Missouri Mental Health Counselors Association

Missouri Mental Health Counselors Association Missouri’s premier professional association for mental health counselors—the only organization singularly dedicated to LPCs.

It offers legislative advocacy, continuing ed, networking, licensure support (especially for supervisors), and member benefits.

Kristen Kansiewicz, PhD, LPC is the Program Director of the graduate counseling program at Evangel University. She has d...
08/15/2025

Kristen Kansiewicz, PhD, LPC is the Program Director of the graduate counseling program at Evangel University. She has developed the Church Therapy model, bringing clinical mental health services into church settings. Her primary research interests include pastors’ mental health, stigma around mental illness in the church, barriers to treatment amongst evangelical Christians, and the development of Christian-specific therapeutic interventions. She is also passionate about helping students develop a love of research and understand spiritual integration for all types of clients.

This presentation will review the ASERVIC competencies, with a focus on application of these principles with all types of clients in a variety of settings. We will explore common barriers to broaching topics of religion and spirituality and discuss strategies for spiritual integration without imposing values. The objectives of the talk will include:
1. Understand the ASERVIC compentencies
2. Identify personal and professional barriers to spiritual integration with clients
3. Apply the ASERVIC competencies to a variety of clinical settings and issues

The clock is ticking! It's time to register.
It's your conference! Be a part of your community!
Meet LPC's from across the state, and learn about the latest HOT TOPICS & HARD CASES!
Sign up today: https://www.mmhca.com/training-events/2025-annual-conference

Reservations for hotel rooms can be made no later than Tuesday, August, 19, 2025. Reservations can be made on an individual call-in basis by calling 1-417-831-3131 (tel:1-417-831-3131) and using the booking code CDT90P at the Double Tree by Hilton Springfield. You can also book online using this link https://www.hilton.com/.../sgfdtdt-90p-5df344b6-f206.../

Room rates are $129 per night for Thursday and Friday evening.
Check-in time is at 3:00 p.m. on the day of arrival. Check-out time on the day of departure is at 12:00 p.m. Check-out after 1:00 p.m. may incur additional costs.

Stephanie Knipper, M.S., LPCC, is a trauma specialist and the director of the Waybridge Counseling Center for Posttrauma...
08/15/2025

Stephanie Knipper, M.S., LPCC, is a trauma specialist and the director of the Waybridge Counseling Center for Posttraumatic Growth in Cincinnati, Ohio. She specializes in the treatment of PTSD and trauma, with a particular focus on medical trauma—an area of deep personal significance due to her lived experience with Crohn’s disease. Stephanie is passionate about helping individuals move beyond their traumatic experiences, guiding them toward healing and posttraumatic growth. Through a compassionate, evidence-based approach, she empowers clients to reclaim their lives, build resilience, and find strength in their journey.

Medical trauma can deeply affect a client’s sense of safety, agency, and identity. In this intensive 3-hour workshop, counselors will gain a comprehensive understanding of medical trauma’s unique features and learn how to integrate evidence-informed interventions into practice. Drawing from Treating Medical Trauma and Healing After Medical Trauma: The Companion Workbook, participants will explore a structured model for treatment, including assessment strategies, psychoeducation approaches, body-based regulation techniques, narrative healing, and advocacy-building. Hands-on activities, clinical examples, and take-home tools will be provided. This training prepares counselors to address medical trauma confidently and compassionately across a variety of clinical settings.

After this workshop, clinicians will be able to: 1) Differentiate medical trauma from other types of trauma based on clinical presentation and client history, 2) Implement a phased approach to treating medical trauma, including stabilization, narrative integration, and meaning-making, and 3) Utilize practical worksheets, client exercises, and advocacy tools to support ongoing healing and resilience.

The clock is ticking! It's time to register.
It's your conference! Be a part of your community!
Meet LPC's from across the state, and learn about the latest HOT TOPICS & HARD CASES!
Sign up today: https://www.mmhca.com/training-events/2025-annual-conference

Reservations for hotel rooms can be made no later than Tuesday, August, 19, 2025. Reservations can be made on an individual call-in basis by calling 1-417-831-3131 (tel:1-417-831-3131) and using the booking code CDT90P at the Double Tree by Hilton Springfield. You can also book online using this link https://www.hilton.com/.../sgfdtdt-90p-5df344b6-f206.../

Room rates are $129 per night for Thursday and Friday evening.
Check-in time is at 3:00 p.m. on the day of arrival. Check-out time on the day of departure is at 12:00 p.m. Check-out after 1:00 p.m. may incur additional costs.

