Hosted at the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center
The Atlanta stop of the Shame and Addiction: Breaking the Cycle tour offers a full day of deep learning, soulful engagement, and community-rooted dialogue. Led by acclaimed therapist and Black Therapists Rock founder Deran Young, this powerful event brings together some of the most inspiring clinical and cultural voices to address how shame drives disconnection, substance use, and generational pain.
Set in the heart of a city long known for its role in social change and healing, the day opens with a keynote on emotional presence, followed by clinical sessions grounded in cultural awareness. A dynamic panel explores strategies for recovery—designed with Atlanta’s rich traditions of resilience and advocacy in mind.
Attendees will take part in live Q&A clinics, join somatic reset practices, and receive access to the KIPU-powered Change Makers Directory for ongoing professional growth and collaboration.
This is for healing professionals who recognize that change starts in relationships and thrives through multidisciplinary collaboration.
Session Type: Opening Session
A brief welcome to set the tone for the day, introduce the event theme of Building Sustainable Healing Spaces, and outline the intention for deep, collaborative conversations across leadership, embodiment, trauma, and integrative healing.
Session Type: Keynote
CE Eligibility: CE-Eligible
Deran Young explores how personal, interpersonal, and systemic repair are at the heart of collective healing. Drawing from her clinical work, leadership in cultural humility, and global community-building efforts, Deran will offer frameworks for cultivating healing spaces that address trauma, dismantle power dynamics, and center belonging. Attendees will leave grounded in the larger mission of healing justice and prepared to engage the day’s conversations.
Session Type: CE-Eligible Discussion
Presenters: Deran Young, LCSW and Aiko Bethea, JD
A conversation exploring how perfectionism, shame, and internalized expectations block healing for individuals and systems. This session offers clinical tools and leadership insights for embodying vulnerability, inclusion, and values-aligned care.
Session Type: Break
CE Eligibility: Non-CE
A chance to connect, build relationships, and reflect on the morning’s sessions.
Session Type: Keynote
Presenter: Prentis Hemphill, MA, Clinical Psychology
CE Eligibility: CE-Eligible
Prentis Hemphill offers a somatically informed framework for healing rooted in relational repair, justice, and embodied leadership. The session explores how healing becomes sustainable when practiced through presence, accountability, and systemic awareness.
Session Type: CE-Eligible Discussion
Presenters: Deran Young, LCSW and Heather Hayes, M.Ed., LPC, CIP, CAI, CRP
A deep conversation about navigating trauma and crisis ethically. This session covers clinical decision-making in high-stakes environments, family systems work, and how to ethically manage rupture and risk.
Session Type: Featured Session
Presenter: Tamia Pleasants, MA, LCPC
CE Eligibility: CE-Eligible
Tamia Pleasants presents integrative trauma recovery tools across EMDR, IFS, perinatal mental health, and psychedelic-assisted therapy. Emphasis is placed on shame-informed, culturally competent healing frameworks.
Session Type: CE-Eligible Panel Discussion
Moderator: Deran Young, LCSW
Panelists: Aiko Bethea, JD; Prentis Hemphill, MA; Heather Hayes, M.Ed., LPC; Tamia Pleasants, MA, LCPC
This multidisciplinary panel addresses how providers and systems can build more accountable, relational, and sustainable spaces of healing. Panelists will engage live audience Q&A and share practices for responding to shame, systemic trauma, and practitioner overwhelm.
*Agenda is subject to change.
Exchange Events is an international 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to curating conference experiences for professionals who want to elevate their knowledge regarding therapeutic practices, treatment models, and the latest mental health, addiction, and wellness innovations.
