
TEXAS
ASSOCIATION
OF
ADDICTION PROFESSIONALS
AUSTIN CHAPTER
PRESENTS
2019 ADDICTION SYMPOSIUM
FRIDAY APRIL 26
7:30 AM - 4:30 PM
COMMONS LEARNING CENTER
JJ PICKLE RESEARCH CAMPUS
10100 BURNET RD
AUSTIN, TX 78758
FEBRUARY 1
REGISTRATION OPENS
The event attracts approximately 400 professionals and allies in the addiction/recovery field from across Texas and the United States.
On-site registration is from 7:30AM - 8:00 AM
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6 CEUs for clinicians & mental health professionals (partial CEUs are not available)
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Networking with professionals representing facilities throughout Texas & US
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Continental breakfast, lunch and snack breaks
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Affordable registration
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Raffle prizes & games
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Location at Commons Learning Center at the J.J. Pickle Research Campus
QUESTIONS ABOUT ATTENDING THE SYMPOSIUM CONTACT
Registering to attend the Symposium must include payment and will be awarded on a first-come-first-serve basis. We cannot 'hold' a seat for unpaid attendees. Payment must be completed on-line to secure registration. Checks are not accepted.
2019 AUSTIN TAAP SYMPOSIUM
GRATITUDE FOR OUR SPONSORS
SYMPOSIUM SCHEDULE
FRIDAY APRIL 26TH, 2019
7:30 AM to 4:30 PM CST
COMMONS LEARNING CENTER
JJ Pickle Research Campus
10100 Burnet Road
Austin, TX 78758
7:30 - 8:00 AM
REGISTRATION & BREAKFAST
8:00 - 8:15 AM
WELCOME ADDRESS
DAVID HUTTS
Austin TAAP President
8:15 - 9:45 AM
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
MARSHA STONE, JD, LCDC
"Overview & History of Substance Use Disorder and Treatment in the Austin area; where we were and where we are now."
9:45 - 10:00 AM
BREAK - NETWORKING - EXHIBITS
10:00 - 11:00 AM
SPEAKER
ANGEL LANDRUM
M.A. LPC-S, LCDC, MAC
“Reframing Relapse: What is the connection between Relapse and Trauma?"
11:00 - 11:15 AM
BREAK - NETWORKING - EXHIBITS
11:15 - 12:15 PM
SPEAKER
DR. KARDARAS, PhD, LCSW
"Tech Addiction:Glow Kids"
12:15 - 1:00 PM
LUNCH
1:00 - 1:30 PM
BREAK - NETWORKING - EXHIBITS
1:15 - 1:30 PM
SPEAKER
GENE KUNTZ, LAC, LMT
"Mindful Movement - De-Slime, Energetic Boundaries"
1:30 - 2:30 PM
SPEAKER
JASON HOWELL, MBA, PRSS
&
SPEAKER
JENNA NEASEBITT M.S., LCDC, MAT-R
"Navigating the Recovery Ecosystem"
2:30 - 2:45 PM
BREAK - NETWORKING - EXHIBITS
2:45 - 3:00 PM
CONTEST/RAFFLE WINNERS ANNOUNCED
3:00 - 4:00 PM
PANEL DISCUSSION
"Unique Pathways for Unique Individuals"
MODERATOR
BEN LEVENSON
PANEL SPEAKER
DR. BRIAN SAMFORD
PANEL SPEAKER
LISA MEDINA
PANEL SPEAKER
DR. ISELA WERCHAN
4:00-4:30 PM
CLOSING REMARKS
DAVID HUTTS
2019 AUSTIN TAAP SYMPOSIUM
SPEAKER BIO'S & PRESENTATION TOPICS

