“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

The past 6 months of the pandemic have flown by and now, each of us, in our respective roles, is bracing for the fall. Systems are adapting to what has become the new normal and while many things feel like they have ceased to exist, the realities of our nation, of its people, and of the clients we serve remain. As you hone in on the issues that you find important during the time left in 2020, we encourage you to use your power and your voices in order to enact meaningful change. These coming months will require energy and expression and we are committed to making the Bulletin a space where your perspectives are heard.

In this third edition of the year, we have a number of articles whose themes relate to our special focus for the year, “The Person of the Psychotherapist: What We Bring to the Room.” Many of the pieces emphasize how we as people and as a field are navigating our emotional and professional responses to COVID19. We also wish to direct your attention to what we have titled our Featured Contribution, which is a submission from Dr. Apryl Alexander at the University of Denver, that focuses on racial stress, the Black Lives Matter Movement, and the importance of liberation psychology and radical healing. It is our intention to center this piece as Dr. Alexander not only discusses the ethics of addressing racial violence and police brutality, but she also provides concrete future directions for advocacy. You will also find included an informative column from our President, Dr. Jennifer Callahan, as well as a wealth of other submissions from colleagues, and details about the student award winners for Division 29 and the poster award winner for SEPI.

For the fourth and final issue of the year, we would like to make a plug for our special focus for 2020 (The Person of the Psychotherapist: What We Bring to the Room). We also hope that the pieces that you write will challenge the way we think about ourselves as psychologists, practitioners, advocates, and allies. This is a time where so much is in flux—socially, politically, culturally, and otherwise—and we, as a division, have the ability to shape the future by having this publication introduce cutting edge information and techniques to a diverse readership. We welcome your contributions as they are what will make this last issue of 2020 a great one.

We echo our remarks from the previous issue about the gratitude we feel for those of you who are operating as essential personnel and are providing in-person services. We also want to extend our appreciation to the readers, authors, and Division members and staff whose efforts help our publication to thrive. For submission guidelines or to write for the Bulletin, please visit our website (http://societyforpsychotherapy.org/bulletin-about/). The remaining deadline for 2020 will be October 15^th. Please reach out with questions to joanna.drinane@utah.edu and we anticipate a wonderful conclusion to the year with a full December publication.

Thank you,

Joanna, Stephanie, Salwa, and Kate

0

0

Be the 1st to vote.