Colorful, intertwined lines intersect. The Professional Heart: Competence, Compassion and Collaboration Conference. April 8 and 9, 2026.

Positive Change Virtual Conference

The Professional Heart: Competence, Compassion & Collaboration

April 8 & 9, 2025 | 8:00am to 12:30pm

Keynote Speakers

Rajni Shankar-Brown, PhD

Rajni Shankar-Brown, PhD

Professor & JBD Distinguished Chair of Social Justice Education, Stetson University

Rajni Shankar-Brown, PhD, MBA, M-MA, MA, BA, is an internationally renowned, community-engaged professor and the Jessie Ball duPont Distinguished Chair of Social Justice Education at Stetson University.

She is a global writer, artist, and speaker, as well as the recipient of some of Stetson’s most prestigious awards.

Dr. Shankar-Brown is the past board president of the National Coalition for the Homeless, and holds the honor of being the first woman of color elected to serve as NCH president.

She has served in many, many other transformative leadership roles across the United States and around the world.

Dr. Shankar-Brown is a committed advocate for compassionate and equity-centered approaches to promote positive change and advance educational excellence. She has received international, national, state, and local recognition for her scholarly and creative activities and transformative leadership.

And, last but not least, Dr. Shankar-Brown is a dedicated amma (mom) who loves sunflowers and masala chai.

KEYNOTE

Cultural Humility in Action: Disrupting Inequities to Advance Public Health & Positive Change

In an era marked by growing health disparities and rapidly shifting community needs, this keynote address illuminates how and why cultural humility is not a soft skill, but an equity-centered approach essential to advancing public health.

Blending research, narrative storytelling, history, art, and real-world examples from her extensive work across systems and communities, Dr. Rajni Shankar-Brown invites participants to embrace cultural humility as a dynamic, lifelong practice capable of transforming systems, relationships, and outcomes.

Aaron Weiner, PhD

Aaron Weiner, PhD

Executive Vice President, Prevention Research Institute

Dr. Aaron Weiner is a board-certified psychologist, addiction specialist, and executive vice president of the Prevention Research Institute.

A leading voice on addiction, prevention, and drug policy, his expertise stems from years of integrating current research into systems-level interventions, educational programming, and clinical practice workflows.

A past president of the Society of Addiction Psychology, Dr. Weiner serves as an addiction policy advisor for the American Psychological Association and on the Science Advisory Board for the Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions.

His insights have been featured in Newsweek, USA Today, The Chicago Tribune, The Guardian, Psychology Today, and The New York Times. Learn more about his work at weinerphd.com.

KEYNOTE

Adolescent Mental Health & THC Use: Breaking a Hurtful Cycle

The mental health crisis among today’s youth has reached unprecedented levels, with anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation rates remaining high in the post-pandemic era. These struggles don’t exist in isolation – they are deeply intertwined with substance use, as young people increasingly turn to chemicals like THC and other substances as coping mechanisms for psychological distress.

Adolescents who use substances are often misunderstood, and thus approached in ways that may worsen rather than address the underlying issues.

Join Dr. Aaron Weiner for an examination of the critical link between mental health and THC use in adolescents, including current product trends that heighten risk, the psychological drivers of use, and evidence-based strategies that professionals can use to help families build resilience and support youth in developing healthier coping skills.

Roderick Logan, DPTh, DAAETS

Roderick Logan, DPTh, DAAETS

Founding President, Making Space to Heal

Dr. Roderick Logan is a trauma-informed and salutogenic coach, consultant, trainer, author, and Diplomate with the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress who has spent more than four decades walking with individuals, families, organizations, and communities through adversity, loss, and change.

Drawing from neurobiology, attachment, and resilience research, he helps leaders and frontline professionals create environments where safety, trust, and transparency are lived realities.

His work with counseling agencies, probation departments, community services organizations, and faith-based organizations centers on equipping people to live the life they are leading others to live. You can find him at rodericklogan.com.

KEYNOTE

Boundaries Show Us the Safe Passage

This keynote invites helping professionals to honor the professional heart by treating boundaries as trauma-informed guardrails that create safe passage for everyone in the room.

