As the APA Annual Convention approaches, you will begin looking at sessions. You may be looking for sessions that will give you needed CEUs, expand your research interests, or simply because there are so many look like interesting talks. During each session, as you sit listening to cutting-edge research evidence, ask yourself, “How can this be translated?” Consider whether you can integrate what you learn from these talks into your own area of expertise to inform public policy and funding priorities. Remember that your ideas don’t need to apply simply at the federal level (a scope that can be daunting). You can act locally, where you are more likely to be able to have ready access and the ability to make inroads with local policy makers.
This convention, there is a Div. 37 session (for CE credit) that is particularly relevant to our advocacy focus. From 10-11:50 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 10 in Moscone Room 157 there will be a symposium entitled “Future Directions for Research in Child Maltreatment: Innovation in Science, Education, and Policy.” Also consider “A Researcher, a Clinician, and a Lawyer Walk Into a Bar—Using Psychology to Advance the Greater Good,” an invited symposium (also for CE credit) about making social changes. That symposium will be on Saturday, Aug. 11 from 9-10:50 a.m. in Moscone Room 105. You will want to hear the talks given by our advocacy award winners for Div. 37 from 12-12:50 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 11, and hear real-life stories about how Div. 37 members made a noticeable difference to those around them. You can also literally experience the Walk-a-Mile interactive on Friday, Aug. 10 from 4-5:50 p.m.—an experience you can translate to coordinate in your own agencies, institutions, and communities.
The point is, the information you absorb at convention does not need to stop with you. You can share what you learn with others—pay it forward!
Stay tuned for a new effort I am working on with your (yes, that’s you, Div. 37 members!) input to create a toolkit we can use to advance a specific initiative that has flowed from the Task Force on Physical Discipline, co-sponsored by Divs. 37 and 7. This toolkit will be designed to help folks start the conversation on a topic that can be difficult but one without political overtones—a good practice for other, potentially more contentious issues. I am hoping this will be the first such toolkit exercise that we can provide members to engage in issues to raise your voices locally.
Keep a lookout for an email for the first toolkit creation call. Great practice for folks who are trying to figure out how to make a difference and how to make contacts locally—once you practice one, it becomes that much easier to know how to engage and who to engage in the future. If you want a glimpse at a toolkit, check out this one from the Melissa Instituteopens in new window following the March for Our Lives on violence prevention.
Until then, make APA Convention a chance to learn how to raise your voice.