Feedback Fall 2010 SCPA Headquarters • PO Box 11035 • Columbia, SC 29211 Phone: 803.252.7128 • Fax: 803.252.7799 • www.scpyschology.com South Carolina Psychological Association What’s Next for SCPA? Inside This Edition: • President’s Letter • Academic Day • APA Council Representative Report • Book Review • Historical Bit • Graduate Student Representative Article • ADHD Workshop Wrap Up • Diversity Delegate Report • 2011 Call for Presentations
Inside This Edition:• President’s Letter• Academic Day• APA Council Representative Report• Book Review• Historical Bit• Graduate Student Representative Article• ADHD Workshop Wrap Up• Diversity Delegate Report• 2011 Call for Presentations
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Make the right choices in LIFEMake the right choices in LIFE
The President reminds us of the need to take care of ourselves while taking care of our clientele.
“Exhausted when saying yes, guilt when saying no – it is between giving and taking, between other-care and self-care” (Skovholt, 2001, p.1). Psychologists, like the people we serve, assume multiple roles in our daily lives that challenge the careful balance we are encouraged to strike between our personal and professional lives. As profes-sionals with an increased capacity for feeling and expressing empathy we tend to be at greater risk for developing compassion stress, compassion fatigue, and burn out. D.G. Larson captures this reality when saying that “empathy is a double-edged sword; it is simultaneously your greatest asset and a point of real vulnerability.” As caring professionals we nurture human develop-ment and positively affect human lives, and while rewarding, it can also be taxing. This emotional exhaustion can lead to physical exhaustion and affect those we serve. Psychology, as a profession, has a responsibility to practice altruistic egotism or the commitment to one’s own well-being as a necessary component for other-care. Unfortunately, graduate training does not seem to adequately emphasize the importance of checking for signs of imbalance in one’s self-care: other-care equation. Thus, as professionals we may not self-monitor for signs of depletion and likely do not nurture self-care in col-leagues, trainees, or students. So how can we concurrently sustain the personal and professional self? It is important for us to strive to nurture our emotional, humorous, physical, playful, and spiritual selves. It is essential for us to take the time to explore our strengths, areas for growth, limitations, and boundaries. Professionally, mentoring others and receiving other-care and social support from peers will help to perpetuate an environment that promotes self-care: other-care balance. Sustaining the professional self is also facilitated by learning to set boundaries, creating limits, and learning to say “No.” Helping one another to value self-other as a crucial aspect of other-care will help to mitigate against burn out and improve life and career satisfaction.
Christiana DeGregorie, PsyDPresident
Figley, C. (1995). Compassion Fatigue: Coping with Secondary Traumatic Stress Disorder. New York:Maslach, C. (1982). Burnout: The Cost of Caring. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc.Rothschild, B (2006). Help for the Helper. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.Skovholt, T.M. (2001). The Resilient Practitioner Boston: Allyn & Bacon.Stamm, B.H. (1995). Secondary Stress. Maryland: Sidran Press.
The President’s ColumnBurned Out?
Feedback is published by the South Carolina
Psychological Association and distributed quarterly.
Over the past 16 years, the South Carolina Psy-chological Association has hosted hundreds of students, professors, and other psychology profes-sionals and leaders at our Academic Day events. The 2010 Academic Day promises to be an even bigger event than last year’s, including well known and recognized speakers, record-number quiz bowl attendees, and breakout sessions for both our stu-dents and professionals. Also, we have added smart technology to our quiz bowl this year to make it more efficient and timely. There will be a student breakout session discussing the importance of undergraduate research. The panelists include Dr. Richard Keen from Converse College and Dr. Cinnamon Stetler from Furman University. There will also be a faculty breakout session led by Dr. Kevin Wickes from Lander University on the IT of Teaching - Instructional and Informa-tional of Teaching. There will also be a General Session led by Dr. Robin Kowalski from Clemson University on the topic of Cyber-bullying. To Register, please email Leigh-Ann at [email protected]. Everyone, quiz bowl players and attendees must fill the form out Questions?? Call SCPA headquarters at 803.252.7128.
