Southeast Regional Trauma and Stress Summit
Understanding the Roots: Trauma, Relationships and the Path to Healing
Dec. 3, 2026 | Tuscaloosa, Alabama | Bryant Conference Center | Hybrid
Overview
Trauma doesn’t wait for a diagnosis. It shows up in the classroom, the courtroom, the hospital room and the home. And yet the systems we’ve built to support people rarely account for what’s happening underneath the symptoms, behaviors and crises.
The Southeast Regional Trauma and Stress Summit exists to change that.
Hosted by Growing Together, this inaugural conference brings together professionals across disciplines — because the impacts of chronic stress and trauma show up everywhere people do.
Drawing on neuroscience, attachment theory and the lived wisdom of those who’ve been there, the summit moves beyond symptom management toward a deeper understanding of why people struggle the way they do and what it actually takes to help. Attendees across disciplines leave with a deeper understanding of human struggle, more compassion for the people in front of them, and a clearer sense of what to do next.
| Date | Dec. 3, 2026 |
| Location | Bryant Conference Center, Tuscaloosa, AL |
| Lodging | Hotel Capstone Book Online Room rate $134 until Nov 2 |
| Hosted by | Growing Together |
| Sponsored by | Acadia Healthcare |
Who Should Attend
- Counselors
- Social workers
- Psychologists
- Nurses
- Teachers
- Marriage and Family Therapists
- Parents
Agenda
Dec. 3, 2026
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 7:15 am – 8:15 am | Breakfast & Registration |
| 8:15 am – 8:30 am | Welcome, Opening Remarks & Mission — Growing Together |
| 8:30 am – 9:30 am Session 1 | When the Body Keeps the Score: Understanding How Trauma Lives in the Nervous System Acadia Healthcare Speaker An accessible, foundational session on the neuroscience of trauma: how adverse experiences dysregulate the nervous system, why traditional talk therapy alone is often insufficient, and what trauma-responsive care actually looks like in practice. Sets the scientific and clinical foundation for the entire day. |
| 9:30 am – 9:45 am | Break with Exhibits |
| 9:45 am – 10:45 am Session 2 – Panel | When Knowing Is Not Enough: Why People Don't Get Help and What Gets in the Way Moderated Panel | Clinician, Legal, HR, and Lived Experience Voices We know that unaddressed stress and trauma shape health, relationships and the ability to function. We also know that most people who need help don’t get it, and not because resources don’t exist. This panel explores the real barriers: the professional who can’t imagine leaving their clients, the parent who won’t pull their child out of school, the high-functioning person who has been abandoning their own needs for so long it doesn’t register anymore. Panelists will speak from multiple vantage points — clinical, legal, workplace, and lived experience — to examine what gets in the way and what it actually looks like to help someone move through it. |
| 10:45 am – 11:00 am | Break with Exhibits |
| 11:00 am – Noon Session 3 | Early Wounds, Lasting Patterns: Developmental and Complex Trauma Across the Lifespan Acadia Healthcare Speaker An exploration of how early relational wounds, including chronic neglect, attachment disruption and adverse childhood experiences, create patterns that show up across the lifespan. This session helps practitioners recognize complex trauma beneath presenting symptoms and shifts the clinical question from ‘What is wrong with this person?’ to ‘What happened to this person?’ Particular attention is given to how these patterns emerge in adolescence, and what it looks like when a young person is trying to control the one thing they can, whether that is food, substances or behavior, when everything else feels out of their hands. |
| Noon – 12:45 pm | Lunch (Grab and Go Boxes) |
| 12:45 pm – 1:45 pm Session 4 | Breaking the Cycle in Real Time: What It Actually Takes to Parent Differently Than You Were Parented Acadia Healthcare Speaker Understanding that children communicate through behavior is one thing. Staying regulated when your child is melting down, when your own nervous system is firing, when everything in you wants to respond the way your parents did, is something else entirely. This session explores the neuroscience of why cycle-breaking is so hard in practice, what children actually need from the adults around them, and how to close the gap between knowing better and being able to do better in the moment. For clinicians, it offers a framework for supporting clients who are navigating this in their own families. For anyone in the room who is also a parent, it offers something honest about what this work really requires. |
| 1:45 pm – 2:00 pm | Break with Exhibits |
| 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm KEYNOTE | The Relational Brain: How Attachment Shapes Trauma, Identity and the Capacity to Heal Dr. Dan Siegel (Virtual) Virtual keynote address. Dr. Siegel brings together decades of research in interpersonal neurobiology to illuminate how our earliest relationships shape the architecture of the brain and how trauma-informed, attachment-focused care can support integration and lasting healing. |
| 3:00 pm – 3:15 pm | Break with Exhibits |
| 3:15 pm – 4:15 pm Session 6 – Panel | What Healing Actually Looks Like: Voices from the Journey Moderated Panel | Survivor Voices A moderated panel bringing together survivors of trauma to speak from lived experience about what helped, what harmed and what they wish the professionals in their lives had understood. Ending the day with survivor voices is a deliberate choice: It grounds everything that came before in the reality of what this work is actually for. |
| 4:15 pm | Closing Remarks & Adjourn |
Keynote Speaker:
Dr. Dan Siegel
Keynote Title:
The Relational Brain: How Attachment Shapes Trauma, Identity, and the Capacity to Heal
Dr. Siegel will speak to the neurobiological and relational foundations of trauma, specifically how early attachment experiences shape the developing brain and nervous system, and how this manifests across the lifespan in the people our attendees serve every day. We are especially interested in his Four S's framework (safe, seen, soothed, secure) as a lens for understanding both what went wrong and what healing requires. We would love for his talk to help attendees understand that what looks like defiance, dysregulation or dysfunction is almost always a story of an unmet relational need, and that the therapeutic relationship itself is a healing mechanism, not just a vehicle for technique.
