We're Back and Together Again!
We're still dealing with the aftermath of the pandemic, in which our world completely changed.
Three years in which the need for mental health care exploded. Three years in which mental health providers took on the world's problems. Leaving us depleted, exhausted and isolated. Leaving us ineffective and in need of care.
The OAMHP Annual Conference is that place of care.
It's two days of:
- Reassessing your need to nurture the self
- Connecting with colleagues
- Growth and inspiration
- Reflection and fun
- Relaxation and recovery
2023 Conference Keynote Address and Panel Discussion Livestream
If you can’t attend the Conference in person, you can attend the 2023 Conference Keynote Address and Panel Discussion livestream. Attend in real-time and participate in the Q&A via chat.
The livestream is being held September 29, 2023 at 9:00 am – 12:00 pm (EST).
Conference hotel: Radisson Blu Toronto Downtown
Location: 249 Queen's Quay West, Toronto
Call (for individuals): 1-437-886-9667 (toll free)
Email: frontdesk@radissonblutoronto.com
Student Poster Submissions
OAMHP has invited students to present their research at the Networking event on September 29, 2023.
Annual General Meeting of Members
Note: The Annual General Meeting of Members will take place on September 30 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The OAMHP’s Annual General Meeting will be held in hybrid format on September 30th at 1:00PM. Members can attend in-person at the Radisson Blu Toronto or virtually via zoom. In-person attendees are invited to lunch, served at noon. Members attending virtually would have received a Zoom registration link via email.
Can’t attend? Please complete a proxy!
Please note that pre-registration for the AGM is required and changes in attendee format (in-person to virtual or vice versa) must be made a minimum of 24 hours in advance.
The full conference fee includes: The Full Conference Package | Keynote | Panel discussion | College presentations | Friday afternoon and Saturday morning workshops | Friday evening President’s Reception and Networking event
Individual workshops: These are now available separately.
Member Registration
Non-Member Registration
Conference Schedule
Keynote address: The Current State of Mental Health in Canada
Sept 29
9:00am - 10:30am
Speaker: Michael Cooper, Vice-President of Development & Strategic Partnerships, Mental Health Research Canada (https://www.mhrc.ca)
Mental Health Research Canada has been polling Canadians throughout the COVID-19 pandemic on their levels of anxiety and depression to identify and evaluate factors that influence their mental health.
This keynote presentation provides the opportunity for discussion on how Canadians are accessing care. It will explore what the barriers are to accessing care, what services are of most use to Canadians, and how resilience impacts mental health. Gain an insight into what is happening with high burnout groups, such as mental health professionals.
Intended for:
All Mental Health Professionals
Qualifies for:
1.5 CECs
Intended for:
All Mental Health Professionals
Qualifies for:
1.5 CECs
Panel discussion: Caring for Ourselves so We can Care Better for Others
Sept 29
10:30am - 12:00pm
Moderator: Juli Fyfe
Speakers: Cathy Gatlin, Raechel Pefanis, and Tifrah Warner
Let’s engage in conversation! We’ll address the need for mental health professionals to re-energize and re-connect so that we can safely and effectively help our clients in the aftermath of COVID 19.
Intended for:
All Mental Health Professionals
Qualifies for:
1.5 CECs
Intended for:
All Mental Health Professionals
Qualifies for:
1.5 CECs
Presentations by regulatory colleges: CRPO, CPO, OCSWSSW
Sept 29
1:00pm to 2:00pm
CRPO speaker: Deb Adams, Registrar and CEO, CRPO
OCSWSSW speaker: Sue Botelho, MSW, RSW, Professional Practice Associate - Boundaries in Practice
CPO speakers: Barry Gang, MBA, Dip.C.S., C.Psych. Assoc. and Lesia Mackanyn
Intended for:
All Mental Health Professionals
Intended for:
All Mental Health Professionals
Improv for Mental Health Care Practitioners
You don’t have to be funny to have fun!
Sept 29
2:00pm - 5:00pm
Speaker: Cathy Gatlin, Instructor for Improv4Health
Comedy improvisation helps to get you out of your head and into your body. Improv also allows you to express yourself in a creative and energizing way. You do not need any experience, be outgoing, or have a background in acting to enjoy improv. There is no need to be “funny” or create pre-set material. It is especially useful for counsellors and therapists who may be burned out or would like to observe life through the lens of silliness and fun. Community, Creativity and Connection are the goals.
