ICP Newsletter – Fall 2020

ICP2020-Virtual

December 11-13, 2020

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ICP Members $10 Professionals / $5 Students

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Nominations and Elections Planning Update

Natalie Porter, Past President

Several changes were made in this year’s nomination and election cycle as a result of the shift of this year’s annual conference to December and the pandemic. The Board of Directors approved postponing elections for one year. A call for elections will go out in January of 2021 and elections will be held in the spring.

The proposal was made that Ana Guil serve as President until December 2020, an 18-month term, passing the gavel to Josephine Tan at that meeting. Josephine would then serve until the summer meeting of 2022, also an 18-month term, to avoid her serving only a 6-month term. We would then be on back on track coordinating the conference/annual meeting  with the election cycle. The Board was contemplating this change, when COVID-19 hit; the conference was made virtual, and organizations were in a state of flux. Several organizations postponed elections for a year, and the Board followed suit. It voted to extend the terms of the President, Treasurer, and one Director until the summer of 2022. The elected officers in these roles had agreed with the plan and extension of their terms.

This election schedule would synchronize the election of Directors so that the same number would be up for election each year. Extending the term of Andrew Simon for one year helps to regularize subsequent election cycles to have 3 elected each year.

Ana Guil, current President, resigned during the summer, having served valiantly for more than her year’s term. Josephine, as President-Elect, has stepped into her position, per the Bylaws. She will serve out the remainder of Ana’s term until December as Interim President and assume her official Presidential role at the virtual conference. I want to thank Ana Guil for her hard work on behalf of ICP, her leadership as President as well as in coordinating the unforgettable annual conference in Càdiz.

Two Colleagues Join ICP Board

Dr. Chris Mulchay and Erinn Cameron have joined the ICP Board. Dr. Mulchay joins to complete the term of Director left open when we lost Dr. Jean Lau Chin. He is a clinical psychologist living in North Carolina, and specialized in ADHD, learning disorder, and custodial evaluations (see Treasurer’s report for longer bio). Erinn Cameron joins as the second Student Representative to the Board. Erinn will be in her last year at Fielding Graduate University.  Originally from Scotland, she now lives on Whidbey Island in Puget Sound in Washington State, USA. Her dissertation focus is on climate justice.

Reflections – Ana Guil, President 2019-2020

After a little more than a year as President of the ICP, I must first thank again those who placed their trust in me, and II will make some brief reflections on the experience.

My main excuse for not having accepted to be president, when I was in line to do so, was my poor command of the English language. Indeed  this challenge was my only problem. In the presidential transition, I must thank Natalie Porter for minimizing the formalities of the transfer of power ceremony and for coordinating the meeting of the incoming Board of Directors. However,  because communication was in writing  with time to translate it. I was able  read  the messeages so there was no problema.  When communication had to be face-to-face or – later – through a telephone or computer, the difficulties of understanding were accentuated and communication became much slower.

This challenge is also one of the reasons why I have not been able to recruit more people from the Spanish-speaking community into our ranks. Although I think that the main problem for this has been the cost of our fees, together with the high price of attending our annual meetings (registration, travel and accommodation), which is excessive for the salaries of a large part of the Latin American population.

One of my greatest satisfactions, was the organization of the 77th Annual Conference of the ICP in Cadiz (Spain), with the help of my research group and the excellent support of the University of Cadiz and also, with the help of our secretary Merry Bullock.

Currently I am coordinating -together with my sister Rocio, professor at the University of Cadiz- a publication in the International Journal of Social Psychology (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02134748.2020.1786793) of a monograph on HUMAN RIGHTS, DIGNITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE: FROM KNOWLEDGE TO ACTION, open to the entire scientific community. All  of the articles in both Spanish and English,  were presented not only in Cadiz, but also in many of the annual meetings of the ICP, because it seemed to me that they have not been published since 2012, when we jointly published the proceedings of the Seville and Washington Congresses (see publication in: http://grupo.us.es/generoysocdelcto/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Celebrating-70-years-of-working-towards-Health-Peace-and-Social-Justice.pdf). The International Journal of Social Psychology, like any scientific journal, has a set of rules and a system of peer review, which will select those papers that comply with all the required standards and best fit the proposed topic.   Soon we will call for articles through the ICP website which, in principle, I think may be free of charge neither for the ICP, nor for the authors of the various articles.

