2026 Bridging the Gap Conference (Nashville)

EVENT AGENDA

8:00am Registration/Vendor Visits

8:30am Welcome, Introductions

8:35am The MFT Superpower and Why you need TNAMFT

9:00am Latest Changes in Licensure and Supervision Rules, Statutes, Policies

9:30am Licensure Roadmap Overview: Who's who, websites and Resources

10:00am BREAK

10:15am Licensure Process and Pitfalls for Students and Professors: Education, internships, AMFT process

--> or Licensure Process and Pitfalls for Postgrads and Supervisors: Supervision relationship, exams, and record requirements

11:15am Lunch: Lunch is provided.

12:00pm BREAKOUT 1

12:45pm BREAK

01:00pm BREAKOUT 2

01:45pm BREAK

02:00pm BREAKOUT 3

02:45pm BREAK

03:00pm BREAKOUT 4

03:45pm BREAK

04:00pm Get Prepared: What Changes are on the Horizon

04:30pm Door Prizes and Goodbyes

05:00pm Conference Ends

BREAKOUT SESSION OPTIONS (choose 4)

• Couples as Partners not Parents: a Restoration Therapy Guide to Working with Couples
• Connection Over Correction: A Therapist’s Guide to Coaching Parents Toward Connection and Regulation
• Treating Trauma as an MFT: Systemic thinking in individual work (nearly full)
• Addiction and families
• Supervision: Contracts, Records, and Forms Workgroup (nearly full)
• Burnout and Self Care
• Private Practice Nuts and Bolts: What it takes and Why you might not want it
• What to do when you think your Supervisor is wrong
• What to do when your Supervisee goes off the rails (nearly full)
• Crash course in writing Treatment Plans and Clinical Notes
• Practice Update on Required Reporting: DCS, Child Abuse, and new TN Requirements for Release of Records (nearly full)
• Recognizing and Treating OCD in the Family System
• Ethical Boundaries: Toxic Workplaces and What to do when you are in one
• Basics of successful Group Therapy
• Things I wish I learned in Grad School and Expenses to expect getting started
• AI in Clinical Practice: Ethical Guidance on a Controversial Topic (nearly full)

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Participants will be able to discuss how marriage and family therapy is different from other counseling professions.
2. Participants will develop an understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the LPC/LMFT/LCPT regulatory board, HRB administrative office, and TNAMFT and be able to articulate how they interact.
3. Participants will discover where to find the statutes and rules relevant to practice as an MFT and how to stay up to date on changes to statutes and rules as they develop.
4. Participants will learn the relevant statutes, rules and policies governing licensure and develop a plan to navigate fulfilling these requirements.
5. Participants will recognize common pitfalls in pursuing licensure and develop action plans to avoid them for self or supervisees.
6. Participants will explore areas of practice and specializations in the MFT profession and learn how to attain credentialing in specializations.
7. Participants will discover the rules governing use of titles, and how their name must be displayed in all types of media.
8. Participants will learn about changes in policies and procedures that affect the supervisory process and develop a plan to incorporate these changes into supervision.
9. Participants will be introduced to statute changes that affect records and reporting responsibilities.

6hrs CE (incl. 2hrs Ethics)