We’d like to send out a GREAT BIG Thank You to everyone who joined us for AWARE’s first clinical leadership summit INSPIRE MONTANA: Great Minds – Big Impact that kicked off October 12-13, 2022 at the Great Northern Hotel in Helena, Montana.
The summit brought together professionals who wanted to learn more about improving clinical practice, advocacy and resilience. Everyone was eager to gather to share ideas, network and learn more about the latest advancements in human services.
Speakers from near and far filled us with inspiration, new thought processes and fresh perspectives that energized attendees and armed them with plenty of information to bring back to their teams and office practices.
Keynote speaker Francoise Mathieu opened the summit and provided strategies to help everyone keep bouncing back when life just keeps wearing us out. Attendees then split into breakout sessions where Linda Kinsey and Rebecca Hargis teamed up to walk through Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) Training and discuss historic trauma from a Plains Indian perspective. At the same time, Andrew Laue provided insight on building a sustainable clinical practice, and AWARE’s Family Assertive and Community Treatment (FACT) team gave an overview on their new program that connects children and families to services lost during the pandemic.
After a quick lunch, attendees dove into another round of breakout sessions. Tal Goldin led an interactive discussion about amplifying the voices of the people we serve, Francoise Mathieu returned to offer a workshop on protecting our emotional and mental health and Paula Witt gave an overview of Multidimensional Family Therapy (MDFT), which happens to be one of AWARE’s newest forms of treatment for youth care.
The first day concluded with a networking and social reception that featured AWARE’s favorite traveling photo booth filled with toys and fun props. Everyone had a chance to unwind and connect with like-minded peers from across the state who represented a variety of service lines and businesses within our industry.
For day two, attendees remained in breakout sessions. Tal Goldin and the AWARE’s FACT Team returned for repeat discussions while Kathleen Little Leaf and Dr. Len Lantz presented new topics. Kathleen broadened our horizons and pushed us to think about advocacy at the system level, and Dr. Lantz provided strategies for dealing with treatment-resistant depression.
The summit concluded with a final keynote from William Henry. He reminded us that we need to give each other grace. He said things along the lines of nobody is perfect, we’re all here for the same reason and we’re all on the same team. We need to focus on helping each other create safe environments that foster trust so that – together - we can all improve.
We look forward to taking these wise words, and all the lessons we learned throughout the summit, into the next year as we push the needle on human services in Montana.
We hope to see you all again at next year’s clinical leadership summit! Stay tuned!
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