NASW-MD Chapter's 7th Annual In-Person Ocean City Conference 2026: Transforming the Tides
Conference Dates: May 6-8th, 2026
Hilton Garden Inn, Ocean City
2800 Baltimore Ave, Ocean City, MD 21842
Hotel Block Information - Call Phone: (410) 289-1100
Full Breakfast Included all three days.
Lunch included Wednesday & Thursday
Conference Agenda
Tuesday, May 5th
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm
NASW-MD Chapter will host a Business Card Swap Reception.
Gather with conference attendees to swap business cards and get connected for like-minded chatting.
Wednesday, May 6th
(7 CEUs)
7:00 am – 8:30 am – Registration, full breakfast (provided), and networking
8:30 am – 8:45 am – Morning Announcements – Karessa Proctor, BSW, MSW
NASW-MD Chapter Executive Director
8:45 am – 12:00 pm – Wednesday Morning Workshop
The Effects of Childhood Trauma on Adults: Building Resiliency to Thrive
Presenter: Toscha J Wilkins
Synopsis: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) leave lasting imprints that shape how adults think, feel, and respond to the world around them. Decades of research make one thing clear: early adversity does not stay in childhood. It reappears in adulthood through emotional regulation challenges, relationship patterns, stress responses, health concerns, and behavioral coping strategies that clients often struggle to understand or articulate. For social workers, the ability to recognize how ACEs “show up” later in life is essential—not just for effective treatment planning, but for fostering the connection, purpose, and empowerment that guide clients toward long-term healing. This engaging and interactive presentation will explore the complex relationship between early adversity and adult functioning, translating the science of ACEs and chronic stress into clear, practical insights that practitioners can immediately apply. Participants will examine how childhood trauma influences the adult brain and body, impacts emotional and relational development, and contributes to patterns that often bring clients into services. Through guided reflection, real-world examples, and scenario-based application exercises, attendees will learn to identify the physical, emotional, and behavioral indicators of ACE-related stress in both clients and themselves. The session will offer evidence-based, strengths-focused strategies to help clients build resilience, develop healthier coping skills, and move from reactive, survival states into more empowered, regulated ways of living. Participants will walk away with actionable tools they can bring directly into their practice, as well as strategies that deepen engagement, strengthen assessment, and enhance trauma-responsive interventions across diverse settings. This session is ideal for social workers seeking to expand their trauma knowledge, elevate their clinical effectiveness, and better support clients on their journey toward thriving.
Learning objectives: By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
1. Identify the long-term physical, mental, and emotional effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and recognize how these effects may present in both clients and practitioners.
2. Explain how unresolved childhood trauma shapes adult behaviors, emotional regulation, and relational patterns through the lens of trauma-informed care.
3. Apply evidence-based and strengths-focused strategies that foster resilience and promote healing in adults impacted by early adversity.
CEUs: 3 CAT 1
12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. – Lunch (provided)
1:15 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. – Wednesday Afternoon Session
Use of Narrative Therapy: The Importance of Storytelling and Living Your Purpose
Presenter: Basiliso Moreno, LMSW
Synopsis: We are all 1 mistake away or 1 devasting event from seeking services. With narrative therapy, we can share our own personal stories to heal. As we heal, we can be better clinicians for our clients.
Learning objectives: By the end of this workshop, attendees will be able to answer:
1. What is Narrative therapy?
2. How to use Narrative therapy in sessions?
3. How grieve impacts how we feel both mentally and physically?
4. The importance of healing and giving ourselves grace.
CEUs: 3 CAT 1 CEUs
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm – Wednesday Evening Optional Event:
Understanding Feminism as a Tool
Presenter: Karessa Proctor, BSW, MSW
NASW MD- Chapter Executive Director
Synopsis: This interactive one-hour workshop explores feminism as a practical and strengths-based tool for anti-oppressive social work practice. Participants will examine how feminist frameworks amplify client resilience, challenge systemic inequities, and support empowerment at the individual, community, and policy levels. Grounded in intersectionality, the workshop highlights how feminism recognizes the lived expertise of marginalized communities and values collaboration, self-determination, and shared power. Through discussion and applied examples, participants will reflect on how feminist principles align with core social work values and can be ethically integrated into practice across settings. The workshop centers on anti-oppressive practice by critically examining power, privilege, and oppression while emphasizing strengths, resistance, and collective healing.
