Dr. Abi’s Picks for the CPA’s 2018 Convention
The California Psychological Association’s (CPA) 2018 Convention booklet is out! I went to get the mail and there it was, in full color, CPA: Looking Forward: Innovations and Opportunities for Practice, April 26th to 29th, 2018 in La Jolla, CA. I’m so excited! While I usually adore receiving mail, this piece of mail is especially thrilling.
Primarily, it is because I’m not only going to the Convention, I’ll be PRESENTING. Whooohooo! I’m so jazzed! My topic is: Working with LGBT Clients: 5 Ways to Miss the Boat and 5 Ways to Get on Board. It will be similar to a presentation I gave for the Diversity Committee at the SDPA but on a much larger scale – at least, I hope that people will turn out for it! As far as I can tell, my presentation is the only one with LGBT in its title. Others mention sexuality but not name sexual orientation per say.
Secondly, though, it is because I love learning and there are many presentations that look fascinating to me! In truth, all of them look interesting, but I’m going to try and restrain myself so I don’t get super burnt out before my presentation.
Here are my current presentation interests:
Thursday, 4/27/17, 7pm to 9pm
Diversity Town Hall – When Psychology Becomes Political: How Critical Courageous Conversations Can Inform Practice and Professional Self Care
This! This! This! Talking about politics has been a large part of my clinical work, especially this year, with 45 taking office. I often feel like one of the few psychologists I know who will bring up politics with clients and check in with them about the state of the world. I look forward to learning from other clinicians about their work in this area.
Friday, 4/27/17, 11 to 12:30:
The Social Media Policy in Practice: Hands-on Management of Online Profiles and Settings by Keely Kolmes, PsyD. I’ve long been a fan of Keely’s work and have utilized her pieces of training on social media policy for my psychology practice. I also very much appreciate her doctoral research in bias in “Investigating bias in mental health services to BDSM clients” at http://drkkolmes.com/research/
Friday, 4/27/17, 2-3:30pm:
Online and Gaming Communities: Modifying Treatment to Meet Their Needs by Serenity Serseción et al. I admit it; I am a fan of Candy Crush and its game siblings. I also adore a good board game. I find that playing games, be them online or in real life can be a way to disengage my brain and transition away from work and towards others. I am curious about how to better address the needs of people who are involved in gaming. I’m assuming here that the presenters are less talking about gambling games and more about video games and the like.
Or
A New Model for ADHD and Motivation: Implications for Treatment by Thomas E. Brown PhD et al. I love learning about ADHD. Although his website makes no mention of working with people who identify as transgender or LGBT that I could find, I’m interested to see if any treatment implications could help boost efficiency and in my clinical work.
Friday, 4/27/17, 4-5:30pm:
The “How-tos” of Adding Basic Addiction Treatment to Your Practice with A. Tom Horvath, PhD.
I’ve been so interested in learning more about Tom’s work with Practical Recovery increasing my knowledge of addiction treatment. Although I have worked with issues around addiction since the beginnings of my graduate school career, I am always excited to learn about treatment from a non-AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) perspective.
Saturday, 4/28/17, 11am to 12:30pm:
Working with LGBT Clients: 5 Ways to Miss the Boat and 5 Ways to Get on Board by Abigail “Abi” Weissman, PsyD. This is my time so I’ll be presenting on Working with LGBT Clients. Did I mention how excited I am to present?
Saturday afternoon, I’m split as to which presentation to attend. On one hand, there is a presentation on disordered eating called Mobilizing ePatients: How Technology is Engaging
Eating Disorder Patients and Increasing Access by the insightful and brilliant, Marcella Raimondo, PhD, MPH et al. I had the opportunity to work with Marcella when I was at an advanced practicum at the now defunct, New Leaf: Services for Our Community in San Francisco. I always enjoyed listening to her case presentations and learning about her perspectives on disordered eating. On the other hand, there is RxP: A Prescription for Social Justice in California and a New Opportunity for Psychologists with Saurabh Gupta, PhD, et al. Saurabh and I serve together on the Board of Directors of the SDPA and I’ve heard his impassioned and practical perspectives on the importance of psychologists being able to provide psychotropic medications to our clients in California, especially in the wake of a shortage of psychiatrists. I would love to be able to pursue certification to be able to prescribe medication, especially, as here in San Diego, I find it tough to find psychiatrists who have experience in working with transgender adolescents who also have availability and take insurance. There are some for sure and it would be nice to be able to have more prescribers to recommend. I think it is about time for California to be the next state to allow trained psychologists to have prescriptive authority.
Saturday, 4/28/17, 4pm to 5:30pm:
I’m interested to attend The Ins and Outs of Private Practice – Getting Started with Kristin Moore, PsyD et al. My friend and grad school peer, Matt Wong, PsyD, will be on the panel and he is funny, experienced, and knowledgeable. Since I’ve been in practice for a couple of years now, perhaps I will forgo this presentation and find the time to connect with Matt at after his presentation.
In addition, my home Psych Association, San Diego Psych Association, is hosting the event, and as a Board Member At Large, I think that this means we will be hosting some sort of reception. I will share more about this when I know more.
All in all, this looks like a fabulous event with opportunities to learn and gain CEs. I hope that you are able to find your way there and that you can attend my presentation and others that spark your interest. Please do stop by after the presentation and let me know that you found out about the Convention through this blog post. I would love to meet you!
Please note that besides working with clients directly, I, Dr. Abigail "Abi" Weissman (PSY 27497), provide training for clinics, organizations, staff meetings, and the like. Should you wish to hire me to present at your next meeting, please contact me to learn my rates and how I can best serve your clients, patients, employees and staff alike. I look forward to hearing from you soon.