April 2025 | Newsletter Updates
Grand Rounds | Culture in Assessment | Convention News | HiTOP Convention | MMPI/MPQ Workshops & Research Symposium | Nominations | Community Events & News | Job Postings
Grand Rounds - Free Member Benefit
May Grand Round
The Current State of the SCORS-G Affairs: Summary of Research, Meta-Analytic Insights, Limitations, and Practical Guidelines for Clinical Use
May 7th | 12:00 pm ET | 1 CE
Presenter: Dr. Michelle Stein
This presentation provides a comprehensive review of over 25 years of research on the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale-Global Rating Method (SCORS-G), a widely used tool for analyzing Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) narratives in personality assessment. While primarily focusing on SCORS-G’s use with the TAT, the session will also cover its application to other narrative data, standardization practices, reliability, validity, limitations, and practical guidelines for clinical integration aligned with Evidence-Based Practices in Psychology (EBPP).
June Grand Round
Psychological Assessment of Emotional Dysregulation in Children and Adolescents: An Overview of Essential Considerations
June 4th | 12:00 pm ET | 1 CE
Presenter: Dr. Anthony Bram
This presentation explores the psychological assessment of emotional dysregulation in children and adolescents, with a focus on identifying bipolar spectrum conditions. It will cover an evidence-based, diversity-sensitive multimethod approach, the use of collateral-report, self-report, and performance-based measures, differential diagnosis considerations, and the importance of treatment implications.
Culture in Assessment Webinar Series
February 14–July 29
This webinar series is presented by SPA and the Society for Clinical Psychology, Division 12 of American Psychological Association. Based on the Wiley publication, Essentials of Culture in Psychological Assessment, this series features editor A. Jordan Wright and chapter authors exploring the role of culture in psychological assessment. Designed to help assessors acknowledge and address cultural influences, these webinars offer up to 9 essential CE opportunities for your practice.
- April 8 | Collecting Cultural Information (Dr. A. Jordan Wright) | 1 CE
- April 30 | Ensuring Fairness and Mitigating Boas in Psychological and Educational Testing (Dr. Jessica Jonson & Dr. Janet F. Carlson) | 1 CE
- May 19 | Culture and Cognitive Measures in Psychological Assessment (Dr. Lisa Suzuki, Jen Ang, & Aakriti Prasai) | 1 CE
- June 18 | Assessment of Academic Achievement in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students (Dr. Jeffrey P. Braden) | 1 CE
- July 15 | Culture and Tests of Personality and Psychopathology (Taylor Rodriguez & Dr. Joye Anestis) | 1 CE
- July 29 | Assessment of Behavioral and Social-Emotional Functioning Children (Dr. Vincent C. Alfonso, Miriam W. Carlson, & Ridge Joseph Bynum) | 1 CE
You can register for one webinar, a few, or the entire series. Previous webinar recordings are available. Click here for more information.
2025 SPA Convention
Convention Evaluation
This evaluation should take approximately 10 minutes to complete. By providing your feedback, we are able to determine what changes need to be made for the following convention.
Deadline to complete is April 21, 2025
Continuing Education Credits
Completing Your Evaluation
- You MUST first log into your profile using the email you used to register.
- Navigate to the schedule and click on the session title you attended.
- Then click on the purple 'Evaluation' button on the session page.
- Once clicked, it will take you to the evaluation page.
- After you have completed the evaluation in its entirety, click on Submit Evaluation at the bottom of the page.
- After your evaluation has been submitted, you will see a green notification that it is has been successfully submitted.
Navigating to Your CE Certificate
- After you log into the web app, scroll down and click on the 'Credit Claiming Info' button.
- Click on 'Go to Certificate' button.
- Here you will see a list of all evaluations you have successfully submitted. This is where you will be able to download, print, and email your certificate.
Deadline to complete is April 21, 2025
2026 Convention Programming Committee
Do you have great ideas for the convention and would like to be more involved in the type of programming that is made available at convention? Consider joining the programming committee! Committee members are responsible for selecting the workshops and sessions during the convention, as well as working with SPA staff to plan the convention.
Deadline to submit application is May 1, 2025
Board Nominations
Deadline to Nominate is April 30
We're now accepting board nominations for the following positions. Click here to learn more.
