Sponsorship and Exhibitor Opportunities are Available!

Please view our Sponsorship and Tabling Opportunities here.

For questions or additional opportunities, please contact Linda Reich at

Reich.linda@catholiccharities.cc or 516.733.7020.

APPROVED FOR 4.5 CONTINUING EDUCATION CONTACT HOURS

(LMSW/LCSW/LMHC/LCAT/LMFT/CASAC Renewal*)

Association for Mental Health and Wellness is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers. (Provider#0156)

Association for Mental Health and Wellness is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. (Provider #MHC-0014)

Association for Mental Health and Wellness is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists. (Provider #MFT-0010)

Association for Mental Health and Wellness is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed creative arts therapists. (Provider #CAT-0004)

*OASAS approval is pending

*New York State Office of the Professions (NYSED) regulations require that participants attend the entire approved educational activity in order to receive continuing education credits, from 9:00am-3:00pm*

LILY A. BROWN, PhD

Keynote Speaker

Dr. Brown is a licensed clinical psychologist, assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry, and the director of the Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety (CTSA) at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research focuses on understanding the intersection of anxiety-related distress and suicide risk. She specializes in cognitive-behavior therapy for anxiety disorders, and has been intensively trained in suicide prevention interventions, including Safety Planning. Dr. Brown has published studies focused on implementing anxiety-focused treatments in a variety of settings, including among civilians, veterans, and active duty military personnel. She has also conducted studies that use digital phenotyping to characterize negative affect among individuals with anxiety-related disorders and suicide risk, and use the electronic health record to facilitate this research. In addition, she researches treatment development for patients with trauma-related distress and suicide risk.

MANSOUR BANILIVY, PhD

Mansour (Max) Banilivy, Ph.D has been providing comprehensive multidisciplinary behavioral and emotional health services, training and consultation nationally to school districts , private and nonprofit community as well as government including military agencies .

He is the VP of education, training & client/staff wellbeing at WellLife Network in New York City and Long Island.

His education at the highest level includes postdoctoral training in eating disorders and family therapy at the Harvard Medical School’s Children’s Hospital and Judge Baker Guidance Center. Dr. Banilivy’s specialty areas include but are not limited to Clinical training of mental health professionals, Coping/Resiliency , Couples/Marriage/Sex therapy, Self Injury and Assessment, Management and Prevention of Suicide through training and education.

He speaks widely on a variety of topics. Dr. Banilivy is currently spending much of his time, regionally as well as at the state and national level training the community members and professionals on suicide risk identification, prevention, intervention, and postvention. He has published and served on the boards of professional organizations. Dr. Banilivy was the co-chair of the Consortium of SUICIDE PREVENTION TRAINERS for New York State until 2015 which focused on education/training for suicide prevention. He is also on the executive board of the SUICIDE PREVENTION COALITION of Long Island (SPCLI), having developed a website, and being responsible for the coordination of training and education for the region. An annual suicide prevention conference is organized as part of the focus of this board.  He has been recognized for his work in the field of suicide prevention by the Livingworks Organization as the trainer of the year in 2009 and by the New York State Suicide Prevention Center (SPC) in 2011 for Excellence in Suicide Prevention. 

ANNE MARGARET DEUBEL

Anne Margaret Deubel (She/Her/Hers) serves as the current Director of Crisis Services and Operations for Response Crisis Center where she helps lead their team of crisis counselors, coordinates the community education program, and supports the ongoing expansion of the 988 network. She is a trainer for several programs including ASIST, and a reviewer of grant applications for the Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP). She served on the board of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Long Island chapter for 9 years including three years as the board chair. During that time, Anne also volunteered in many roles including advocating locally and nationally, coordinating new initiatives in the community, and developing social media campaigns. She was awarded for Academic Excellence and Leadership by the Honors College at SCCC, and recently became one of LIBN’s Emerging Leaders Under 30.

Anne completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology at Stony Brook University. She is now teaching assistant and pursuing her MPH at Brown University’s School of Public Health. Her practicum with the Association of Animal-Assisted Intervention Professionals is something she is deeply passionate about sharing with those integrating animals into their work. Anne believes that transparency about her own suicidal ideation and mental illness is a critical component to her leadership and humanity in this field. 

