
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
Sponsored by:

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 and Therapists
- Social workers
- Psychologists
- Psychiatrists
- Doctors
- Nurses
- First Responders
- DHR and Child Protective Services
- Educators and School Administrators
- Marriage and Family Therapists
- Legal and Justice Professionals
- Nonprofit and Human Service Professionals
- Parents
- Community Leaders
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 Sponsored by: ![]() | Early Wounds, Lasting Patterns, Developmental and Complex Trauma Across the Lifespan Adena Hope Bank, LCSW, LISAC, BCE®TS, CP Early life wounds often remain unnamed, showing up in our reactions, relationships, and physical responses to perceived threat. This presentation helps clinicians understand how developmental and complex trauma shape the nervous system, narrowing tolerance and prioritizing survival over connection. It reframes behaviors like hypervigilance, dissociation, and emotional dysregulation as adaptive responses rooted in early attachment disruptions and survival learning. Participants will leave with a more compassionate clinical lens that recognizes the protective logic behind clients’ patterns. |
| 9:30 am – 9:45 am | Break with Exhibits |
| 9:45 am – 10:45 am Session 2 Sponsored by: ![]() | The Vicious Cycle: Trauma and the Connection to Substance Use Disorder Kareh Moody, LMHC, MCAP, CPP This session explores how traumatic stress exposures can drive people to substance use and how substance use can lead to more traumatic stress exposures. Recognizing the stigma, shame and challenges facing those with a substance use disorder and how to treat it is essential for recovery. Relevant for clinicians across settings and essential for anyone working with substance abuse and their families. |
| 10:45 am – 11:00 am | Break with Exhibits |
| 11:00 am – Noon Session 3 Sponsored by: ![]() | The Weight of Experience: Trauma, Stress, and Eating Disorders Dr. Magin Day, PhD, ABPP, Clinical Director, The Victory Program The Weight of Experience: Trauma, Stress, and Eating Disorders is a one‑hour training designed to help participants understand how eating disorders develop and intensify within the context of trauma and chronic stress. The presentation integrates clinical knowledge, neurobiological insights, and trauma‑informed principles to show how these experiences shape symptom expression, assessment, and treatment. This session equips learners to recognize complexity, reduce harm, and support safer, more effective care. |
| Noon – 12:45 pm | Lunch (Grab and Go Boxes) |
| 12:45 pm – 1:45 pm Session 4 | Breaking the Cycle in Real Time: Trauma, Parenting, Relationships, and Repair Moderated Panel Healing trauma is not only about understanding the past — it is also about what happens in the present moment when old patterns get activated. This panel explores what it takes to recognize and interrupt inherited patterns in parenting, relationships, caregiving, clinical work, and community life. Panelists will discuss how developmental and relational trauma can shape nervous system responses, attachment patterns, conflict, shame, emotional dysregulation, and the ways people protect themselves in relationships. Building on the summit’s focus on trauma, attachment, and the path to healing, this conversation will invite participants to consider what “breaking the cycle” actually looks like in real time: pausing when activated, repairing after rupture, parenting differently than we were parented, and creating relationships where safety and connection can grow. This panel will offer a grounded, compassionate look at the messy and courageous work of choosing something different. |
| 1:45 pm – 2:00 pm | Break with Exhibits |
| 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm KEYNOTE | From Chaos to Integration: Trauma, Attachment, and the Relational Brain Dr. Dan Siegel, Co-Founder, Mind Your Brain (Virtual) In this presentation, participants will explore how trauma and chronic stress can disrupt the brain’s integrative processes, often leading to states of chaos, rigidity, disconnection, and impaired regulation. Drawing from the multidisciplinary field of Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB), Dan Siegel will examine how attachment, attunement, and relational connection shape the nervous system and influence resilience, healing, and well-being. Through the framework of the “9 Domains of Integration,” this keynote explores how safety and connection support the integration of embodied and relational experience, creating pathways toward healing and post-traumatic growth. Participants will gain practical insight into how relationships and integrative processes can transform clinical care, caregiving, education, and community systems responding to trauma and chronic stress. |
| 3:00 pm – 3:15 pm | Break with Exhibits |
| 3:15 pm – 4:15 pm Session 6 | Panel: When Trauma Meets Systems: Courts, Schools, Healthcare, Treatment and Community Response Moderated Panel Trauma does not only live inside individuals and families; it also shows up in the systems designed to serve them. This panel explores how trauma presents across courts, schools, healthcare, treatment settings, child and family services, and community programs and how systems can either reinforce shame and disconnection or become part of the healing process. Panelists will examine how trauma responses are often misread as defiance, resistance, noncompliance, manipulation, or lack of motivation, especially when substance use, eating disorders, mental health concerns, family stress, poverty, or court involvement are also present. The conversation will include juvenile court as one important lens while also broadening the discussion to the larger network of systems that shape care, accountability, access, and recovery. This panel invites participants to imagine what it would look like for systems to move beyond crisis response and toward trauma-informed, healing-centered, collaborative care rooted in dignity, safety, accountability, and repair. |
| 4:15 pm | Closing Remarks & Adjourn |