In this improv class, students start to learn the skills needed to create strong improvised “games in a scene.” Some of these skills include creating sounds with emotion, giving, and taking focus, and most importantly work on the concept of accepting any “offer” or idea given to you by your scene partner.
Intended for:
All Mental Health Professionals
Learning Level:
All career levels
Qualifies for:
3 CECs
Intended for:
All Mental Health Professionals
Learning Level:
All career levels
Qualifies for:
3 CECs
Bullet Proof: Building a Sustainable Career in Mental Health
Sept 29
2:00pm - 5:00 pm
Speaker: Raechel Pefanis , BA, MSW, RSW, PCC-ICF
For most of us, our preparation for work in the field is focused wholly on the skills of delivering mental health services and interventions. Unfortunately, we do not learn how to build a sustainable career.
Christina Maslach, a social psychologist, is often credited with coining the term "burnout" in the context of occupational stress – a significant occupational hazard for those of us in the work of mental health.
How do we avoid burnout? It requires attention to things that are not direct client care, such as our attention to the structure and pace of our work, environmental factors (such as toxicity at work), and ultimately, the mindsets we keep about our care of ourselves.
This workshop is critical for anyone who needs help to address the sustainability of their work. It is especially recommended for new (five years or less) practitioners within the field.
Intended for:
All Mental Health Care Workers
Learning Level:
Beginner/Intermediate
Qualifies for:
3 CECs
Intended for:
All Mental Health Care Workers
Learning Level:
Beginner/Intermediate
Qualifies for:
3 CECs
Discovery and Exploration of Professional Roles
Sept 29
2:00pm - 5:00pm
Speaker: Tifrah Warner, Ph.D.
This workshop is an experiential exploration of the subjective perception of one’s professional role or roles in counselling, psychotherapy, and similar occupations. Some may perceive their responsibilities to be that of a ‘miner’, mining for memories and insights or mining for inner resources and strengths.
Others may see their responsibilities as that of a ‘teacher’ or a ‘guide’, educating their clients in logic and common sense or in interpersonal and intrapersonal skills. A ‘fellow human on the same path of life’, a ‘healer’, and a ‘detective’ are among a variety of other roles that practitioners are known to assume as part of their professional position.
The roles practitioners take on is a valuable aspect of their work. These roles contribute to the overall nature of the process of a session and to the nature of practitioner-client relationships. This workshop gives participants the opportunity to become more aware of the roles they assume and to gain in ability to engage in these roles.
This workshop is designed to be experiential. Reflective processes are the primary tool. Small groups and full group discussions follow each reflective process.
Intended for:
Mental health practitioners who work directly with patients
Learning Level:
Student to intermediate
Qualifies for:
3 CECs
Intended for:
Mental health practitioners who work directly with patients
Learning Level:
Student to intermediate
Qualifies for:
3 CECs
Exploring Resilience through Overcoming the Trauma of Anti-Black Racism
Sept 30
9:00am - 12:00pm
Speaker: Dr. Keisha Greene, RP
This workshop is aimed at helping clinicians learn skills around how to work with clients who present with racial trauma in the therapy space. The events that took place during the summer of 2020 has created a demand in the Black community to process their anti-Black racism experiences within a therapy space.
Much of what we know about racial trauma centers around the African American experience and the negative impacts of persistent racist experiences. This workshop seeks to discuss the unique and nuanced experiences of Black Canadians and the ways in which Canadian society perpetuates a narrative of being a post-racial society, while also being built on a foundation of racist ideals.
Through this discussion, clinicians will increase their awareness of the ways in which anti-Black racism is experienced by Black Canadians, which aids in building competency to discuss experiences of racism in a fulsome way. Being able to discuss and assess for racial trauma can help clients to gain deeper insight into the impacts of their experiences.
In this workshop, clinicians will also learn the ways in which resilience/resistance can be fostered within the therapy setting to help clients to navigate and process their experiences to reach a space of post traumatic growth.
Intended for:
All mental health professionals
Learning Level:
All career levels
Qualifies for:
3 CECs
Intended for:
All mental health professionals
Learning Level:
All career levels
Qualifies for:
3 CECs
Transference and Countertransference:
Indicators of issues or a therapist’s most valuable spider sense?
