RiseUp: From Healing to Thriving

RiseUp 2026: From Healing to Thriving, an inspiring trauma-informed conference focused on healing, resilience, growth, and empowerment. Helix Human Services is returning with its 3rd Annual Conference: RiseUp: From Healing to Thriving. This year, we take the next step in the journey by exploring an important question: What happens after healing begins and resilience is built? RiseUp 2026: From Healing to Thriving moves the conversation beyond recovery and into sustained growth, empowerment, purpose, and long-term wellbeing. Thriving does not mean trauma disappears. It means individuals, professionals, and communities develop the strength, support systems, and tools to continue growing even when challenges arise. Healing opens the door to thriving. Research continues to show that exposure to trauma, including abuse, neglect, violence, discrimination, and other adverse experiences can significantly impact lifelong health, relationships, behavior, and overall wellbeing. This conference is designed to deepen understanding of trauma and trauma-informed care while equipping attendees with practical strategies that can be applied personally, professionally, and within their communities. As part of this year’s theme, the conference will also explore the lasting impact of triggers and secondary trauma. Many professionals and caregivers supporting trauma-impacted individuals often carry emotional stress themselves. Sessions will address recognizing triggers, preventing burnout and compassion fatigue, building emotional regulation skills, and creating sustainable practices that support both personal wellness and professional effectiveness. Through inspiring keynote speakers, engaging breakout sessions, and interactive learning opportunities, attendees will gain valuable insight into creating emotionally safe environments, fostering resilience, preventing burnout, and supporting long-term healing and growth. The conference is designed for educators, social workers, clinicians, mentors, caregivers, first responders, community leaders, and anyone dedicated to supporting vulnerable children, families, and communities. The event will feature three keynote speakers, multiple breakout sessions led by professionals in the field, networking opportunities, and CEUs for participants. Topics include: • Trauma-Informed Care • De-Escalation Strategies • Burnout & Self Care • Secondary Trauma • LGBTQIA+ and CSEC • Intergenerational Trauma • Trust, Belonging, and Success in the Classroom • Cultural Humility • Substance Use & Treatment This transformative trauma-informed care conference promises to inspire, educate, and empower attendees with meaningful tools to move from healing toward thriving. Morning Breakout Sessions (pick one from below) Empowering the Voices of Marginalized Communities Presented by: Krystyna Boisjolie, MCJ, LSW About this session: In this workshop presenter will address Commercial Sexual Exploitation in both LGBTQIA+ communities and beyond, offer a parent’s personal perspective on their transgender son’s journey and provide strategies to manage Secondary Trauma symptoms. This workshop will provide an overview of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) and Human Trafficking (HT), including common warning signs, risk factors, and how these issues impact vulnerable and marginalized populations within our communities. Participants will gain insight into internet safety concerns affecting youth, along with practical resources and intervention strategies for parents, caregivers, social workers, and other helping professionals. The session will also explore LGBTQIA+ considerations and the unique challenges faced by youth and families navigating identity and acceptance, incorporating lived experience and personal perspective. Additionally, the workshop will address the impact of secondary trauma, helping participants recognize symptoms of emotional strain while offering practical self-care and regulation techniques to support long-term wellness and effectiveness in caregiving and professional roles. Healing Together: Navigating Self-Care, Burnout, and Secondary Trauma in Helping Professions Presented by: Shari Botwin, LCSW About this session: In a world where those of us who care for others are often stretched to their limits, this keynote and workshop boldly confront the urgent need for healing, resilience, and self-care in the helping professions. Many of us in caregiving and social worker roles are ‘wounded healers’—individuals who have personally experienced trauma or adversity. Our own journeys with hardship often shape our empathy and commitment to supporting others. This workshop will provide practical tools for managing stress, burnout, and secondary trauma in helping professions. Drawing from personal experience as a survivor, I will highlight the importance of self-care for professionals who support others while navigating their own healing. Key objectives include equipping participants with strategies to manage their emotional well-being, develop effective coping mechanisms, and foster compassion and resilience in their work. Attendees will learn accessible self-care techniques, such as breathing exercises, and approaches for communicating takeaways emphasize the necessity of setting healthy boundaries, recognizing burnout symptoms, and understanding when to step back or say no. The session will reinforce that listening without judgment and prioritizing self-care are vital for sustained effectiveness and personal well-being. This workshop is especially beneficial for social workers and caregivers, supporting trauma-informed practice and promoting empathy, resilience, and quality care for vulnerable populations. This program has been approved for 1.0 Social Work Continuing Education hours for relicensure, in accordance with 258 CMR. NASW-MA Chapter CE Approving Program, Authorization Number D 20420-5. Engage to Excel: Building Trust, Belonging, and Success in the Classroom Presented by: Vilenti Tulloch Sr, LAC, LCSW About this session: This session explores how educators can intentionally cultivate trust, belonging, and student-centered learning environments to improve outcomes for students. Grounded in the Engage to Excel framework, the presentation highlights the critical role that relationships, identity, and student voice play in shaping both academic success and social-emotional development. Participants will examine practical, research-informed strategies for building authentic connections with students, particularly those from historically marginalized backgrounds. The session will also focus on moving students from dependent to independent learners through structured supports such as mentoring, reflective journaling, and individualized coaching. Through real-world examples and interactive discussion, attendees will explore how to create learning spaces that affirm students’ lived experiences while fostering agency, resilience, and leadership. The session will conclude with opportunities for participants to reflect on their own contexts and develop actionable steps to strengthen engagement, belonging, and overall student success within their schools. This program has been approved for 1.0 Social Work Continuing Education hours for relicensure, in accordance with 258 CMR. NASW-MA Chapter CE Approving Program, Authorization Number D 20420-3. Panel Discussion - From Surviving to Thriving: Healing Through Community, Culture, and Purpose Presented by: Lisa Zarcone, Areliz Barbosa and Lucille Germain About this session: This panel session invites participants into an honest and transformative conversation about intergenerational trauma, healing, and what it truly means to move beyond survival and thrive.