Hosted by the AzPA Diversity Committee

Event Schedule
8:45 - 9:00 am Check-in
9:00 - 10:30 am Fear Factor: Let’s Talk About Power (1.5 CE)
10:30 - 10:45 pm Break
10:45 am - 12:15 pm Whiteness and the Clinical Relationship: Skills for Building Self-Awareness and Addressing Racial & Cultural Differences Impacting Clinical Care (1.5 CE)
12:15 - 1:00 pm Lunch Break
1:00 - 2:30 pm Addressing Power and Privilege in Psychotherapy (1.5 CE)
2:30 - 2:45 pm Break
2:45 - 4:15 pm Power Dynamics in Helping and Teaching Relationships (1.5 CE)

Registration
Attendees will be able to register for a half day or the full day. If you plan to attend half day, please select the appropriate half day ticket and indicate on the registration form if you plan to attend the AM or PM session. 

Fear Factor: Let’s Talk About Power 
Ashton Dessert, BS, Shannon Dodani, PsyD, Kevin O’Brien, PhD, Shirley Yang, PsyD

Let's Talk About Power is a panel conversation moderated by Dr. Dodani, featuring Dr. Yang, Dr. O’Brien, and Mr. Dessert as guest panelists. Panelists will reflect on their lived experiences and discuss the impact of power and privilege of intersectional identities in multiple settings (e.g., in training/supervision, school, professional practice, home life, and among peers/friends). The panel will also highlight and address perceptions of power based on an individual’s presentation as well as systems of power that may perpetuate ongoing power differentials in minority identifying populations. Reflecting on one’s identity variables and acknowledging areas in which one may present with more power and privilege than others can encourage cultural humility in psychological practice, positively impacting the therapeutic relationship with clients and facilitating professional and personal growth.

Program Level: Intermediate

Learning Objectives

1. Define intersectional identity and two variables that influence it.
2. Describe two ways intersectional identities can impact an individual’s power and privilege in various settings.
3. Identify one system of power that may perpetuate power differentials in minority identifying populations.

1.5 CE

Whiteness and the Clinical Relationship: Skills for Building Self-Awareness and Addressing Racial & Cultural Differences Impacting Clinical Care
Sarah Crouch, PsyD

Dr. Crouch will be speaking on the topic of whiteness in the clinical relationship and the importance of increasing self-awareness and developing skills for addressing racial and cultural differences in clinical care.  She will reference her dissertation work on the social-cultural messages that white youth in predominantly white areas receive while growing up and about their race and privilege. She will provide frameworks for increasing awareness and examples from her clinical work with families at University of California San Francisco.

Program Level: Intermediate

Learning Objectives

1. Identify three social-cultural messages white youth in a predominantly white community receive about their race and privilege.
2. Identify two personal responses to race and power dynamics in the clinical relationship.
3. Describe one way to address race and power dynamics in clinical relationship.

1.5 CE

Addressing Power and Privilege in Psychotherapy
Michelle Melton, PsyD 

Being culturally competent and humble psychotherapists calls us to be aware of and consider the social identities of clients, client communities, and ourselves in the treatment process. What has been established in the literature, and practice of psychotherapy, is to address differences and similarities in social identities in the therapy context to provide the best standard of care. However, the various dimensions of social identity should be considered more as encounters than attributes of individuals. Conceptualizing identities in a power relational framework acknowledges that intersections of social identities generate dynamic patterns of societal power, privilege, and oppression. Ongoing power negotiations influence the psychotherapeutic dyad with predictable themes of privilege and nonprivilege. It is imperative then, to engage in curiosity and honest self-exploration to acknowledge the hidden dynamics of power relations as we engage clients and client communities. The purpose of this talk is to illuminate patterns of societal power relations in psychotherapy, to provide opportunities for exploration of self as therapist, and addressing dynamics of power, privilege, and oppression in the therapeutic dyad.

Program Level: Intermediate

Learning Objectives

1. Identify two dimensions of cultural identity and social power/privilege in their personal and professional lives.
2. Describe two ways that power positions based on dimensions of identity show up in psychotherapy.
3. Identify strategies to navigate power and privilege in psychotherapy.

1.5 CE

Power Dynamics in Helping and Teaching Relationships
Carisa Authier, PsyD, Andy Bernstein, PhD, CPRP, Ashton Dessert, BS
Dr. Authier will discuss ways to mitigate power dynamics between clients and therapists in private practice. In addition, Dr. Authier will describe incorporating empirically validated techniques and research to improve a therapist's self-awareness of power dynamics, establish safety, and ultimately inform and improve her therapeutic work.
Next, Dr. Bernstein will share personal experiences regarding empowerment and working with clients who typically believe psychologists hold a disproportionate position of power in the therapeutic relationship. This imbalance is highlighted more frequently with white male psychologists. Dr. Bernstein will focus on the similarities and differences in the levels of social power between therapist and client and how this impacts the psychotherapy relationship, especially when consumers have histories of SMI diagnoses.
Finally, Mr. Dessert will discuss the power differentials between supervisors and trainees. The importance of acknowledging power differentials within the supervisor and trainee relationship will be explored using the Power Dynamics in Supervision Scale (PDSS) and its practical implications for supervisors.

Program Level: Intermediate

Learning Objectives

1. Define the acronym BITTEN.
2. Describe two ways psychologists can support clients in utilizing necessary healthcare.
3. Describe how two ways social power differences between therapist and client can impact therapy.
4. Describe two methods to reduce the power differential between supervisors and trainees.

1.5 CE

The Arizona Psychological Association (AzPA) is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. AzPA maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Registration fees for this program have been discounted by 15%. This is part of a 2022 AzPA initiative to offer discounted rates to diversity related events.