Lander UniversityInn on the Square104 E Court AveGreenwood, SC 29646
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Academic Day - November 9
Jonathan F. Bassett, Ph.D.Lander University
The 2010 annual SCPA Academic Day event is fast ap-proaching. The event will be held at Lander University in Greenwood SC on Tuesday, November 9.
For the last 16 years, SPCA has sponsored this fall event dedicated to celebrating academic psychology. The highlight of the event is the quiz bowl, in which teams of students representing their respective schools put their knowledge of psychology to the test in a competition for statewide bragging rights and a cash prize. Last year’s event drew 165 students and faculty from colleges and universities across the state and featured quiz bowl teams from Anderson University, Clemson University, Coker College, College of Charleston, Francis Marion University, Furman University, Lander University, Newberry College, North Greenville University, The Citadel, Trident Techni-cal College, and USC Beaufort. The College of Charleston won the competition in a very exciting and dramatic sudden death showdown with Furman University who finished in second place. Our state has an impressive number of very strong undergraduate psychology pro-grams and the quality of the education provided by these institutions is evident in the quiz bowl competition. This year’s competition will offer students an exciting op-portunity to display their knowledge of psychology and will provide faculty with corroboration of the pride they surely feel in the quality or their psychology departments.
In addition to the quiz bowl, Academic Day also features breakout sessions for faculty and students and a keynote address from a prominent research psychologists. This year the breakout session for students will focus on the importance of undergraduate research. Dr. Richard Keen and Dr. Cinnamon Stetler will lead a discussion of why undergraduate psychology students should be involved in conducting research, how they go about getting involved in research, potential outlets for getting grant funding, and venues for disseminating the results of undergradu-ate research such as at professional conferences and in peer reviewed publications. Dr. Keen is an experimental psychologist at Converse College with research interests in the area of animal learning and behavior. Dr. Stetler is a health psychologist at Furman University with research interest in the area of how psychosocial factors contribute to physical health. Both Dr. Keen and Dr. Stetler have been very successful in involving numerous undergradu-ate students in their research programs.
Their collective expertise will offer student attendees at Academic Day valuable insight into how to obtain the research skills so highly valued by graduate schools and employers.
In the breakout session for faculty, Dr. Kevin Wickes of Lander University will lead a discussion of how to bal-ance traditional and online course offerings in a psychol-ogy curriculum. Many academic institutions are likely engaged in a discussion of how to balance administrator’s fondness for the cost effective nature of online courses with faculty’s reservations about quality control. Dr. Wickes has a rich variety of teaching experiences that make him well suited to addressing this issue. Prior to joining the Lander psychology faculty this year, he taught both traditional and online courses for 15 plus years at diverse institutions, on both graduate and undergraduate levels. The session will focus on how technology affects accountability and mastery of content as well as concerns about the potential loss of the human element in teaching. Faculty attendees should leave this session informed with new insights that they can use in curriculum discussions at their own institutions.
Dr. Robin Kowlaski will deliver this year’s keynote ad-dress. Dr. Kowlaski has a Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She is currently full professor in the psychology department at Clemson University, where she has received several awards for teaching excellence, advising excellence, and faculty excellence. Dr. Kowalski is a nationally recognized authority on cyber bullying. She has published numerous journal articles on the topic and is coauthor of the book Cyber bullying: Bullying in the digital age (2008, Black-well Publishers). This is a great opportunity for students and faculty to hear from such a prominent authority on what is currently a very salient and socially relevant topic.
SCPA is to be commended for its strong commitment to promoting academic psychology. Academic Day is a laud-able endeavor with a rich history. Building on this tradi-tion, this year’s Academic Day promises to be an exciting event with much to offer students and faculty. I encourage everyone reading this newsletter to become as excited as I am about Academic Day, and become energized to promote the continued success of this event. Once again, please mark your calendar for Tuesday, November 9.
