2025 Mental Health Connections: NBCC’s Global Virtual Conference

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The Global Capacity Building (GCB) Department of the Foundation and Professional Services Division of the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) is seeking dynamic presenters with international experience and expertise, experience with counseling or mental health teaching or service provision outside of the United States, or expertise in working with immigrant communities within the United States for the upcoming 2025 Mental Health Connections conference. The entire conference will take place online from December 3–5, 2025, in Eastern Standard Time. GCB welcomes applications from presenters that highlight promising practices, relevant research, and/or training geared toward capacity-building, workforce expansion, and augmenting access to mental health care across communities worldwide. Each presentation proposal may encompass up to three presenters total, and information for all proposed presenters must be part of this application. Co-presenters can include students in counseling or another mental health field. Lead presenters must have: 

  • a master’s degree (or higher) in counseling or an advanced mental health degree within a specific country.*
  • expertise related to the proposed presentation topic highlighting international or domestic research, training, and/or practice featuring cross-national partnerships or initiatives within a country/countries.

*GCB will consider applications from presenters who do not meet this requirement from countries where counseling or mental health services are still in development. 


 

Conference Objectives: 

  1. Participants will learn about the state of counseling and mental health in countries and communities worldwide. 
  2. Participants will learn about initiatives in education or training, practice, and research that foster mental health service development among diverse populations both outside and inside of the United States.
  3. Participants will learn about partnerships toward building mental health service capacity and workforce expansion worldwide.


 

Proposal and Policy Guidelines: 

Proposals must contain and convey sufficient detail to allow GCB to understand how the presentation will contribute to the conference’s objectives. Selection is competitive; candidates must submit a compelling and complete proposal. Please note that proposal reviewers will not be sent identifying information from proposals, including presenters’ information or biographies. 

  • Individuals presenting at the conference are expected to use material and language that does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion, physical ability, and/or sexual orientation.
  • If your proposal is selected, GCB reserves the right, with your consent, to revise presentation titles and/or edit the program summary for promotional and program materials. Please note the word limit as described in the application.
  • If your proposal is accepted and you accept the invitation to present, you and your co-presenter(s), if applicable, will receive complimentary registration to the conference.
  • Upon acceptance of the invitation to present, all presenters and co-presenters will be required to attend an assigned rehearsal session between November 19–21, 2025, to become familiar with the conference      platform.
  • Word limits are identified within the application and will be strictly adhered to. All proposals should include the following: 
  1. Biography for all proposed presenters
  2. Presentation title
  3. Presentation description and content
  4. Three learning objectives
  • GCB follows the style guide set forth by NBCC and Affiliates, and any edits necessary to conform with these requirements will be made. The presentation description and content, learning objectives, and title may be edited based on the style guide.
  • GCB reserves the right to cancel a presentation based on noncompliance at any point. This includes, but is not limited to, failure to register for the conference by the due date, failure to return required documents by the due date (e.g., agreement, presentation materials/PowerPoints, edited presentation summaries/biographies), failure to make presenter changes by the due date, or failure to attend the required rehearsal session proceeding the conference. 


 

Call for Presenter Proposal Evaluation: 

Proposals are evaluated objectively with consideration of the following criteria: 

  • degree to which the proposed presentation meets the conference objectives
  • presenters’ presentation skills and experience
  • desirability of the topic
  • relation of learning objectives to proposal description and to the conference
  • overall proposal

Evaluation timeline/schedule: 

  • April 23–May 23: Application period open.
  • May 20–June 13: Proposals reviewed.
  • June 23: Presenters notified if proposal has been accepted.
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