Tag Archives: APA

Convention Highlight- APAGS Food for Thought

One great part about Convention is the opportunity to mix and mingle with some of the most famous psychologists of our time. APAGS is proud to present its Food For Thought breakfasts. Each morning of Convention (Thursday-Sunday, 7:30-8:50am) the APAGS suite hosts free breakfast for graduate students and the opportunity to hear from prestigious psychologists. Here is a look at the speakers this year:

 

Thursday, August 7: Dr. Robert Levine

Dr. Levine has written two best-seller books on topics of time and persuasion. The first one, A Geography of Time, examines our perceptions of time in different cultures. He observes the cultural rules of time in different countries and delineates differences between nature time, event time, and clock time. His second book, The Power of Persuasion: How We’re Bought and Sold, analyzes how individuals can be persuaded if in the right circumstances. Besides these book topics, he is also interested in research on helping and kindness towards strangers, happiness, and the self. Get more information on his research.

 

Friday, August 8: Dr. Robert Sternberg

Dr. Sternberg may be best known for his triarchic theories of love and intelligence, but he has over 1,500 publications and other topics of interest including creativity, wisdom, thinking styles, hate, ethics, and leadership. He is a past president of APA and has held positions in universities as a Dean, Provost, and President. Get more information on Dr. Sternberg.

 

Saturday, August 9: Dr. Mitchell Prinstein

Dr. Prinstein’s research examines interpersonal models of internalizing symptoms and health risk behaviors among adolescents, with a specific focus on the unique role of peer relationships in the developmental psychopathology of depression and self-injury. He has co-written and edited several professional development books, blogs, and websites, including the APAGS Workbook on the internship selection process, now in its third edition, and The Portable Mentor, now in its second edition.  Dr. Prinstein’s “uncensored advice” on the clinical psychology admissions process has been downloaded over 10,000 times.  For over 14 years, Dr. Prinstein has organized a professional development seminar for graduate students, offering practical career advice on topics not typically covered in doctoral curricula. Find out more about Dr. Prinstein!

 

IMG_6725Sunday, August 10: APAGS Leadership

The final Food for Thought breakfast will introduce the APAGS leadership and these individuals will discuss what opportunities allowed them to become leaders and what their focus is on currently.

Editor’s note: Kelly Lee is a current member of the APAGS Convention Committee. She is a doctoral student at the University of Houston in the Counseling Psychology Department.

Join the APA Student Twitter Team!

For those of you going to 2014 Convention in Washington D.C., APAGS would love to hear about your experience. As a member of the APA Student Twitter Team, you can share your thoughts and impressions about your experiences while at Convention. If you are at a session you find interesting, why not let other Convention attendees know? If you just met a psychologist whose research you admire, then share your excitement!

Example tweet. This could be you!

Example tweet. This could be you!

Throughout Convention, tweets from team members and others using the #APA2014 and #APATwitterTeam hashtags will be displayed on a large tweetwall for all attendees to see.

Perks of being a Twitter Team member include:

  • an exclusive ribbon
  •  an invitation to a social event with food and a chance to win some great prizes (GoPro camera, tablet, and more)!

All you need is an open and active Twitter account. To apply, please click here.

A name change for a new era

Since its inception in 1992, the APAGS Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs (CEMA) has been dedicated to representing and advocating for the perspectives and concerns of ethnic minority graduate students studying psychology. Twenty two years later, we’ve maintained this focus while also promoting diversity and cultural sensitivity among all graduate students, reflecting an overall change within the field.

The group formerly known as the APAGS Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs, at their May 2014 business meeting in Washington, DC. Blog post author Jasmin Llamas is second from the left in the back row. (Source: Andrew Tesoro, used with permission.)

Staying attuned to these changes, APAGS-CEMA has also noted a gradual shift away from the term “minority.” Ethnic minority numbers are rising in the U.S. yet individuals  continue to remain socially disadvantaged. While the term minority is not necessarily intended to denote population size or inferiority, there has been a push by many in the field away from this term:

  • Division 45, formerly the Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues, recently responded to feedback from their members by voting in a new name: The Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity, and Race.
  • Even in the 2012 revision of APAGS-CEMA’s mission, the term minority is notable absent; our mission now is “to promote a psychology pipeline that is representative of the nation’s ethnic diversity and foster culturally relevant and adaptive science and practice in psychology.”

