This year’s conference is hosted and organized by the Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology and Master of Counselling Psychology Programs at the Adler School of Professional Psychology. The conference will be held on Friday, March 1 and Saturday, March 2, 2013 at the downtown Vancouver campus.

The theme for the conference is Making an Impact:  Diversity, Social Justice and Socially Responsible Practice.  The theme of making an impact is consistent with the Canadian Psychological Association’s definition of counselling psychology, which calls on counselling psychology to “enhance and promote the positive growth, well-being, and mental health of individuals, families, groups, and the broader community” (CPA, 2009).  It also suggests in addition to remediation, we have a responsibility to “engage in prevention, psychoeducation, and advocacy” (CPA, 2009).  Counselling psychology practitioners, researchers, and educators are sensitive to social context, culture, diversity, and family/systemic influences affecting the people we seek to help.  This conference invites us to reflect on these aspects of counselling psychology and share our thoughts, research and experiences with our colleagues here in British Columbia.

We have invited submissions from all areas of our discipline – career counselling and development, health and wellness, counselling process, therapeutic interventions, and multicultural counselling (to name just a few). We invited researchers, trainees, educators, and practitioners to attend and share their knowledge with the hope that these diverse perspectives on making a difference in our world may further dialogue, encounter and the consolidation of our identity as counselling psychologists in British Columbia and Canada.

The Call for Papers has closed and the organizing committee is pleased with the quality of the proposals they have received. As we move closer to the conference date, the final program and schedule of events will be posted. Until then, thank you for spreading the word about this conference with friends and colleagues. We hope to be able to welcome you to Vancouver on March 1, 2013.

Warmly,

Lee D. Butterfield, Ph.D., R.Psych.
Conference Chair