Through a salutogenic lens, it explores safety, trust, and transparency as a trauma-informed triad, introduces four anchors of healthy boundaries, and offers concrete, role-specific practices for professionals who want to live the life they are leading others to live.

Event Partners

Logo for the Lancaster County Drug & Alcohol Commission
Millersville University
Register

April 2026 Event

The Positive Change Virtual Conference is an annual event designed to offer practical tools, as well as inspiration and encouragement, to those working in helping professions where addiction & mental health disorders are present. AUDIENCE:

Addiction & mental health clinicians and peer recovery specialists | Addiction & mental health prevention and intervention professionals | Educators, including SAP team members | Healthcare professionals | Criminal justice professionals | Social workers | Social service professionals | College students | All interested community members are welcome

The 2026 theme is The Professional Heart: Competence, Compassion & Collaboration. In these times of unprecedented stress and change, many are actively seeking deeper, more reliable connections. When it comes to addiction and mental health, helping professionals are feeling this acutely—they’re holding others’ pain while carrying their own uncertainty, making a strong, professional community feel necessary for survival. In addition, threats to funding for the services we all take for granted increase the need to work together with other organizations.

This event offers care and support to the professional heart, as well as opportunities to grow networks of encouragement and validation, while becoming grounded in the science of connection, collaboration, and hope. 

Register today!

Conference Info

Overview

Speakers & Workshops

Agenda

Cost & CEUs

Planning Committee

Sponsors

Speakers & Workshops

Click on each speaker name to read their bio and workshop description.

Michael Fanjoy, LPC, CCTP, CAADC, CCS

Michael Fanjoy, LPC, CCTP, CAADC, CCS

Executive/Clinic Director, The Ranch PA Outpatient Services

Michael Fanjoy, LPC, CCTP, CAADC, CCS, has over two decades of experience in the behavioral health field supporting individuals struggling with mental health and substance use challenges. A master’s-level, licensed professional counselor, Michael holds certifications as a Clinical Trauma Professional and an Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor.

For the past 15 years, he has facilitated workshops on behavioral health topics, bringing expertise, compassion, and real-world insights to audiences. As the executive director at The Ranch PA, he oversees outpatient programs, ensuring high-quality care and innovative approaches to treatment.

Beyond professional endeavors, Michael enjoys embarking on adventures with his wife and three children, embracing the joy of exploration and connection.

WORKSHOP

Trauma-Informed Care

This Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) training provides attendees with a comprehensive understanding of how trauma affects individuals across emotional, cognitive, neurological, and behavioral domains. Participants will explore the prevalence of trauma, the neurobiology behind trauma responses, and how past experiences shape current behaviors.

Through discussion of the six key principles of TIC—safety, trust and transparency, peer support, collaboration, empowerment, and cultural awareness—attendees will learn practical strategies to create safe, validating, and empowering environments. The training includes applied techniques and organizational considerations to help staff reduce re-traumatization and strengthen resilience.

Participants will leave with actionable tools to integrate trauma-informed practices into both individual interactions and broader program culture.

Jill Heine, MARJ

Jill Heine, MARJ

Restorative School Practitioner, Advoz: Mediation & Restorative Practices

Jill Heine, MARJ, is passionate about creating spaces where everyone can flourish. After working in business and educational settings for over 25 years, she believes restorative practices help create environments where people feel seen and valued.

Relationships, justice, and dignity ground her in her work. She believes restorative practices create structures to build safety and trust, inviting people to share their authentic selves while fostering the capacity to repair, heal, and transform.

Jill works to embody a restorative paradigm in every sector of her life, including in her role as Restorative School Practitioner at McCaskey High School through Advoz: Mediation & Restorative Practices.

WORKSHOP

Restorative Circles: Practical Strategies for Building Inclusive Communities

The restorative circle process, grounded in indigenous traditions, provides a structured approach to building connection, repairing harm, and creating inclusive environments in schools and beyond. This interactive session introduces the foundational theory behind restorative circles and explores their application in diverse settings. Participants will hear real-world insights from facilitators, watch a student-led circle in action, and engage in discussion about what makes these practices effective.

