February 2023 | Newsletter Updates
Utility & Impact of Assessment Taskforce | SPA Convention | CS-R and Supplementary Scales Training | Community Events & News | Job Postings
Utility and Impact of Assessment Taskforce
We are in need of your content expertise and TODAY (February 2nd) is the last day to join the Taskforce!
What will you be asked to do on the Taskforce?
Specific responsibilities of this taskforce will include but are not limited to:
- Evaluating the grant proposals submitted for the one-time Utility and Impact of Assessment Grant (More information available in March)
- Developing online programs related to this topic,
- Identifying relevant articles and resources to be posted on the SPA website, and
- Discussing the potential concept of a special issue dedicated to this topic.
We expect no more than 2-3 hours of meetings and outside work per month outside of the grant review processes, and the goals the taskforce sets for itself may necessitate a larger time commitment. The first meeting of the taskforce will occur sometime between February 20 and March 3. All meetings will be virtual and will occur through Zoom.
Help SPA continue its focus on the tactic of defining the utility & impact of personality assessment and communicating its value. Click here to review the updated Strategic Framework.
2023 SPA Convention
We're getting closer to the 2023 SPA Convention! If you haven't reviewed what sessions will be presented you can do so by clicking here. We have several deadlines coming back so make sure to mark your calendars with the dates below. Register to attend in-person or virtual before our early bird pricing ends.
Upcoming Deadlines!
February 3 | Book Signing Table at Convention
February 15 | Early-Bird Rate Ends
February 15 | Austin Marriott Downtown Hotel Reservations
February 20 | Poster Evaluations
March 17 | Submit Items to the Silent Auction
March 24 | Volunteer for the Convention
CS-R and Supplementary Scales Training
June 9 & 10, 2023 in Helsinki (Finland)
November 10, 17, & 30, 2023 (Online)
This training opportunity is available to members of SPA and psychologists working with the CS and/or R-PAS who want to learn about the CS-R, the new scoring program CHESSSS 2 that goes with it, and the empirically validated Supplementary Scales, which one can use to enhance the scope of Rorschach assessment.
Participants can register to the full training, or only to one of these two parts. For additional information please click button below.
Community Events & News
- Events: View the upcoming R-PAS webinars. Click on each title to register and to review abstracts. SPA members - use the code SPA10 to receive a 10% discount on the training.
Introduction to R-PAS: Rationale, Administration, Coding, and Interpretation
Meyer & Mihura
27 CEs
Full days: May 4 & 5 (9 am to 5 pm EDT) Half days: May 6, 7, 12 & 13, 2023 (11 am to 3 pm EDT)
Introduction to R-PAS: Rationale, Administration, Coding, and Interpretation
Viglione, Keddy, & Kleiger
25.5 CEs
Sept 21, 22, 23, 26 and 27 11am to 5pm EDT
Introduction to the Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS) For Users of Exner’s Comprehensive System (CS)
Viglione & Kleiger
14 CEs
June 15, 16, & 17 (11 am to 4:30 pm EDT) - Call for Presenters: The TAPP Lab at FDU is seeking researchers interested in co-presenting on issues related to *NSSI & pain* at the upcoming 2023 ISSPD Congress in Sydney, Australia. If you are interested, please contact Dr. Benjamin Johnson at benjaminjohnson@fdu.edu. Hope to see you all there!
- Local Assessment Organization: Collaborative Assessment Association of the Bay Area (CAABA) is a small non-profit organization located in the SF Bay Area. We offer monthly live webinar 1.5 CE sessions on various assessment topics. While we aim to support our local community, we welcome assessment psychologists, from around the United States. We have a minimal annual membership fee and are student friendly. CAABA members attend our monthly CE sessions for no additional cost. As we grow, we hope to provide more CE opportunities focused on collaborative assessment Check out our past and upcoming events via www.CAABA.info and please let us know if you have any interest in presenting in the future.
- Event: The International Rorschach Institute is pleased to announce two 2-day introductory workshops on the Exner Comprehensive System-Revised (CS-R). The CS-R is the newly published revised edition of the Exner Comprehensive System authorized by Rorschach Workshops. Both workshops will be taught by Patrick Fontan, one of the co-authors of the CS-R. These will be the first two CS-R offerings to be given in the United States.The first workshop will be in Miami, FL on February 24 & 25, 2023. This workshop is available for in-person and online.attendance and has been accredited by the APA for 12 Continuing Education credits. Click here for more information.
