Science & Practice Committee Update: Clinical Practice Institute Summary of Action

Science & Practice Committee Update: Clinical Practice Institute Summary of Action

By Jill Ehrenreich-May, PhD
Member-at-Large: Science & Practice

Since the last National Conference in Child Clinical and Adolescent Psychology in 2018 (colloquially known as the Kansas Conference), the SCCAP Board has actively discussed what types of similar and additive learning experiences SCCAP might provide to its membership. We convened several working group meetings that considered membership needs, our current collaborations (such as those with the Future Directions Forum and the Miami International Conference in Child and Adolescent Mental Health), and our extensive webinar offerings. One conclusion from these early working meetings was that SCCAP could offer more clinical training opportunities to our members, particularly our members that primarily practice. Although interest in an in-person conference remains, virtual activities that considered the need for sensitive handling of practitioners’ busy schedules was paramount. With these ideas in mind – the Clinical Practice Institute (CPI) was born!

CPI is meant to be an annual event that centers on a single clinical practice theme that can vary from year to year, depending on member needs and interests. The 2022 CPI committee was formed, including Drs. Jill Ehrenreich-May, Regine Galanti, Omar Gudiño, Sherelle Harmon, Juventino Hernandez Rodriguez, Jennifer Hughes, and Marilyn Sampilo, and a theme, “Culturally-Responsive Evidence-Based Practices in Children and Families” was identified. The hope was to engage SCCAP members in a highly clinically useful and interactive event, with pragmatic takeaways from each speaker that could be immediately translated to practice. It was also decided that the event would take place across four time points in July 2022, including a pre-CPI recorded keynote from current SCCAP President, Dr. Anna Lau, entitled, “Challenges and Opportunities in Implementing Evidence-Based Interventions to Promote Mental Health Equity for Asian American Youth”. Approximately 160 SCCAP members registered for the CPI and attended some or all of the subsequent three-hour workshop events on July 8, 15, and 22, 2022 using the CE-Go.com meeting platform.

The first CPI workshop on July 8 was from Dr. Milton Fuentes entitled, “Applying APA’s Multicultural Guidelines to Latinx Children and Families.” Dynamic and emotionally-engaging, Dr. Fuentes immediately captured the audience while demonstrating the vital importance of understanding cultural factors in the treatment of Latinx youth and caregivers. On July 15, Dr. Isha Walwina Metzger was joined by several students in providing a highly interactive workshop on “Healing Interpersonal and Racial Trauma: Integrating Racial Socialization into Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Black Youth and Families.” This talk was packed with content and resources, so much so that many of the audience members reflected on how they would have enjoyed another three hours of discussion on the topic! Finally, on July 22, we were joined by Dr. Armando Pina to more strongly consider current cultural formulation models, using a series of illustrative exercises and case examples, and how these might be effectively engaged in practice settings, in his workshop entitled, “Use of Cultural Formulations in Clinical Practice with Latine Families.” 

Overall, the feedback about the CPI was that it achieved the goals it set out to and provided a feasible and sustainable program on innovations in evidence-based clinical practice in youth to SCCAP members. The CPI will return again in 2023 with an all-new theme and focus. We hope to share more about this with the SCCAP membership soon!