We’ll cover the spectrum of circles—from community-building to addressing conflict—and provide tangible strategies you can start using immediately. Whether you work in education, community services, or organizational leadership, this workshop will equip you with practical tools to strengthen relationships and promote resilience.

Joel Jakubowski, EdD, LADAC II, ICACD II

Joel Jakubowski, EdD, LADAC II, ICACD II

Primary Therapist, CoreCivic

Joel Jakubowski, EdD, LADAC II, ICACD II, is a primary therapist at both Core Civic and Bold Steps Behavioral Health. After 20 years of drug addiction, Joel entered long-term treatment in 2003. He went on to receive his BA in behavioral health & addictions studies from Alvernia University, an MA in organizational leadership from Clarks Summit University, and completed his doctoral degree in behavioral health org leadership at Grand Canyon University.

Joel is a Licensed Alcohol & Drug Abuse Counselor II and Int’l Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor. He is also the author of, We Didn’t Raise Them This Way! – a handbook to assist families in managing their response to addictive behaviors.

Joel has been traveling the country for 20+ years providing behavioral health and leadership workshops. He firmly believes that it’s never too late to become the person you were intended to be.

Joel is married to his treasure, Angie, who is also an addiction professional. They have two sons, Brett and Nathan.

WORKSHOP

Moral Injury & Addiction: Healing the Hidden Wounds

Addiction is not only about substances—it reveals hidden fractures within the self. At the core of these fractures is moral injury, a disruption of one’s inner moral compass that produces guilt, shame, and conflict. When individuals act—or fail to act—in ways that violate their values, their authenticity is compromised, leaving them disconnected from who they truly are. Moral injury is more than psychological distress; it is a soul-level wound that undermines identity, integrity, and one’s ability to live in alignment with deeply held beliefs. Recognized in the most recent DSM-5-TR, moral injury is increasingly significant in clinical assessment and treatment planning. This training uses real-life examples to show how addiction harms both self and others, intensifying shame and perpetuating destructive cycles.

Participants will explore moral injury’s impact on values, self-worth, and relationships, while also recognizing its effect on families, who often carry secondary burdens of confusion, grief, and broken trust. Clinicians, health care workers, human services professionals, and families will all benefit from this training. Attendees will gain strategies to address moral injury through therapeutic interventions, spiritual care, and family-based support. By integrating these approaches, professionals will be better equipped to help clients rebuild authenticity, restore trust, and cultivate self-compassion. Families, too, will learn ways to support healing while addressing their own wounds. Ultimately, this training provides practical tools to transform moral injury from a hidden source of pain into a pathway toward recovery, renewed integrity, and lasting resilience.

Gregory Krausz, MA, CAADC, LPC, PMAC, PECS

Gregory Krausz, MA, CAADC, LPC, PMAC, PECS

Director of Training & Education, Council on Compulsive Gambling of PA

Greg Krausz, MA, CAADC, LPC, PMAC, PECS, is a licensed professional counselor, certified advanced alcohol & drug counselor with a certificate of competency in problem gambling, a PA master addiction counselor & PA-endorsed clinical supervisor.

Greg is the owner of Monocacy Counseling in Bethlehem, and the director of education & training at the Council on Compulsive Gambling of PA. He is a graduate of Moravian Theological Seminary with a master’s in pastoral counseling.

Greg has been a counselor, clinical supervisor & program director in the addiction, gambling & mental health fields for 31+ years. He was awarded the 2016 Bishop Kortz award for excellence in the field of Pastoral Counseling from Moravian Theological Seminary.

WORKSHOP

Yes or No? The Growth of Prediction Markets & Gambling

Yes or no? That is the question when it comes to prediction markets and how they operate. Google AI defines them as “an online platform where people trade contracts based on the outcome of future events, acting like a stock market for “yes” or “no” questions.” The options are limitless and are growing rapidly, especially when it comes to sports.

This presentation will introduce you to prediction markets, their history, and their current formats, and will explore their convergence with gambling, including resources for those with gambling problems.

