“Scars to STARs Summit 2026” convenes worldwide on Stars Day, May 22, with former U.S. Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy and global mental health leaders

MIAMI, May 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Stars Day — the STAR Network Foundation will host Scars to STARs Summit 2026, a global virtual summit themed The ACEs Next 30 Years: The Future of Trauma-Informed Recovery. The event is open to survivors, families, clinicians, and advocates worldwide. Participants from more than 60 countries are expected.

Scars to STARs Summit 2026 is free and open to the public. Registration is required.

**Register: ** https://starnetwork.org/scars-to-stars-2026/attend/

The summit will mark a milestone announcement: the formal integration of PACEs Connection into the STAR Network ecosphere — uniting a global community of over 69,000 members and 500 chapters with STAR’s grassroots infrastructure to create a coordinated worldwide movement for peer-led, evidence-based healing at unprecedented scale.

The 2026 summit will also honor Dr. Vincent J. Felitti and Dr. Robert F. Anda, whose landmark 1998 study on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) at Kaiser Permanente and the CDC established childhood trauma as the strongest predictor of adult health and social outcomes — linked to 9 of the 10 leading causes of death in the United States. Thirty years later, recovery infrastructure has not kept pace with the science: fewer than 1 in 4 adults with substance use disorder receive treatment (SAMHSA, 2023), and the WHO projects mental health conditions will cost the global economy more than $6 trillion annually by 2030.

“Science has been clear for thirty years. What’s been missing is access. Mental health should not be a privilege. It should be a right. Stars Day 2026 is about turning three decades of evidence into infrastructure that actually reaches the people who need it.”** — Jamie Huysman, PsyD, LCSW, Founder and Executive Director, STAR Network Foundation**

Confirmed speakers include former U.S. Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy and Dr. Melissa T. Merrick, PhD, President and CEO of Prevent Child Abuse America, alongside global leaders in mental health, prevention, and survivor advocacy.

STAR Network’s flagship program, TAR Anon® — a free, peer-led, virtual fellowship for survivors of toxic abusive relationships — serves as a live demonstration of this model. Meetings convene five days a week across time zones, at no cost and with no clinical gatekeeping.

Scars to STARs Summit 2026 is free and open to the public. Registration is required.

**Register: ** https://starnetwork.org/scars-to-stars-2026/attend/

A limited number of media credentials and interview opportunities are available.

STAR Network Foundation is a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit with a global reach, dedicated to building accessible, community-driven pathways to healing for survivors of toxic abusive relationships. Through TAR Anon® — a free, peer-led, virtual fellowship meeting five days a week across time zones — the Foundation works to make trauma-informed recovery available to anyone, anywhere, at no cost.

Learn more at https://starnetwork.org.

Dr. Jamie Huysman | Founder & Executive Director | STAR Network Foundation
drjamie@starnetwork.org
305-303-4000
https://starnetwork.org/

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SOURCE STAR Network