AFTNC Conference - Strengthening Family Connections with Katie Heiden-Rootes, PhD, LMFT
Come join Katie Heiden-Rootes, PhD, LMFT, for a weekend workshop! This two-day workshop offers a relational, systemic approach to working with queer and trans youth and their parents, with a focus on strengthening family connections even amid difference, distress, and uncertainty. Participants will explore how to maintain an affirming stance with youth while also engaging parents in ways that reduce defensiveness and open space for reflection and change. Drawing on family therapy frameworks and queer intersectional feminist practices, the workshop emphasizes how therapists can hold multiple truths in the room where parents become change makers and queer and trans youth reclaim wholeness. Through case discussion, reflexive inquiry, and live demonstration, clinicians will deepen their capacity to stay relationally present in complex family systems and support pathways toward increased safety, understanding, and belonging.
Dr. Katie Heiden-Rootes is a professor in the department of Family and Community Medicine in the School of Medicine and has a dual appointment as a Special Assistant to the Provost at Saint Louis University. Her scholarship aims to advance clinical training and research for the health of the LGBTQIA+ community and their families. She is a prolific scholar with over 60 published peer reviewed articles, book chapters, and public scholarship pieces. Katie is currently writing a forthcoming book on family therapy with LGBTQ youth (publication date in 2027; PESI Publishing). Clinically, she co-founded the LGBT Wellness Clinic @ SLU in the Center for Counseling and Family Therapy, a community-facing and accessible resource for mental health services. As an educator, she teaches in classrooms, professional conferences, and community organizations who serve youth.
About the Conference
This year, the AFTNC conference will be held at the SF LGBT Center. For more information about the AFTNC Conference, please email drkeith@drkeithsutton.com.
Students - As with each conference, we encourage students to join, and schedule a lunch with students and the presenters.
When: Saturday, October 24th and Sunday, October 25th, 2026, Time: To be determined
Where: In Person: SF LGBT Center and Online via Zoom
Schedule: coming soon
Conference Costs:
| Category |
In-Person |
Virtual |
| Licensed Member |
$350 |
$275 |
| Licensed Non-Member |
$450 |
$375 |
| Student/Pre-licensed/Early Career Member |
$175 |
$150 |
| Student/Pre-licensed/Early Career Non-Member |
$210 |
$180 |
Continuing Education: CE sign up and payment will be an option during each conference day.
Please email drkeithsutton@drkeithsutton.com to be added to the waiting list for any specific option below that is listed as "filled: on the registration page.
**Scholarships and Work Study are available for those with financial needs**