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2026 Mental Health Specialty Conference

Oak Brook, IL (suburban Chicago) | October 9-10, 2026

Pre-conference sessions on October 8
In-Person
Earn Up to 10.75 contact hours

Questions? Email conference@aota.org

Older adult sitting on couch talking to OT practitioner

Bring a mental health lens to every client interaction

Join more than 300 mental-health minded OTs and OTAs this October 9-10 for AOTA's Mental Health Specialty Conference where you'll learn about trauma-informed interventions, addiction recovery, social prescribing, pediatric mental health, eating disorders, intimacy, self-care and more!

Earn up to 10.75 contact hours alongside practitioners who are just as passionate about mental health as you are.

Register today

Keynote & Closing Sessions

Keynote Address | Friday, October 9

From 3% to More: Strengthening Mental Health Occupational Therapy Workforce Development

Halley Read, PhD, OTR/L, Western Oregon University, Monmouth, OR; and Nuriya Hefron, MS, OTR/L, Stanford University, Stanford, CA

This session engages practitioners, researchers, and academicians to identify barriers to clinical education and job shadowing in mental health. With ~3% of occupational therapy practitioners in mental health settings, participants will explore solutions to expand learning and workforce pathways.

Closing | Saturday, October 10

Advancing Occupational Therapy in Mental Health: Professional Identity, Resilience, and Workforce Development

Margaret Bolger, OTR/L, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH

Using an autoethnographic approach, this session examines barriers to occupational therapy practice in mental health and illustrates how professional identity and resilience drive advocacy, program development, and workforce advancement.

Mental Health Specialty Conference, October 9-10, 2026, suburban Chicago. Discounted pricing ends September 9. Register now