2010 Academic
DayNovember 9
Lander University
10:00-10:45amRegistration
10:45 – 11:00 amWelcomeDr. Jonathan BassettSCPA Academic Chair
11:00-12:00 Breakout Sessions
Student Session“The importance of undergraduate research”Panelists:Dr. Richard Keen, Converse CollegeDr. Cinnamon Stetler, Furman University
NEW ScheduleFaculty Session (1 hour CE)Dr. Kevin WickesThe IT of Teaching
Over the past 16 years, the South Carolina Psy-chological Association has hosted hundreds of students, professors, and other psychology profes-sionals and leaders at our Academic Day events. The 2010 Academic Day promises to be an even bigger event than last year’s, including well known and recognized speakers, record-number quiz bowl attendees, and breakout sessions for both our stu-dents and professionals. Also, we have added smart technology to our quiz bowl this year to make it more efficient and timely. There will be a student breakout session discussing the importance of undergraduate research. The panelists include Dr. Richard Keen from Converse College and Dr. Cinnamon Stetler from Furman University. There will also be a faculty breakout session led by Dr. Kevin Wickes from Lander University on the IT of Teaching - Instructional and Informa-tional of Teaching. There will also be a General Session led by Dr. Robin Kowalski from Clemson University on the topic of Cyber-bullying. To Register, please email Leigh-Ann at [email protected]. Everyone, quiz bowl players and attendees must fill the form out Questions?? Call SCPA headquarters at 803.252.7128.
Lander UniversityInn on the Square104 E Court AveGreenwood, SC 29646
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Report from the APA Council of RepresentativesShirley A. Vickery, Ph.D.
The Annual APA Convention was held in August in San Diego with the most beautiful California weather you can imagine. The Conference venues were indeed among the most convenient and appealing I have experienced. I wish all of us could have been there. The Council of Represen-tatives met on Wednesday before, and Sunday following the conference. The agenda was not as contentious as it sometimes is, but there were important issues discussed.
The APA apportionment process, which determines how many Council representatives each state/province/jurisdiction and division has, is very complicated. I can explain it in person but will not try in this column! For the years that I have been on the Council there has been concern that the pool for states/provinces/jurisdictions is diminish-ing and that a time may come when there are not enough seats for each state, etc., to have a representative. (Several years ago, SC shared a representative with another state - this was not a great thing.) Council passed (with some opposition from divisions) a motion to ensure that every state/province/jurisdiction, will get a representative. In or-der for this to take effect, the APA membership must agree to amend the association by-laws. APA members will receive a bys-laws change proposal this fall. The by-laws proposal will come with a pro-con statement, and we know from experience that the inclusion of a pro-con statement decreases the likelihood of the change passing.
I encourage APA members to watch for the ballot seeking this by-laws change and to vote in favor of the change to ensure continued representation for every state on Council.
The APA budget appears to be in good shape. We are lucky to have good investments and some very nice properties in Washington that produce a lot of rental income. In ad-dition, the newest version of the APA style manual was published last year and this always sells well. The August meeting of Council has traditionally been on Wednesday before, and the Sunday after the convention. Some repre-sentatives have had problems with this schedule because many state associations, including SCPA, cannot afford to
reimburse the representative for the expense of attend-ing the conference, and APA pays only the cost of two nights lodging in the hotel. Council voted to move next year’s August Council meet-ing to Wednesday and Friday to reduce the length of time
Council representatives have to be at the conference.
In other news, the World Health Organization is revising the ICD-9, and for the first time a psychologist is working closely with this revision. This is an exciting opportunity for psychology.
I appreciate the chance to serve another 3 year term as Council Representative. My first term ended with this past meeting. I am beginning to understand most of what is discussed at the Council meetings, thus, SC will be able to maximize benefits from having the same person represent SCPA for another three years.
ADHD WorkshopOn September 17, SCPA hosted its first ADHD Workshop at The Hilton in downtown Columbia. With more than 130 attendees, the workshop was very successful. Our workshop was headlined by Dr. Russell Barkley and then followed by Dr. Mark Posey, Dr. Brad Smith, and Dr. Robin Welsh. SCPA’s staff and leaders were thrilled by the size and variety of attendance for the work-shop. Not only did we have psychologists attend, but licensed professional counselors, social work-ers and school psychologists attended as well.
HISTORICAL BITClinical Internships: Brief History and Current Dilemma Robert V. Heckel, PhD ABPP
The internship became a required part of clinical train-ing only after WWII, spurred by the VA and their need for doctoral level psychologists, to deal with the flood of veterans needing extensive psychological interven-tions. Their effort was supported by a large financial investment in trainees, and the setting up of internship facilities at virtually every VA hospital. This movement was also strongly supported by the various professional groups and APA committees, seeking to develop a viable curriculum for training the swelling numbers of would be clinical psychologists.
