2026 Professional Conference

Toward a Shared Goal: Uniting Researchers, Providers, and Community to Promote a Better Understanding of MAPs

Friday-Sunday, June 12-14, 2026 (Register by June 1)

Join us in the beautiful American Southwest* to network and learn from each other. We welcome clinicians, researchers, educators, students, and professionals from diverse fields, as well as minor-attracted people (MAPs) and their family members and friends.

• Clinicians will learn to apply evidence-based therapeutic skills when working with MAPs.
• Scholars will share emerging research, discuss research methodology, and gain a vision for future directions.
• MAPs will strengthen skills for coping with the effects of stigma.
• All attendees will gain an improved understanding of MAPs’ needs and lived experiences, and apply it to their professional work or personal lives.

Practitioners can receive 11.25 CEUs through the Maryland Board of Social Work Examiners. If you’re outside of Maryland, check whether your professional licensing board accepts them.

*The conference will be held at a conveniently located venue in a scenic and historic city in the American Southwest. A limited number of rooms will be available for lodging at the conference venue ($149/night plus tax, reservation deadline: May 22, 2026). Exact location and reservation information will be provided to attendees after their registration is approved. Click here if you need more specific location information sooner. 

Plans are in development for virtual attendance for the first keynote and subsequent three sessions on Saturday. Further information about this option will be announced on this page when available.

We’re still accepting poster proposals from graduate students in social work, psychology, criminology, sociology, law, public health, gender/sexuality studies, and other relevant fields. The submission deadline is April 15, 2026. Click here for more information.

Presenters

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Ian McPhail, PhD, CPsych is a licensed clinical psychologist and a Research Associate at MOORE, a center at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health focused on preventing child sexual abuse. He is a founding member of Talking for Change, the first helpline and treatment program in Canada focused on the secondary prevention of child sexual abuse perpetration. His research centres on psychotherapeutic change processes in sexual violence prevention programs, pedophilia, psychological risk factors for child sexual offenses, and measurement issues in forensic psychology. He is also a clinician with experience across correctional, forensic mental health, and general mental health settings.

Note: We regret that The Reverend David M. Ortmann, LCSW, CMBT, OSM is unfortunately unable to join us due to unexpected health concerns. While we are disappointed, our primary concern is for his well-being, and we wish him the very best throughout his recovery.

Nadav Antebi-Gruszka (they/them), PhD, LMHC, LPC is in private practice in NYC proudly serving and celebrating sexual and gender diverse people, and especially MAPs. Outside of clinical work, Nadav conducts research and training workshops promoting affirming care for marginalized groups, including MAPs, LGBTQ+ folx, and fat people.

Crys Carman (she/her), MSW, MFA is a PhD student in Social Work at the University of Iowa, where her research focuses on stigma, reintegration, and the social construction of deviance. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing, and she has served on the editorial board of B4QR since June of 2025. Her interests include reading science fiction, browsing thrift shops, and filling her living spaces with plants.

Amber Crist, MS, BCBA-LBA, CBS is a student currently pursuing CBS-C and AASECT Certified Sexual Counselor credentials through supervised clinical experience. She has worked in the field of Behavior Analysis for 14 years with individuals from birth to 65 years of age. She is presenting as a representative of Empowered: A Center for Sexuality.

Andrew Golden, MA, MEd, BCBA-LBA, CBS is receiving supervised clinical experience in pursuit of credentials as an AASECT Certified Sexuality Counselor and a Certified Behavioral Sexologist to work with couples and neurotypical clients (CBS-C). He has worked in the field of Behavior Analysis for 14 years with individuals with various diagnoses across the life span. He is presenting as a representative of Empowered: A Center for Sexuality.

Dr. Maggie Ingram (she/her), PhD, MHS is an Assistant Scientist with the Center for Violence Prevention Research. Maggie is also the former Assistant Director of Science and long-time volunteer for B4U-ACT. Her research focuses on three primary topic areas: preventing child sexual abuse, preventing and responding to problematic sexual behavior among youth, and improving mental health and social support among people attracted to children.

Sadat Iqbal, LMSW is a social worker and public health practitioner with 15 years of experience in harm reduction, sexual health services, training design, curriculum development, and organizational capacity building. He is skilled in developing and facilitating workshops, creating educational tools, and supporting providers serving populations with special needs, including people who use drugs, LGBTQIA+ and MAPs. He is committed to health equity, trauma-informed practice, and culturally responsive care.

Dr. Richard Kramer (he/him), PhD has been with B4U-ACT since 2006, currently serving as Education Director. He leads the planning of conferences, organizes the monthly online Dialogue on Therapy meetings, and networks with therapists who help to educate other professionals about the mental health needs of MAPs. He first realized he was exclusively attracted to minors in his early adulthood.