Ken Martz, PsyD

Ken Martz, PsyD

President, PA Association of Addictions Professionals

Kenneth J. Martz, PsyD, MBA, is a licensed psychologist who has worked in the treatment and management of addiction (including gambling disorders) for the past 30 years in outpatient, residential, and hospital settings.

He was formerly the Special Assistant to the Secretary for the PA Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, and Policy Director in Substance Use Disorders of the Governor’s Policy Office.

He currently serves as the president of the Pennsylvania Association of Addiction Professionals, an affiliate of NAADAC.

Dr. Martz has a doctorate in clinical psychology from the Argosy University. He has authored a dozen publications and six bestsellers, including Manage My Emotions, translated into multiple languages.

He has offered 100+ local, national, and international presentations in the addiction treatment field. Read more at drkenmartz.com.

WORKSHOP

Leading With the Professional Heart: Skills for Calm, Collaboration & Clarity in High-Pressure Roles

High-pressure environments demand more than technical skill. They require a steady, emotionally grounded presence. This workshop teaches leaders, clinicians, and frontline professionals how to lead with calm, clarity, and collaboration.

Drawing on neuroscience, mindfulness, and practical regulation tools, participants will learn to manage stress responses, strengthen communication, and create psychologically safe environments that support effective teamwork and compassionate care.

Anita Pilkerton-Plumb, MSW, LSCW

Anita Pilkerton-Plumb, MSW, LSCW

Owner, One Who Plants Seeds Counseling & Training

Anita Pilkerton-Plumb, MSW, LCSW, facilitates clinical therapy, dialogue and workshops on matters of life and social change.

She is also a collage artist using found materials to explore human strengths and resources, internal conflict, imperfection and the ability to play. Anita has a private counseling practice and was rostered as a teaching artist through SouthCentral PaARTners, leading art residencies in community settings.

Therapy and creative engagements with Anita are available to people across the lifespan, and are tailor-designed to meet age-appropriate needs. Clients explore social issues including family life, sexuality, gender, human relationships, trauma, anger, eating disorders, body image, human diversity and culture, and mental health.

She uses both traditional and experiential methods, including cognitive behavioral therapy, family therapy, mindfulness-based stress reduction, collage, play therapy, creative writing, and spoken word. She is a school director for the School District of Lancaster.

WORKSHOP

In the Mirror- Practical Applications for Developing Empathic Connections with Youth

Building trust with youth clients, and colleagues as well, may be easier than we think. Lean into deep empathy and learn mirror practices that can cool the temperature, demonstrate understanding, build connection, and lead to thriving resilience.

It’s not something extra; it’s a practical, embeddable tool to transform your everyday interactions with young people, your colleagues, and yourself.

Krista Rittenhouse

Krista Rittenhouse

Executive Director, Advoz: Mediation & Restorative Practices

Krista Rittenhouse began her journey with Advoz in 2019 as a volunteer and trainee in restorative justice conferencing, quickly distinguishing herself by successfully reaching dozens of case participants. Over the past six years, she has grown with the organization—from restorative justice case manager to director of restorative practices, to her current role as executive director.

The stories and relationships from those first years of direct service continue to fuel her commitment to this work, and she still cherishes opportunities to facilitate. Krista graduated from Eastern Mennonite University in 2014, studying peacebuilding & development and Spanish.

Krista is passionate about helping people heal relationships and investing in Lancaster city youth. She loves outdoor activities, board games, and sharing food with friends.

WORKSHOP

Restorative Circles: Practical Strategies for Building Inclusive Communities

The restorative circle process, grounded in indigenous traditions, provides a structured approach to building connection, repairing harm, and creating inclusive environments in schools and beyond.

This interactive session introduces the foundational theory behind restorative circles and explores their application in diverse settings. Participants will hear real-world insights from facilitators, watch a student-led circle in action, and engage in discussion about what makes these practices effective.

Megan Schnetzer, MEd

Megan Schnetzer, MEd

Owner, Held Co. & Assistant Professor, Wilmington University

Megan Schnetzer, MEd, is a trauma-trained somatic practitioner, assistant professor, and chair of graduate special education & ARTC Programs at Wilmington University.

