our medical system.

This workshop is designed to help you:
1 Examine the Adlerian concept of Tasks of Life and how chronic illness impacts every life task area.
2. Discuss the Adlerian focus on one’s strengths and how this can be applied to working with clients with chronic illness.
3. Apply an Adlerian framework of Crucial C’s to aid with clients’ ability to self-advocate and manage their own health effectively.





SATURDAY AFTERNOON SESSION
2:45PM-4:15PM
(1.5 CE Hours)





Dream a Little Dream: The Importance of Sleep for Good Mental Health

(INTRODUCTORY)

Jody Housker, PhD, NCC, ACS, NBCCH, LPC



A good night's sleep can do wonders for our mental health and wellbeing. In this session we will review the science of sleep, discuss the impact of sleep deprivation on mental health and add to our knowledge of interventions helpful to promoting good sleep hygiene.

This workshop is designed to help you:
1. Describe "normal" sleep patterns across the life-span.
2. Identify potential impacts to mental health related to sleep deprivation.
3. List interventions which may be helpful in promoting sleep hygiene.





SATURDAY EVENING SESSION
4:30PM-6:45PM
(2 CE Hours)





Neuroplasticity Through an Adlerian Lens

(INTRODUCTORY)

Kristen Aycock, PhD & Tiana Rouse, APC



This presentation explores neuroplasticity through an Adlerian framework, integrating contemporary neuroscience with culturally-informed psychotherapy. Adlerian interventions leading to neuroplastic change will be highlighted.

This workshop is designed to help you:
1. Identify brain mechanisms underlying neuroplasticity.
2. Explain how culture influences neural connectivity.
3. List two Adlerian techniques that promote neuroplastic change.





SUNDAY
AUGUST 23rd
(Lunch 12PM-1PM)





SUNDAY MORNING SESSION
8:30AM-10:00AM
(1.5 CE Hours)





Individual Psychology and Anxiety Disorders: Working with Children and Adolescents

(INTERMEDIATE)

Courtney Evans, PhD, LCMHC-S, NCC, ACS, RPT-S, BC-TMHC



This presentation will begin with an overview of anxiety disorders in children. These will be explained through the theory of Individual psychology. Creative ways of encouraging children and adolescents with anxiety disorders will be explored.

This workshop is designed to help you:
1. Describe common anxiety disorders in children and adolescents
2. Explain these anxiety disorders using the theory of Individual Psychology
3. Apply creative techniques for working with children and adolescents with anxiety disorders.





SUNDAY MORNING SESSION
10:15-11:45AM
(1.5 CE Hours)





But Did You Die? - Complex Trauma, Survival, and Belonging Through an Adlerian Lens

(INTRODUCTORY)

Monique R. Darnell, LPC, LMHC



This session introduces Complex PTSD through a trauma-informed Adlerian framework, reframing symptoms as purposeful survival strategies shaped by early life conditions, meaning-making, and disrupted belonging. Participants will explore how trauma, culture, and faith influence lifestyle formation and private logic. This session provides a strong foundation in Adlerian concepts that deepen trauma assessment and normalize survival-based behavior without pathologizing the client.

This workshop is designed to help you:
1. Describe CPTSD symptoms as purposeful survival strategies.
2. Identify how trauma, culture, and faith shape lifestyle and private logic.
3. Apply meaning-making concepts to trauma assessment.





END OF CONFERENCE - SUNDAY PLENARY
1PM-3:15PM
(2 CE Hours)





Encouragement in Discouraging Times

(INTRODUCTORY)

Tara Overzat, PhD, LPC, NCC, ACS



Life is movement! During the ebbs and flows of one’s journey that we call life, each person will likely encounter transitional experiences of physical and emotional pain. At such times individuals may choose to either embrace or neutralize these powerful feelings which are intended to remind us all that life really is movement.

This workshop is designed to help you:
1. Apply encouragement strategies to help clients embrace all emotions, even difficult ones, and view these experiences as opportunities to strengthen social interest.
2. Verbalize techniques of encouraging clients to see life as movement and to appreciate the highs and lows of the experiences found on the journey of life.
3. Apply the Adlerian concept of the Masculine Protest for assisting clients on how to redirect one’s experience of pain into areas that foster a greater sense of belonging and contribution.