by Roberto Lewis-Fernandez

The Program Committee is busy preparing for the annual meeting, planning conjointly with Hong Fook for the first day of the meeting and working on logistics. The themes of the four symposia sponsored by SSPC on the first day are: an update on DSM-V, a topic specifically requested by Hong Fook, psychotherapy and culture, research on stigma, and alternative and complimentary medicine as adjuncts to Western psychotherapy. A special symposium is being developed on military mental health for the 2013 conference. We are working with DOD psychologists and psychiatrists to identify a keynote speaker to overview the subject, plus a panel of experts presenting their work on stigma, trauma, suicide, brain injury, and women’s mental health issues.