In the early 1950’s there were few established intern-ships (other than the VA) and a huge number of students ready for that experience. The internship sites were competing for students and heavily courted, wined and dined directors of clinical training in an effort to fill their slots. Seeking some equity, internship sites organized and formed guidelines governing the whole internship process. After several years the balance shifted and in-ternship sites gained control of the selection process that we have today. Directors of clinical training write letters of endorsement for students but have little say in the se-lection process. This worked fairly well until the current crisis of an oversupply of students seeking internships and a limited number of slots. Many rejected students are unable to match with the requirements of the intern-ship site. Part of that is related to the significant growth of the PsyD programs in which applied skills rather than research/clinical skills are emphasized. Still other issues relate to the downturn in the economy and cutbacks in private and public funding for graduate and internship programs.
Recent journal articles have presented a variety of solu-tions to the problem of oversupply of interns: 1) Reduce the number of doctoral students. 2) Encourage the development of more internship sites. 3) Permit more specialized internships not presently permitted under APPIC and APA rules. 4) Widen the gulf between PsyD and PhD memberships with alternative memberships. 5) Increase the role of the Directors of Clinical Training in the internship selection process. The present statistic of failure to match through APPIC for PhD students approaches 20 percent, while for PsyD students it is about 30 percent. This situation requires ac-tion and solution as these numbers are not acceptable. Note: Dr. Heckel served as Coordinator of Research and Training in the VA, and as Director of Clinical Training at the University of South Carolina.
BOOK REVIEWby Robert V. Heckel PhD ABPP
Prolonged Exposure Therapy for PTSD - Emotional Processing of Trau-matic Experiences
written by Foa, Edna B., Hembree, Eliza-beth A., and Rothbaum, Barbara Olasav,New York, Oxford University Press 2007
No topic is of greater relevance today than Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). A huge stream of military casualties all acutely ill from the effects of a loss of friends, over-extended combat tours, being a stranger in strange lands, often unable to distinguish friend from foe, lacking knowledge of the language, culture and belief systems, and a political/mili-tary hierarchy that initially denied the existence of PTSD, has placed our already economically depressed and stressed culture to come up with quick answers.
Stress disorders arising from trauma experienced in this country in the form of rape, accidents, assault, and other precipitating events, as well as the intermittent experiences of war (In WWI it was called shell shock) have resulted in an increasing number of psychologists focusing intensively on causes, treatments and cures. This book, by Foa, Hem-bree, and Rothbaum, represents a major contribution for the treatment of PTSD. The senior author, Foa is internation-ally recognized and has almost 40 years experience treating PTSD and related anxiety and OCD disorders. Her co-au-thors are also highly experienced within these areas. The great value in their present work is that it presents approach-es that have been proven, through research, to work, pulling together the best behavioral approaches and techniques that represent the finest contributions in psychology’s history.
The result has been a movement that has attracted both experienced clinicians and graduate trainees to training in Prolonged Exposure Therapy, with workshops currently be-ing held throughout the country. It is not the purpose of this review to discuss the various dimensions of this approach other than to say that it involves understanding trauma, breathing training , in vivo exposure to avoided trauma experiences, and repeated prolonged imaginal exposure to trauma memories. All techniques utilized have been thor-oughly researched and assembled in an impressive training package guiding the user through this difficult and often perplexing labyrinth of traumatic experiences.
This is a very valuable work, as are other publications by the authors. Psychology is facing a crisis both with military returnees and in our angry and depressed culture. Clinicians of today must be skilled in dealing with PTSD. Prolonged Exposure Therapy training is an excellent place to start.
