Format

With the Conference theme, "Embracing Differences” - Uplifting LGBTQIA+ Black and People of Color Disability Communities", on Thursday, October 12 at Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY;  the planning team’s collective efforts for this one-day conference will focus on LGBTQIA+ Black and People of Color living with serious mental illness, physical, cognitive struggles, and those along neurodiverse spectra. The collective strengths and wisdom from clinicians, consumers, academics and advocates will examine the academic and personal narrative aspects of overcoming and creating. 

 The In My Mind (IMM) Conference planning team welcomes everyone and recognizes Same-Gender Loving (SGL) and Two-Spirit (2S) as members of Black and Indigenous peoples of color communities. The Conference Program is divided into two distinct areas: Speakers (invited Speakers will address aspects of the conference Theme and Tracks) and Presentations (Workshops, Panel Discussions, and Stand-Alone Presentations conforming to the Conference Tracks). 

Abstract submitters are encouraged to complete the requirements for Continuing Education Units/Credits (CEUs) and for Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCs) to ensure that LCSW, LMSW, LMHC attendees to their presentations receive credit toward their licenses. 

Here are the guidelines for abstract submissions; occasionally, an abstract submission may be selected to join our speaker roster. Carefully read these guidelines. 

Conference Presentations (Workshops, Panel Discussions, and Stand-Alone Presentations) are organized around four tracks, Research, Education, Advocacy, and Community. Presentations in each track should address the conference’s overall theme, "Embracing Differences” - Uplifting LGBTQIA+ Black and People of Color Disability Communities".  Submissions should focus on overcoming challenges and difficulties experienced by LGBTQIA+ Black and persons of color with severe mental illness, physical and cognitive struggles, and those on the neurodiverse spectra. We want to create a learning experience in which there is an exchange of social resources, knowledge, linkage to mental health care and treatment, HIV, sexual health, social networking, and caregiving relationships - considering dependence and independence. In their presentations, abstracts must clearly demonstrate how and in what ways presenter(s) created opportunities, if not for themselves, but for their respective communities. Presentations along the four tracks should examine the physical, mental, and spiritual well-being of LGBTQIA+ Black and people of color living with severe mental illness, physical and cognitive struggles, and who are neurodiverse, as well as treatments, methodologies and modalities of various states of illness, emotional /social dysfunction, and disease facing these communities. 

Presenters are encouraged to be innovative and creative as they highlighting the latest research findings and best practices that provide information on how LGBTQIA+ Black and peoples of color are using resources to address and overcome barriers of sexism, racism, ageism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, ableism, audism, and vidism.   

The program offers multiple formats that encourage a rare cross-pollination of concerns and experiences, providing opportunities for these groups to speak with and listen to each other as they raise, explore and discuss the many subject areas affecting LGBTQ+/Same-Gender Loving (LGBTQ+/SGL) peoples of color mental health.

It will feature 45-minute Speaker presentation(s) to establish common starting points, and set the tone for the day.

Breakout Presentations (Workshops, Panel Discussions, Stand-Alone, and Virtual Poster Presentations) come next. They reflect on the conference’s theme – “Uplifting LGBTQIA+ People of Color Disability Communities” – and explore in-depth many issues impacting our communities’ mental health. These will examine the physical, mental, and spiritual well-being of LGBTQIA+ Black and peoples of color, as well as treatments, methodologies and modalities of various states of illness, emotional /social dysfunction and disease facing these communities. There are 60-minute concurrent single/stand-alone sessions, some geared for clinicians, others for community members, and others combined for both groups.

In the Conference Program, an abstract submission satisfying the NY State Department of Education requirements may qualify and be eligible for Continuing Education Credits for Licensed Clinical Social Workers and Licensed Master’s in Social Work, which are provided by Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, and the Rehabilitation Counseling Program at Hofstra University for Certified Rehabilitation Counselors (CRCs). On the Conference Program, a presentation marked CE indicates that a person attending for the duration and completing the evaluation can earn one-credit hour toward their license.  

Abstract Submissions are organized around four tracks: Advocacy, Community, Education and Research; and for CRCs: Professional Orientation, Counseling Theories, Techniques, and Evidence-Based Practice, Group and Family Counseling,  Crisis and Trauma Counseling and Interventions, Medical and Psychosocial Aspects of Chronic Illness and Disability, Assessment, Occupational Analysis, and Service Implementation, Career Development and Job Placement, Community Resources and Partnerships, Case Management, Health Care and Disability Management, Research, Methodology, and Performance Management, Addictions Counseling, and Clinical Supervision.

Recognizing the devastation wreaked on our communities, the In My Mind Conference endeavors to be open and available to community members and their supporters, advocates, and activists. In this sense, the 2023 Conference will be hybrid, that is online, live-streamed on Zoom and in-person. .

The program is organized by a coalition of organizations and volunteers. It commences at 9:00 am, and concludes at 5:30pm.

We look forward to welcoming you, and celebrating your resilience at this year’s In My Mind Conference.