Our Conference is next month!!Reservations for hotel rooms (if needed) can be made no later than Tuesday, August, 19, 20...
08/14/2025

Our Conference is next month!!
Reservations for hotel rooms (if needed) can be made no later than Tuesday, August, 19, 2025. Reservations can be made on an individual call-in basis by calling 1-417-831-3131 (tel:1-417-831-3131) and using the booking code CDT90P at the Double Tree by Hilton Springfield. You can also book online using this link (https://www.hilton.com/.../sgfdtdt-90p-5df344b6-f206.../). Room rates are $129 per night for Thursday and Friday evening.
Check-in time is at 3:00 p.m. on the day of arrival. Check-out time on the day of departure is at 12:00 p.m. Check-out after 1:00 p.m. may incur additional costs.

If you're planning to stay at the conference hotel, NOW is the time to BOOK your ROOM.Reservations for hotel rooms can b...
08/14/2025

If you're planning to stay at the conference hotel, NOW is the time to BOOK your ROOM.
Reservations for hotel rooms can be made no later than Tuesday, August, 19, 2025. Reservations can be made on an individual call-in basis by calling 1-417-831-3131 (tel:1-417-831-3131) and using the booking code CDT90P at the Double Tree by Hilton Springfield. You can also book online using this link
https://www.hilton.com/.../sgfdtdt-90p-5df344b6-f206.../
Room rates are $129 per night for Thursday and Friday evening.
Check-in time is at 3:00 p.m. on the day of arrival. Check-out time on the day of departure is at 12:00 p.m. Check-out after 1:00 p.m. may incur additional costs.
Sign up today for the Conference: https://www.mmhca.com/training-events/2025-annual-conference

If you're planning to stay at the conference hotel, NOW is the time to BOOK your ROOM.Reservations for hotel rooms can b...
08/12/2025

If you're planning to stay at the conference hotel, NOW is the time to BOOK your ROOM.

Reservations for hotel rooms can be made no later than Tuesday, August, 19, 2025. Reservations can be made on an individual call-in basis by calling 1-417-831-3131 (tel:1-417-831-3131) and using the booking code CDT90P at the Double Tree by Hilton Springfield. You can also book online using this link

https://www.hilton.com/en/attend-my-event/sgfdtdt-90p-5df344b6-f206-412f-a501-5fc86b5b246c/

Room rates are $129 per night for Thursday and Friday evening.

Check-in time is at 3:00 p.m. on the day of arrival. Check-out time on the day of departure is at 12:00 p.m. Check-out after 1:00 p.m. may incur additional costs.

Sign up today for the Conference: https://www.mmhca.com/training-events/2025-annual-conference

Our Conference is next month!!Reservations for hotel rooms can be made no later than Tuesday, August, 19, 2025. Reservat...
08/12/2025

Our Conference is next month!!

Reservations for hotel rooms can be made no later than Tuesday, August, 19, 2025. Reservations can be made on an individual call-in basis by calling 1-417-831-3131 (tel:1-417-831-3131) and using the booking code CDT90P at the Double Tree by Hilton Springfield. You can also book online using this link (https://www.hilton.com/en/attend-my-event/sgfdtdt-90p-5df344b6-f206-412f-a501-5fc86b5b246c/). Room rates are $129 per night for Thursday and Friday evening.

Check-in time is at 3:00 p.m. on the day of arrival. Check-out time on the day of departure is at 12:00 p.m. Check-out after 1:00 p.m. may incur additional costs.

The clock is ticking! It's time to register. The conference is next month!It's your conference! Be a part of your com...
08/11/2025

The clock is ticking! It's time to register. The conference is next month!
It's your conference! Be a part of your community!
Meet LPC's from across the state, and learn about the latest HOT TOPICS & HARD CASES!
Sign up today: https://www.mmhca.com/training-events/2025-annual-conference

07/21/2025

Hot Topics & Hard Cases
LPC's... It's your community, and it's your conference!

Register now at mmhca.com

LPC's... It's your Professional Community, and it's your Conference! Register now: mmhca.comDon't miss out on Gina's pre...
07/21/2025

LPC's... It's your Professional Community, and it's your Conference! Register now: mmhca.com

Don't miss out on Gina's presentation!

"Who Am I Now? Rebuilding Identity After Loss or Life Changes"

Gina Rivera Sokolich is a Licensed Professional Counselor and retired first responder with a deep passion for helping people with life’s toughest challenges. She owns the private practice Responding First Counseling in Ballwin, MO. She specializes in guiding individuals through the aftermath of trauma, abusive situations, and prolonged grief, offering a path to healing and rediscovering renewed strength and purpose. She is a Certified Brainspotting Consultant and specializes in utilizing Brainspotting Intensives. Gina facilitates support groups for those seeking community where they can explore ways to create space for themselves and reconnect with who they are.

