Video message from Naadira and Lauren!
For information about conference programming, please contact:
2024 Conference Chair: Naadira Upshaw: nupshaw@emory.edu
2024 Conference Co-Chair: Lauren Harrison: leharr@stanford.edu
The wait is finally over! We are excited to announce that the 2024 Society of Pediatric Psychology Annual Conference will be in New Orleans on April 25 -27, 2024 at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans! Mark your calendars! The theme for SPPAC 2024 has been announced: What’s Next? Defining the Path Forward for Pediatric Psychology.
Special Thanks to our SPPAC 2024 Partner Sponsors
What’s Next? Defining the Path Forward for Pediatric Psychology
The practice of Pediatric Psychology has shifted since our discipline's origin in 1967 and many lessons were learned in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the inflection point of the social justice movement. As Pediatric Psychologists, we were called to rapidly mobilize our skillsets to meet the needs of our communities, patients and families, learners, profession, and our own wellbeing. As Division 54 continues to grow and adapt, it becomes necessary to redefine the future of Pediatric Psychology beyond the traditional walls of our practice. The lessons learned in the past four years will undoubtedly shape the future of Pediatric Psychology and prepare us for the everchanging landscape of the world, including future pandemics. Thus, our goal is to develop a SPPAC 2024 program that is reflective, innovative, and relevant for the field of Pediatric Psychology across all career stages to disseminate knowledge learned and evaluated within this place and time in history, as well as define the path forward. With this, we are excited to release the call for proposals for SPPAC 2024 and announce the conference theme: What’s Next? Defining the Path Forward for Pediatric Psychology.
Consistent with this theme, we are seeking proposals that demonstrate our field’s growth, sustainability, and relevance for decades to come, as well as provide hope for the promising future of our profession. We are also calling for proposals that center the voices and needs of those who hold multiple marginalized identities. Further, we are interested in understanding how the evolution of Pediatric Psychology has impacted the communities within which we work, and the efforts made to intentionally reach and respond to their needs. Finally, we seek broad expertise in continuing to inform how to prioritize our organization’s values of anti-oppression, social justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. We hope that SPPAC 2024 will be a time for reflecting on our hard-earned lessons of the past four years with a hopeful look towards the future. Below are some examples of topics that are consistent with the conference theme, but these are intended to generate ideas, and proposals are not limited to the topics below. We also encourage proposals that are cross-cutting and designed to address multiple domains of practice.
Professional Development and Wellbeing for Psychologists and Learners:
- Applications of how leadership roles, privilege, and power by Pediatric Psychologists were leveraged during the COVID-19 pandemic and/or social justice movements for actionable systemic change
- Reflexive and cutting-edge strategies to effectively support, train, and supervise Pediatric Psychology learners in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and/or social justice movement
- Systemic efforts to attend to and improve the mental health and wellness of Pediatric Psychologists across the career lifespan (I.e., undergraduate training to retirement) during the COVID-19 pandemic and/or social justice movement
- Professional development and growth opportunities as it relates to various career trajectories for Pediatric Psychologists, as well as how to creatively shift careers (e.g., moving from academia to private practice, consultation, retirement)
Clinical Practice:
- Innovative, evidenced-based modifications made to the delivery of services via telemedicine (intervention, supervision, and research), and efforts advocating for billing and financial sustainability for telemedicine services (within institutions, policy) for Pediatric Psychology
- Development of sustainable programs and efforts that have evolved our clinical practice to support Pediatric Psychologists’ ability to respond to social justice and public health crises
Research and Dissemination:
- Innovative strategies for the rapid dissemination of trusted, relevant, and scientific information outside of the walls of academia and medicine
- Research centered on community participatory action methods to engage and center the communities most impacted and vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic and/or oppression
Policy, Advocacy, and Community Partnerships:
- Centering the voices of diverse and historically marginalized pediatric patients to adapt evidence-based practice to support equitable and inclusive delivery of care
- Novel approaches to collaborating with community partners, medical colleagues, and other stakeholders for the uptake of rapidly evolving science
- Strategies and programs that are redefining the traditional role of Pediatric Psychology to attend to the needs of the community (e.g., locally and nationally; professionally)
Naadira C. Upshaw, PsyD, ABPP
SPPAC 2024 Conference Chair
Nupshaw@emory.edu | twitter.com/drnaespeaks
Lauren Harrison, PhD
SPPAC 2024 Conference Co-Chair
Leharr@stanford.edu | twitter.com/harrison_laur
Rachel Fisher, MS
Ariel Blakey, MA
Kirby-Estar Laguerre
In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by Amedco LLC and Society of Pediatric Psychology. Amedco LLC is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
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