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An Introduction to Positive PsychologyClaire Wellborn, M.A.Kip Thompson, M.A.SCPA Graduate Student Representatives
Kral (1989, p. 32) stated, “If we ask people to look for deficits, they will usually find them, and their view of the situation will be colored by this. If we ask people to look for successes, they will usually find it, and their view of the situation will be colored by this.” Psychologists have traditionally operated from a deficit-based perspective with a focus on identifying and remediating problems. However, in recent years, some psychologists have begun to argue for a more positive view in the field, claiming that an exclusive focus on deficits does not present a balanced view of human nature. For students looking for an exciting area of research or psychologists wanting to put a positive spin on their work, the purpose of this article is to provide a brief overview of positive psychology and the importance of recognizing strengths, and general principles that can be applied to the practice of psychology, social work, educa-tion, etc., as well as our daily lives.
While there are many reasons to examine the negative in people’s lives, there are just as many reasons for studying the positive (Sparks & Baumeister, 2008). Furthermore, in addition to studying individuals with problems, it is benefi-cial to understand effective and superior functioning in in-dividuals, which is more than the mere absence of impair-ments or pathologies. Thus, a movement was initiated to examine human strengths and how they can be capitalized upon to support optimal functioning and prevent psycho-logical problems. Positive psychology has explored topics such as hope, happiness, engagement, courage, creativity, and life satisfaction, as well as interventions to promote these qualities. Clearly, these qualities have much relevance to our lives. Most people do not strive to simply be free from pathology; rather, we seek to live happy, fulfilled lives.
Even individuals with great impairment have strengths, the presence of which may actually lessen the effect of some problems, including serious psychiatric symptoms (e.g., Cohen, Best, Jenson, & Lyons, 2001). Therefore, it has been recommended that a psychologist should allot the same amount of time and effort towards assessing, discuss-ing, and building strengths as is spent on the weaknesses (Wright, 1991). Systematic methods of assessing strengths have been developed to aid this process (e.g., Epstein & Sharma, 1998). Strengths-based assessment is founded on the principle that everyone has strengths such as coping skills, competencies, social supports, community resources,
etc, and these should be integrated with other information to fully and accurately represent an individual and his or her environment.
Psychological deficits/risk factors and strengths/protective factors are not necessarily mutually exclusive or opposite points on a continuum. Rather, they represent separate constructs. To support the validity of a strength-based ap-proach, research has shown that looking at strengths can predict outcomes for people, in some cases more so than information on weaknesses (Farmer et al., 2005; LeBuffe & Shapiro, 2004). Looking at strengths can also be particularly useful in helping make decisions about appropriate ser-vices for individuals with psychological problems (Oswald, Cohen, Best, Jenson, & Lyons, 2001). Further, research has shown that the process of highlighting positive characteris-tics can motivate individuals and increase their hope (e.g., Hersh, 2008), can foster more positive, productive relation-ships between individuals/families and service providers (Epstein & Sharma, 1998), can identify resources to support growth, and can pinpoint positive traits and behaviors that should be reinforced in individuals (Epstein & Sharma, 1998). Although experimental research in this area is still emerging, there is some evidence that when counselors use a strength-based approach, this may result in more im-proved social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes for their clients (Cox, 2006).
While much of positive psychology has focused on under-standing and promoting positive subjective experiences and traits in individuals, the principles may also be ap-plied at a systems level to advance institutions that nurture virtues in the individuals they serve. For example, positive school psychologists have focused on building more engag-ing, proactive environments in schools through develop-ments such as programs to build children’s engagement, optimism and authenticity (the belief that one is worthy of one’s achievements), including Head Start, the Abecedarian Project, and the Fast-track prevention program for conduct problems. Such programs have been successful in improv-ing students’ academic achievement and behavior (Masten & Reed, 2002). Industrial organizational psychologists have also found positive psychology principles to be particularly applicable to their systems-level work in increasing orga-
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nizational effectiveness, improving quality of work life for employees, and building more positive relationships among employers, employees, and clients (Csikszentmihalyi, 2003). These types of efforts are consistent with an ecological per-spective in which the focus is on modifying environments to reduce stress and promote positive behaviors (Meyers & Nastasi, 1999).