The last issue I have to address is the nominations for the presidency of the ICP -after the presidency of Josephine Tann- since in our statutes this is one of the functions of the Past Presidents. I believe that those who accede to the presidency of the ICP have to be people willing to serve our association without getting anything in return, except the friendship of its members and the honor of having served our international community of psychologists, which is no small thing.  It has been a pleasure!

 

Español: Tras algo más de un año de Presidencia del ICP, debo en primer lugar volver a agradecer la elección a quienes depositaron su confianza en mí, para a continuación, pasar a  reflexionar sobre la experiencia vivida.

Mi principal excusa para no haber querido ocupar el cargo cuando me lo propusieron con anterioridad, fue siempre mi falta de dominio del idioma inglés y –efectivamente- este ha sido mi único problema. En el relevo presidencial, debo agradecer a Natalie Porter que minimizara los formalismos de la ceremonia del traspaso de poderes y que coordinara ella la reunión de la Junta Directiva entrante. Porque mientras la comunicación fue por escrito y con tiempo para traducir lo leído, no hubo problema alguno, pero cuando la comunicación hubo de ser cara a cara o -posteriormente- a través de un teléfono u ordenador, las dificultades de comprensión se acentuaron y la comunicación se hizo mucho más lenta.

Esta es también una de las razones por las que no he podido reclutar para nuestras filas más personas provenientes de la comunidad de habla hispana. Aunque pienso que el principal problema para ello, ha sido el coste de nuestras cuotas, unido al alto precio de la asistencia a nuestros encuentros anuales (inscripción, viaje y alojamiento), excesivo para los salarios de gran parte de la población latinoamericana.

Una de mis mayores satisfacciones, fue la organización de la 77 Conferencia Anual del ICP en Cádiz (España), con ayuda de mi grupo de investigación y del excelente apoyo de la Universidad de Cádiz, a la que me unen lazos entrañables y también, con la ayuda de nuestra secretaria Merry Bullock.

En la actualidad estoy coordinando –junto con mi hermana Rocío, profesora de la Universidad de Cádiz- la publicación en la Revista Internacional de Psicología Social (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02134748.2020.1786793) de un monográfico sobre DERECHOS HUMANOS, DIGNIDAD Y JUSTICIA SOCIAL: DEL CONOCIMIENTO A LA ACCIÓN, abierto a toda la comunidad científica y a todos aquellos artículos tanto en español como en inglés, presentados no sólo en Cádiz, sino también en muchos de los encuentros anuales del ICP, porque creo recordar que no se publican desde 2012, en que publicamos conjuntamente las actas de los Congresos de Sevilla y Washington (ver publicación en: http://grupo.us.es/generoysocdelcto/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Celebrating-70-years-of-working-towards-Health-Peace-and-Social-Justice.pdf). La Revista Internacional de Psicología Social, como toda revista científica, tiene unas normas y un sistema de revisión por pares, desde donde seleccionaremos aquellos trabajos que -reuniendo todos los estándares exigidos- mejor se adapten a la temática propuesta.  En breve haremos la llamada a artículos a través de la web del ICP que, en principio, pienso que podrán ser sin coste alguno ni para el ICP, ni para los autores de los diversos artículos.

El último tema que me queda pendiente son las candidaturas a la presidencia del ICP -tras la presidencia de Josephine Tann- ya que en nuestros estatutos ésta es uno de los funciones de los Pasados-Presidentes. Considero que quienes opten a la presidencia del ICP han de ser personas dispuestas a servir a nuestra asociación sin obtener nada a cambio, salvo la amistad de sus afiliados y el honor de haber servido a nuestra comunidad internacional de psicólogos, que no es poco. Ha sido un placer!!!

Thank you, Ana Guil

Natalie Porter, Past President

As Ana Guil-Bozal, PhD ends her term as President of ICP, it is fitting that we recognize her significant contributions to ICP over many years. Ana first served on the Board of Directors more than a decade ago; she hosted two ICP conferences in Spain, and she has contributed mightily to the feminist and international scholarship of the organization.

Ana’s commitment to a psychology that embodies social justice and feminism is apparent throughout her history with ICP. In 2012, she chaired the 70^th Conference, “Celebrating 70 years of working toward health, peace, and social justice: Women and immigration in Sevilla. In 2020, she hosted the 78^th Conference, “Human rights, dignity, and justice: From knowledge to action” in Cádiz. Both conferences highlighted activism and social justice movements as well as international scholarship on gender, immigration, health and well-being, and diversity. The conferences were also memorable in their showcasing of the cultural richness and beauty of southern Spain. Proceedings of the 2012 conference were published (Guil-Bozal, Ana; Comunian, Anna Laura; O’Roark, Anne. Celebrating 70 years of working towards health, peace and social justice. Arcibel. 2014), and Ana has secured funding from the University of Cádiz to publish proceedings from the 2020 conference.

