TN-NADD Conference 2025 Program

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the 2025 TN NADD conference hosted by the TN-NADD Board of Directors. Special thanks to the Inn at Opryland, and the UT-Knoxville virtual team for their support.

Our theme this year is Building Highways: Creating Pathways for Resilience and Independence.

Preparation, developing actions, advocating, and accessing resources are critical to building sustainable success. But how does one even begin to formulate these things, especially if there are intellectual or developmental challenges co-occurring with mental health challenges.

Can these persons and their caregivers be empowered and make informed choices? The answer is yes; but often there are assumptions and stereotypes made. Dr. Stacey Dixon notes three key factors; commitment, radical acceptance, and patience. Together these help individuals form the foundations of establishing a sense of “home”. All Pathways lead home. We all think of our homes as a safe place from which we can grow independence and resilience. Today we will teach participants how to empower parents and caregivers, advocate for actionable requests, learn about innovations in supports, and navigate accessing resources. Building rapport with decision-makers, collaborating, and understanding divergence will be explored as elements of resilience approaches. Employment and education serve at different points in someone’s life to begin building this pathway. Along the highway from childhood to adulthood there are stops to learn how to emotionally regulate, adapt, and discover individuality. We hope to dispel myths, and build on values and perspectives. Our panel will address questions related to empowerment, sustainability, and definitions of success on the road to resilience and independence.

Event Summary:

TN Chapter of the National Assn. of the Dual Diagnosed 2025

The Inn at Opryland, A Gaylord Hotel
(*Special Conference Room rate for 169.00 USD per night)

Start Date:
Thursday, September 4, 2025

End Date:
Tuesday, September 9, 2025

Last Day to Book: (*for Discounted Rate)
Thursday, August 5, 2024

Hotel(s) offering a special group rate:

The Inn at Opryland, A Gaylord Hotel

A reservation link (see bottom) has been created to take you to a special group rate on the Inn at Opryland webpage. The reservation link allows you to book rooms for the contracted date of Wednesday, September 3, 2025 (check-out on Thursday, September 4, 2025).

The contracted rate is $169/night plus tax for exterior rooms.

Pre & Post Contracted Nights: per the contract, the group will receive the group rate 2 days pre & post the contracted nights, based on availability.

Click HERE to book your group rate for TN Chapter of the National Association of Dual Diagnosis (TN-NADD) Conference 2024

Complex Shuttle
Gaylord provides a complimentary shuttle for our guests. This shuttle makes a loop between the Inn at Opryland, the Gaylord Resort and the Opry Mills Mall and back. The shuttle begins at 7:50am until 7:00pm daily and runs every 30 minutes. Try this shuttle before or after the conference for a fuller Nashville experience.

Also, if you are looking for things to do around Nashville www.nashvilleguru.com is a great site for suggestions 🙂

This event is relevant for clinical professionals (psychologists, social workers, case managers, certified developmental disability nurses, certified family support specialists, behavior analysts, etc.), residential providers, educators, caregivers, families, and persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

This program was approved by the National Association of Social Workers – Tennessee Chapter (Provider Number: NASWTN 2023 – 0132) for 6 continuing education units. The National Association of Social Workers Tennessee Chapter is committed to conducting all activities in conformity with the National Association of Social Workers and the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles for Psychologists and maintains responsibility for this program and its contents. In this conference, there are a total of 12 possible trainings available; however, the maximum number of trainings any single participant can attend is 6 due to the overlapping schedule for breakout sessions. In order to receive 1 hour of CE credit for any training, the virtual participant must log in on time, remain logged in throughout the training, and complete the post-training evaluation afterwards. Technical challenges that prevent continuous access will be handled on a case-by-case basis with the emphasis being placed on ensuring that the participant was able to satisfy the learning objectives. The in-person participant must also check-in on time, and remain present throughout the training, and complete the post-training evaluation afterwards. Partial credit for any individual training is not available. For the whole conference, the maximum number of CE credits available for any single participant is 6. Therefore, participants may earn as little as 1 hour of CE credit and as much as 6 hours of credit. The same policy applies to the remaining professional disciplines regarding logging in and out of sessions virtually.

Psychologists: As stated within the rules and regulations of the Tennessee Board of Examiners in Psychology (1180 -01-.08(2)(B)) this program provides up to 6 hours of falling under the category of formal activities which are psychological in nature, provide documentation of attendance, and have a preassigned number of CE credits sponsored by a recognized and relevant state professional credentialing body. CE certificates will be provided by TN-NADD on behalf of NASWTN. CEUs are also available through DDNA, case management, certified family support specialists, and behavior analysts. *Total CEUs for behavior analysts through the BACB are two (2).

Participants are asked to be aware of the need for privacy and confidentiality throughout the program. If the program becomes stressful, participants are encouraged to process these feelings during discussion periods. If there are any immediate issues of concern, please let a TN-NADD Board member on site know so your concern can be addressed.

TN-NADD and the Inn at Opryland are happy to accommodate special needs requests. We ask that you contact us using the information below at least one week prior to the event to ensure sufficient time to make any necessary arrangements. The Inn at Opryland is a fully compatible ADA venue. Please ask an Inn at Opryland staff member or a TN-NADD Board member if there is an immediate need onsite during the day of the conference.

Your Feedback is critical to us. We want to hear from you regarding how we did. By providing feedback you help us know what worked and what changes are needed for future conferences. Please take a minute to complete the conference evaluation and completing the conference survey.

1. Demonstrate an understanding of how to create sustainable success in independence from childhood to adulthood for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
2. Identify ways to support personal struggles with loving actions by using available resources.
3. Apply the techniques learned to envision lives wherein professional and personal intersections in real-life situations create pathways for resilience.