Learning Objectives: By the end of this workshop, attendees will be able to:
1. Identify key feminist principles and explain how they align with strengths-based and anti-oppressive social work practice.
2. Describe how intersectional feminism addresses systems of power, privilege, and oppression impacting clients and communities.
3. Apply feminist concepts to social work practice in ways that promote empowerment, self-determination, and client-defined strengths.
4. Reflect on their own social location and professional power to enhance culturally responsive and anti-oppressive engagement.
CEUs: 1 CAT 1 in Anti-Oppressive Social Work Practice Content
Please Note: This workshop meets 1 of the 3 credit hours in Anti-Oppressive Social Work Practice Content in Cultural Competency required for license renewal by the MD BSWE.
Thursday May 7th
(7 Cat I CEUs)
7:00 am – 8:30 am – Registration, full breakfast (provided), and networking
8:30 am – 8:45 am – Morning Announcements – Karessa Proctor, BSW, MSW
NASW-MD Chapter Executive Director
8:45 am – 12:00 pm – Thursday Morning Workshop
Healing without Harm: Integrating Culture & Equity in Trauma-Informed Care (Anti-Oppressive Approach)
Presenter: Ebony Vaughan, LCSW, CCTP
Nexus Wellness Group
Synopsis: Trauma-informed care (TIC) is widely adopted across healthcare, education, and social services—but without an explicit focus on culture, power, and equity, it can unintentionally replicate the very harms it seeks to address. This session explores how to deepen trauma-informed practice through an anti-oppressive lens that centers cultural humility, systemic awareness, and equity-driven action. Participants will examine how structural racism, gender oppression, ableism, and other systemic inequities shape trauma experiences and service delivery. Through practical frameworks, reflection, and case examples, attendees will learn how to create culturally responsive, relational, and justice-oriented environments that promote healing without causing further harm. This session is ideal for clinicians, educators, leaders, community practitioners, and organizations committed to advancing equitable, culturally grounded trauma-informed systems.
Learning Objectives: By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
- Define the principles of trauma-informed care through an anti-oppressive and equity-centered framework.
- Identify how systemic inequities and historical trauma influence individual and community experiences of trauma.
- Recognize ways in which traditional service models may unintentionally perpetuate harm or traumatization.
- Apply culturally responsive and equity-focused strategies to clinical, educational, or organizational practice.
- Integrate cultural humility and power-awareness into trauma-informed policies, practices, and leadership decisions.
- Develop actionable steps to strengthen anti-oppressive, trauma-informed systems within their own settings
CEUs: 3 CAT 1 CEUs In Anti-Oppressive Social Work Practice Content
Please Note: This workshop meets the MD BSWE’s Anti-Oppressive Social Work Practice Content requirement and qualifies for 3 Category I continuing education units in Cultural Competency.
12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. – Lunch (provided)
1:15 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. – Thursday Afternoon Session
Navigating the Tides by Reclaiming Social Work Roots for Ethical Practice
Presenter: Gisele Ferretto, MSW, LCSW-C
Synopsis: In today’s complex and evolving practice environments, social workers are increasingly called upon to navigate ethical issues with clarity, confidence, and integrity. This interactive workshop invites participants to reconnect with the foundational values and principles of the profession to strengthen ethical decision-making in an often-turbulent context. Through reflective exercises and practical tools, participants will explore the core elements of ethical reasoning and the enduring relevance of the NASW Code of Ethics. The session will highlight key ethical concepts including Best Interests of the Client, Protection of the Vulnerable, Client Self-Determination, Privacy & Confidentiality, and Conflicts of Interest. Participants will also examine risk management strategies that support ethical and accountable practice in diverse settings. NASW Code of Ethics sections covered: the six Ethical Values, and all sections of the code.
Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to:
1. Distinguish the basic elements and terms used for ethical decision-making.
2. Examine the use of the professional ethical code and the function served by an ethical code.
3. Identify the common ethical concepts relevant to social work practice, including: Best Interests of the Client, Protection of the Vulnerable, Client Self-Determination, Privacy & Confidentiality, and Conflicts of Interest.
4. Examine Risk Management strategies for ethical practice.
CEUs: 3 CAT 1 CEUS in Ethics
Please Note: This workshop qualifies for the Maryland Board of Social Work Examiners’ 3-hour Ethics requirement for license renewal.