Ana is a social psychologist and an EU Professor at the University of Seville. Her research has focused on women’s contributions to science, psychology, and technology and in exposing the barriers to women in their professional, scientific and technological roles. She leads the Research Group “Gender and Knowledge Society,” a group with research investigations on many facets of women’s lives. Ana has authored, or co-authored, 9 books, and 70+ chapters and journal articles on topics such as women and technology transfer, promotion in Andalusian public universities, the glass ceiling women in Spain, and sexism in educational institutions. Ana has also focused on women in Latin America, including guiding research investigations and theses in Colombia.

ICP recognized Ana for her important contributions. She received the Florence Denmark and Gori Gunwald Feminist Research and Service Award in 2012. Ana’s leadership is characterized by her warmth and inclusivity. She has made an indelible mark on ICP and on those of us who have worked for her. We thank her for her Presidency and work to date, and we look forward to her continued involvement.

Interim President/President-Elect’s Message

Interim-President/President-Elect report – submission to ICP Newsletter 2020 Sept 30
Josephine Tan

This is my first Presidential column for the ICP.  I have started as Interim President in light of Ana Guil’s decision to step down over the summer after having served one year as the ICP President (see Natalie Porter’s report on Elections and Nominations as well as her tribute to Ana Guil in this newsletter). Ana has made wonderful contributions to our organization, and we are fortunate that she remains with us as the Past President.  Through the transition, the ICP operations remain robust despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.  The Board and committees “meet” regularly over zoom and work collaboratively on a number of projects.  The report from the Secretary-General provides an excellent overview of the ICP activities, and detailed information about the various projects can be found in other reports in this newsletter.

I am truly excited about our first virtual ICP annual meeting that is scheduled for Dec 11-13 (see https://icpweb.org/icp-annual-conference/2020virtual/).  This is a chance to share your work with our global membership!  The fact that the meeting is entirely online means that you can participate from wherever you are, which makes it highly convenient and inexpensive.  So please encourage your colleagues and students to take advantage of this unique opportunity to discuss and network on an international platform.  We also have a lineup of exceptional invited speakers whose presentations are entirely accessible from your location.  Paradoxically, the virtual format of the ICP2020 meeting has given us the opportunity to come together with greater ease even as we have to physically distance ourselves.  Our hard-working ICP2020 planning and organizing committee members are (in alphabetical order):   Irma Barron, Merry Bullock, Erinn Cameron, Thomas Chacko, Mary Beth Kenkel, Amina Muazzam, Chris Mulchay, Natalie Porter (Chair), Elison Santos, and Josephine Tan.

In April this year when the pandemic was still in its early stage, the Board recognized that the world and life as we know it would be changed significantly.  It continues to change and where we will end up is a mystery.  An ad hoc group (Chair: Josephine Tan) consisting of individuals with an interest in ICP response to COVID-19 decided to share ideas and collaborate on projects related to the pandemic by holding regular meeting over zoom.  Projects to date include a special webinar series on COVID-19 and vulnerable peoples, an ICP Voices on the Pandemic set of video interviews with several ICP Board members, a pandemic survey developed by the Health & Wellness special interest group, a forthcoming webinar presentation on COVID and mental healthcare, a “building back better” blog, and a COVID remembrance stories project which started in Australia.  Updates on the projects are posted on the ICP website (see https://icpweb.org/icp-projects-in-the-time-of-covid/).  Current ad hoc group membership includes (alphabetical order): Naoki Asazuma, Merry Bullock, Elaine Congress, Florence Denmark, Machiko Fukuhara, Polli Hagenaars, Mary Beth Kenkel, Amina Muazzam, Sandra Neil,  Ann Marie O’Roark, Roswith Roth, Élison Santos and Josephine Tan.

The ICP continues to deliver well-attended webinars on topics of interest to the membership (see https://icpweb.org/icp-webinars/), thanks to Merry Bullock and Andrew Simon.  The webinars are free but you need to register for them.  The next one was scheduled for October 29 (will be rescheduled because one of the speakers became ill with COVID-19) and offered as part of the COVID-19 & Vulnerable Populations special series (Chair: Elaine Congress).  The focus will be on children during the pandemic and the distinguished speakers are Dr. Jan Kizilhan from Germany and Dr. Amina Abubakar from Kenya.  Children are impacted by the pandemic but remain invisible in many ways.  So please check out the webinar.