MELISSA MACKO, LCSW, CGRW, SIFI

Melissa Macko is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Certified Grief Recovery Specialist and SIFI certified professional. For over fifteen years, Melissa has served as an educator, practitioner, and administrator; assisting individuals on their journey towards change. Melissa has worked in multifaceted roles and served on interdisciplinary treatment teams and is a consultant on trauma, military, and law enforcement performance optimization.

Melissa began her career working with survivors of sexual and family violence. Through working with survivors, Melissa became interested in the neurobiology of trauma, victimology, and forensic psychology. In addition to direct practice work, Melissa began studying empirically based multiphasic approaches to systemic and societal prevention. Through this, Melissa expanded her experience to working with offenders of both sexual and family violence related crimes. Melissa became Director of VIBS Family Violence and Rape Crisis Centers’ Offenders Program. There she collaboratively worked with the Departments of Probation and Parole, Child Protective Services, Child Advocacy Center, and New York State Unified Court System. As Melissa expanded her career, she decided to solely focus on her direct clinical practice and founded Wholehearted Living LCSW, P.C. an integrated health and wellness practice that specializes in evidence-based treatment for acute/complex traumas. Within the practice, Melissa also specializes in providing crisis intervention, critical incident management and treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Adjustment Disorder relating to chronic illnesses, bereavement, suicide/homicide assessments/risk mitigation, Perinatal Mood Disorders, Depression, and Anxiety.

In addition to her practice, Melissa has taught an Adjunct Professor for Stony Brook University’s School of Social Welfare. Through the Program, Melissa taught graduate level classes on clinical intervention skills, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Motivational Interviewing. While working full time in her private practice, Melissa was consulted by the Air National Guard regarding direct practice intervention and prevention efforts. After consulting, Melissa soon became Director of Psychological Health, Suicide Prevention Program Manager and Chief of the Critical Response Team for the 106^th Rescue Wing. Through her work with the Air National Guard, Melissa worked with military members and optimized family resilience through a Total Force Fitness Model. Melissa responded to critical incidents and crises, provided solution-focused/evidence-based interventions, readiness assessments, and focuses on operational wellness and human performance optimization.

After over eight years with the 106RQW, Melissa began a new role as the Suicide Prevention Coordinator for the Northport VA Medical Center. Melissa oversees the Suicide Prevention Program, ensuring compliance with regulatory guidance, providing competency training to providers, and coordinating services for Veterans at risk. Serving as subject matter expert for suicide prevention, Melissa is responsible for identifying, case managing, and supporting high risk Veterans within facilities and coordinating strategies to increase the awareness and adoption of suicide prevention best practices within the community.

Melissa believes in change and is passionate about her field. Her career has not only focused on individual clinical practice, but also advocating for policy change surrounding social issues and determining best practices and interventions. 

RACHEL E. PRIEST, MA, MS, NRCEKG

Rachel E. Priest, MA, MS, NRCEKG is a community health education specialist with over 15 years of professional experience working within the community. Prior to discovering her passion for advancing health literacy, mental health, and suicide prevention, she worked in corporate America as an Art Director for one of the largest direct marketing companies in the United States. She hated it. The day they laid her off was the best day of her life.

As someone with lived experience with mental illness and suicide, she was struggling to find a way to use these experiences in a productive way. Leaving the for-profit world and volunteering with a mental health organization gave her the clarity she needed to go back to school, earn her second master’s degree (in Community Health) and change career paths.

Rachel now works as the Behavioral Health Educator at the Mental Health Association of Nassau County (MHANC), an agency she has been with since 2012. She is also an Instructor at Nassau Community College and an Advisor at Hofstra University. As an educator, Rachel has the unique opportunity to work with countless community members, bringing her professional and personal experiences together for personalized educational opportunities.

In her free time, Rachel enjoys community service, spending time with her husband and parents, being a fur-mom to her cats Toby and Scout, and healthy doses of sleeping (she has Narcolepsy – ask her about it!)

