The Pennsylvania Association of Addiction Professionals will host its 2025 Annual Conference on September 18, 2025, under the theme "Collaborations for Change," focusing on addressing critical behavioral health challenges through unified professional efforts. The hybrid event, available both in-person and via live-stream, aims to bring together clinicians, peer support specialists, supervisors, and system leaders to break down traditional silos in addiction treatment. Dr. Ken Martz, PAAP President and keynote speaker, emphasized that "addiction is not just a disease of the brain. It's a disease of disconnection," highlighting the conference's central mission of replacing isolation with meaningful collaboration across the treatment continuum.
The conference timing is particularly significant as behavioral health professionals across Pennsylvania face mounting challenges including rising patient acuity, persistent workforce shortages, and increasing demands for trauma-informed and culturally competent care. These systemic pressures make collaborative approaches not just beneficial but essential for sustainable treatment outcomes. The event's programming directly addresses these needs through skill-building workshops on emotional intelligence, clinical supervision, and ethical decision-making, alongside specialty deep dives on integrating tobacco and gambling disorder treatment, reducing stigma, and implementing culturally responsive care practices.
A distinctive feature of the conference is its emphasis on peer-driven dialogues that center lived experience and recovery wisdom, recognizing that effective addiction treatment must incorporate multiple perspectives. The conference offers continuing education-eligible content from NAADAC, providing addiction professionals with both practical knowledge and formal credentialing opportunities. Attendees will gain concrete tools for integrating peer support into clinical systems, reshaping professional language around relapse and recovery, and advocating for health equity in specialized services. The overall goal is to equip professionals with strategies to lead organizational change amid increasingly complex treatment landscapes.
Registration for the conference is available through https://paaddictionprofessionals.org/registration-information-paap-annual-conference/, with discounted rates offered to PAAP members and groups registering together. The conference represents a critical opportunity for Pennsylvania's addiction treatment community to develop shared approaches to persistent challenges, particularly as workforce constraints and evolving patient needs require more integrated service models. By focusing on collaboration across different roles and perspectives within the treatment ecosystem, the event aims to strengthen Pennsylvania's capacity to address addiction through more connected, responsive, and effective care systems.
