Cover Story
Practitioners from all backgrounds will have valuable opportunities to learn about new areas of practice and ways to take care of themselves at APA's Annual Convention, Aug. 24-28, in San Francisco.
Here are just a few sessions APA's Practice Directorate has planned for both practicing psychologists and students:
Annual Practice Directorate Town Hall Breakfast Meeting: "Safeguarding privacy and confidentiality in the digital age: what all practitioners need to understand,"
Saturday, Aug. 25
8-10:50 a.m.
This session will cover what practitioners need to know to continue to protect patient confidentiality in a time of shifting regulations and more pervasive electronic communications. The town hall format will include a panel of experts on privacy and confidentiality and an opportunity for audience participation.
"Training for healthy psychological practice: teaching and modeling self-care,"
Saturday, Aug. 25
1-2:50 p.m.
This session highlights the personal vulnerabilities associated with clinical training and supervision and the challenges that clinical faculty and supervisors may face in modeling healthy self-care practices for students.
Presenters, such as John Norcross, PhD, of the University of Scranton, and Jim Guy, PhD, of Fuller Graduate School of Psychology, will address stressors affecting faculty and supervisors, including issues of working with distressed or impaired students, the difficulty of integrating self-care into training programs and the effect that personal stressors may have on supervision and training. The session is sponsored by the Board of Professional Affairs Advisory Committee on Colleague Assistance (ACCA) and Div. 31 (State Psychological Association Affairs).
"Self-care: fostering the professional development of students and new professionals through a focus on prevention,"
Saturday, Aug. 25
3-4:50 p.m.
This session, which directly follows the program on practitioner self-care, is directed specifically toward students' issues and needs, and will include a student perspective on distress, impairment and training.
Presenters will focus on the development of healthy strategies for self-care in students, the research related to distress and impairment among trainees and creating a preventative culture in training programs. The ways in which state associations may be a helpful resource will also be addressed. The session is sponsored by the ACCA, the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students and Div. 31.
"We are excited about the opportunity to address the needs of students and trainers as part of ACCA's ongoing effort to foster habitual strategies to improve the functionality and health of practitioners throughout their careers," says Michael O'Connor, PhD, chair of both sessions and ACCA. "We believe this will also work to reduce the potential for harm to students and the public."
"New substance abuse treatment strategies: latest research from NIDA and CSAT,"
Sunday, Aug. 26
9-10:50 a.m.
This session will look at new federal agency efforts that are bridging the gap between practice in community-based drug addiction treatment and the knowledge gained from research supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
The program will provide an overview of NIDA's National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (CTN), a research infrastructure that develops and tests the effectiveness of behavioral and medications treatment for drug addiction in real-life settings with diverse populations. Presenters will also discuss CSAT's research-based initiatives and programs, including the Addiction Technology Transfer Centers, a nationwide, multidisciplinary resource that draws from recognized addiction experts. The program is designed to increase the knowledge and skills of addiction treatment practitioners by facilitating access to state-of-the-art research and education and to foster regional and national alliances to support and implement best treatment practices. Presenters will also describe CSAT's efforts to provide multiple treatment modalities, evaluate treatment effectiveness and use evaluation results to enhance treatment and recovery.
Speakers include Betty Tai, PhD, who directs the Clinical Trials Network at NIDA, Thomas McLellan, PhD, the co-principal investigator of the Clinical Trial Network at the Treatment Research Institute, Kathleen M. Carroll, PhD, a principal investigator in Yale University's department of psychiatry, and H. Westley Clark, MD, JD, director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment.
Note: APA's Practice Directorate will pay the continuing-education (CE) administrative fee for PracticeNet members seeking CE credit at this session. PracticeNet members need only provide their membership number on the CE form.
"Coaching the executive coaches: the lessons of coaching experience,"
Sunday, Aug. 26
2-3:50 p.m.
This symposium is being presented by the Board of Professional Affairs Executive Coaching Work Group, chaired by Sandy Shullman, PhD. Several experienced executive coaches will discuss what makes them a successful coach and how they learned these attributes of success.
"If people are interested in executive coaching, this session will help them answer the question, 'Is that the kind of thing that I might be able to do, and if it's not, what do I need to learn?'" explains Shullman.
Speakers will present an overview of the Executive Coaching Working Group, apprenticeships, getting into the company context, coaching dos and don'ts, and personal stories about becoming an executive coach. Presenters include Mary Krajl, PhD, Louis Perrott, PhD, Harry Levinson, PhD, Richard Kilburg, PhD, Karol Wasylyshyn, PsyD, and Ben Dowell, PhD. Patricia Johnson, PhD, will serve as a discussant.
