64th Annual Conference
Date and Time
October 19 - 20, 2023
Location
This is a hybrid event. For those who wish to attend in person, the location is the Webster University Campus, Leiden, Netherlands. For those who wish to attend virtually, please see below for more information.
Learning from the Past
to Build a Future!
ABOUT THE EVENT
We are so excited to see you in person at our 64th Annual European Branch of the
American Counseling Association (EB-ACA) Conference which will be held in Leiden, Netherlands (Amsterdam) this fall Oct 19-20, 2023.
This year's conference theme is "Learning from the Past to Build a Future!”Presentations will reflect this year's conference theme, address international counseling issues, and tackle social justice and advocacy in a variety of disciplines such as Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Professional School Counseling, Career Counseling, Rehabilitation Counseling, College Counseling, Higher Education Advising, Marriage, Couples, Family Counseling and other helping professionals.
Keynote Speaker:
Melissa Wells, Czech Certified Counselor
The Fruit of Failure: My personal journey as an AST worker
Human trafficking is the second largest and fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world today (DHHS, n.d.). Currently, an estimated 50 million people are trapped as modern day slaves for sexual exploitation, forced labor, forced criminality, forced begging, forced marriages, baby and organ trafficking, etc. (ILO, 2022, p. 1; UNODC, 2020, p. 24). Approximately 600,000 – 800,000 people are being trafficked annually throughout the world (DoSomething.org, n.d.). According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, individuals from 137 countries were traded and exploited along more than 500 trafficking routes within Western and Southern Europe alone between the years of 2012 and 2014 (UNODC, 2016, p. 3). Approximately 66% of those located within Western, Central and Southern Europe were brought to or moved within these areas for the purpose of sexual exploitation (UNODC, 2016, p. 12). Of these trafficking victims, 96% were female and 4% were male (UNODC, 2016, pp. 27, 28). It is also estimated that women and children comprise the vast majority (75%-80%) of those who are sexually exploited annually throughout the world (Nieme & Aaltonen, 2017, p. 120). As identification of other forms of trafficking increase, these percentages have changed, but the overall number of victims of sexual exploitation continues to grow (UNODC, 2020, p. 34; Polaris, 2022; Bahous, 2022).
In this presentation, we will discuss some of the challenges victims of sexual exploitation experience and the unique challenges faced by those who seek to help them. Participants will hear about the speaker’s personal experience as an anti-sex trafficking worker serving in the Czech Republic and how the lessons of her past are helping to shape a better future for those engaged in anti-trafficking work and for those they serve. We will also explore how we as a healing community can be part of the process of ensuring a brighter future for those who are constantly battling the darkness of human trafficking.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
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Participants will have a better understanding of the impact of sexual exploitation on those who have experienced it.
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Participants will have a better understanding of the challenges facing AST workers.
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Participants will be motivated to consider how they might use their skills as counselors to assist AST workers in their work and/or survivors of sexual exploitation on their healing journeys.
TWO Different CEU Options!
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For those attending in person, you will have the opportunity for a combination of in-person & virtual 16 CEUs
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For those participating virtually (asynchronously), you will have the opportunity to earn 13 CEUs.
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If only participating in in-person CEs, you can receive up to 8 CEUs
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NEW THIS YEAR!
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Pre-conference Experience: Book Study- Based on the book and local tour involved; CEUs will be awarded accordingly (*additional expense)
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CE OPPORTUNITIES
In order to receive CEs, all attendees (in-person & virtual) must complete and submit the proper documentation!
In-person attendees are eligible to receive up to 16 CEs. This can be done in a few ways:
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Complete and submit an evaluation form at the end of the conference.
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This is worth 8 CEs.
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This must be done by the end of the conference
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Evaluations will be sent to attendees via email
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2. Due to in-person attendees having access to recorded sessions, attendees can complete and submit a quiz per session. All quizzes are to be submitted within 2 weeks of the conference.
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Each session and quiz is worth 1CE. The Keynote session and quiz is worth 1CE. The 20 X 20 session and quiz is worth 1 CE. The full session of Roundtables is worth 2 CEs.
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Virtual attendees are eligible to receive up to 13 CEs. This can be done by completing and submitting a quiz per viewed session.
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All quizzes are to be submitted within 2 weeks of the conference.
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All quizzes will be located on the EB-ACA Google Drive which will be sent via email around the time of conference.
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Each session and quiz is worth 1 CE. The Keynote session and quiz is worth 1 CE.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact us at european.counseling.aca@gmail.com.
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