- Presidential Roles
- Secretary
- Treasurer
- Representative-at-Large
MMPI/MPQ Workshops and Research Symposium
June 2–5 | Minneapolis, MN
Join us for two days of workshops then the research symposium and earn continuing education credits! You can register now with an early bird discount until Tuesday, April 15. Click here to learn more about this event.
Community Events & News
- New Book: Psychological Assessment of Emotional Dysregulation in Children and Adolescents -The Bipolar Spectrum and Beyond by Dr. ANTHONY D. BRAM. This book explains the process by which assessment psychologists can evaluate and report the nature and severity of emotional dysregulation in their young patients.
Click here to access the flyer with more information AND to get a discount code. - Survey:
We are currently conducting a Delphi study on the incremental validity of criterion A and B of the Alternative Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD). This study seeks to address one of the key questions in the field, “Do Criterion A (severity of personality functioning) and Criterion B (maladaptive personality traits) offer distinct and valuable contributions to diagnosing personality disorders?”, and aims to ask this question directly to clinicians and researchers who are familiar with the AMPD model.
Because of your previous research and/or expert knowledge on the AMPD model we would like to invite you to join this study and be a part of the expert panel evaluating this question.
This Delphi study consists of 3 rounds, in which the participants will be asked to fill in a survey on the topic of the incremental validity of both AMPD criteria.
You can join the study and find extra practical information via this link: https://vubpsych.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3E0sVcqm0uytaM
- Joint Letter: APA coordinated a letter that was sigened by many researchers, educators, and acadmics of the United States regarding the continued decline in public trust in scientists. A copy of the letter can be found here: https://unitedsciencealliance.org
- Request to Contact Policymakers: APA has also organized this action alert to allow individuals to contact policymakers to stop proposed policy changes at NIH that would harm the ability to continue to do research: https://www.votervoice.net/APAAdvocacy/Campaigns/121382/Respond
- Training: Wartegg Level 1 Training: A virtual training sequence for the Crisi Wartegg System (CWS) will begin in April 2025! The CWS is an empirically validated and standardized methodology (administration, scoring, interpretation) for the clinical use of the Wartegg Drawing Completion Test (WDCT)—an easy, efficient, and non-overwhelming performance-based personality measure that can be completed in 5-10 minutes and is appropriate across the lifespan. The CWS is recognized as a valid performance-based personality test that can be used for certification in Therapeutic Assessment. The Level 1 workshop focuses on history and statistical foundations, reviews standardized administration procedures, and builds proficiency in the normative scoring system. Following completion of Level 1, clinicians are able to independently administer the test with clients but require consultation for accurate scoring and interpretation. Levels 2 and 3 of the training sequence are described in the attached flyer. Online registration can be made at: https://sc-cca-com.3dcartstores.com/.
- Call for Symposium: ISSPD is currently accepting proposals through February 28th! Here's your chance to present a thought-provoking session that will explore successes and shortcomings in bridging the research-practice gap, empowering participants to deliver innovative, evidence-based care. You may include up to four speakers in your symposium proposal. Here are the top 5 reasons why you should submit a proposal. Click here for more information. Become an ISSPD Social Media Influence and you could win a complimentary registration to the Congress. Click here for more details.
- Training: The MNCCTA Winter 2025 Introduction to Therapeutic Assessment (TA) will occur February 7th, 14th, and 21st. This three-day, 9-hour virtual workshop is designed for professionals and graduate students interested in learning about the adult TA model. Participants will come to understand the core values and concepts of TA and the interpersonal stance that contribute to successful application of the model. We will walk through the distinct steps of the TA model, and clinical vignettes, including video and test data, will illuminate the application of this approach. Many takeaways will be provided, so assessors can begin applying these ideas in their practice. More information can be found here: https://www.mnccta.com/training-consultation
- Training: Rorschach Supplementary Scales Training with Dr. Jason M. Smith. This four half-day workshops on zoom will take place on Nov. 6, Nov. 13, Nov. 27, & Dec. 4, 2025. Click here for more information.
- Training: Complete Crisi Wartegg System (CWS) Online Training Sept.–Nov. 2025 with Drs. Emiliano Muzio and Alessandro Crisi. Click here for more information.