She specializes in trauma-responsive education, nervous system regulation, and somatic approaches to healing, providing both one-on-one trauma-informed support to clients and professional development for educators, behavioral health professionals, and community organizations.

Megan’s work bridges academic expertise with embodied practice, helping professionals cultivate the internal safety and resilience needed to support others effectively.

She is currently a student in the Doctor of Social Science in Prevention Science program at Wilmington, where her research focuses on how nervous system psychoeducation and regulation strategies can strengthen professional well-being, reduce burnout, and improve outcomes for those working in high-stress helping professions.

WORKSHOP

The Regulated Professional: Nervous System Safety as the Foundation of Compassionate Care

In helping professions, especially those supporting individuals and families impacted by addiction and mental health challenges, the ability to offer safety, stability, and compassion begins with the state of the professional’s own nervous system.

This engaging, practical session reframes regulation not as self-care, but as a core competency that strengthens clinical judgment, deepens connection, and reduces burnout.

Participants will learn to recognize their own stress responses through the lens of fight, flight, freeze, and fawn, and will explore how these states influence communication, boundary-setting, and their capacity to hold others’ pain with steadiness and clarity.

William Stauffer, LSW, PMAC, PECS

William Stauffer, LSW, PMAC, PECS

Executive Director, PRO●A

William Stauffer, LSW, PMAC, PECS, has been the executive director of the Pennsylvania Recovery Organization Alliance (PRO●A), our statewide recovery organization, since 2012. He is in long-term recovery since age 21 and has been actively engaged in public policy in the recovery arena for most of those years.

Mr. Stauffer is a graduate of Northampton Community College, Cedar Crest College, and Kutztown University. He is also an adjunct professor of social work at Misericordia University.

Mr. Stauffer has over 25 years of clinical and administrative experience in both inpatient and outpatient settings. He has been a staunch advocate for strong substance use disorder (SUD) patient privacy protections at both the state and federal levels.

He ran a recovery house taskforce for the Commonwealth that helped inform PA Act 59 of 2017. In 2018, he testified in front of the US Senate Special Committee on Aging on the opioid epidemic and older adults, and in 2019, he conducted a hearing with the PA House Human Services Committee to expand recovery opportunities for young people.

William Stauffer has initiated numerous workforce expansion initiatives for persons in recovery. A major focus of his work has been aimed at moving our entire SUD care system towards a five-year care paradigm to dramatically expand the numbers of Americans in recovery while saving lives, resources, and communities.

WORKHOP

Frontiers of Addiction Recovery Research: Future Applications of Ways of Knowing

In April of 2024, the first ever National Conference on Addiction Recovery Science was convened by NIDA. The opening remarks authored by William White were from his paper, Frontiers of Recovery Research, which this speaker presented on William White’s behalf, at his request.

Beyond this, William Stauffer had begun to interview key leaders in addiction recovery practice and research in the US and beyond.

Today’s workshop will explore how we can further research in the context of an addiction recovery-grounded orientation and across the four primary arenas of knowledge:

  1. experiential
  2. common or public—popular folklore or myth
  3. professional/clinical
  4. scientific

Attendees will learn to apply this knowledge to direct care practices,  support person-centered, culturally responsive practice, and align day-to-day service decisions with the evolving recovery science evidence base.

Corrie Vilsaint, PhD

Corrie Vilsaint, PhD

Research Scientist

Dr. Corrie Vilsaint, PhD, is a community psychologist who formerly served on faculty at Harvard Medical School, and as Associate Director of Recovery Health Equity at the Recovery Research Institute.

Her research program examines the utility of recovery support services to enhance remission and support long-term recovery among diverse populations.

WORKSHOP

The Changing Approach to Addiction: From Incarceration, to Clinic, to Community

A growing body of evidence supports integrating recovery support services as an emerging third tier along the continuum of care for substance use disorders (SUD). An urgent challenge, however, is widening health disparities.

Racially minoritized populations have not experienced the same declines in overdose rates as their White counterparts and are about half as likely to achieve sustained remission, yet providers often lack awareness to recognize and address these inequities in recovery outcomes.