The Awards program (https://icpweb.org/awards/) continues to attract nominations of highly accomplished colleagues from all over the world.  It is run by our very capable Awards Chair, Mary Beth Kenkel, who works with our very capable awards selection committee chairs:  Naoki Asazuma (Fukuhara Award), Florence Denmark (Frances Mullen Award), Roswith Roth (Denmark-Gunvald Award), and Cecilia Cheng (Sukemune-Bain Award).  We will be sending a call for the 2021 awards nomination with specified deadlines sometime in the next couple of months.  Even so, it is not too early for you to reflect on whom you would like to nominate for the awards, and begin preparation of the nomination materials.

Andrew Simon is in charge of Membership and we are delighted to welcome new members (see https://icpweb.org/membership/).  Membership has many benefits, and you will get to meet really great colleagues from different parts of the world, develop international collaborative networks, and expand the scope of what you are already doing.  It is especially attractive for students and early career professionals.  We have deliberately kept our membership fees low and stratified so that the ICP is affordable and accessible to everyone.

Our ICP representatives to the UN – Florence Denmark (New York), Roswith Roth (Vienna), and Anna Laura Comunian (Geneva) – make sure that we have current information of global relevance to inform our work.  There will be some additions to our ICP representatives as there is so much that is going on in the international scene.  You can get updates from https://icpweb.org/icp-un/.  The ICP is proud to support issues relating to anti-racism, gender equality, anti-violence, climate change, and others, in collaboration with other NGOs, and will continue to do so.

The Global Network of Psychologists for Human Rights (see http://humanrightspsychology.org/) co-chaired by Polli Hagenaars and Merry Bullock serves a vital role for the discipline of psychology that is increasingly incorporating issues of human rights and social justice into its curriculum and activities.  I urge you to check it out.  The Global Network is unique in that it is an excellent resource for international networking and informational materials for psychologists who have an interest in matters of human rights.

All our activities could not be communicated to you on a regular basis without our creative ICP newsletter Editor, Ada Sinacore.  The newsletter (see https://icpweb.org/icp-newsletter/) is a critical avenue of information distribution and keeps us connected and integrated as an organization with common purpose.  It allows you to track of issues and activities that are relevant to you and your work, and perhaps it might spark an interest in you about increasing your involvement in the ICP.  We definitely hope so.

The ICP is very fortunate to have a Board consisting of dedicated and talented individuals from different countries, and who are in different stages of their career from students to well-established professionals.  Diversity promotes creativity, flexible thinking, and better decision-making.  Our Secretary-General, Merry Bullock, is truly indispensable.  She is our point person who knows all the ins and outs of the ICP.  She is also very well-connected to the international psychology community, and her vast knowledge of the different network connections have helped to further our work many times.

Although much of the organization work is being done by the extended ICP Board and standing committees and ad hoc groups, there is plenty of opportunity for you to give us feedback, offer suggestions, let us know of your activities that are relevant to the mission of the ICP.  If you have ideas, we are highly interested in hearing from you.  Want to be more involved with the ICP?  Get in touch with us.  We very much want to have diverse representation.  As you go through the newsletter, you will be able to identify who works on what projects, and you can get in touch with them directly.  If you would like to start something new and think that it might fit with the mission of the ICP, let us know.

In conclusion, I hope that you and your loved one stay well and healthy.  I also hope that you will take advantage of all the benefits that ICP membership offers you and feel free to get in touch with us with your ideas, suggestions, and feedback.

Report from the Secretariat

State of the ICP from the Secretariat’s point of view

Looking outside it is a typical, North American fall afternoon – the light alternates between warm sun and shadows and cooler overcast, flowers are sending out their last hurrah’s of color, and birds are raucously flying practice formations as they head south.

This colorful mélange of activities characterizes ICP as well. Like many organizations, ICP has been active in planning outreach to members and beyond, and in changing its own internal workings to accommodate the “new” realities of the pandemic. In a way, the pandemic has been energizing from an organizational perspective. ICP members have developed several new initiatives (you can read details in this issue of the newsletter), collaborated with new partners, and worked hard to maintain the essence of the organization: a focus on human rights, dignity and justice; and a commitment to mentoring, collaboration and international exchange.