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm – Thursday Evening Optional CE Event
Use of Self: Our Foundation for Addressing the Tides of Implicit Bias
Presenter: Gisele Ferretto, MSW, LCSW-C
Synopsis: This one-hour workshop is focused on the exploration of strategies to address the common, yet complex practice issues concerning implicit bias that social workers face in their practice. Content will cover the following: identification of microaggressions, strategies for addressing microaggressions, establishing and maintaining a practice of self-awareness, and the impact of boundaries on practice and client outcomes. Current legal references will be provided concerning relevant statutes and the ethical codes of practice for social workers. This workshop meets the licensing requirement for implicit bias training as required in COMAR 10.42.06.03 A.(d) for 1 education credit unit for anti-oppressive social work practice.
Learning Objectives: Attendees will:
1. Examine the Use of Professional Self for Culturally Competent Social Work practice.
2. Explore the concepts of personal self, including subjugated self and privileged self for establishing professional boundaries.
3. Examine the concepts of cultural humility, cultural competence, and culturally responsive practice.
4. Review the Maryland statutes and regulations that govern boundaries and ethical professional behavior concerning the issue of implicit bias CEUs: 1 CAT 1 in Anti Oppressive Social Work
CEUs: 1 CAT 1 in Anti-Oppressive Social Work
Please Note: This workshop meets 1 of the 3 Cat I CEUS required by the MD BSWE in Anti-Oppressive Social Work Practice content in Implicit Bias.
Please Note: This workshop meets the licensing requirement for implicit bias training as required in COMAR 10.42.06.03 A.(d) for 1 education credit unit for anti-oppressive social work practice.
6:30 pm – Thursday Evening Optional Event
Membership Event: Mindfulness-Based Sunset Salutations Yoga Class on the beach
Presenter: Brittany Barber-Alexander, MSW, LCSW-C, RYT-200
Description: Brittany Barber-Alexander, MSW, LICSW/LCSW-C, BCD is an award-winning, certified clinical social work supervisor licensed in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC, with over 14 years of professional experience. She specializes in providing supportive, evidence-based care to individuals, families, and groups to improve social and psychological functioning. Ms. Barber-Alexander is also a Registered Yoga Instructor (RYT-200), having completed her 200-hour certification through Sankofa Yoga and Wellness Center, and has been teaching yoga for the past four years. She will be leading a Mindfulness-Based Sunset Salutations Yoga Class on the beach (weather permitting). This class integrates mindfulness-based therapeutic techniques, including deep breathing, body scans, gentle stretching, and a series of traditional sun salutations. This class is open to all levels, whether you are new to yoga or an experienced practitioner. Modifications will be offered to make postures more accessible, along with optional variations for those who want a greater challenge.
Please bring a yoga mat and water, and come prepared to relax, move, and enjoy the experience.
Please Note: *This yoga class is a wellness-based practice and is not religious based practice. This event is not for CEUs and is meant to celebrate social workers.
Friday, May 8th
(3 CEUs)
7:00 am – 8:30 am – Registration, full breakfast (provided), and networking
8:30 am – 8:45 am – Morning Announcements – Karessa Proctor, BSW, MSW
NASW-MD Chapter Executive Director
8:45 am – 12:00 pm – Friday Morning Workshop
Let’s Talk About Suicide: All the Scary Things, & All the Uncomfortable Things
Presenter: Dr. Liz Ressler, LCSWC
Synopsis: The goal of this training on suicidality and prevention techniques emphasizes the importance of understanding both clinical strategies and personal awareness when working with individuals at risk. Participants will learn evidence-based interventions such as safety planning, risk assessment, and collaborative approaches that prioritize client autonomy and connection. A key focus of the training will be exploring our own biases, beliefs, and emotional responses toward suicide, as these can significantly influence therapeutic engagement and decision-making of our clients. By fostering self-reflection and open discussion, clients are encouraged to confront stigma, challenge assumptions, and cultivate empathy. Attendees will learn how to enhance their ability to provide compassionate, nonjudgmental, and effective support to clients experiencing suicidal thoughts.
Learning objectives: At the end of this workshop, attendees will be able to:
1. Identify biases related to suicide.
2. Discuss how the topic of suicide can be uncomfortable to bring up with clients.
3. Define client risk factors
4. Discover screening and de-escalation tools
5. Recognize the therapist's risk factors of suicide
6. Explain tools for increasing self-awareness as a therapist for improved self-care
CEUs: 3 CAT 1
Adding Registration, Please wait...
