newsletter october 2014 - australian psychological society · newsletter october 2014 cedp news -...
TRANSCRIPT
Hello readers,
It was decided to delay the September issue until some of the team attended the 49th APS conference in the historical city of Hobart (September 28 – October 3).
This conference provided a variety of applied and research knowledge to a number of delegates including excellent presentations from members the CEDP.
One of my top picks was from Keynote Speaker Dr Nadine Kaslow, president of the American Psychological Association presenting on scientific communication and psychology. It has certainly given me more ideas in my work for the newsletter!
This issue will include some of the highlights as many of us could not attend all the sessions. I hope you find yourself informed.
Also don’t forget to access the embedded links as highlighted in the articles. If you would like to contribute for future newsletters please contact [email protected]
Kathryn Kallady – editor Alex Dawson – sub-editor
In this issue: • CEDP AGM summary
• APS conference Highlights
• New APS testing guidelines
• Exhibit Review - The Mind: Enter the Labyrinth • Upcoming PD
Newsletter October 2014
Get Involved! We are looking for reporters/superheroes who are willing to contribute their ideas via writing for the newsletter or to keep up to date daily: access Twitter and Linkedin.
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The CEDP AGM was held at the APS conference on Wednesday October 1st.
This was Paul Bertoia’s final meeting in the role of Chair. Paul reported on the achievements of the College since the last AGM, and particularly noted the 30th Birthday of the CEDP celebration, the conference in March 2014, and the progress in our Journal.
Paul has worked tirelessly in his role as Chair and members would be surprised at how many volun-tary hours go into this role. As a leader Paul has shown great ca-pacity to be well prepared, keep the committee on track, calm all players, and maintain a cheerful persona. He was congratulated and thanked for his substantial contribution. We will not totally let him go as he stays on as Past Chair for the next year.
At this meeting the new commit-tee was ratified. We warmly welcome Dr John Roodenburg from Monash University as the new Chair. John is passionate about the contribution Education-al Psychology makes to children, schools and families and he leads a new committee that has taken on the task of marketing our particular branch of psychology so that the public and agencies become better informed about what can be gained by engaging an Educational and Developmen-tal Psychologist.
Newsletter October 2014
CEDP NEWS - AGM
New committee members, David Hamilton and Vivienne Seidner, were welcomed. Lydia Hohous was thanked for her contribution and farewelled. The Committee now also has an ex-officio posi-tion for the Psychology in Schools Interest group, as our interests clearly have a strong synergy.
Vicki McKenzie
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Taking on the many challenges as chair of the CEDP.
APS Conference Summary
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Chris Pratt opened the session by addressing the role of assessment in schools for funding applications and the differences observed in each state of Australia. In sum, every state man-ages assessment criteria and finding differently.
But what is ‘Good Practice?’ Walter Howe and Tim Hannen presented different perspectives in the role of psychological assessment for school students.
Firstly, Walter Howe described that, “Assessment is to inform interven-tion… Not funding”. He also expand-ed on the changing paradigm shift of current perspectives in cognition theory especially in with regard to Cattel-Horn-Theroy (CHC) Model and Response to Intervention (RTI) mod-el. Psychological assessment should inform intervention and support our students. It is common practice that school psychologists do an assess-ment because: “The Paediatrician asked for it,” or “The School wants one.” It is evident, from Howe’s per-spective, that Educational and De-velpmental psychologists need to be better informed and equipped with interventions that meet the needs of the student. If the intervention is not successful, then testing is required.
NEW APS Guidelines!Rebecca Matthews launched the APS “Practice guide for the assessment of school-age students in educational contexts” This has been a project for the APS Test and Testing Group in conjunction with Speech Pathology Australia. It can be accessed here.
“Conducting Assessment in Schools. Good Practice for Testing Times”Session presented by: Chris Pratt, Walter Howe, Tim Hannan and Rebecca Matthews
Figure 1. Tim Hannan’s summary on the process of assessment
Tim Hannan’s perspective on assess-ment is: “[test] for treatment… and [to] identify the nature and severity of a child’s difficulties.”
He also poses an alternative perspec-tive to Howe, where he explains that selecting tests based only on the spe-cific referral question (e.g. reading disorder) may prevent practitioners seeing other deficits/abilities that are present.
In short, although there are differing opionions regarding assessment, we as psychologists need to THINK why we assess, and make sure that the as-sessments we use and adminster an-swer not only the referral question, but also help reveal additional infor-mation for the benefit and wellfare of our clients.
Kathryn Kallady
“Assessment is to infrom inter-vention...Not funding”
-Walter Howe-
Exhibit ReviewThe Mind: Enter the LabyrinthThe Melbourne Museum offers an exceptional spread of exhibits covering a variety of topics that are sure to pique the interest of curious individuals of all ages. Amongst these exhibits, The Mind: Enter the Labyrinth offers an engaging and interactive way to experience psychology from the past and present. Visitors progress through the labyrinthian display, passing through various rooms which illustrate an array of topics, including: the history of psychology, emotion, perception, memory, dreams, cognition, and some psychopathology. While information is primarily presented via text on the exhibit walls, the inclusion of interactive elements, such as an Ames room in the perception exhibit, offer a welcome change of pace. Psychology history en-thusiasts will appreciate several historical items on show, includ-ing an isolation chamber from Kew Asylum, the original Skinner box, an ECT unit among several other artefacts. While not as scientifically rigorous or critical as a textbook or journal article, the information presented is generally solid, serving as a decent psychology primer. The exhibit was designed to be on display over a ten-year period, ending in 2017.
Entrance into the museum, including this exhibit, is free for chil-dren, students and concessions, and $12 for adults.
Further information about the exhibit can be found at the Mel-bourne Museum website, here.
Alex Dawson
Newsletter October 2014
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A short, but enriching, ‘how to’ session from Jackie Short, Psychologist and Director for The Sydney Centre for Creative Change demonstrated the power of Play Therapy and meeting the challenge of counselling children. A highly interactive session where Rogerian and humanistic theory come into practice in a fun and insightful form. Jackie demonstrated the power of observation and acceptance as a means to help the child as opposed to di-rective and questioning therapy as frequently practice by psychologists. Jackie and her team will be providing addition professional development in 2015 with these exciting topics:
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Short Successful Session in Play Therapy
APS Conference Summary
The Art of GrievingNovember 5-6 Beate Steller
Symbol Making WorkshopNovember 8 Jennifer Frede
Creative Therapy with Young People October 27-28 Jacki Short
Creative Interventions with Children with Anxiety
November 24-25 Jacki Short
Watch this space: CEDP conference in planning for 2015.
More details announced in future newsletters
Newsletter October 2014
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Name Committee Role EmailJohn Roodenburg Chair [email protected] McKenzie Deputy Chair/ Newsletter
Santo Russo Membership Secretary / Qld Rep
Linda Gilmore Chair of the Course Approv-als Committee
Jenny Promnitz Chair of the Continuing PD Committee
Gerald Wurf Secretary [email protected] Allen Treasurer / Webmaster [email protected] Boyle Journal Editor [email protected] Seidner Victorian Rep [email protected] Campbell NSW Rep [email protected] Russo Qld Rep [email protected] Joyce WA Rep [email protected] Connell SA Rep [email protected] Fraser Tasmanian Rep [email protected] Crigan Student Rep [email protected] Swalwell Committee Member / Early
Intervention [email protected] .
TBA Committee Member / Older Persons Rep
n/a
Susan O’Brien Committee Member [email protected] Thielking PISIG (ex officio) [email protected] Stops (APS) Psychology in Schools
Advisor (ex officior)[email protected]
APS CEDP 2014 National Committee Members