PRA Celebrates a Hugely Successful 2013 Conference

PRA held a successful Annual Conference in Atlanta in June, hosting 700 psych rehab professionals from across the country for the highly anticipated event. PRA offered a comprehensive line up of in-depth psychiatric rehabilitation training and enhanced networking opportunities that provided attendees with the tools they need to help others more effectively. Attendees overwhelmingly conveyed that they had a fantastic experience at the 2013 PRA Annual Conference, 95% of them noting they would recommend the event to other psych rehab professionals!

Here are some changes to the conference structure PRA made this year that made the conference more valuable to attendees than ever before:

1. PRA revamped the structure of the program - it was organized into 6 different tracks, each of which concentrated on a different level and discipline of psych rehab

2. The first track was a complete CPRP prep course – starting a day early, attendees could complete their CPRP preparation, and still have plenty of opportunities to attend other conference sessions

3. Attendees selected from over 50 hours of continuing education from 7 providers to earn over 19 contact hours of continuing education – with so many options attendees learned the most relevant information to apply to their careers

4. At the new Learning Lounges, attendees connected with speakers and fellow attendees to ask questions and network at the completion of sessions

5. Attendees had an exclusive opportunity to hear from former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, as well as two other keynote speakers, Dr. Benjamin Druss and Dr. Carl Bell.

6. And tons of special events with an educational and networking focus, including a film screening of CAN and panel discussion as well as a theatre performance led by Victoria Maxwell

“The 2013 PRA conference exceeded my expectations in the amount of useful and relevant information presented. I had been in a rather discouraging professional slump for some time. But no more. I came home full of excitement over the changes I see in PRA as an organization and in the direction the field of psychiatric rehabilitation seems to be heading.” - Sun Young An, Program Manager, Beth Israel Medical Center

“The PRA Annual Conference both distilled the current best practices, and challenged me to think beyond today! What I have taken away from the PRA conference is a sense of the possible, and a renewed appreciation of human resiliency.” - Diane L. Todd, PhD, Clinical Psychologist, Local Recovery Coordinator, VHA

“There’s a wonderful feeling you get here from being plugged into this huge community of psychiatric rehabilitation professionals and peer support providers. It’s inspiring. The knowledge you gain is extremely valuable, but for me it’s also about the motivation and energy for doing the work of psych rehab that comes from this experience.” - Jonathan Morris, LMSW, Psychosocial Rehabilitation Program Coordinator, Ridgeview Psychiatric Center