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2026 Mental Health America Conference Main banner
Final Program


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Tracks
Access & Workforce Transformation
Access & Workforce Transformation
Innovation
Innovation
Mental Health Across the Lifespan
Mental Health Across the Lifespan
Whole Health
Whole Health

All Sessions

The following schedule is preliminary and subject to change.
Oct. 7 - MHA Affiliate Day (For Affiliates Only)

Oct. 8-9 - Main Conference

All Sessions

  • Wednesday, October 7, 2026
  • 8:00 AM - 7:30 PM ET
    Early Registration & Badge Pick-Up
    Beat the rush! Pick up your badge, conference materials, and get ready to connect, learn, and be inspired.
  • 5:00 PM - 7:30 PM ET
    Exhibit Hall Preview
    Be among the first to explore the Exhibit Hall, discover new ideas and resources, and network with peers from across the mental health community.
  • 8:00 AM - 7:30 PM ET
    2 - Networking Breakfast
  • 8:00 AM - 7:30 PM ET
    3 - Opening Remarks
  • 8:00 AM - 7:30 PM ET
    4 - Opening General Session: Stronger Together with Strategic Alliances
  • 8:00 AM - 7:30 PM ET
    6 - Building the Business Case for More Good Days Together
  • 8:00 AM - 7:30 PM ET
    7 - From Isolation to Connection: Community Circles Across Generations
  • 8:00 AM - 7:30 PM ET
    8 - Richard Van Horn Innovation in Programming Awards Lunch
  • 8:00 AM - 7:30 PM ET
    9 - Voices That Matter: Elevating Lived Experience in Mental Health Policy
  • 8:00 AM - 7:30 PM ET
    10 - Scaling What Works: Expanding Youth Mental Health Access Through Partnerships and Train-the-Trainer Models
  • 8:00 AM - 7:30 PM ET
    11 - Building and Strengthening Older Adult Behavioral Health Networks to Support Aging in Community
  • 8:00 AM - 7:30 PM ET
    12 - Upstream and Within Reach: Rethinking Youth Mental Health Through Schools, Prevention, and Student Voice
  • 8:00 AM - 7:30 PM ET
    13 - From Awareness to Action: Using Behavioral Insight and Storytelling to Change How Communities Engage in Mental Health
  • 8:00 AM - 7:30 PM ET
    14 - Retention by Design: Lessons from the 2025 Ohio Behavioral Health Leadership Collaborative
  • 8:00 AM - 7:30 PM ET
    14 - Strategies to Remove Barriers to Care and Build the Maternal Mental Health Workforce
  • 8:00 AM - 7:30 PM ET
    15 - SAFE Workplaces: Why Workplace Culture Must Become Part of the Mental Health Solution
  • 6:00 PM - 6:45 PM ET
    16 - Affiliate Exhibit Hall Preview
  • 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM ET
    17 - Affiliate Reception
  • Thursday, October 8, 2026
  • 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM ET
    Coffee in the Exhibit Hall
    Grab a coffee and discover exhibitors, innovative solutions, and new mental health resources.
  • 8:00 AM - 5:30 PM ET
    Registration and Exhibit Hall Open
  • 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM ET
    Between Languages and Generations: When Resilience Is Not Enough (Spanish Language Session)
  • 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM ET
    From Crisis to Connection: Redesigning Adolescent Mental Health for a Digital Generation
  • 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM ET
    Mental Health Access Isn’t Enough: Why Many Employees Still Aren’t Getting Better
  • 10:15 AM - 11:15 AM ET
    Living Fully in a Body that Hurts: Practical Approaches to Coping with Chronic Pain and Cultivating Better Days
  • 10:15 AM - 11:15 AM ET
    Prescribing Connection: The Role of Social Prescribing to Address Loneliness and Isolation in Older Adults
  • 10:15 AM - 11:15 AM ET
    Raising Resisters: An Evidence-Informed Framework for Promoting Identity Development and Mental Health in Childhood
  • 11:15 AM - 12:45 PM ET
    Welcome Luncheon and Opening Session
    Join colleagues from across the country for lunch, inspiration, and the official kickoff of the Mental Health America Conference.
  • 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM ET
    Aging and Behavioral Health: What Matters Most
  • 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM ET
    Innovative Therapeutics in Mental Health: Psychedelics, Policy, and the Path Forward
  • 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM ET
    Triple D: Depression, Delirium or Dementia. How to Recognize the Difference in Older Adults
  • 2:15 PM - 3:15 PM ET
    Adapting Social Prescribing for Rural America: A Community-Based Model for Expanding Mental Health Support
  • 2:15 PM - 3:15 PM ET
    Beyond Talk Therapy Into Whole Health: Practical Strategies for Integrating Physical and Mental Health
  • 2:15 PM - 3:15 PM ET
    Joy Is Not a Luxury: Designing Protective Ecosystems for Maternal Mental Health
  • 2:15 PM - 3:15 PM ET
    Peer Specialists in Practice: Evidence‑Informed Strategies for Integration and Impact
  • 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM ET
    General Session Keynote
  • 4:45 PM - 5:30 PM ET
    Exhibit Hall 
    Wrap up the day by exploring exhibits, making connections, and discovering innovative solutions shaping the future of mental health.
  • Friday, October 9, 2026
  • 8:00 AM - 3:30 PM ET
    Registration and Exhibit Hall Open
  • 8:30 AM - 9:00 AM ET
    Continental Breakfast in Exhibit Hall
    Fuel up for the final day! Enjoy breakfast, visit exhibitors, and make a few last connections before the Conference concludes
  • 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM ET
    Young Mental Health Leaders Panel and mPower Award Presentation
    Start the day on the Main Stage with one of Mental Health America's most highly rated sessions, featuring powerful insights from young leaders shaping the future of mental health and the presentation of the mPower Award.
  • 10:15 AM - 11:15 AM ET
    Workshops
  • 11:30 AM - 12:45 PM ET
    Awards Luncheon
  • 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM ET
    Beyond Treatment: A Whole Health Framework for Veteran Mental Health Across the Lifespan
  • 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM ET
    Connection Before Intervention: Animal-Assisted Approaches in Community Mental Health and Recovery
  • 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM ET
    Preventing Workplace Burnout Through Non-clinical Mental Health Support
  • 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM ET
    The Promise of Metabolic Psychiatry: Fueling the Brain for “More Good Days”
  • 2:15 PM - 3:15 PM ET
    Aloha Response is the Secret Ingredient to Hawaii's Youth Peer Support
  • 2:15 PM - 3:15 PM ET
    CDC's Mental Health Data Channel: Public Health Data as a Communication Tool
  • 2:15 PM - 3:15 PM ET
    More Than Burnout: Protecting Mental Health in a Workforce Under Moral Strain