MARSHA STONE
JD, LCDC
"OVERVIEW & HISTORY OF SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER AND TREATMENT IN THE AUSTIN AREA;
WHERE WE WERE AND WHERE WE ARE NOW"
Marsha Stone is a world-renowned speaker, visionary, and respected leader in the field of addiction recovery. Marsha is the Chief Executive Officer of the BRC Recovery Family of Programs – BRC Recovery, Spearhead Lodge, Makana Path, and Segue located in Austin, Texas. BRC Recovery is a pioneer in the addiction recovery industry and has successfully been Bringing Real Change to the face of addiction for over 10 years.
Marsha regularly speaks at top industry conferences, including UK/European Symposium on Addictive Disorders, Innovations in Recovery, Recovery Results, West Coast Symposium on Addictive Disorders, and Clinical Overview of the Recovery Experience. In addition to frequent guest appearances on A&E Intervention, Marsha has appeared on Dr. Phil and The Doctor’s. Marsha integrates her own battle with and triumph over addiction into providing the most effective and quality rehabilitative process possible to those struggling with addictive disorders.
Marsha holds a Juris Doctorate with the distinction of Academic Excellence from North Carolina Central University, a Bachelor of Arts in English from Elizabeth City State University and is a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselorin Texas.

ANGEL LANDRUM
M. A. LPC-S, LCDC, MAC
REFRAMING RELAPSE: WHAT IS THE CONNECTION BETWEEN RELAPSE AND TRAUMA?
PRESENTATION OBJECTIVES
- Overview of ACE Scaling Tool
- Exploring “Trauma” as it relates to Relapse Patterns
- Different Modalities Used for Trauma Treatment
- Best practices for trauma treatment in short term treatment
- Knowing when to refer clients for Trauma Therapy
Angel has a private practice in Austin, TX, that focuses on individual counseling and groups for adults. She is a Certified EMDR Therapist and Approved Consultant and works with trauma and substance use disorders within this modality. She offers training to treatment facilities on the best practices of EMDR Therapy in short term treatment.

DR. KARDARAS
PhD
"TECH ADDICTION" | AUTHOR - "GLOW KIDS"
Dr. Kardaras is an Ivy-League educated psychologist, an internationally renowned speaker, and one of the country’s foremost addiction experts. A former Clinical Professor at Stony Brook Medicine where he specialized in teaching the neurophysiology and treatment of addiction, he has also taught neuropsychology at the doctoral-level
Considered a leading expert on young people and digital addiction, he is the author of “Glow Kids” (St. Martin’s Press, 2016), the seminal book on the clinical, neurological and sociological aspects of Technology Addiction (Smart Phones, Video Games, Social Media, etc.) and has clinically worked with over 1,000 teens and young people during the last 15 years. He has been active in advocating that screen addiction be recognized as a clinical disorder akin to substance addiction and has developed the most comprehensive treatment protocols to treat this emerging global problem.
JASON HOWELL
MBA, PRSS
Jason Howell is a person in long-term recovery from mental health and substance use issues. He has an MBA from Texas A&M University and is a Peer Recovery Support Specialist and State Approved Trainer. Jason is the Executive Director of RecoveryPeople, a 501c3 nonprofit committed tosupporting peer-led recovery by: connecting people, communities and resources; building the capacity of recovery workforce and support services, shaping recovery policy and program development.
Howell is also a founder and the former Board President of the National Alliance for Recovery Residences (NARR). He is a national speaker and has co-authored several published journal articles. Jason serves as a member of the Texas Health and Human Service Commission’s Behavioral Health Advisory Committee and serves as a member of SAMHSA CSAT National Advisory Council.

JENNA NEASBITT
M.S., LCDC, MAT-R
Jenna Neasbitt is a woman in sustained recovery from substance use disorder. Currently, Jenna serves as Recovery Specialist at Center for Social Innovation providing technical training and assistance as part of the STR-TA Consortium. This work specifically focuses on the federally-funded State’s Targeted Response to Opioids across the nation. Jenna is also an Adjunct Instructor for the National Recovery Institute with Faces and Voices of Recovery, and a Voluntary Site Reviewer with the Council on Accreditation of Peer Recovery Support Services.
Jenna received a Masters of Science in Psychology from Capella University with a focus on Industrial and Organizational systems, and has undertaken post-graduate work with a focus on addiction. Jenna has worked in a Single State Agency, focusing on Opioid Response, Recovery, and Recovery Residences.
"NAVIGATING THE RECOVERY ECOSYSTEM"
PRESENTATION LEARNING OBJECTIVES
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Compare and contrast recovery support services with other typical SUD services- describe differences. between treatment, personal program of recovery,/mutual aid self-help and recovery supports.
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Verbalize an understanding of how to measure recovery - what Recovery Capital is and how it can be used to inform treatment and recovery planning.
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Conceptualize a recovery ecosystem- Provide examples of integrated recovery supports and systems transformation.
SYMPOSIUM
PANEL DISCUSSION SPEAKERS