The second workshop will be in New York City at Pace University on March 3 & 4, 2023. It has been accredited by both the APA and NYSPA for 12 Continuing Education credits. An announcement is coming soon but interested individuals can email Dr. John Stokes at jstokes@pace.edu for further information."
- APA Award: Congratulations to Aidan Wright for being selected for APA's Distinguished Scientific Early Career Contributions to Psychology Award! Also, for publishing piece along co-cautors Aaron Pincus, Whitney Ringwald, and Chris Hopwood in the American Pscyhologist on Personality Disorders with Implications for Assessment. Abstract: Personality disorders (PDs) are among the most common and severe classes of psychopathology. From a clinical perspective, it is challenging to help individuals with personality disorders because treatment ruptures, discontinuation, reversals, and failures are relatively common. An additional clinical challenge is that the model used to diagnose personality disorders is demonstrably incorrect. Recent efforts to improve diagnosis of personality disorders apply two criteria: the first distinguishes personality disorders from other kinds of psychopathology and the second distinguishes different types of personality disorders. However, this approach has been problematic in that, as currently operationalized, it does not provide a clear demarcation for personality disorders, and it uses a framework for individual differences that is more apt as a model of variation in psychopathology in general. This article proposes that the core of personality disorders involves difficulties understanding and relating to self and others, and thus the personality disorders should be recast as the interpersonal disorders. Interpersonal dysfunction explains extreme social challenges and treatment difficulties that are characteristic of this class of psychopathology. This approach provides a clearer model for distinguishing these kinds of problems, as demonstrated by reformulating traditional personality disorder symptoms from an interpersonal perspective. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
- Event: Introducing the Rorschach Comprehensive System - Revised (CS-R): Therory & Practice (Two-Day Workshop). Rorschach Workshops in conjunction with the International Rorschach Institute have just published the first revision of the CS since 2003 (Exner, Fontan & Andronikof, 2022). The CS-R continues the long tradition of using Exner’s CS in an empirically validated fashion, while introducing some new scoring variables and psychometric changes but still allowing for considerable clinical flexibility as well as expansion and future research. The CS-R employs a new computer scoring program (CHESSSS-2), which relies upon validated clinical cut-off scores, but also allows clinicians to compare protocols to national reference samples as well as clinical samples. The CHESSSS-2 program automatically calculates some variables which have been validated since the previous CS version (e.g., Ego Impairment Index-3, Reality Fantasy Scale), but also allows users to enter coding variables that comprise supplementary scales (e.g., Gacano & Smith’s Aggressive Content Scores, Weinberger-Katzav & Bornstein’s Rorschach Oral Dependency Scale, Cooper, Perry & Arnow’s Rorschach Defense Scales). However, such scales are still viewed as supplementary in nature and are not required for CHESSSS-2 Input or CS-R Interpretation. For more information, click here. To register, use this email address, psychologyCEcredits@pace.edu to request your registration.
- Event: ISSPD is excited to announce that their Early Bird Registration is now open for the ISSPD 2023 Congress that will take place 1st-3rd November 2023 at SMC, Sydney. The Congress will be an opportunity for world leading researchers and master clinicians to share their knowledge, students to engage with more senior colleagues and showcase their research and careers, and consumers to engage with the clinical and research world. For more information, click here.
- Event: XXIV Congress of the International Society for the Rorschach and Projective Methods- Join ISR for their Congress July 9-12, 2024 in Copenhagen, Denmark. For more information, please visit rorschachcph2024.dk.
- Editoral Fellowships for Early Career Professionals: Many APA journals offer editorial fellowship programs for early-career psychologists from historically excluded groups. These programs seek to elevate leadership opportunities in research and publishing for members of communities that have been historically underserved. Fellowships are open to individuals who have completed their education/training and are no more than 10 years postdoctoral. Candidates may hold a position at the rank of assistant professor (or equivalent, such as a research scientist). Visit the APA Journals webpage for details on qualifications, responsibilities, and how to apply. Click here to explore fellowship opportunities.