Mark Lassoff is the Executive Director of OnwardWell Foundation, a nonprofit organization providing recovery support to minor-attracted individuals and other young men and adolescents with potentially problematic sexual behaviors. OnwardWell offers practical case management, therapeutic coaching, peer support groups, and family guidance to dozens of MAP clients without regard to their ability to pay. Mark is a B4U-ACT signatory and a strong advocate for relationship-based mental health and support services for adolescents and young men. He is also the author of Pathway to Accountability and Growth, a recovery workbook currently used in programs in several countries. He is completing graduate-level research in social work focused on expanding compassionate, evidence-informed, relationship-based services for highly stigmatized populations. Mark collaborates closely with therapists, families, schools, and community systems to create integrated, safety-focused support programs that help clients build healthy, meaningful lives.

Liz Margolies, LCSW, is a New York City–based psychotherapist, writer, and researcher whose work focuses on the psychological and social experiences of mothers whose sons are incarcerated. Following the arrest of her own son, she sought guidance in the professional literature and found strikingly little attention to this population. She began conducting her own independent qualitative research with mothers across the United States, examining themes of shame, identity disruption, attachment, and maternal responsibility in the context of criminal justice involvement. Liz has published multiple articles in criminal justice and reform-focused publications and has become a leading voice on the underexamined role of mothers in systems of incarceration. She is the founder of He’s Still My Son, a platform dedicated to preserving mothers’ stories, reducing stigma, and providing practical and psychological resources to families. In addition to her clinical practice, she facilitates multiple online support groups for mothers, creating spaces for reflection, accountability, and healing.

Dr. James Peak (he/him), MD is a retired psychiatrist and MAP who has written both a memoir (Stupid Brain) and a self-help book (A Map for MAPs).  He loves hiking, indie pop, and Christian mysticism.

Alexandra Roth (she/her), LCSW serves on the Board of Directors of B4U-ACT, and maintains a private psychotherapy practice in Northern Virginia. She is a signatory of the B4U-ACT Therapist List and has been providing respectful, client-centered therapy to MAPs for eleven years. Her interests include the ideas of Carl Jung, literary novels, and indie rock music.

Maylee Sexton began her research career seeking to understand how to garner U.S. public support for resources for child-attracted persons (CAPs), addressing a critical gap in a field dominated by European research conducted in contexts with fundamentally different cultural attitudes toward prevention and treatment. Her experimental work uncovered the “progressive paradox”— revealing that progressive respondents harbor negative implicit biases toward non-offending pedophiles despite self-reporting tolerant attitudes. She received her BA in Social Science (Psychology) from NYU Shanghai, where her senior thesis analyzed moral rhetoric and political polarization in predator vigilante content online. Her research examines how American cultural and political contexts shape stigma towards CAPs and the cultural construction of child sexual abuse (CSA), with particular attention to the mechanisms underlying attitude change and public support for harm prevention. She is a Yenching Scholar beginning her master’s program at Peking University in September 2026, where she will examine how China culturally constructs child sexual abuse and its implications on disclosure of CSA experiences.

Dr. Morgan Smigielski, PsyD received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology with a Concentration in Forensics from William James College in July 2025. She is presently a Forensic Psychology Postdoctoral Fellow at Bridgewater State Hospital where she completes forensic evaluations in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Aside from furthering her career in forensic evaluation, Dr. Smigielski’s aspires to continue expanding on her dissertation research to increase accessibility to treatment for Minor Attracted Persons and to reduce stigma towards this population in the clinical realm.

Dr. Gilian Tenbergen, PhD is a research psychologist and aspiring social worker. She has a passion for integrating research into practice and understanding the development of paraphilic disorders. Since earning a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and Sexual Medicine from Hannover Medical School (Hannover, Germany), she has worked primarily in academic settings developing and teaching undergraduate psychology courses and supervising student research assistants. Recently, feeling a need to engage in more “hands-on” field work, Dr. Tenbergen transitioned to clinical work, beginning a new graduate program in social work. She engages in outpatient treatment for those who have sexually offended, providing assessment, treatment, training, and program evaluations. She is also the Director of the Sexual Neuroendocrinology Lab (SeNeu Lab), whose research is dedicated to understanding the origins of paraphilic disorders.

Jessica VerBout (she/her), M.A., LMFT, CST, CST-S has over 17 years of experience as a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, AASECT Certified Sex Therapist & Supervisor, and Certified Brainspotting Therapist specializing in sex therapy, intimacy issues, and trauma. She provides compassionate, sex-positive, and strength-based therapy to individuals navigating complex sexual concerns, including sexual behaviors that feel out of control (“sex addiction”), desire struggles, minor attracted people, and uncommon attractions. In addition to her clinical work, Jessica offers professional training and supervision, equipping therapists with the knowledge and skills to work with these populations in a research-informed, ethical, and compassionate manner.