Here is just a short recap:

1. There are new ICP COVID-19 related projects. These include a video series with thoughts from some ICP Board members; a webinar series on Vulnerable Populations and COVID-19, and a Blog-commentary series to foster discussion on how psychology can contribute to “building back better” as we all emerge from this health pandemic. In addition, ICP is the host for showcasing some individual projects such as collecting a broad collection of reactions to COVID-19 from Australia and beyond. (see ADD LINK)
2. The ICP-cosponsored network Global Network of Psychologists for Human Rights developed web pages devoted to COVID-19 and human rights – to point out the human rights issues that are raised by or exacerbated by conditions of the pandemic and responses to the pandemic. The Network will launch officially in December 2020 (on Human Rights Way) but you can get a peek now at humanrightspsychology.org (and see how to participate)!
3. And last, ICP is still holding its annual conference – but in an exciting online, virtual format. This is new and still a work in progress, but promises to three days of learning and discussion. The goal is to pair talks/lectures with open discussion forums, and all online! We hope everyone will join in December 11-13 to get to interact with ICP colleagues. We are especially excited because the online format means that psychologists and psychology students from all over the world can participate – there are no travel costs, and the registration fees are low and affordable. (see ADD LINK)

From the Secretariat’s perspective this is an exciting and active time – there are conference calls on the various ICP activities, new and old, a few times a week; conference planning is exciting as we collectively begin to implement plans for how to encourage something close to meeting new people in the hallway of a conference venue. It is also a time for reflection on how we can use the opportunities of increased (and only) online outreach and communication to showcase the opportunities for addressing human rights, dignity and justice through ICP membership and engagement.

The ICP Board meeting will be active this fall! All members who are interested are invited to attend as observers – see the listserv announcements.  And of course remember – if you have any questions, or if you would like to be engaged with ICP activities in a committee or task force or interest group, please let us know at icpincinfo@gmail.com

Merry Bullock
ICP Secertary-General

ICP Treasurer’s Report

Nancy M. Sidun, PsyD, ABPP, ATR

This treasurer’s report will be short and sweet – bottom line, we are financially sound, and our monetary holdings remain consistent. There is also a slight promise of ending this year with an increased balance as having a virtual conference has allowed us to save some money.  More importantly, our membership is growing. Historically the vast majority of our income has come from our membership dues. It is also my great pleasure to introduce our new members of the finance committee, Dr. Irma Barron and Dr. Chris Mulchay. It is very exciting as the finance committee has been dormant and with Drs. Barron and Mulchay coming onboard, the finance committee will be able to provide guidance and recommendation to the ICP board.

Irma M Barron, PhD lives in Miami Beach, Florida and is Professor and Practicum Coordinator in the Doctoral Program in Psychology at Albizu University, Miami Campus where she teaches couples and family systems psychology and is responsible for the external field placement of doctoral students, serves on the Middle States and APA Accreditation Committees. Dr. Barron is an Executive Board Member to the Domestic Violence Sexual Assault Council of Greater Miami (DVSAC); Florida Interest Network (FIN) of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (AAMFT), and the Florida Family Research Network (FFRN) dedicated to the study of Bowen natural systems theory, and holds clinical memberships locally, nationally, and internationally. Professional presentations and publications are on Human and Sex Trafficking of Men, Boys, and LGBTQIA+, and climate change impacting marginalized and vulnerable persons in particular children and adolescents experiencing anxiety and depression. She is engaged in numerous outreach activities, and community service appointments providing years of pro bono community service to non-profit and grassroots organizations. Dr. Barron has provided international disaster crisis counseling. She is a certified chair yoga teacher and is fluent in English and Spanish.

Chris Mulchay, PhD is a licensed psychologist in both North Carolina and Hawai’i. His practice focuses on three types of assessments: ADHD, learning disorders, and custodial evaluations. Dr. Mulchay moved to Asheville from Hawai’i, where he completed his postdoc. He was one of a small team of three professionals to establish clinics in rural areas of Hawai’i. They had a federal grant to conduct multidisciplinary evaluations for family court.  Dr. Mulchay is honored to serve as a moderator for The Testing Psychologist, president for his local psychological association and as regional rep for his state psychological association. He is also proud to be on a few committees of the International Council of Psychologists. Outside of work, Dr. Mulchay enjoys spending time with his family and his two Australian Shepherds. He enjoys spending time on the water (surfing, paddling, swimming), hiking in the mountains or attending a concert.