Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is an evidence-based approach for opioid use disorder (OUD) using medications like buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone to treat symptoms of OUD and withdrawal. Despite reducing opioid-related deaths by 50% and improving employment, criminal activity, and birth outcomes, its acceptance in Montana's substance use disorder (SUD) housing varies. Experts stress MAT as essential medical care, yet stigma-driven policies still restrict access, forcing some to choose between medication and treatment.

This study explores the landscape of MAT acceptance in Montana SUD treatment facilities, highlighting the barriers that prevent its widespread acceptance, differences regarding treatment duration, approved medications, and administration protocols.

Interviews with 15 facilities in MT revealed that 13 accept patients using MAT, although their approaches differ, with administration commonly outsourced to medical providers. Despite its proven benefits, MAT stigma and structural barriers continue to persist, particularly among abstinence-based programs that view MAT as merely replacing one substance with another.

Structural barriers further complicate MAT accessibility, as abstinence-based philosophies and rural geography exacerbate access issues. Counselors with personal recovery histories may resist integrating MAT practices, viewing it as incongruous with sobriety. 5 of the 15 facilities also require MAT medications to be administered offsite, posing logistical burdens for individuals in remote areas. Additionally, misconceptions within the broader healthcare community lead to discrimination against MAT patients, limiting their access to comprehensive care in Montana. These attitudes contribute to gaps in treatment availability, ultimately placing individuals with OUD at greater risk of relapse or overdose.

This study underscores the urgent need for education, policy reform, and community engagement to dismantle misconceptions about MAT in Montana. Addressing these barriers is critical to ensuring that individuals with OUD receive the life-saving treatment they need within an inclusive and supportive recovery system.

Effective collaboration between school counselors and parents is essential for supporting student development across academic, career, and social-emotional domains, as outlined by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Code of Ethics (2022). However, misunderstandings and ambiguity surrounding the school counselor’s role can hinder this collaboration. Fostering mutual understanding and open communication is crucial for building strong, effective relationships between school counselors and parents.

My professional journey began in school counseling and later expanded into clinical mental health counseling, where I utilize Child-Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT), an evidence-based practice that empowers parents as agents of change within their family system. CPRT focuses on strengthening the parent-child bond through core elements such as unconditional positive regard, reflective listening, empowerment, and relational trust. This approach fosters deeper connections, builds confidence, and promotes collaboration between parents and counselors. CPRT is a flexible and adaptable framework that can be applied across various professional settings, highlighting the importance of collaboration in creating meaningful change and effective support.

This presentation highlights the importance of trusted parent-school counselor relationships and explores how the relational and communication elements of the CPRT model can enhance trust between parents and school counselors. Drawing from my experiences in school counseling and clinical mental health, I will share insights on fostering healthy, collaborative relationships with parents in creating a supportive environment that benefits students and their families.

The Great Salt Lake is the largest saline lake in the Western Hemisphere and the largest lake in the United States outside of the Great Lakes region. The lake and its surrounding wetlands support a simple but delicate ecosystem, which requires specific temperatures and salinity levels to remain healthy. Due to climate change and high water use in the Salt Lake Valley, the lake is drying up. This poses significant concerns for the health of Utah’s economy, population, and ecosystems. A sizable activist scene has rallied around efforts to save the lake, and many activists have adopted gendered and personified language to refer to the Great Salt Lake, its ecosystems, and the nonhuman entities it supports.

Although there is significant scientific research about the ecological decline of the Great Salt Lake, there is a dearth of social science or humanities research on the subject and no research addressing the origins or significance of the shift towards gendered and personified language. This project seeks to fill this gap. This study will employ a mixed-methods qualitative approach, including photovoice, participatory mapping, and semi-structured interviews, to understand the reasons why activists have adopted this shift in language and how they perceive its contribution towards conservation efforts. This presentation will outline the background of the Great Salt Lake’s water crisis and activist efforts, theoretical ecofeminist frameworks, and the next steps for research.

Historical trauma is a legacy of loss, grief, and violence that reverberates throughout generations. Research shows that historical trauma contributes to health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities. However, its impact on LGBTQIA+ individuals remains unstudied, as trauma may not be passed intergenerationally within families. Investigating how LGBTQIA+ individuals are affected by historical trauma would help improve mental health treatment and reduce health disparities.

We aimed to develop a measure of historical trauma related to LGBTQIA+ history. To do so, we also assessed undergraduate students’ knowledge of LGBTQIA+ history across two universities. In the current study, n = 455 students participated. Of these, n = 136 (29.8%) identified as LGBTQIA+ or part of the queer/transgender spectrum. Among non-LGBTQIA+ students (n = 319), n = 199 identified as allies to the LGBTQIA+ community. Participants completed 13 multiple-choice questions assessing their knowledge of LGBTQIA+ history. An independent samples t-test was conducted to compare knowledge of LGBTQIA+ history between LGBTQIA+ individuals and non-LGBTQIA+ individuals. Results showed a significant difference in knowledge of LGBTQIA+ history, t (444) = 7.889, p < .001, d = .817. LGBTQIA+ individuals (M = 4.384, SD = 3.268) were more knowledgeable than non-LGBTQIA+ individuals (M = 1.987, SD = 2.782). These results demonstrate that LGBTQIA+ individuals are far more familiar with their community’s history.

These findings are the start of understanding the potential psychological and social impact of historical trauma on LGBTQIA+ individuals. Additionally, the development of a measure for LGBTQIA+ historical trauma may provide a valuable tool for clinicians and researchers aiming to address the unique mental health challenges faced by this community. By recognizing historical trauma as a factor in LGBTQIA+ health, interventions can be designed to foster resilience and mitigate the negative effects of systemic marginalization.

In the past decade, Veteran suicide rates increased by 34% in Oklahoma, a state with substantial medical provider shortages and related care barriers. Existing approaches to suicide prevention mainly consider “universal” risk factors identified through review of aggregated medical and death records. While useful, the universal approach fails to account for the unique presentations of risk factors that characterize individual Veterans’ experience. Approaches that examine individual risk profiles are needed for tailored safety and risk management. To meet this need, we developed PREVEnT: Personalized Veterans Protection, a mobile app Veterans can use to track their mental health. PREVEnT is equipped with a preliminary personalized machine learning algorithm to detect idiographic risk and deploy individualized suicide safety planning. This personal assistant system uses a smartphone to passively collect data, which prompts user interaction for safety promotion and engagement in acute mental health care, as appropriate. We are currently testing the PREVEnT app’s feasibility and its algorithm’s ability to accurately detect risk, trigger just-in-time interventions, and facilitate timely communication between Veterans’ mental and physical health providers during acute risk. Ultimately, we aim to harness individual-level data to avert deaths by suicide through streamlining collaborative healthcare. If our aim is realized, PREVEnT’s individualized and automated interventions will addresses the unique and varied clinical needs of Oklahoma Veterans, while also supporting the state’s overburdened healthcare system.