Speakers:
Dr. Daniel J. Siegel, MD, Co-founder, Mind Your Brain
Dan Siegel is the Co-founder, with Caroline Welch, or Mind Your Brain in Santa Monica, California. He is also the Founder and Director of Education of the Mindsight Institute and founding Co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA, where he was also Co-Principal Investigator of the Center for Culture, Brain and Development and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the School of Medicine.
An award-winning educator, Dan is the author of five New York Times bestsellers and over fifteen other books which have been translated into over forty languages. As the founding editor of the Norton Professional Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology (“IPNB”), Dan has overseen the publication of one hundred books in the transdisciplinary IPNB framework which focuses on the mind and mental health.
A graduate of Harvard Medical School, Dan completed his postgraduate training at UCLA specializing in pediatrics, and adult, adolescent, and child psychiatry. He was trained in attachment research and narraitve analysis through a National Institute of Mental Health research training fellowship focusing on how relationships shape our autobiographical ways of making sense of our lives and influence our development across the lifespan.
Adena Hope Bank, LCSW, LISAC, BCE®TS, CP, Psychodramatist, Sierra Tucson
Adena Hope Bank, LCSW, LISAC, BCE®TS, CP, is an internationally recognized speaker, author, trainer, and consultant, providing a fresh and important look at addiction treatment, traumatic stress, and recovery. She offers premiere Psychodrama services to Sierra Tucson residents where both structure and spontaneity help create meaningful transformation and promising new beginnings.
Adena has been in private clinical practice, training mental health, substance abuse, and related professionals around the globe for over 30 years. She began her alliance with Sierra Tucson in March 1990 when hired as a primary therapist and relocated from Long Island, NY. Adena strongly believes in Sierra Tucson’s mission and model of treatment. She is proud to be of direct service to their residents as a Psychodramatist since January 2018.
Adena is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Licensed Independent Substance Abuse Counselor, Board Certified Expert® in Traumatic Stress, and Certified Practitioner of Psychodrama. She is the author of Covert Emotional Incest: The Hidden Sexual Abuse, A Story of Hope and Healing and Covert Emotional Incest: The Hidden Sexual Abuse; A Guided Companion Journal for Hope and Healing.
Adena’s passion is to utilize action methods in both clinical settings and professional training to optimize laughter while learning.
Magin Day, PhD, ABPP, Clinical Director, The Victory Program
Dr. Magin Day is a Clinical Sports Psychologist, who is board certified in Clinical Psychology. She earned her PhD in Clinical Health Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where her research focused on the intricate relationship between physical and psychological health in military personnel. She completed her residency at the Wilford Hall Ambulatory and Surgical Center at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, where she honed her expertise in treating complex trauma while serving as an active-duty Clinical Psychologist in the Air Force.
As a former Division I distance runner at North Carolina State University, she brings firsthand experience to her practice. She has also represented the United States Air Force in international competitions across various sports, including cross country, track and field, marathon running, and equestrian three-day eventing.
At McCallum Place, Dr. Day leverages her educational background, clinical expertise, and athletic experience to create compassionate, tailored interventions. Her work focuses on the unique challenges faced by athletes struggling with eating disorders, emphasizing the vital connection between physical and psychological health.
Karah Moody, LMHC, MCAP, CPP, Director of Clinical Services, Sabal Palms Recovery Center
Karah Moody, LMHC, MCAP, CPP has worked in substance abuse and mental health treatment for over 19 years. She started in the field as a Behavioral Health Technician and went on to become a Therapist, LGBTQIA+ Coordinator and Clinical Director in substance abuse and mental health treatment. She has also worked in the community with children and families as a Child Parent Psychotherapist with the Early Childhood Court and in adolescent and young adult IOP programs. Currently, Karah serves as the Director of Clinical Services at Sabal Palms Recovery Center in Brooksville, FL. This is a detox and residential substance abuse treatment center. Karah’s experience and leadership qualities have helped foster strong clinical programs that enable clients to make impactful long-term change and recovery.
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 (must use school email address)
*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
- Continuing Legal Education

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.



