POLITICS AND PSYCHOLOGY DAY

Tuesday February 6, 2024

at the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix

This event is brought to you by the Legislative Committee of the Arizona Psychological Association (AZPA).

Come and learn about the state lawmaking process and how it directly impacts you, your loved ones, the profession of psychology, and the people we serve. Discover how you can make your voice heard and make a difference through advocacy. You will receive 4 continuing education credit hours that count towards the ethics CE requirement in Arizona.

This inspiring event links past, present, and future, taking place in the Historic Senate Chambers in the Arizona Capitol Museum, right in the heart of our State Capitol. Meet your AzPA Legislative Committee leaders and receive an overview of the nuts and bolts of state government lawmaking from our very own AZPA lobbyist group. Then, our special guest speaker, Dr. Toporek, will kindle your inner activist as she shows you an avenue towards legislative advocacy within our own profession and its ethics frameworks. Midway through the day, our state legislators have been invited to come meet with us. You will have a unique opportunity to cultivate a relationship with the elected officials making our state laws: thank them in person for their service, tell them about your work, ask questions, and discuss bills related to psychology. We encourage participants to think about P & P Day not merely as a one-time event, but, rather, as one event in your ongoing developmental process as a psychologist-advocate who is building relationships with legislators, partnering with them in state leadership.

Light breakfast refreshments and lunch are included in the program.

Event Schedule for Tuesday, February 6, 2024:

9:15 am  Arrival & Registration (Building opens at 9am)
9:30 am Welcome Remarks and Arizona State Legislature Basics
9:50 am - 11:20 am CE Presentation (see below)
11:30 am - 1:00 pm Lunch with legislators
1:00 pm - 3:30 pm CE Presentation (see below)
3:30 pm - 3:50 pm Closing remarks (Building closes at 4pm)

606 N. 4th Ave. Phoenix, AZ 85003

https://www.thevig.us/fillmore

Location:

Arizona Capitol Museum - Historic Senate Chamber (3^rd Floor)
1700 W Washington St, Phoenix, AZ 85007

Members, please log in to receive member pricing. 

CE Program Description:

Psychologists as legislative advocates in the context of cultural oppression: The power of ethics, strengths, solidarity, strategy, and sustainability

Presented by Rebecca Toporek, PhD

The work and ethical responsibility of psychologists goes beyond individual therapeutic connections. Clients’ lived experience and well-being are harmed by systems of oppression and can be supported by systems of care. Further, many of us see not only our clients being harmed by systems and policy but also see ourselves, our families and our communities harmed. Yet, many practicing professional psychologists feel inadequately prepared to intervene in those systems, or don’t see it as part of their professional responsibility. This is contrary to cultural beliefs for many of us and is inconsistent with the APA Code of Ethics as well as the ethical guidelines of many of our affinity psychological associations. Using a foundation of ethics and a framework for social action (SQuad), this session will facilitate participants to move toward action and policy level advocacy. We will use cases of specific legislation and policy statements of the AzPA that attend to inequity and discrimination based on identity status and community capital. We will apply the SQuad model of social action to assess and illuminate participants’ personal and professional strengths and plan for solidarity and strategy in addressing issues with legislators. Finally, we will spend time building a plan for personal sustainability with a commitment to ongoing social action.

Program Level: Intermediate

Learning Objectives

1. Compare and contrast personal, cultural community, and professional ethics that support or hinder social action.

2. Identify at least two personal and professional strengths, community and colleagues for solidarity around a specific issue

3. Identify one feasible strategy for social change on particular issue relevant to legislation and describe that in an elevator pitch

4.0 CE credits are available to attendees.

Speaker

Rebecca L. Toporek, Ph.D. (pronouns: she/they), is a professor and department chair in the Department of Counseling at San Francisco State University. Dr. Toporek has been a psychologist and counselor educator for 20 years after serving for many years as a community college counselor and career counselor. Their scholarship focuses on multicultural training, whiteness in racism, economic justice, social justice advocacy, and college and career counseling. Dr. Toporek’s current projects explore advocacy and activism in counseling and psychology, professional community response to racial justice backlash, and sustainability for students of color and first gen students pursuing college counseling. They have written or co-written over 50 journal articles and book chapters, were co-editor and co-founder for the first 10 years of the Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology, co-developer of the ACA Advocacy Competencies, and co-edited four books on multicultural training and social justice including the Handbook for Social Justice in Counseling and Psychology. Dr. Toporek and their colleague, Dr. Muninder Ahluwalia recently released a compilation of video interviews Helping counselors and psychologists as advocates and activists and published the workbook, Taking action: Creating social change through strength, solidarity, strategy and sustainability. Drs. Ahluwalia and Toporek are working with two additional colleagues, Drs. Derrick Bines and Bryan Rojas-Arauz, to revise and expand Taking Action for counselors, psychologists and other helping professionals. Dr. Toporek is a Fellow of the American Counseling Association and the American Psychological Association. Importantly, she is also a daughter, sister, partner, and mother of two awesome 20-somethings.