APA

The annual convention of the American Psychological Association took place in Washington D.C. last week-end. Unfortunatley, I wasn't able to attend the conference, but I was able to contribute to a poster presentation with others from my research lab.

It still amazes me when I hear about some of the stereotypes that people have about psychotherapy, especially, it seems, with older adults who have ideas about psychotherapy that come straight out of the 1950s. Fortunately, psychologists now have a number of different "tools" to use in order to facilitate change. These days, psychotherapy can range from really brief (e.g., lasting for just a few sessions) to long-term (e.g., lasting several years).

Last week, I presented a poster at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association, which took place in San Diego. Poster presentations are always fun because I get to meet others who are interested in similar areas of research. I was even awarded an APA Student Travel Award in order to participate in the convention.

The APA recently posted tips for first-time teachers, aimed at graduate students who are starting to teach undergraduate psychology courses. The story also includes a link to the Society for the Teaching of Psychology's website.

The APA Office on Aging recently updated their on-line resource guide for Depression and Suicide in Older Adults. It features empirical journal articles, books, book chapters, and several links to resources for consumers.

I've gotten a few questions recently on how one becomes a geropsychologist. While there are many paths leading to a career in geropsychology, here is one of the most efficient routes:

1) Get a bachelor's degree in Psychology: if not Psychology, another social science (e.g., Sociology) or physical science (e.g., Biology) is also helpful, as long as you take enough Psychology classes to get a basic, broad understanding of the field.

Dr. Ken Pope has compiled a cross-disciplinary list of over 100 links to complete copies of codes, guidelines, and standards for psychotherapy and assessment.

A substantial literature has documented that sexual abuse relates to suicidal behaviors but relatively less is known about resilience to suicide, especially cognitive deterrents to suicide.

The current issue of the monthly APA Monitor features geropsychology as one example of an area where psychologists are currently in demand. The main article describes an overview of what geropsychologists do and provides a few helpful links for finding out more about psychology and aging.

We received news this week that our Ph.D. program is accredited by the American Psychological Association. UCCS now has the first official Clinical Psychology doctoral program with a curricular emphasis in geropsychology!