Advancing Connections for Recovery

Join us for this exciting 3 day event!

The Advancing Connections for Recovery conference is intended to facilitate multifaceted conversations about recovery supports. The goal of this conference is to bring together a variety of stakeholders to foster relationships that empower us to serve and support people with substance use disorders, eating disorders, and other mental or behavioral health conditions. Advancing Connections for Recovery is about meeting people where they are at and connecting them to the support they need to grow in their recovery.  

Day 1: Riley’s Wish 
Riley's Wish Foundation seeks to encourage purposeful actions to serve those battling obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). One particular focus of the Foundation is to help people with co-occurring disorders of OCD and substance use disorder. In light of this mission, the Riley’s Wish Foundation has partnered with the Kennesaw State University Center for Young Adult Addiction and Recovery (CYAAR) to offer an annual lecture series that explores the nuance and considerations of co-occurring disorders. For the 5th year of this collaboration, the Riley’s Wish Lecture Series will kick off the Advancing Connections for Recovery Conference. Day 1 of the conference will focus on co-occurring disorders from a variety of perspectives and will include discussion of disorders that frequently co-present, as well as a panel that will explore where the treatment of certain co-occurring disorders is similar and where it differs.  
 
Day 2: Allyship and Activism 
Day 2 will highlight how families, friends, and communities can work together to create a culture in which the often marginalized addicted and recovery population can feel valued, supported, and heard. Topics will include:  

• How to contribute to policy decisions  
• How to advocate for recovery  
• The role of prevention, intervention, and harm reduction efforts
• The importance of accessibility
• And a variety of other helpful tools to help bolster allyship and activism 

Day 3: Thriving in Recovery 
Day 3 will wrap up with a focus on how people thrive in recovery. This day will include information about recovery support options, such as collegiate recovery programs, recovery community organizations, and other services aimed toward supporting and enriching life in recovery.  

Register here

Agenda

• Riley’s Wish 
  Wednesday, May 25, 2022 
• 8: 00 am
  Check-in and onsite registration 
• 9:00 am
  Conference Welcome and Opening for Day 1: Riley's Wish 
• 9:30 am
  Drawing Connections: The Ties that Bind in Mental Illness and How They Inform Recovery Lauren Rosen | Keynote
• 10:30 am
  Break 
• 10:45 am
  Embodied Healing: Utilizing EMDR and somatic based interventions with young adults and adolescents Paul Weaver and Hannah Baker
• 11:45 am
  Lunch to be provided 
• 1:00 pm
  Weight Stigma and Diet Culture in Recovery and Treatment Courtney Diener and Caitlyn Largent
• 2:00 pm
  Break
• 2:10 pm
  The compulsive brain: Identifying the intersection of compulsivity and substance use to improve treatment outcomes Erica Holliday
• 3:10 pm
  Break
• 3:20 pm
  Panel of speakers from Day 1 
• 4:20 pm 
  Closing statements for Day 1 

• Allyship and Activism 
  Thursday, May 26, 2022 
• 8:00 am
  Check-in, onsite registration, and coffee
• 9:00 am
  Opening for Day 2: Allyship and Activism
• 9:15 am
  Recovery Advocacy in Action Neil Campbell | Keynote
• 10:30 am
  Break
• 10:45 am
  Consent in Recovery Caitlyn Largent and Courtney Diener
• 11:45 am
  Lunch to be provided
• 1:00 pm
  Your Advocacy Role: How to contribute to policy decisions Helen Robinson and Laura Colbert
• 2:00 pm
  Break
• 2:10 pm
  Allies, Recovery Capital, and Recovery-Friendly Communities Alison Webb
• 3:10 pm
  Break
• 3:20 pm
  Panel of speakers from Day 2 
• 4:20 pm
  Closing statements for Day 2 

• Thriving in Recovery 
  Friday, May 27, 2022 
• 8:00 am
  Check-in, onsite registration, and coffee 
• 9:00 am
  Opening for Day 3: Thriving in Recovery 
• 9:15 am
  Thriving in recovery as a KSU CYAAR Alum Max Levitan | Keynote
• 10:30 am
  Break
• 10:45 am
  Building a Community of Recovery Missy Owen, Daniel Spinney, and Chelsea Cronin
• 11:45 am
  Lunch to be provided 
• 1:00 pm
  Creating and Maintaining a Thriving Recovery Community Ben Wilson
• 2:00 pm
  Break
• 2:10 pm
  Supporting Recovery Through a Sober Active Community Jason Callis
• 3:10 pm
  Break
• 3:20 pm
  Panel of speakers from Day 3 
• 4:20 pm
  Conference Closing 
• *We have reserved a room throughout the conference for attendees to be able to take a break if necessary.