Given this movement, APAGS-CEMA engaged in a lengthy discussion as to whether our current name best reflects our mission and the real work we do. We struggled with wanting a more empowering description for our committee, while also ensuring that we represent the social disadvantage of several populations.  As a committee, we generated several possible names but immediately knew when we had found “the one” that truly captures the spirit and intent of our committee. We presented our new name to our APAGS full committee for a formal vote, which was unanimously approved. Responses to our new name included, “Brilliant,” “Awesome,” “Thumbs up,” and “This encapsulates the identity of the committee and will continue to move it forward.”

With such resounding support, I am thrilled to present on behalf of APAGS the Committee for the Advancement of Racial & Ethnic Diversity, which we are fondly referring to as CARED! Our website will soon reflect our new name, but we wanted you to hear it here first!

 I am thrilled to present the Committee for the Advancement of Racial & Ethnic Diversity – or CARED.

CARED hopes you are as excited with this new change as we are and hope you feel CARED for as we continue to serve you and promote diversity within our field. Have you been CARED for lately? We are here for you! Truly, we invite all students to reach out to us if we can support your graduate training in some way. If you are interested in getting involved with CARED, feel free to contact me.

 

llamas-headshotEditor’s note: Jasmin Llamas is the 2012-2014 Chair of APAGS-CARED. She is currently an intern at University of California – San Francisco and doctoral student in UC-Santa Barbara’s combined doctoral program in counseling, clinical, and school psychology. Jasmin will begin a professorship this fall at Santa Clara University.

 

Three Reasons Why Psychologists Belong in Healthcare Settings

By David Martin, PhD, ABPP (Senior Director, APA Office on AIDS)

For most of my early career as a psychologist, I felt like most professional psychologists IHIV Specialist Cover knew outside my healthcare setting thought what I did wasn’t psychology because (a) it wasn’t traditional psychotherapy, (b) my approach was behavioral, and (c) I was working in a healthcare setting practicing clinical health psychology.

The December 2013 issue of the HIV Specialist provides a great example of why psychologists belong in healthcare settings and how they can and should retain their identity as psychologists even if they aren’t engaging in traditional psychotherapy. While the issue was written for healthcare professionals in HIV care, I encourage you as graduate students in psychology to read it because:

  1. It shows an understanding that mental and physical health are inseparable. It represents an effort to inform (primarily) non-psychologist healthcare providers of the important roles that psychology can and should play in the management of HIV disease, as well as in education and prevention.
  2. It highlights the unique expertise of psychologists in the healthcare setting. Psychologists working in HIV/AIDS have essential skills that benefit the sick. WeHealthcare have expertise extending well beyond traditional psychotherapy into areas such as pain management, treatment adherence, rehabilitation, and other important facets of treatment. Although the articles were intended for non-psychologist healthcare providers, if you think you may be interested in work in HIV/AIDS, these articles may provide you with an overview of some of the issues and help provide additional guidance as you move forward in your education and training.
  3. It shows that psychologists are part of integrated healthcare’s future. Last year, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) reported data demonstrating the vital importance of integrated care in engaging and retaining people with HIV/AIDS in care. The issue illustrates implicitly how psychology can be useful in the context of healthcare in general, highlighting psychology’s role in the provision of integrated care. Many of the issues confronting people with HIV/AIDS mirror those of individuals facing other health challenges, and psychology can and should play a vital role in their management as well. Integrated healthcare is coming; these articles provide an illustration of what integrated healthcare can look like when psychology is included in the mix.

Check out these resources to learn more about psychology’s role in integrated healthcare:

Apply for an APA Graduate Student Public Interest Policy Internship

The American Psychological Association’s Public Interest Government Relations Office (PI-GRO) is seeking two graduate student interns for the 2014-2015 academic year.  Graduate student interns will gain first-hand knowledge of the ways in which psychological research can inform public policy and the roles psychology can play in its formulation and implementation. The graduate student intern will spend one year working with PI-GRO staff to influence legislative and regulatory activities impacting populations and issues, such as: aging; children, youth, and families; disabilities; ethnic minorities; individuals with HIV/AIDS; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons; socioeconomic status; women; as well as social concerns (e.g. media; or trauma, violence, and abuse). The intern’s activities include participating in legislative and advocacy work, such as assisting in the preparation of testimony and briefing papers and attending congressional hearings and coalition meetings.  Applications are due on March 21, 2014.

 

Click here for more information on the internship and application materials please visit: