Psychotherapy Bulletin

Psychotherapy Bulletin

2018 President’s Column (#3)

Thank you, Division 29 Friends and Colleagues

My plan was to write this third Presidential Column immediately after APA Convention, so that I could report, first hand, on what was sure to be a satisfying, productive, and festive set of events for our Society. Instead, I am writing with a heavy heart, having had to miss the Convention when my dear cat became ill. In an interesting coincidence, I was having her euthanized at the exact time that I would have been delivering my Presidential talk. Although this is, of course, profoundly sad for me, what I want to discuss here is how fortunate I feel to be part of the tremendous family that is our Society.

Although I have often referenced Division 29 as a professional home, I am now keenly aware that my connection to it is so much more expansive. On a personal level, I felt so incredibly supported and helped when I broke the above news to my Division friends and colleagues. Thank you, all, for your well wishes and expressions of sympathy. They have meant so incredibly much to me. I would also like to thank individually a few people who went above and beyond to cover my varied responsibilities in my absence.

Thank you, Tracey Martin (our extraordinary SAP administrator), for telling me with compassion and certainty that the “shows” would go on without me, and for coordinating every detail to ensure that they did. Thank you, James Boswell (my long-time friend and collaborator), for delivering my presidential talk and helping to coordinate and administer the Society’s inaugural student poster award competition. Thank you, Alice Coyne (my graduate student), for delivering another one of my talks, and Nick Morrison (my graduate student), for announcing the student award winners. Thank you, Jeff Zimmerman and Nancy Murdock (my Presidential trio friends and colleagues) for helping to host the highly successful award ceremony and special 50th anniversary social hour. I hear that the slide show, swag, and cake were all hits! Also, thanks to Leigh Ann Carter, for adjusting the “master’s” lunch on the fly (and for raffling off a symbolic 29 books—what a great event!), and to Jean Birbilis and Barbara Vivino, for stepping up as poster award evaluators. I’m sure I am missing others, but suffice it to say that I have widespread appreciation and affection for my entire Division 29 crew allowing me to focus solely on my crisis at home.

Of course, I was tremendously disappointed to miss the Convention, as I was looking forward to it for quite some time. I feel that some of the most exciting tasks as Division 29 President are to MC the award ceremony, host the social hour, and lead the Presidential symposium. It was such a shame to be unable to carry out these functions (as well as others), but I now have a chance to congratulate some well-deserving members in this column. I am pleased to have this space to do so.

First, although this may now be “old news,” I would like to congratulate again the following winners of this year’s election cycle for positions within our Society’s governance:

Jennifer Callahan, President-Elect
Jesse Owen, Treasurer
Manijeh Badiee, Domain Representative for Diversity
Marilyn Cornish, Domain Representative for Education and Training
Jean Birbilis, Domain Representative for Membership
Barbara Vivino, Domain Representative for Psychotherapy Practice

I would also like to thank all of the candidates for their willingness to run, which is a major service to our Society in itself. And thank you, members, for voting!

Additionally, I would like to acknowledge our outgoing governance members; that is, those whose terms are up at the end of this calendar year:
Jeff Zimmerman, Presidential Trio
Barbara Thompson, Domain Representative for Psychotherapy Practice
Jennifer Callahan, Domain Representative for Education & Training
Tony Rousmaniere, Continuing Education Committee Chair
Barbara Vivino, Psychotherapy Practice Committee Chair
Gary Powell, who did double duty as both Domain Representative for Diversity, serving out the remainder of Beverly Greene’s term, and as Program Chair for the past 2 years.

Much gratitude for all that you have done for this organization, and we hope that you will stay involved in other new and exciting ways (and for those just voted into a position, you have no choice!).

Second, a big, heartfelt congratulations to all of the following 2018 award and grant winners:
Distinguished Psychologist Award: Jacques Barber
American Psychological Foundation/Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy Early Career Awards: Catherine Eubanks and Tony Rousmaniere
Distinguished Award for the International Advancement of Psychotherapy: Rod Goodyear
Donald K. Freedheim Student Development Paper Award: Brian TaeHyuk Keum
Mathilda B. Canter Education and Training Student Paper Award: Taylor Groth
Diversity Student Paper Award: Katherine Morales
Jeffrey E. Barnett Psychotherapy Research Paper Award: Michael Katz
Division 29 Student Excellence in Practice Award: Mariafé Panizo Jansana
Division 29 Student Excellence in Teaching/Mentorship Award: Alice Coyne
SAP Student Poster Award Winners: Alyssa Clements-Hickman and Jazmin Gonzalez
The Psychotherapy Most Valuable Paper Award: John Norcross, Barrett Zimmerman, Roger Greenberg and Joshua Swift
The Norine Johnson, PhD, Psychotherapy Research Grant: Sigal Zilcha-Mano
Charles J. Gelso, Ph.D. Psychotherapy Research Grants: Elizabeth M. Demeusy, Robinder P. Bedi, and Sigal Zilcha-Mano
Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy 50th Anniversary Grant: Simon Goldberg
Diversity Research Grants for Pre-Doctoral Candidates: Shondolyn Sanders and Joey Sergi
International Research Grant for Students and Early Career Professionals: Yuye Zhang

Finally, congratulations to our new Fellows, Andres Consoli, James Boswell, Timothy Anderson, and Barry Wolfe!

I hope to see many of you next year in Chicago, if not beforehand. And, of course, my circumstances should be much happier then, in part because of all of the good thoughts and sentiments being sent my way during this difficult time.

Thank you, again, Division 29 Friends and Colleagues.

Be the 1st to vote.

Dr. Michael J. Constantino received his BA in Psychology from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo, and his MS and PhD from the Pennsylvania State University. He completed a predoctoral clinical internship at SUNY Upstate Medical University, and a postdoctoral fellowship at the Stanford University Medical Center. He then joined the Clinical Psychology faculty at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass), where is a Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences (PBS). At UMass, he directs the Psychotherapy Research Lab, teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on psychotherapy, supervises clinicians-in-training, and is the PBS Graduate Program Director. Among other professional positions, Dr. Constantino is Past- President of the North American Society for Psychotherapy Research and APA Division 29 (Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy). Dr. Constantino’s professional and research interests center on patient, therapist, and dyadic characteristics/processes influencing psychosocial treatments; pantheoretical principles of clinical change (i.e., common factors); and measurement-based care.President of the North American Society for Psychotherapy Research, and current President of APA Division 29 (Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy). Dr. Constantino’s professional and research interests center on patient, therapist, and dyadic characteristics/processes influencing psychosocial treatments; pantheoretical principles of clinical change (i.e., common factors); and measurement-based care.http://www.umass.edu/pbs/people/michael-constantino https://sites.google.com/site/constantinotherapyresearchlab/home

Cite This Article

Constantino, M. (2018). President’s column: Thank you, Division 29 friends and colleagues. Psychotherapy Bulletin, 53(3), 2-4.

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