BEN LEVENSON
PhD, LMFT, LCDC
PANEL MODERATOR
Ben Levenson is Chairman of The Levenson Foundation, a non-profit foundation that impacts some of the most traumatized and disadvantaged populations in the world as they face mental health, severe trauma and related challenges. In early 2009, Ben founded, led and, in 2017, successfully sold nationally-recognized Origins Behavioral HealthCare. His innovative work on multi-staged continuums of interdisciplinary care inspired a generation of providers to offer more chronic-based formats of treatment. Ben’s commitment to extending care beyond treatment and his appetite for obtaining and exploiting defensible outcome data to improve care inspired the founding of MAP Health Management, the nation’s leading peer-support and outcome surveillance reporting company with over 50 million lives contracted and entrusted to their care by America’s largest payers and providers.
Formerly a self-described “abstinence-only tribalist,” Ben’s extensive exposure to foreign and domestic treatment strategies and research revolutionized his belief systems about what are very impassioned, emotional and oppositional recovery ideologies. His even-handed respect for 12-Step/Smart and other abstinence-based recovery, Middle Eastern, European and Canadian philosophies, harm reduction, emerging gene therapies, medication-assisted treatment and new care paradigms is valuable. Ben now counsels leading payers, providers, consumer protectionists and policymakers as they navigate and balance the confusing soup of provider recovery ideologies, non-standardized treatment practices and business processes that can fail to honor a patient’s right to be fully and fairly informed of all risks and benefits of all known treatment options which may dramatically affect the quality of their remaining life and mortality.
Ben sits on multiple boards including the UK-based International Conference of Addiction and Associated Disorders as well as several US companies that focus on innovating treatment architectures to meet tomorrow’s needs and payer and consumer expectations. Ben is personally in recovery and is frequently called upon as a contributor to the national print media, and has appeared regularly for over a decade on leading talk shows and news programs.

DR. BRIAN SAMFORD
PhD, LMFT, LCDC
"ABSTINENCE"
Dr. Samford is a well-respected leader in the areas of chemical dependency and mental health since 1991 in a variety of settings including Vernon State Hospital, Lubbock State School, Lubbock MHMR, Southwest Institute for Addictive Diseases, John T. Montford Psychiatric Unit, DePaul Center, Starlite Recovery Center, and Creekview Counseling. This diverse experience has provided Dr. Samford with much knowledge and understanding in treating individuals who present with addiction issues. Furthermore, Dr. Samford is a Structural Family Therapist and believes that individual problems need to be considered in the context of larger systems such as the family. Family members often play a role in the addiction by enabling. Therefore, the family needs support to begin setting healthier boundaries. This allows the individual with a healthier environment to recover and for family members to be relieved of the burden of rescue.
Dr. Samford obtained a PhD in Marriage and Family Therapy in 2006 from Texas Tech University. He is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a Chemical Dependency Counselor.

LISA MEDINA
M.A., LCDC
"HARM REDUCTION"
Lisa Medina has been in the mental health field for over 20 years and has worked tirelessly as a case manager, counselor and client advocate for people living with substance use issues and mental illness. Lisa was trained in EMDR in 2016 and completed EMDR Advanced Certification in 2018. She spent the first half of her career working in community mental health settings providing case management for adults living with severe mental illness and substance use disorders. Her professional path allowed her to gain pivotal experience in both the abstinence-based treatment world and within harm reduction settings. She has been practicing harm reduction in various clinical setting for over 10 years and provides trainings and lectures across the state of Texas. Lisa is now in private practice full-time in Austin Texas and offers individual counseling to those who have substance use disorders, mental health issues and/or trauma.
Lisa received her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Colorado State University in 1998, became a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor (LCDC) in 2008 and graduated with her Master’s Degree in Counseling in 2011 from St. Edward’s University.

DR. ISELA WERCHAN
MD
"MEDICALLY ASSISTED TREATMENT - RECOVERY"
Dr. Isela Werchan is board-certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in general psychiatry. Dr. Werchan completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Texas at El Paso. She received a medical degree at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and completed her general psychiatry residency training at the University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School. She was Chief Resident and awarded the VA Outstanding Resident Award and the Van Dao Award.