Prospective Workshops for the PARSOL Rational Reform 2024 Conference include:
- Cultivating Compassion to Decrease Negative Psychological Consequences of Public Registration (Theresa Robertson, Ph.D., LPC)
- No Room at the Home & Other Evidence-Based Research around Sexual Offense Laws and Senior Citizens (Stephanie Jerstad, Ph.D.)
- Changing the Narrative: Storytelling about the Registry (John Dawe, MNA, CNP, RCP, RCP-F & Lisa Kessler-Peters)
- Using the Good Lives Model to Build a Better Life (Jennifer Weeks, Ph.D., LPC, CSAT-S, CAADC, CMAT)
- PFR 101: Legal and Legislative Primers (PARSOL Board Co-Chairs Randall Hayes & Josiah Krammes)
- Community & Connections: Using Restorative Circles for Support and Activism (Amber Vlangas)
Full details are coming soon. If you would like to propose a workshop, please email john@parsol.org.
Presenters
John Dawe, MNA, CNP, RCP, RCP-F
John Dawe, MNA, CNP, RCP, RCPF, has been helping organizations build influence, impact, and leadership for more than 15 years. Serving in various organizational roles as strategic planner, change management consultant, outsourced development officer, and numerous interim leadership roles in the c-suite, Dawe has helped organizations nationwide find their voice, amplify it, and get others to share their message. Dawe’s extensive experience in utilizing and growing prospect lists and creating data-driven digital and volunteer-led campaigns has helped organizations build successful fundraising programs. Over the years, he has advised countless businesses and nonprofits, including professional and trade associations, community foundations, advocacy organizations, colleges and universities, arts and cultural groups, hotels, restaurants, travel advisors, retailers, and more. He is a top-ranked conference presenter on topics such as leadership and management, nonprofit best practices, digital marketing & fundraising, capacity building, change leadership, and storytelling.
Dawe is a justice-involved individual who uses his experience as a survivor and perpetrator of harm to help others with life and legal consequences live healthy and productive lives. He is a professional writer, a trauma-informed, credentialed recovery coach professional (RCP), and fan of treatment as prevention. He is a trained CCAR Recovery Coaching curriculum facilitator, holding an RCPF designation. Dawe received a Master of Nonprofit Administration (MNA) Degree with Distinction from North Park University (Chicago) in 2016. He received the lifetime CNP (Certified Nonprofit Professional) credential in 2015.
Stephanie Jerstad, Ph.D.
Stephanie Jerstad is Assistant Professor of Criminology in the Department of Sociology at Millersville University of Pennsylvania. Her research and academic practice includes ‘sex offender’ legislation, aging ‘sex offender’ population, housing barriers, corrections, global corrections, re-entry, felony collateral consequences, survey methodology, and mixed methods. She currently teaches courses in family sociology, criminology, police and the courts, modern corrections, and comparative global justice.
Jerstand received a Ph.D. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Sothern Illinois University where her dissertation was entitled “Care for the aging: Long-term care facilities’ willingness to accept persons convicted of sex offenses into their care as residents.”
She is currently publishing a research study, “A review of laws addressing access to long-term care facilities for people convicted of sex crimes: Prevention of harms in the context of public health goals” with Dr. Jill Levenson.
Lisa Kessler-Peters
Lisa Kessler-Peters is a wife, mother of three, and spiritual mother to many. Lisa is an ordained minister, advocate, speaker, and author of Why I Tried to Die, a Story of Trauma, Resilience, and Restoration and How I Learned to Hide: Unraveling Shame and Rejection. She holds two degrees, a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice and a Master of Science in applied behavioral analysis. She also is a certified recovery specialist, trained as a mentor and in trauma informed practices. Her work includes re-entry, recovery, homeless assistance, restorative justice, and educating others about healing trauma.
Lisa believes her greatest asset is her experience, worth much more than her degrees and accomplishments. Her entire mission is to empower others to know that they can have the same freedom she has received. She is bold and courageous and never wants to forget where she came from and what she has been through. She believes that nothing happens in vain and that all things can be used for our good and the good of others. She believes that we can stop generational abuse and substance use if we start loving more and punishing less.
Theresa Robertson, Ph.D., LPC
Dr. Theresa Robertson is a licensed therapist in Pennsylvania and Maryland. Her clinical work involves assisting individuals with improving emotional and spiritual well-being through therapeutic interventions such as compassion-focused therapy (CFT), Internal Family Systems (IFS), and psychedelic-assisted therapy. Dr. Robertson has presented her compassion focused therapy research findings at professional conferences in the U.S. as well as abroad. She is co-founder of PARSOL and has been active in advocacy and research concerning successful community reentry for persons returning from prison. Her current research interests involve exploring the safety and effectiveness of psychedelic medicines for treating a variety of mental health disorders including depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Dr. Robertson is also vetted by B4U-ACT to provide collaborative and holistic therapeutic treatment for minor attracted persons (MAPs).
Jennifer Weeks, Ph.D., LPC, CAADC, CMAT, CSAT-S
Dr. Jennifer Weeks is the founder and director of Sexual Addiction Treatment Services, an out-patient treatment program for out of control sexual behavior. She has almost 20 years’ experience treating individuals who commit sex crimes and all aspects of addiction, trauma, and sexual addiction. During that time she has assembled a staff of caring, compassionate professionals to assist in her goal of helping her clients heal. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Purdue University. She obtained her master’s degree in Psychology and her Ph.D. in Psychology from The University of Georgia. She is a Certified Sexual Addiction Therapist/Supervisor, Certified Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor, Licensed Professional Counselor and Clinically Certified Sex Offender Treatment Specialist.
She is a recognized expert witness in the forensic specialty of sex offenders and sexual compulsivity. She frequently provides expert testimony in both county and federal courts. Dr. Weeks is a faculty member of the Northeast Counterdrug Training Center Polygraph Program and Odin Intelligence where she trains law enforcement and probation/parole officers on sexual offending. She is also an adjunct professor at Moravian University where she teaches in the Graduate Clinical Counseling program.
Based in Plymouth Meeting, PA, Dr. Weeks regularly provides continuing education to other therapists, attorneys, and presents at national conferences. Dr. Weeks is the author of the blog, Dr. Jen’s Recovery Readings as well as the prevention book, The New Age of Sex Education: How to Talk to Your Teen about Cybersex and Pornography in the Digital Age.
Amber Vlangas
Amber Vlangas is a founding member and Executive Director of Restorative Action Alliance. Amber is an organizer, human rights activist, survivor of sexual harm, and advocate of re-imagining how we address crime and seek justice in our society. Amber facilitates and participates in Restorative Peer Support Circles for people impacted by crime and the criminal legal system, and vicarious restorative justice processes with those who are incarcerated and on community supervision. She is a certified mindful and meditative art teacher and sound healer. She is a strong believer in the power of human connections and effective storytelling to create positive change.
Amber started her professional career in the United States Marine Corps and has over 24 years of experience in marketing, fundraising and public relations for a variety of nonprofit and public organizations. She is a frequent speaker and panelist for presentations that explore the collateral consequences of criminal justice involvement and conviction registries, and the co-host of the podcast, Amplified Voices.