Program (More to come)

Keynote Talk

• Pedohebephilia: Latest Research and Future Directions, Dr. Ian McPhail, PhD, CPsyc

Clinical Sessions

• Standards of Care for Therapeutic Work with MAPs
• Clinical Case Studies in MAP-Affirming Care
• The Rising Tide of Compassionate Care: Addressing the Care Deficit for MAPs with Disabilities and How This Helps all MAPs
• Ethical Treatment Approaches for MAPs with Illegal Image Use Histories
• Maintaining Trust Under Legal Constraints: Mandated Reporting in MAP Clinical Work
• Sex Positive Approaches to Working with MAPs
• Does Your Mother Know? The Experiences of Parents of MAPs

Research-Oriented Sessions

• The Neurobiology of Sexuality
• Improving Psychologists’ Willingness to Treat Minor Attracted Persons
• Research Methodology and Ethics
• Facilitating Dialog and Collaboration between Researchers and MAPs
• Future Directions for MAP Research

MAP Self-Help Sessions

• Distress Tolerance Skills-Building Workshop
• Challenging Anti-MAP Biases Without Outing Yourself
• MAPs and Spirituality
• MAP Self-Expression Through Art 

General Interest Sessions

• Humanizing Care: A Collaborative Training Model to Reduce Stigma Toward MAPs among Mental Health Professionals
• Outside Looking In: A MAP’s Experience as a Mandated Treatment Provider
• Acceptance and Commitment Training: Skills for Everyday Life that MAPs Can Learn and Therapists Can Teach
• Questioning the Non-offending vs. Offending Dichotomy
• The Influence of Moral Panic on Research and Treatment

Poster Session

We invite graduate students from a variety of disciplines—including but not limited to social work, psychology, criminology, sociology, law, public health, and gender/sexuality studies—to submit proposals for a poster session. The submission deadline is April 15, 2026. Click here for more information.

Schedule

Friday evening, June 12

7:00 – 9:30	Check-in
7:30 – 9:30	Meet-and-greet with hors d’oeuvres

Saturday, June 13

8:00 – 8:45	Check-in
8:45 – 12:30	Morning sessions
12:30 – 1:30	Lunch provided
1:30 – 5:00	Afternoon sessions
8:00 – 10:00	Social event

Sunday, June 14

8:45 – 12:30	Morning sessions
12:30 – 1:30	Lunch provided
1:30 – 4:10	Afternoon sessions

Registration

Registration is open to professionals, researchers, educators, and graduate students in the fields of mental health, human sexuality, and other relevant fields. Mental health practitioners who attend can receive 11.25 CEUs through the Maryland Board of Social Work Examiners.

MAPs and their family members and friends may also attend, and they may register under pseudonyms to protect their identities. In the past, some have paid registration fees using prepaid debit cards activated with pseudonymous information, although some people have recently reported problems using such cards. An alternative is to send cash or money order (without identifying information) to B4U-ACT, Inc., P.O. Box 1754, Westminster, MD 21158. Please note that MAPs and family members or friends who have not attended an in-person B4U-ACT event before will be asked to provide the name and email address of a reference–someone who knows them well, preferably in-person and over time, and who is known and trusted by B4U-ACT. A credentialed therapist can also serve as a reference for a client. In addition, in most cases an online interview will be scheduled.

We’re committed to increasing diversity at our conferences. BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), Trans/Non-binary/gender diverse attendees, and Minor-Attracted women can receive a 10% discount on conference fees by using discount code UNDERREP.

Financial Assistance: We provide financial support to a limited number of attendees with unique backgrounds or perspectives not previously represented at the conference and to those who would consider future B4U-ACT involvement but cannot reasonably afford to attend. Click here to apply for financial assistance by March 8 and register after you receive a decision on your application. We encourage supporters who are able to do so to donate to the financial assistance fund.

Registration fees:

• Sustainer Tier: $299: This tier is for those who can comfortably meet their basic needs and have discretionary income. Your support helps subsidize lower-cost registrations for others and sustains our ability to host future conferences. If you’re able to give a little more, we invite you to choose this tier with gratitude.
• Standard Tier: $229: This tier reflects the estimated true per-person cost of the conference. If you can attend without significant financial strain, we encourage you to register at this level. Your participation helps us minimize losses while keeping the event accessible to others.
• Access Tier: $129: This tier is for up to 20 individuals with limited financial resources for whom paying the standard fee would prevent them from attending — due to student status, unemployment, or other financial challenges.
• Pay It Forward (optional): If you’re able, please consider adding a donation of any amount to your registration. Your contribution will help cover the cost for someone who might not otherwise be able to attend. Thank you for helping build a more inclusive and supportive space.

Underrepresented Groups: 10% discount for BIPOC, Trans/Non-binary/gender diverse, and Minor-Attracted women. Use the discount code UNDERREP.

Important Deadlines:

• Application for financial assistance: March 8
• Lodging reservations at conference hotel: May 22 (but rooms may run out earlier)
• Registration: June 1 (Financial assistance applicants should register after receiving a decision on their application.)
• Cancellation of registration (for full refund): May 25

Holding this conference requires considerable financial resources, and B4U-ACT is a 501(c)(3) organization operated solely by volunteers on donations. If you believe in the value of this conference, please consider donating toward conference expenses or to the financial assistance fund to permit attendance by those who otherwise would be unable to attend. U.S. donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.