Not only do efforts to support positive qualities remedi-ate problems in some cases, but they can also preclude future problems in others. Attempts to foster resilience and support strengths such as interpersonal skills, work ethic, hope, and perseverance can actually buffer against the development of psychological problems (Masten & Reed, 2002; Seligman, 1998). Research has shown that having an optimistic mentality (in which individuals can be trained) is helpful in preventing symptoms of disorders such as depression (Seligman Rievich, Jaycox, & Gillham, 1995). With such promising effects as these, positive psychology with its concentration on studying and enhancing strengths, promoting positive experiences, relationships, and environ-ments, and preventing problems is receiving increasing recognition as an important contributor to our field. For further information on positive psychology, refer to the fol-lowing resources by several prominent positive psychology researchers, including Dr. Scott Huebner, school psychology professor at the University of South Carolina: http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu, website of Dr. Martin Seligman, Director of the University of Pennsylvania Posi-tive Psychology Center Handbook of Positive Psychology in the Schools (2009) edited by Dr. Rich Gilman, Dr. Scott Huebner, and Dr. Mi-chael Furlong (Routledge Publications)Flow, the Optimal Human Experience (1991) by Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Harper Perennial)Handbook of Positive Psychology (2010) edited by Dr. Charles Richard Snyder (Oxford University Press)
ReferencesCox, K. (2006). Investigating the impact of strength-based assess-ment on youth with emotional or behavioral disorders. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 15, 286-301Csikzentmihalyi, M. (2003). “Good Business: Flow, Leadership and the Making of Meaning”, New York: Viking. Epstein, M. H., & Sharma, J. (1998). Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale: A Strength-based Approach to Assessment. Austin, TX: PRO-ED.Farmer, et al. (2005). Strength-based assessment of rural African American early adolescents: Characteristics of students in high and low groups on the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 14, 57-69. Fredrickson, B.L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology. American Psychologist, 56, 218–226.Hersh, B.L. (2008). Exploring the use of strengths-based assessment as an intervention for enhancing strengths in youth: A multiple baseline study. Dissertation Abstracts International. Kral, R. (1989). Strategies that work: Techniques for solutions in the schools. Milwaukee, WI: Brieg Family Therapy Center. LeBuffe, P. A., & Shapiro, V. B. (2004). Lending “strength” to the as-sessment of preschool social-emotional health. The California School Psychologist, 9, 51–61Masten, A.S. & Reed, M.J. (2002). Resilience in development. In C.R. Snyder & S.J. Lopez (Eds.) Handbook of positive psychology. New York: Oxford Univer-sity Press.Meyers, J., & Nastasi, B. K. (1999). Primary prevention in school settings. In C. R. Reynolds & T. B. Gutkin (Eds.), The Handbook of School Psychology, 3rd Edi-tion. New York: John Wiley & Sons.Oswald, D., Cohen, R., Best, A., Jenson, C., & Lyons, J. (2001). Child strengths and the level of care for children with emotional and behavioral disorders. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 9, 192-199. Seligman, M.E. (1998). Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life (2nd Ed.). New York: Pocket Books.Sparks, E.A., & Baumeister, R.F. (2008). If bad is stronger than good, why focus on human strengths? In S.J. Lopez (Ed.), Positive psychology: Exploring the best in people (Vol. 1, pp. 55-79). West-port, CT: Praeger.Seligman, M.E., Rievich, K., Jaycox, L., & Gillham, J. (1995). The optimistic child. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company.Wright, B. A. (1991). Labeling: The need for greater person-environ-ment individuation.In C. R. Snyder & D. R. Forsyth (Eds.), Handbook of social and clinical psychology: The health perspective (pp. 469– 487). New York: PergamonPress.
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South Carolina Psychological Association Diversity UpdateMark Coe, Ph.D.
The South Carolina Psychological Association (SCPA) Diversity Committee is working on a number of initiatives to enhance the ability of the organization to serve the needs and interest of diverse popula-tions both within the organization and in the com-munity at large. Foremost among these activities is an effort to conduct a diversity needs assessment of our organization and its membership, since cultural self–assessment is an essential part of an organiza-tion’s efforts to develop cultural competence (Goode, Jones, Jackson, Bronheim, Dunne, Lorenzo-Hubert, 2010). The initial assessment activities will involve administering a survey to doctoral level psychologists in the state. This process began by compiling a list of psychologist in the state using data collected from the South Carolina Board of Examiners in Psychology list of licensed psychologist, the SCPA membership list, and a list of psychologist working at institutions of higher education in the state. The initial efforts at survey development were then initiated after review-ing literature on survey development and cultural competence assessment. The Oregon, Ohio, and Idaho Psychological Associations were consulted due to their previous experiences with similar projects, and these organizations provided a great support and technical assistance on the project. Several experts in various areas of human diversity were also consulted during the development of the survey, and a pilot version of the survey was administered to several psychologists to assist in refining the measure. The survey was then submitted to the Survey Research Laboratory of the Institute for Public Service and Policy Research at the University of South Carolina for further technical assistance.