Agenda

Click on each date tab below to see the schedules for April 8th & 9th.

8:00 am –
8:15 am		Welcome Video
8:15 am –
8:30 am		Opening Remarks
8:30 am –
9:30 am
OPENING KEYNOTE
Cultural Humility in Action: Disrupting Inequities to Advance Public Health & Positive Change by Rajni Shankar-Brown, PhD, MBA, M-MA, MA, BA
9:30 am –
10:00 am		Break- Networking & Vendor Booths
10:00 am –
11:00 am		WORKSHOP 1
The Changing Approach to Addiction: From Incarceration, to Clinic, to Community by Corrie Vilsaint, PhD

Restorative Circles: Practical Strategies for Building Inclusive Communities by Jill Heine, MARJ & Krista Rittenhouse

Leading With the Professional Heart: Skills for Calm, Collaboration & Clarity in High-Pressure Roles by Kenneth Martz, PsyD
11:00 am –
11:15 am		Break & Networking
11:15 am –
12:15 pm		WORKSHOP 2
The Regulated Professional: Nervous System Safety as the Foundation of Compassionate Care by Megan Schnetzer, MEd

Frontiers of Addiction Recovery Research: Future Applications of Ways of Knowing by William Stauffer, LSW, PMAC, PECS

Yes or No? The Growth of Prediction Markets & Gambling by Gregory Krausz, MA, CAADC, LPC, PMAC, PECS
12:15 pm –
12:30 pm		Closing Remarks & Evaluations
8:00 am –
8:15 am		Welcome Video
8:15 am –
8:30 am		Opening Remarks
8:30 am –
9:30 am
OPENING KEYNOTE
Adolescent Mental Health & THC Use: Breaking a Hurtful Cycle by Aaron Weiner, PhD
9:30 am –
10:00 am		Break- Networking & Vendor Booths
10:00 am –
11:00 am		WORKSHOP 1
Trauma Informed Care by Michael Fanjoy, LPC, CCTP, CAADC, CCS

Moral Injury & Addiction: Healing the Hidden Wounds by Joel Jakubowski, EdD, LADAC II, ICACD II

In the Mirror: Practical Applications for Developing Empathic Connections with Youth by Anita Pilkerton-Plumb, MSW, LCSW
11:00 am –
11:15 am		Break & Networking
11:15 am –
12:15 pm		CLOSING KEYNOTE
Boundaries Show Us the Safe Passage; Roderick Logan, DPTh, DAAETS
12:15 pm –
12:30 pm		Closing Remarks & Evaluations

Cost & CEUs

  • $40 for both days
  • $25 for one day

This event is three hours per day over two days, for a total of six (6) possible credit hours. Credits* offered:

  • Act 48 for Educators
  • Social Workers, Marriage & Family Therapists, and Licensed Professional Counselors (LSW, LCSW, LMFT, LPC)

Certificates of attendance will also be available. Time in workshops is tracked by the platform. 1 credit hour will be awarded for every 50 minutes of attendance. Attendees are responsible for disabling ad blockers.

*The PA Certification Board (PCB) no longer pre-approves education for addiction professionals.

2026 Planning Committee

Samhar Almomani, George Washington University; Sharon Czabafy, WellSpan Health; Juliana Daily, Millersville University; Eric Kennel, Compass Mark; Daniel Makowski, Lancaster County Drug & Alcohol Commission; Deb McCoy, Compass Mark; Alexander Rohrer, Boys & Girls Club of Lancaster; Amy Sechrist, Compass Mark; Lisa Starr, Lancaster County Drug & Alcohol Commission; Tim Steffen, Compass Mark; Shyanne Trapani, The Ranch PA; Christine Weidner, Compass Mark; Jessica Weiss, Millersville University

In Memorium: Debra Bard, Lancaster County Drug & Alcohol Commission
The Planning Committee honors Deb’s warm presence and impactful contribution to this event until her passing in November of 2025.

Thank You to Our Sponsors

Gold Sponsors

Silver Sponsors

Bronze Sponsors

Friends of Positive Change