WACES Conference 2026

WACES 2026 Conference

• 9am-5pm: Registration
• 10am-3pm: Pre-conference (registration add-on required)
• 10am-12pm: Pre-conference sessions #1 and #2
• 12-1pm: Break (Lunch on own)
• 1-3pm: Pre-conference sessions #3 and #4
• 3-7pm: Exhibit Hall set-up
• 5:30-8pm: Presidential Opening Reception at Bundox Bocce (open to all; food provided) (Sponsored by SimCare)

• 7am-5pm: Registration
• 8-9am: Welcome to WACES: A First-Timer's Orientation (Facilitated by WACES leadership)
• 8am: WACES Emerging Leaders Breakfast at The Shore (Sponsored by CACREP)
• 8am-5pm: Exhibit Hall
• 8am-5:15pm: Education, Roundtable, and Panel Sessions
• 9am-12:45pm: Poster Sessions
• 10:30am-12pm: Keynote session by Diaz Dixon “Presence, Purpose, and Practice in a Changing World”
• 12:30p-2:45pm: WACES Graduate Student Lounge and programming - “On the Other Side of the Search: A Counselor Education Hiring Panel” (food provided) (Sponsored by NBCC) 
•  3-4pm: Career Fair
• 5:30-8p: WACES DEIA Creative Showcase & Reception (RSVP required; food provided)

• 7:30-9am: WACES Board Breakfast at The Shore
• 8am-5pm: Registration
• 8:15am-5:15pm: Education & Roundtable Sessions
• 10am-3:30pm: Poster Sessions
• 12-1:30pm: Business and Awards Luncheon (registration add-on required; food provided)
• 5:15pm: Conference concludes

Featured Speakers

Sponsors

Sponsorship

Presidential Opening Reception Sponsor

SimCare helps counseling programs prepare students for real client work through realistic AI client simulations. Students conduct full counseling sessions, receive structured feedback, and build clinical readiness across the curriculum before practicum.

Conference Lanyards & Name Tags Sponsor

Praxplay is a Roleplay Simulator that helps students, professionals, and organizations practice difficult real-world conversations in a safe, repeatable environment. Through realistic simulations and structured feedback, users build confidence and refine their skills before the conversation matters most.

Wellness Room Sponsor

The University of Nevada, Reno offers a master’s degree in Counseling and doctorate in Counselor Education and Supervision within the College of Education and Human Development. As a land-grant and Carnegie R1 institution, UNR prepares ethical, culturally responsive counselors, educators, supervisors, researchers, and leaders through rigorous, experiential, CACREP-accredited programs.

Graduate Student Event Sponsor

NBCC and affiliates leverage the power of Counselor certification to expand equitable access to highly qualified Counselors and mental health resources, education, and advocacy. We support Counselors so that they can serve the public and advance mental health efforts across the globe.

Emerging Leaders Sponsor

CACREP, solely in the Counseling profession, accredits Master’s programs in eight specialized practice areas and doctoral Counselor Education and Supervision programs. CACREP accredits 974 programs in 493 institutions. Its international affiliate, IRCEP, recognizes counselor education programs within and outside the US that demonstrate alignment with international professional counsellor preparation standards.

Exhibitors

The IVS VALT solution is a hardware and software tool that enables users to leverage video to increase the quality of any Counseling program. This intuitive, browser based software gives users the ability to quickly supervise live video, launch recording session, descriptively catalog and stream them via a secure search.

Palo Alto University is a private, nonprofit university dedicated to advancing human understanding through innovative education, groundbreaking research, and impactful practice in behavioral science. Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, PAU offers graduate and undergraduate programs in psychology, counseling, social work, and behavioral science, including the PAU-Stanford PsyD Consortium with Stanford Medicine. Grounded in human dignity, PAU’s scholars, clinicians, educators, and learners share a single conviction: that understanding how people think, feel, behave, relate, heal, and make meaning is among the most essential work of our time.

Founded by Eronilde “Nil” Buckley, the CARE Method is an evidence-informed domestic violence intervention curriculum integrating the Risk-Need-Responsivity Model, cognitive behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, and trauma-informed practices. It supports treatment providers in promoting accountability, meaningful behavioral change, and long-term personal growth among individuals who have caused harm.

Genius Academy is the flight simulator for counseling education. Programs select immersive experiences that fit their budget and course objectives, from cinematic case studies to live sessions, built to accreditation standards, with real-time feedback. Students practice the hardest conversations before they meet a real client.

The deliberate practice platform for mastering complex interpersonal and clinical communication skills. Built on the science of deliberate practice, Skillsetter helps learners develop essential communication abilities through realistic video simulations, AI-powered conversation practice, and targeted feedback from both instructors and AI. Learners engage with authentic client scenarios, record and refine their responses, and receive actionable insights to strengthen their skills in a safe, supportive environment. Used across counseling, social work, medical education, and corporate training programs, Skillsetter enables users to gain meaningful practice beyond traditional settings. Through simulations of difficult conversations, exposure to diverse client and workplace experiences, ready-made modules, and seamless LMS integration, Skillsetter helps educators and leaders prepare confident, competent professionals for real-world practice.

California Counseling Association, a Branch of the American Counseling Association (ACA), is a professional association that serves its members to advance the field of counseling in the broad areas of mental health, career and education. Holding values that include Community, Workforce Development and Retention, Training and Development, Advocacy, and Thought Leadership, CCAs mission is to ensure that the counseling workforce is ready for inevitable evolution of the profession.

Chi Sigma Iota Counseling Academic and Professional Honor Society International is the international honor society of professional counseling and for professional counselors. CSI's mission is to promote scholarship, research, professionalism, leadership and excellence in counseling, and to recognize high attainment in the pursuit of academic and clinical excellence in the profession of counseling.