The survey seeks to collect information regarding a number of domains believed to be important to informing SCPA’s efforts to assist psychologists in addressing issues of human diversity in their profes-sional activities. Information regarding the settings in which psychologist work, demographic character-istics of the individuals whom psychologists serve in their professional activities, training psychologists have received regarding issues of human diversity, psychologists’ views on SCPA’s diversity related activities, and basic demographic information about psychologists will be gathered. To ensure the
anonymity of respondents, the Diversity Committee is planning to assign numbers to each participant, and no identifying information will be stored in the file containing the participants’ responses to the survey. The file containing the participant numbers and identifying information of the participants will be stored and secured in a locked file, sepa-rately from the participant’s responses. This file will only be used to identify participants who have not completed the survey in order for reminders to be sent to psychologists, and to notify winners of incentives that will be raffled away to psychologist who participate in the survey. Moreover, the committee plans to destroy this file after data collection is completed and incentives have been distributed. The Diversity Committee has sought consultation regarding the research plan with the Office of Research Compliance at the University of South Carolina, and a formal proposal will be submitted to and approved by the University of South Carolina Institutional Review Board (IRB) prior to the survey being formally administered to psychologist. The Diversity Committee will make every effort to ensure the confidentially of psychologists who may participate in the project and that the project is administered in a manner that protects the rights and dignity of participants.
Shortly after the publication of this article, the Diversity Committee hopes to receive IRB approval for the project, after which time the survey will be administered to psy-chologists. The survey will be primarily distributed elec-tronically, but traditional paper versions of the survey will also be utilized for psychologists for whom email addresses are not available or active. SCPA needs support with this project from psychologists with various types of training (e.g. developmental, I/O, experimental, counseling, clinical etc.) and professional experiences (e.g. academics, clini-cians, consultants, etc.). When a letter or email is received requesting your participation in the project, please give a few minutes of your time to assist SCPA in working to bet-ter meet the needs of psychologists and the constituencies we serve. Conducting this assessment will assist SCPA
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in developing diversity programming in a manner that is consistent with the needs and interest of psychologists in the state. Developing cultural competence is a developmental process for organizations, and this initial effort at a diversity as-sessment will be a part of SCPA’s ongoing efforts to continually evaluate and enhance its ability to support psychologists in the state and the diverse populations they serve (Whealin & Ruzek, 2008).
The diversity survey is one of many diversity themed projects currently under development by SCPA. The SCPA Annual Conference Planning Committee is sponsoring a diversity themed conference for 2011 and is encouraging participants to submit diversity themed proposals. The Diversity Committee is currently working to develop a collaborative relationship with the New Mexico Psychological Association to offer access to online diversity continuing education opportunities. Ef-forts are also under way to create a diversity vision statement, mission statement, and goals for SCPA. Additionally, plans are in development to design a diversity webpage on the SCPA website to provide psychologist and members of the public with access to information on diversity related issues within SCPA, throughout the state, across the nation, and around the world. There are many exciting things happening as SCPA continues to work to improve our ability to serve our members and the public regarding issues of human diversity. But we need your help.