Sept 30
9:00am - 12:00pm
Speakers: Candice Hamilton-Miller, RP and Polina Fedotenko, RP(Q)
Since the time of Freud, transference/countertransference has long been treated as a very problematical warning sign. Through the years, other modalities such as Relational Therapy, have viewed the effect in some very different ways. With the importance of skills such as safe and effective use of self, ethical issues in therapy, and therapist self-awareness and self care, we will explore the role of T and CT in therapy and look at when it is a danger and when it can be a useful tool.
This workshop will help therapists to learn how to assess T/CT in sessions, when to seek peer consultation or supervision, and how to protect themselves from the negative effect of T/CT such as burnout or entanglement. We will also examine how to engage the understanding of T/CT to better help your client outcomes.
The workshop will include case studies, and practice in identifying, exploring, and using T/CT in session. Designed to address frequent questions raised in supervision and in discussion with other seasoned therapists, the topic highlights the importance of the role of the therapist and their own self awareness. We recognize that the therapist as an individual can never be truly separated from the work in the therapy room.
Intended for:
Psychotherapists
Learning Level:
Intermediate to advanced
Qualifies for:
3 CECs
Intended for:
Psychotherapists
Learning Level:
Intermediate to advanced
Qualifies for:
3 CECs
4 Blinks
A Flash-like Approach to Processing Trauma
Sept 30
9:00am - 12:00pm
Speaker: Christina Janiga, RP, Clinical Supervisor, Certified EMDR Therapist
Sponsored by Stepped Care Solutions
Four Blinks is a Flash-like process and recently developed therapeutic intervention for reducing the disturbance associated with traumatic or distressing memories. Flash is a technique developed by Phil Mansfield as an EMDR resource to decrease the distress in memories prior to clearing and reprocessing the memory in EMDR.
What has evolved from this is an understanding that the entire trauma memory/memories can be resolved with using this technique. From this understanding and through the theory of memory reconsolidation, Thomas Zimmerman (an EMDRIA approved consultant in Ohio) has adapted this protocol and made it accessible to all psychotherapists (even those not formally trained in EMDR therapy).
Unlike many conventional therapies, Four Blinks is a minimally intrusive option that does not require the client to consciously engage with the traumatic memory. This allows the client to process traumatic memories without feeling distress. Some examples of successful implementation of Four Blinks for distressing memories include decreasing the subjective units of distress (SUDS) of the memory to zero (or neutral). Individuals also tend to adapt positive shifts and cognitions and they obtain a clear body scan when visiting the memory.
Four Blinks is a beneficial tool to add to any trauma-informed therapist’s tool box.
Intended for:
Psychotherapists, counsellors, and others who work directly with clients
Learning Level:
Introductory
Qualifies for:
3 CECs
Intended for:
Psychotherapists, counsellors, and others who work directly with clients
Learning Level:
Introductory
Qualifies for:
3 CECs
Event Speakers
Click on a Speaker for More info
Sponsors
Exhibitors
Donors
OAMHP would like to thank our conference sponsors and exhibitors for their generous support.
CONFERENCE REGISTRATION Terms and Conditions
Please Note: We apologize if your preferred workshop is no longer available when you register. Space is limited and will be assigned on a first come first served basis. If a seminar or workshop is cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances, OAMHP reserves the right to assign another seminar or workshop to replace the cancelled session.
Cancellations: To cancel your registration please submit a request in writing by email to services-coordinator@oamhp.ca. Notice of cancellation must be received before August 29, 2023; your registration will be refunded (less a $25 administration fee). Between August 30, 2023 and the conference date, NO REFUNDS will be granted for cancellation.
Substitution Policy: If you are unable to attend, you are invited to send an alternate in your place at no extra cost. Please notify us of the name of the alternate no later than September 12, 2023 to minimize confusion at registration.
Endorsement Disclaimer: OAMHP is pleased to present the Annual Conference workshops and speakers. The views and opinions of presenters expressed herein or at the Conference do not necessarily state or reflect those of the OAMHP.
COVID-19 Policy: OAMHP follows all public health guidelines and expects all attendees, speakers, and facilitators to follow whatever public health requirements are in place at the time of the Annual Conference.
Virtual and In-Person events: In the event OAMHP is required to cancel the in-person portion of the Annual Conference, the Conference will be held virtually. In-person registrations will be transferred to virtual registrations.
HST Registration Number: 894582832RT0001
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