The Pennsylvania Association of Addiction Professionals (PAAP) will host its 2025 Annual Conference on September 18, 2025, with the theme "Collaborations for Change," addressing critical challenges in behavioral health and addiction treatment. The conference comes at a time when professionals face rising acuity cases, workforce shortages, and increasing demands for trauma-informed and culturally competent care.
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 focus on replacing isolation with collaboration. The event will bring together clinicians, peer support specialists, supervisors, educators, and system leaders from across Pennsylvania and beyond to develop unified approaches to addiction treatment.
The conference features skill-building workshops on emotional intelligence, clinical supervision, ethical decision-making, and integrated care, along with specialty sessions on tobacco and gambling disorder integration, stigma reduction, and culturally responsive care. These sessions are designed to provide continuing education credits through NAADAC, The Association for Addictions Professionals, with content available both in-person at the Radisson Philadelphia Northeast and via live-stream.
Registration for the event is available through https://paaddictionprofessionals.org/registration-information-paap-annual-conference/, offering discounts for members and group registrations. The conference aims to equip professionals with practical tools and strategies to address the complex demands of modern addiction treatment, including integrating peer support into clinical systems and advocating for health equity in specialized services.
The emphasis on collaboration reflects a broader shift in addiction treatment toward multidisciplinary approaches that combine clinical expertise with lived experience and recovery wisdom. This approach recognizes that effective treatment requires breaking down silos between different professional groups and creating more connected, comprehensive care systems for individuals and families affected by addiction.