This workshop helps therapists explore identity reconstruction after grief or major life changes. Blending narrative work, Brainspotting, and trauma-informed practices, participants reflect on personal transformation, reconnect with purpose, and gain tools to support clients through loss. Based on Gina Rivera Sokolich’s memoir, it bridges lived experience with clinical insight.

This workshop explores how grief and significant life transitions—such as caregiving, loss of a loved one, divorce, or burnout—can profoundly alter a therapist’s personal and professional identity. It combines lived experience, clinical insight, and evidence-based practices to help participants reflect on who they are now, both in and outside the therapy room.

Rooted in narrative therapy, grief theory, and trauma-informed care, the training integrates experiential learning through guided journaling, group dialogue, and regulation practices. A central element includes the use of Brainspotting, a brain, body and mindfulness-based therapeutic technique that helps participants access and process unresolved grief and identity disruption stored in the body. Attendees will experience how Brainspotting can support personal integration and also enhance therapeutic work with grieving clients.

The presentation draws heavily from “Stepping Through Grief: Rediscovering Life After Loss” a memoir by Gina Rivera Sokolich, MA, LPC, CTP, which offers an intimate look at caregiving, grief, and the journey of rediscovering identity. Her story provides the emotional and narrative framework for the training, demonstrating how clinicians can transform personal pain into professional presence.

MMHCA is excited to announce a collaborative relationship with the Coalition for Mental Health Counselors (CMHC). This c...
07/21/2025

MMHCA is excited to announce a collaborative relationship with the Coalition for Mental Health Counselors (CMHC).

This collaboration formed in 2024 after a team of therapists in Missouri reached out to build and administer an advanced supervision training for Missouri therapists that cover topics around effective supervision strategies and supports. As a result of these conversations, the Coalition for Mental Health Counselors has begun pursuing an evidence-based approach to advanced supervision strategies specific to Missouri. Effective January 2025, CMHC has received IRB approval and is actively engaging in collecting research.

The Coalition for Mental Health Counselors (CMHC), originating in MO, aims to strengthen client and practitioner protection by putting measures in place to ensure community access to ethical and competent mental health services through the standardization of quality care. The coalition’s goals are derived from the ACA code of ethics and the existing code of ethics for MO. The CMHC encompasses all mental health licensure designations and invites anyone interested in protecting the trust in the mental health industry to take action through modeling ethical and competent practice, gaining education in supervision, and other important areas of education that Missouri does not require in order to fulfill the ethical duties of the licensure proudly held. The coalition endeavors to make additions to the current Missouri regulations in order to hold professionals accountable who do not wish to assume responsibility for maintaining the ethical code on their own, which will serve as gatekeeping to protect the reputation of the industry as well as the consumer of mental health services.

How to engage in research?
To complete the Coalition for Mental Health Counselors initial research survey, please use this link: Qualtrics Survey | Qualtrics Experience Management MMHCA is partnering with CMHC at the 2025 Annual Conference and will be offering a clock hour training that empowers content development around advanced supervision
and research. This training is capped at 30 participants and will be managed on a first come-first serve basis for conference participants. No pre-registration required.

Will the advanced supervision training be different from MMHCA’s Supervision Training?
The current MMHCA Supervision Training aligns with Missouri’s minimum standards for an individually licensed counselor to obtain a supervisor endorsement. This standard is set forth by the Missouri Board for Licensed Professional Counselors. This training covers rules around supervision, how to establish safe supervision practices between a supervisor and supervisee, and strategies around supervision processes. The advanced supervision training being developed by CMHC will expand and develop a second layer of supervisor education that focuses on topics around strategies for effective leadership, healthy and safe supervision relationships, and other key topics that are identified as part of the research process. MMHCA is endorsing the development of and integration of the advanced supervision training and will be offering the official training once research has concluded and training is ready for implementation. These trainings will work independent of each other to offer an informed, educated partnership that is designed to grow healthy supervision practices in the State of Missouri.

Timeline around this partnership.
● In 2023, the Missouri Mental Health Counseling Association began to receive feedback requesting an expansion of services around supervision training.
● In 2024, the CMHC was formed and contacted MMHCA to form a formal partnership.
● In 2025, the MMHCA and CMHC partnership was made official, and research has gone live per IRB approval and MMHCA gathered information from our current training to explore gaps in coverage and feedback from past participants. CMCH presents at the 2025 Annual Conference to gather information connected to
research implementation.

Address

Saint Clair, MO

Opening Hours

11am - 4pm

Telephone

+13147189674

Website

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