MERYL CASSIDY, LMSW, ACSW

Meryl Cassidy is Executive Director of Response Crisis Center , the Co-Chair of the Suicide Prevention Coalition of Long Island, and an Assistant Professor at Suffolk County Community College in the Human Services Program. She has been a professional social worker for over 30 years and has worked in a variety of settings and with diverse populations. For the past ten years of her career she has focused primarily on crisis intervention and suicide prevention, intervention and postvention. In addition to managing the operations of Suffolk County’s only 24/7 crisis center devoted to suicide prevention, she provides professional trainings for human service professionals and community members on a broad range of topics, including crisis theory, communication and listening skills, suicide risk assessment and safety planning as well as being a certified ASIST trainer, Sources of Strength Trainer, and Lifeline's Postvention Trainer.  She is co-chair of the Mental Health Subcommittee for the Division of Community Mental Hygiene, and a Board Member of NASCOD (National Association of Crisis Organization Directors). In 2015 she received the Excellence in Suicide Prevention Award from the Suicide Prevention Center of New York State, and in 2016 she received the "Making the Mission" award from NASCOD.

ALEXI SALDAMANDO, LCSW-R

As the Director of Clinical Initiatives for the Office of Mental Health’s Suicide Prevention Center of New York (SPCNY), Alexi leads and helps develop a wide range of suicide prevention initiatives for behavioral healthcare providers across New York State, with the goal of implementing suicide-safer care practices. As a practicing psychotherapist, licensed clinical social worker, and supervisor, Alexi brings his experience to working with providers and behavioral health systems. Before joining SPCNY in 2016, Alexi worked in a variety of clinical settings, including partial hospitalization, substance abuse treatment, and outpatient mental health. He has been involved directly or indirectly in suicide prevention for 20 years, starting as a crisis line volunteer at the Didi Hirsch Suicide Prevention Center in Los Angeles.  

GARRA LLOYD-LESTER

Mr. Lloyd-Lester is the Coordinator of the New York State Suicide Prevention Community and Coalition Initiatives for the Suicide Prevention Center of New York State (SPCNY). As Coordinator, he works with State and County partners, local governmental units, local coalitions, and other systems to build capacity to help reduce suicides across the lifespan. This work is accomplished through systems level planning, coalition building, program development and training among other activities. He facilitates the Lethal Means Safety workgroup as part of the Governors Challenge to Prevent Suicide Among Service Members, Veterans and their Families (SMVF). He has previously facilitated a statewide steering committee to address suicide prevention among first responder disciplines and led the statewide taskforce to develop recommendations on addressing suicide prevention among rural communities in NYS. Garra is also a subject matter expert in postvention, having developed tools and resources to support communities and/or organizations to develop a strategy to build a comprehensive and coordinated postvention response. Garra is an instructor for several suicide prevention programs and has developed content to support local suicide prevention coalitions and partner agencies. He has 30+ years of experience in the field of social services including working with the developmentally disabled, working in the child welfare system and within the mental health system.

TIM CLARE, CRPA, NYCPS

Tim Clare identifies as Queer and uses the pronouns he/him. He is a person with lived experience, Peer (NYPS) and Certified Peer Recovery Advocate, ( CRPA ). He has worked in both Nassau and Suffolk County as a Peer for the last seven years. He has also been certified in California as a Death Doula and worked in Hospice as a Volunteer Coordinator, recruiting and teaching volunteers to sit with the dying. Tim has conducted independent workshops on " Expressing Grief Through Art and Music." Tim is an artist, Reiki practitioner, Pranic (Energy) Healer, and Anam Cara (Gaelic for Soul Friend).   www.tclare.com  

DAWN/D'NAJ BATSON, NYCPS

"Life is like a game of Craps. I just wish I could be the one to roll the dice. Good or bad, at least I rolled it.” I wrote those words years ago, during one of many psychiatric hospitalizations experienced over a revolving door 20 year span since the age of 17.

Back then, Life happened to me. Surviving a childhood of severe abuse and victimization, a diagnosis of major mental illness, years of therapy and psychiatric hospitalizations, I was embarking on a career in peer services… but I still felt only somewhat "functional" and "managed'' and extremely incomplete. It confirmed my belief that I was neither entitled to nor worthy of the same happiness, joy and peace as others.

As a Peer Advocate I attended and participated in many workshops and conferences, speaking on topics of peer advocacy, trauma, and mental health stigma.

"Life is like a game of craps... " those words echoed In 2017 when a chance meeting opened a world of possibilities. I didn't know it then, but I decided to roll the dice, outside the box, opposite the norm and an alternative approach for my healing journey and ultimate wellness evolved.

Today I know I am worthy of my unconditional Love. I am medication free. I am a NYS Certified peer specialist; an International Certified Life Coach; and an HVN (Hearing Voices Network) group facilitator.