During the past decade the number of forced migrants including refugees and asylum seekers has reached crisis proportions with the highest historic levels of migration. Children separated from their families have made headlines around the world. Responding to the needs of refugees requires a variety of roles by psychologists. The symposium, The Diverse Roles of Psychologists in Working with Refugees and Immigrants was organized at the 2019 APA Convention in Chicago to highlight the various ways psychologists can help provide support. Participants included Sita Patel, Claudia Antuna, Brigitte Khoury, Betsy Gard, and Diana Prescott. Elizabeth Carll chaired the event and Nadine Kaslow served as the discussant. The symposium received excellent feedback from the attendees.
To encourage participation of international students at the APA convention, Division 56 offers a $1000 International Student Travel Stipend to support travel to the convention. A free one-year membership in Division 56 is also included. The stipend is intended for international students enrolled in a graduate program in psychology, who are citizens of and live and study in developing countries or are citizens from developing countries studying in the U.S. who will be presenting a trauma related poster, paper or participating in a symposium at the 2019 APA convention. The recipient of 2019 Travel Stipend to the APA Convention in Chicago was Christina Silvera from Jamaica, a graduate student working toward her master’s degree in Clinical Psychology at The University of the West Indies. She presented a poster at the APA Convention on young women’s perception of aggression.
A thank you to Jyothi Vayalakkara, Felicitas Kort, and Laura Captari, who served as the selection subcommittee of the International Committee to determine the recipient.
One of the initiatives of the International Committee is the series of interviews conducted by student members with trauma psychologists residing in various parts of the world. Previous interviews have been with trauma psychologists from Africa, Asia, Australia, South America, and Europe. If you would like to recommend a trauma psychologist residing outside of the U.S. to be interviewed by a student member of the committee, please contact Elizabeth Carll, PhD at ecarll@optonline.net. These interviews give an opportunity for graduate student interviewers to connect with international trauma psychologists and simultaneously provide a glimpse into the work of psychologists residing in other parts of the world.