Location
Bryant Conference Center in Tuscaloosa, AL
A discounted room block has been reserved for conference attendees at the Hotel Capstone, conveniently located directly next door to the Bryant Conference Center.
Directions
Parking Your Vehicle
Attendees can park at the Capstone Parking Deck, which is located across the street from the Bryant Conference Center. A limited number of handicap parking spaces are available in front of the Conference Center. Approximately one week prior to the conference start date, you will receive a parking permit. The parking permit will only be valid for the Capstone Parking Deck and the handicap spaces in front of the Bryant Conference Center.
Registration
Registration Rates:
- Early Bird Rate: $149.00 (expires Oct. 15)
- Standard rate: $199.00 (starting Oct. 16)
- Three or more from the same company: $125.00 before Oct. 15 or $170.00 after Oct. 15 (please call registration services at 205-348-3000 to receive this rate and register three or more individuals at the same time)
- UA Employee rate: $125.00 before Oct. 15 or $170.00 after Oct. 15 (call 205-348-3000 to redeem)
- Student rate: $75.00
*If you are paying with a purchase order, please call 205-348-3000 to register
Special Accommodation Requests
The University of Alabama is committed to complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Requests for accommodation of physical and/or dietary needs should be made at least 30 calendar days in advance of the program date. Please email your request to professionaldevelopment@ua.edu.
A portion of the invoice amount for this program will go to the Capstone Lifelong Learning Foundation to support activities of The University of Alabama and the Office of Teaching Innovation and Digital Education.
Need our STAARS Vendor Number? Please use VC000118827 for UA Office of Teaching Innovation and Digital Education.
Cancellation Policy
A cancellation charge of 100% of the registration fee will be assessed on cancellations occurring within seven (7) days of the start of this session. Any changes to the session registration type (example: in-person to virtual or virtual to in-person) within seven (7) calendar days of the program will be assessed a $25.00 administrative fee. Refunds will not be granted after the program has begun. The University of Alabama reserves the right to cancel, postpone or combine class sections, to limit registration or to change instructors. Contact the Registration Services department at 205-348-3000 or registration_services@ua.edu to cancel your registration. View the OTIDE Cancellation Policy.
Scholarships
Scholarships are available to attend this conference. Scholarships will reduce the registration fee for the conference and will be awarded on a first-come basis.
Professional Approvals
The conference is planned to meet the various requirements for professional development from the following organizations. As these continuing education (CE) applications are approved, we will update this page to reflect the number of approved CE hours available:
Professional Approvals
- Alabama Board of Nursing
- Alabama State Board of Social Work Examiners
- Continuing Medical Education
- National Board of Certified Counselors
- Alabama Psychological Association
- Alabama State Department of Education Office of Professional Development & Learning
- Marriage and Family Therapists
Sponsors and Exhibitors
The Southeast Regional Trauma and Stress Summit connects your business with an engaged audience interested in learning and developing their toolbox. Share your resources, products and dynamic ideas with teachers, nurses, social workers, psychologists, counselors and parents! You’ll have the opportunity to introduce new products and give demonstrations. Choose a level below to reach this targeted audience.
Sponsors: Lunch sponsors at $5,000 (1 available)
- One exhibit booth (1 booth attendant)
- 3 complimentary general conference registrations (please provide names of recipients at time of registration)
- Organization and logo recognized in the conference program
- Logo/virtual booth in online conference portal
- Recognition on social media
- Recognition on website
- Recognition and signage during lunch
- Company name included in conference communication and email
Breakfast – 2,500 (1 available)
- One exhibit booth (1 booth attendant)
- 2 complimentary general conference registrations (please provide names of recipients at time of registration)
- Organization and logo recognized in the conference program
- Logo/virtual booth in online conference portal
- Recognition on social media
- Recognition on website
- Recognition and signage during lunch
- Company name included in conference communication and email
Break Sponsor $1,500 (2 available)
- One exhibit booth (1 booth attendant)
- 2 complimentary general conference registrations (please provide names of recipients at time of registration)
- Organization and logo recognized in the conference program
- Logo/virtual booth in online conference portal
- Recognition on social media
- Recognition on website
- Recognition and signage during refreshment breaks
- Company name included in conference communication and email
Exhibitors: $400 nonprofit, $500 for profit
- One exhibit booth (1 booth attendant)
- Organization and logo recognized in the conference program
- Logo/virtual booth in online conference portal
Questions about the conference?
Contact Amanda Bergeron for more information.
