From Banff to Rising Tide — and back again

Some professional relationships start with a handshake at a registration table. Others begin with a conversation that stays with you for years. When I attended the Symposium in Banff in 2018, I had no idea I was walking into one of those moments. I got to connect with the Neurosequential Network community in person and something clicked!

"There's something about that mountain setting," I often reflect. "You're away from the noise, surrounded by people who are genuinely wrestling with the same questions you are. That's where real connection happens. That's actually where the seed of Rising Tide was planted."

A Symposium built on belonging

The Pathways to Prevention Symposium had been bringing the field together since 2012, gathering every two years in Banff to do something rare: remind practitioners from across the globe that they are not alone in this work. For me, the 2018 Symposium was nothing short of life-changing.

At the time, I was the sole full-time staff member at Gateway Family Services of Illinois — a one-person operation held together by passion, purpose, and a deep belief in trauma-informed, relationship-based care. What I found in Banff was a worldwide community of people who shared that belief. I came home different. It has been the connection to the NM community that has helped support my personal and professional growth. Over the years, this community has become more like family to me.

Left to right is Emily Wang, PhD, with Chair of the 2026 Pathways to Prevention Symposium with Michael Remole, Dave Paxton, and Michelle Maikoetter. This group all met up in Chicago during a conference--there is something incredible about being connected to this community!

Emily Wang, 2026 Symposium Chair was visiting Chicago for a conference this spring and our family drove up to connect with her and other members of the Neurosequential Network.

Gateway Family Services of Illinois clinical team.

In the years since, Gateway has grown from that one-person team to an organization of 13 staff members and two interns — expanding its programs, deepening its reach, and serving more families and clinicians across the region. I credit the connections forged through the Symposium community as a significant part of that growth. When you realize you are part of something larger than yourself, it changes how you build. Banff showed me what was possible.

"From the very beginning, the Symposium was built around a simple but powerful idea — that when people doing this work come together from across the world, something shifts. You realize you are not alone. That sense of shared mission, shared struggle, is what has always made Banff feel different."

— Dr. Emily Wang, Symposium Chair, Pathways to Prevention Symposium

Michael Remole speaking at the Rising Tide Conference in 2021--a hybrid conference as the world was still shut down due to COVID-19 pandemic.

When the world closed

Then COVID hit. The biennial rhythm of the Symposium was interrupted, and the in-person gatherings that had sustained so many came to a halt. It was in that gap that Rising Tide was born — a virtual gathering space for trauma-informed clinicians who still needed community, still needed replenishment, even when the world had closed its doors.

"When COVID made gathering impossible, Rising Tide stepped in and kept that spirit alive. Michael created a space where our community could still find each other, still be replenished, even when the world was closed. That meant everything."

— Dr. Emily Wang, Symposium Chair, Pathways to Prevention Symposium

Banff is back — and I want you there

This October, the Symposium returns to Banff, with Dr. Wang at the helm as Symposium Chair. For me, the connection between Rising Tide and the Banff Symposium isn't incidental — it's intentional. We're not competitors for people's attention. We're part of the same ecosystem. The Symposium is doing extraordinary work at the intersection of prevention science and relationship-based practice. For our Rising Tide community, this is the place to be this fall.

"To everyone who has been part of the Rising Tide community — you already know what it feels like to be in a room full of people who get it. Banff is that, but with the added gift of coming together in person, in one of the most remarkable places on earth. I want to personally encourage you to make the trip this October. Come and see that the community you found through Rising Tide is even bigger than you knew."

— Dr. Emily Wang, Symposium Chair, Pathways to Prevention Symposium

As for Rising Tide itself — we're in a season of discernment, figuring out what the next chapter looks like and doing it thoughtfully. What I can say is that this community isn't going anywhere. Watch for news about 2027.

But right now, there's a mountain in Alberta with your name on it.

Join us in Banff 2026