PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS THE PAGE TO REGISTER FOR THE IN-PERSON VERSION OF THE 2025 ASHEVILLE LPU CONFERENCE. IF YOU ARE WANTING TO ATTEND VIRTUALLY, DO NOT REGISTER ON THIS PAGE. CLICK HERE INSTEAD TO REGISTER TO ATTEND VIRTUALLY. WE MAY BE UNABLE TO ACCOMMODATE YOU IF YOU REGISTER FOR THE INCORRECT VERSION OF THE EVENT.

Resiliency in Action: 30 Years of Social Work in WNC

Click HERE to see campus map with parking lots highlighted.

Credit: 4.5 hours of CE, 2 hours of which are Ethics.

Schedule

• 9:00: Welcome: Beth Vogler, MSW, Ph.D
• 9:15 – 9:30: Land Acknowledgement: Shannon Krenek, LCSW
• 9:30 – 11:00: Settling Turbidity and Trusting that We Aren’t Alone: Ethical and Practical Tools for Resilient Social Work When Landscapes Change and Hard Times Surround: Susanne Walker Wilson, LCSW
• 11:00 – 11:15: Break
• 11:15 – 11:45: Presentation responses, break out into smaller groups
• 11:45 – 12:30: Legislative Update
• 12:30 – 1:15: Lunch Break
• 1:15 - 3:15: Leadership in Uncertain Times: Using the NASW Code of Ethics to Guide Social Work Practice: Valerie Arendt, MSW
• 3:15 – 3:30: Wrap Up

Registration
NASW Members: $35
Non-Members: $65
Students: $15
Retired/Unemployed: $15

*Those registering as students will NOT receive CE.

Please note that pricing to attend the in-person version of the Asheville Conference is higher than the virtual version in order to cover the costs of food and drink for the day.

Ideas presented by speakers are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and policies of NASW-NC.

Once you pay, your money cannot be refunded and it will be your responsibility to find someone to take your spot if you can no longer attend.

Session Descriptions
Settling Turbidity and Trusting that We Aren’t Alone: Ethical and Practical Tools for Resilient Social Work When Landscapes Change and Hard Times Surround
Fall 2024 held multiple storms that literally changed the landscape here in WNC. The us and them fell away (again) -- first in September and then again in November. Our deeply jolted nervous systems and long-held attachment strategies left all folks, including social workers, needing buoyance, connection and solid ground. Together, let’s explore some practical somatic tools and relational ways to hold steady in the face of trauma and threat-- awake to ethical complexities, leaning into decades of our social work forebearers and the solid foundation they built , and centering what we need (and were made for) to make it through and to thrive.

Leadership in Uncertain Times: Using the NASW Code of Ethics to Guide Social Work Practice
As we enter a new federal and state administration, the current political climate is turbulent and polarized, fueled by systemic inequality and rapid social change. Social workers will always have the NASW Code of Ethics as a foundation for navigating complex challenges and guide us as ethical leaders and advocates for marginalized communities.

Objectives:
1. Understand how the NASW Code of Ethics provides a framework for leadership in social work.
2. Explore strategies for applying ethical principles in individual and collective practice.
3. Develop actionable steps to integrate ethical leadership into their work.

Please note: participants will join together in small groups, whether live in-person or online in Zoom breakout rooms in this training. Active participation is required.

Speaker Bios
Shannon Krenek, MSW, LCSW is a proud advocate for children, families, and social work and is a clinician in private practice in Asheville. She has previously served her community in the areas of foster care, wilderness therapy, integrated health care, and school-based community mental health care and is dedicated to identifying and eliminating barriers to quality support for lower income and rural families. She is currently serving on the NASW-NC Equity and Inclusion Committee.

Susanne Walker Wilson, LCSW, LCAS-A, ITFS, IMH-E™ grew up in rural WNC and her mom began the social work program at then Mars Hill College back in 1975. Having lived in Germany, South Africa and Colombia, South America, Susanne’s own social work journey began in inner-city Washington DC though for most of the past 28 years she’s chosen WNC as home. A co-founder of the Asheville-based nonprofit, Resources for Resilience, and co-creator of the Reconnect for Resilience curriculum, Susanne has woven her commitment to both micro and macro social work and her deep belief that ACEs and intergenerational trauma cycles can be interrupted through a public health prevention approach to a deepening understanding of the somatics of trauma and of healing. In addition to being a Senior Trainer in the Reconnect model and having a therapy practice in Asheville, Susanne is a trainer, consultant and fidelity coach for Circle of Security International. She works through Circle Together to anchor and elevate attachment-informed parenting and early educator practices across North Carolina. Susanne was in the first Leadership Cohort to be endorsed as an Infant Mental Health professional (Clinical Mentor) through the NC Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Association. She offers reflective consultation and training through NCIMHA ongoing. Partnering with families and other early childhood professionals (rather than over or around them) is Susanne’s joy; addressing unjust systemic inequities that too often burden families is her North Star. Long before and ever since Tropical Storm Helene, Susanne has used simple somatic tools to reset her own nervous system throughout each day. She’s committing to ‘hauling water’ and continuing to build the strong foundation that we collectively hold in our growing understanding of how secure attachment is at the heart of life-long mental health.

Note: The conference planners have chosen to donate this year's net proceeds to Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church to support their Helene Relief efforts. They and dozens of volunteers have fundraised and written checks in the amount of millions of dollars for rent and electric bill relief for community members, "single-handedly" preventing countless neighbors from being evicted from their homes and/ or freezing in our winter temperatures.

A member of Grace shares, "We write checks for between $50,000-$80,000 a day for rent.And we have around $100,000 in outstanding Duke power bills to pay. And we still have hundreds of requests for rent. People still have eviction letters. And many people are still not working or they are only back with limited hours", emphasizing the continued great need and unrelenting commitment to support our communities during this dire hardship and beyond. We are proud to support these efforts and grateful for their care.