Dangerous Stories · October 1–3, 2026
THE
PROGRAM
Three days, up to three rooms running at once, and an art exhibition.
Open the mobile program- 3 days
- Thu–Sat, October 1–3
- 3 keynotes
- polanco · Liu · Hoff
- 17 sessions
- Up to three at once
- You choose one
- Venue
- Beckman Center
- Irvine, California
Up to 16 CE hours · CAMFT provider #1000083 · What counts
Program as of October 2026
The rooms
Auditorium · Huntington Room · Atrium · Newport Room
The workshops run two or three at a time, one room each. Every session below says which, and all four are on the first floor. See the venue
THURSDAY
Day one · October 1
Up to 6.5 CE hours
All day
The Newport Room hosts The Library of Repair workshop at 9:45 AM and is open for drop-in from 11:15 AM to 5:00 PM. White Flags is projected during the sessions.
8:00 AM
30 min
Informal conversations
With the day’s keynote, before the room fills.
Not for CE credit
8:30 AM
60 min
Keynote
marcela polanco
Decolonial Healing. Living Otherwise.
Auditorium · Plenary · everyone together
9:30 AM
Break · 15 minutes
9:45 AM
90 min
Choose one
Larry Zucker
Helping Couples Reclaim the Relationship They’d Meant to Create
Auditorium
Course syllabus: Helping Couples Reclaim the Relationship They’d Meant to Create
J D’Arrigo
Who has the Right to Mandate Living?
Huntington Room
11:15 AM
Lunch · 90 minutes
Lunch is not provided. Where to eat nearby
12:45 PM
90 min
Choose one
Courtney Olinger
I’m Not Going to Give You a Map: Wayfinding in Neurodivergent Worlds
Huntington Room
Course syllabus: I’m Not Going to Give You a Map: Wayfinding in Neurodivergent Worlds
The Library of Repair
Drop in to make new art or add to someone else’s.
Newport Room · Not for CE credit
2:15 PM
Break · 15 minutes
2:30 PM
90 min
Choose one
Heather Black-Coyne
Unreasonable Curiosity; the Problem is Not the Problem
Huntington Room
Course syllabus: Unreasonable Curiosity; the Problem is Not the Problem
The Library of Repair
Drop in to make new art or add to someone else’s.
Newport Room · Not for CE credit
4:00 PM
60 min
Closing plenary
Salsa
Heather Sprague
Embodied Presence Through Dance
Sage Dance Co.
Atrium · Everyone together
FRIDAY
Day two · October 2
Up to 5.5 CE hours
All day
The Newport Room hosts The Library of Repair workshop at 9:45 AM and is open for drop-in from 11:15 AM to 4:00 PM. White Flags is projected during the sessions.
8:00 AM
30 min
Informal conversations
With the day’s keynote, before the room fills.
Not for CE credit
8:30 AM
60 min
Keynote
Catherine Liu
Trauma and Transference
Auditorium · Plenary · everyone together
9:30 AM
Break · 15 minutes
9:45 AM
90 min
Choose one
Will Sherwin
Notes from My Suicide Reading Project
Auditorium
Stacy Marsh
Eating Disorder Resistance and Recovery
Huntington Room
11:15 AM
Lunch · 90 minutes
Lunch is not provided. Where to eat nearby
12:45 PM
90 min
Choose one
Danielle Samuels
The Poetics of Space in Therapy
Huntington Room
The Library of Repair
Drop in to make new art or add to someone else’s.
Newport Room · Not for CE credit
2:15 PM
Break · 15 minutes
2:30 PM
90 min
Plenary
Casey Tucker & Mariia Shurkhal
The Way We Show Up
Auditorium · Everyone together
5:00 PM
120 min
Social
Happy hour
At Classic Q, 4251 MacArthur Blvd, Newport Beach. Not a session. Two hours to keep talking.
Everyone welcome · Not for CE credit
SATURDAY
Day three · October 3
Up to 4 CE hours
All day
The Newport Room hosts The Library of Repair workshop at 9:45 AM and is open for drop-in from 11:15 AM to 3:30 PM. White Flags is projected during the sessions.
8:00 AM
30 min
Informal conversations
With the day’s keynote, before the room fills.
Not for CE credit
8:30 AM
60 min
Keynote
Chris Hoff
Beyond Therapy: Cultural Architecture and the Future of the Field
Auditorium · Plenary · everyone together
Course syllabus: Beyond Therapy: Cultural Architecture and the Future of the Field
9:30 AM
Break · 15 minutes
9:45 AM
90 min
Choose one
Kamran Afary & Pam Dunne
Narradrama, Agency, and the Refusal to Normalize
Auditorium
Course syllabus: Narradrama, Agency, and the Refusal to Normalize
Michelle Myers
Undercover Anti-Bullying Teams: Eliminate Bullying in as Little as 14 Days!