ReferencesGoode, T., Jones, W., Jackson, V., Bronheim, S., Dunne, C., & Lorenzo-Hubert, I. (2010). Cultural and Linguistic Competence Family Organization Assessment Instrument. Washington, DC: National Centerfor Cultural Competence, Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development. Retrieved from http://www.clcpa.info /docu-ment.html Whealin, J.M. & Ruzek, J. (2008). Program evaluation for organizational cultural competence in mental health practices. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 39(3), 320-328. doi: 10.1037/0735-7028.39.3.320If any SCPA member is interested in participating in any of these activities or in developing new ideas, please contact Mark Coe, Ph.D., SCPA Diversity Delegate at University of South Carolina, Lancaster. Email : [email protected]
Call for PresentationsPsychology in a World of Diversity
2011 Spring ConferenceApril 1 -3
The Sheraton Hotel, Myrtle Beach, SCScope of Presentations:We invite you to submit proposals for posters, individual papers, symposia, and panel discussions.Although we especially encourage proposals on diversity issues, proposals from all areas of psychology are welcome. Proposals are invited from the following areas:
Applied Research - clinical or organizational applications of evidence-based research
Basic Research – original descriptive, correlational, or experimental data related to behavior or mental processes (e.g., social, cognitive, personality, motivation, learning, sensation, physiological)
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning – evidenced based methods of instruction and pedagogical practices or assess-ment of course and program goals
Methodology – new or innovative research paradigms, instruments, technologies, or statistical analyses
All research must comply with APA ethical guidelines and have IRB approval.
Types of Presentations:There are four different venues for participation. Proposals will be accepted for posters, individual papers, symposia and panel discussions.
PosterPoster sessions promote one-on-one discussions between researchers and attendees via graphic display of the results of their studies.
One-speaker papers: Paper presentations may be 30 minutes or 60 minutes in length. Shorter oral presentations may be organized into 2-3 paper sessions.
SymposiaUsually 2-3 papers are presented in a topical session organized by the Symposium Chair. Symposia are limited to a
maximum time of 90 minutes. See special instructions below for submitting symposia.
Panel DiscussionA panel discussion includes several people knowledgeable about a specific issue or topic who present information and
discuss their professional views on the topic. Panel discussions will last 60 minutes.
Proposal Requirements:Poster • A completed proposal application (following page). • A 200-300 word typed abstract (Proposal will not be accepted without an abstract). • Abstracts should be consistent with APA guidelines.
Paper Presentations • A completed proposal application (following page). • A 200-300 word typed abstract (Proposal will not be accepted without an abstract).
• Abstracts should be consistent with APA guidelines.
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Symposia • Include a 400-600 word typed summary, which includes a paragraph describing the overall topic of the symposium followed by individual summaries of each paper to be presented. Each participant should be identified by name, professional affiliation, and title of presentation. (Proposal will not be accepted without this summary.)
• Corresponding presenter should be identified, and all communication will be with this individual.
Panel Discussions • Identify the topic of discussion, including brief summary of its importance to psychology. • Identify each panelist by name and professional affiliation. For each panelist, include a brief statement of her/his expertise on the discussion topic. • Identify a chair for the panel and the corresponding panelist. • All research must comply with APA ethical guidelines and have IRB approval.
Call For Presentation Continued
Proposal Submission Form - Due: December 1, 2010
Continuing Education Credit: For proposals that are to be considered for continuing education credit, a Speaker Agreement must be completed and submitted with the proposal. The Continuing Education Committee will review and make a decision on whether or not to award credit. If the committee denies credit the presenter will be contact-ed with details of what needs to be completed to be approved. The Speaker Agreement and this form can be down-loaded from the SCPA website in the download section, or requested from Leigh-Ann at [email protected]. (website - www.scpsychology.com)
Entries should be submitted to the program chair AND SCPA Staff no later than December 1.• M. Michele Burnette, Ph. D. at [email protected]• Leigh-Ann McCune at [email protected]
Please choose:Nature of Presentation: Applied ______; Basic Research ______; Scholarship of Teaching and
Learning _____; Methodological ______
Type of Presentation: Paper_____; Symposium _____; Panel Discussion ______; Poster ______
Diversity Related Presentation ______
For Paper Presentation only: Length of presentation: 30 ____; 60 _____
There will be a projector, screen, computer, and microphone provided. You will be required to provide any hand-outs. The estimated number of handouts required will be supplied one week prior to the event.
As a conference participant, I agree to register for the conference and be responsible for the registration fee. I under-stand that there are no exceptions to this registration fee policy. Upon acceptance of the proposal, I agree to appear at the designated time or arrange for a substitute to be present.
Signature ________________________________________________________ Date ________________
