Creative Change Conference
The sixteenth annual
It Happens to Boys Conference
for men and women, Therapists, Social Workers, Teachers, Counselors, Law Enforcement, D.A.s, Recovery Centers, and
Open to the General Public
February 21, 2025 8:30 to 5:00 pm
Continuing education for LMFT, LCSWs
Saint Margarets Church in Palm Desert

"[It] was truly exceptional. I applaud Carol and her staff for sponsoring such an important conference on a very sensitive topic with such compassion and professionalism. The choice of speakers as well as the topics filled the two days with great clinical techniques for helping victims...Their appreciation for the quality and genuineness of the conference was obvious to everyone."

Robert J. Ackerman

2025 Lineup of Speakers

Dan Griffin

"Amazing Dads"addresses the complex intersection of male socialization, childhood trauma, and relational struggles that often create disconnection between fathers and heir children, and their other relationships.

Taking a holistic look at men's healing. A most needed education helping men heal.

Jerry Moe

International advocate for children and families. Author and teacher

"Helping children and families that are hurt by addiction. Jerry provides and eye opening window to children's feelings and fears and teaches them how to heal

DAVE PELZER

Dave Pelzer

Author, Speaker, and Humanitarian

Number One International Best Seller – A Child Called “It”

All of us, in one way or another, have been affected by unfortunate or overwhelming situations. Yet for many, for whatever the reason, their negative past seems to dominate their lives, to the point that they, through their choices or inactions, become psychologically crippled and live out unhappy, unfilled lives.

Having survived an extreme, life-threatening childhood, and yet later to become the recipient of The National Jefferson Award and honored as The Outstanding Young Persons of the World, Dave knows first-hand about the art of resilience while being of service to fellow man

Sparrow -Tsalagi/Wyandotte
Native American
Unresolved grief and Intergenerational Trauma

President/Owner of Healing the Circle Workshops

Trainer and Rep for White Bisons Wellbriety Training Institute

Sparrow will be exploring myths and messages That impact the grieving process.
She will share cultural and traditional practice to aid the healing process.

David Fawcett, PhD.
Understanding and healing from sexualized drug use, resulting from Childhood Sexual Abuse.Trauma of all kinds, but specifically childhood sexual abuse, creates patterns of dissociative and avoiding behaviors that, in adulthood, frequently take the form of substance misuse and compulsive sexual behavior. Men of all sexual orientations are increasingly caught up in sexualized drug use. Sex, porn and amphetamine addictions, with their dependence on fantasy and heightened sexual preoccupation, are highly appealing to adult survivors because they create a bubble free of self-doubt and uncomfortable emotions. These substance-fueled sexual fantasies and/or behaviors give the man full control of gratification while minimizing interpersonal risk. Unsurprisingly, such adult men often lack key skills for intimacy, such as trusting others and vulnerability, which are essentially incompatible with the compartmentalized mentality essential for survival in abusive situations. addictive disorders.

Daniel Marquez, Courageous Healer, Speaker and mentor for over twenty years.

"The urgency of our work is felt more now than any other time in America," says Carol Teitelbaum, LMFT and co-founder of the It Happens to Boys Conference. "With the lightning-fast movement and sharing of information combined with a rampant abuse of power, there's simply no place for perpetrators to hide anymore."

Carol Teitelbaum, LMFT

private practice

760-346-4606

"Breaking the Shame of Sexual Abuse and Helping Men Heal."

Carol has been speaking at conferences, creating training for therapists, and medical students, teachers and physicians,, speaking at Middle Schools and High Schools.

Due to the inherent secrecy and sensitive nature of childhood sexual trauma, many victims won't share their stories and those who could help often don't ask the right questions. The effectiveness of the " It Happens to Boys" Conference comes from the mental health and recovery professionals creating an environment that is safe enough to encourage sharing and learning together. It is designed to be a compassionate, quality experience, both for those attending as survivors and those who support them in our community. It is also about a simple awareness and letting people know help and support like this exists. Untreated boys and men commonly have issues with rage, domestic violence, child abuse, drug and alcohol dependencies, arrests, and suicide attempts. As an organization, we understand that these situations and their solutions are complex and varied.

Consequences of childhood sexual abuse exhibited in adulthood

Some people who were sexually abused during childhood have few sequelae once they reach adulthood. However, many studies have shown that childhood sexual abuse can have a wide range of consequences that carry into adulthood and across multiple spheres of functioning.
Not only can childhood sexual abuse have lasting effects throughout adulthood, but the effects can take new forms in the majority, affecting marital and parental life as well.

POSSIBLE ADVERSE EFFECTS OF CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE EXHIBITED IN ADULTHOOD

SEXUAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH

Somatic problems
Risky lifestyles (e.g. smoking, alcohol, and drug use)
Poorer physical health
Poorer perception of physical health
More frequent visits to the physician
Occupational disability
Chronic diseases
Chronic pain
High-risk sexual behavior (unprotected sex, multiple partners, etc.)
Gynecological and perinatal complications
Sexual problems (e.g. painful intercourse, vaginismus in women)
Greater risk of contracting HIV and STBBIs

PSYCHOLOGICAL

Mental health problems (depression, personality disorders, psychotic disorders, panic disorder, etc.)
Psychological distress
Dissociation
Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder
Anxiety
Self-mutilation
Suicidal thoughts attempted or completed suicide
Drug and alcohol abuse

RELATIONAL AND MARITAL

Less trust in others
Commitment issues
More excellent family and personal conflict
Isolation
Fear of intimacy
Marital dissatisfaction
Less stable relationships with partners
Marital conflict
Spousal violence

PARENTAL

Permissive parenting practices
Parenting stress
Parentification of children
Troubled parent-child relationships

PERINATAL PERIOD

Early motherhood
Renewed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (during pregnancy, delivery, nursing)
Premature births
Post-partum depression

Our Work

OUR WORK

There is Hope

For fifteen years now, Creative Change Conferences has brought together some of the brightest names in mental health and recovery to explore the links between child abuse and addiction, depression, low self-esteem, relationship and intimacy challenges, sexual dysfunction and compulsion, pornography use and more.

Rancho Mirage

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John Lee

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Sexual abuse is an acute societal problem masked by a long entrenched cultural habit of denial. People don't talk about it and that very secrecy contributes to perpetrators believing they can get away with it. We need your help to give courageous healers a voice and combat this epidemic.

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