Huntington Room
Course syllabus: Undercover Anti-Bullying Teams: Eliminate Bullying in as Little as 14 Days!
11:15 AM
Lunch · 90 minutes
Lunch is not provided. Where to eat nearby
12:45 PM
90 min
Choose one
Ciaran Kane Phelps
Queering a Life: Tales of a Nonbinary Misfit
Huntington Room · Did not take place
Course syllabus: Queering a Life: Tales of a Nonbinary Misfit
The Library of Repair
Drop in to make new art or add to someone else’s.
Newport Room · Not for CE credit
2:15 PM
Break · 15 minutes
2:30 PM
Closing ceremony
End of the salon
Auditorium · Everyone together · Not for CE credit
THE EXHIBITION
All three days
Dea Jenkins
The Library of Repair
Newport Room
Finishing School
White Flags
During the sessions
Projected in the rooms while the talks and conversations run.
The Library of Repair workshop
Dea Jenkins leads a workshop in the Newport Room at 9:45 AM each day.
CE CREDIT
Up to 16 CE hours · CAMFT provider #1000083
Not every hour of the three days carries CE credit. This section sets out what counts, what does not, and the terms CAMFT asks us to share before you register.
CAMFT approval
Course meets the qualifications for 16 hours of continuing education credit for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and/or LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.
California Family Institute is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to sponsor continuing education for LMFTs, LCSWs, and LPCCs. California Family Institute maintains responsibility for this program/course and its content.
- The course
- Dangerous Stories: A Therapy Salon
- October 1–3, 2026 · The Beckman Center of the National Academies, Irvine, California
- Who it is for
- LMFTs, LCSWs, and LPCCs
- Everyone is welcome at the salon. CE credit is available to these licences.
- The hours
- Up to 16 CE hours
- Thursday 6.5 · Friday 5.5 · Saturday 4
Counts toward CE
- Keynote 3 × 60 minutes 3
- Concurrent sessions, three at a time 3 × 90 minutes 4.5
- Concurrent sessions, two at a time 4 × 90 minutes 6
- Salsa 1 × 60 minutes 1.0
- Plenary 1 × 90 minutes 1.5
Total 16 CE hours
Not offered for CE credit
- Informal conversations 3 × 30 minutes —
- Break 6 × 15 minutes —
- Lunch 3 × 90 minutes —
- The Library of Repair drop-in —
- Happy hour 1 × 120 minutes —
- End of the salon —
These are all part of the three days and we hope you will join us for them. They are simply not included in the 16 CE hours.
If something is not named in either list — the art exhibition, for instance, or a block you are not sure about — please ask Jonathan Miranda and we will confirm it for you in writing.
Before you register
CAMFT asks us to publish these terms before you buy a ticket. Email any request or question to the CE Program Administrator below.
- Learning objectives
- Each session’s course syllabus, with its learning objectives, is linked from that session in the program once it is final. For any other session, email us and we will send you what is written so far.
- Refunds and cancellation
- Email us by September 30 for a full refund, less the ticketing fee. Refunds go back to your original payment method within 14 days. You can transfer your ticket to someone else at any time.
- Signing in and out
- Sign in at the door before each credited session. Sign out and complete that session’s evaluation at the door as it ends. Sign-in, sign-out and evaluations are not counted toward CE hours.
- Certificates of completion
- You receive one PDF certificate for each credited session you attend. We email them to the address on your ticket within 30 days after the salon. Each certificate requires signing in, signing out and completing that session’s evaluation. There is no partial credit for a session.
- Grievances
- A grievance is any complaint, formal or informal, about a course, its promotional or education materials, the course site, the facilities, or the technology used. Email it to Jonathan Miranda, CE Program Administrator, at [email protected]. We will acknowledge it within 2 business days and send you a written response within 14 calendar days of receiving it. We record every grievance and its resolution and report them to CAMFT. You can also contact CAMFT at [email protected].
Jonathan Miranda · CE Program Administrator, California Family Institute
[email protected]
CE details as of September 2026 · updated as sessions confirm
With support from
Funding only · no role in content
Residential and outpatient mental health treatment for adults and teens.
Home-based clinical care for families in Orange County.
Professional liability insurance and risk management for mental health professionals. trustinsurance.com — The Trust, opens in a new tab
Our supporters help fund the salon. They have no role in selecting content, presenters, or continuing-education material. California Family Institute maintains responsibility for this program/course and its content.