The Fourth Annual Mental Health Symposium, hosted by the Psi Chi Chapter at MSP, was held on April 20, 2018 at MSP.
After Psi Chi President Alicia Width (PsyD 3) made her opening remarks, she welcomed keynote speaker Sarah McClelland, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Women’s Studies and Psychology at the University of Michigan, who presented “Working Hard at Being Normal: Gender, Sexuality, and Intimacy in Palliative Care” based on her own research with female cancer patients.
Poster Session One followed the keynote address, which included posters by the following students: Rebecca Kapetansky (PsyD 1) Social Stigma, Belonging, Social Influence: Autism Experience, Cassidy Slade (PsyD 1) The Impact of Persuasion During Therapy for Adolescents Affected by Trauma, Evan MacAdams (PsyD 1) Social Support in the Treatment of Pain, Dima Swaidan (PsyD 1) Social Influence on Adolescent Substance Use and Effective Treatment Options, Kelly Frazee (PsyD 1) Stress and Coping Techniques Among Children in Military Families, Juanita Houston (PsyD 3) Redefining Palliative Normalcy: Cultural Barriers, Anna Roberts (MA) Use of Ketamine as a Clinical Treatment for Mental Disorders, Angel McKissic (MA) Ecology and Ritual as Healing, Alesha Hall (MA) The Effects of Music Therapy on Alzheimer’s and Dementia Clients, Christopher Corbin (MA) Post Traumatic Growth: Identity and Treatment, Ariel Magdison (PsyD 2) Unlocking Unlimited Potential: Exploring Universal Latent Imagination, Rose Cook (MA) Therapeutic Considerations when Working with African Americans Impacted by Racial Trauma, and Leanne Lemaire (MA) Effectiveness of Herbal Remedies on Mood Disorders and Anxiety: A Literature Review.
After a short break, Fran Brown, PsyD, Program Director and Doug Callan, PhD, Core Faculty along with Deb Hamilton, PsyD, Adjunct Faculty offered co-ocurring Panel Presentations. Dr. Brown presented “The Parentified Psychotherapist’s Experience of the Psychotherapeutic Process” and Dr. Callan with Dr. Hamilton spoke on “WAIS-IV Interpretation Through a Neuropsychological Perspective.”
Poster Session Two followed the Panel Presentations after a second break. Session Two included several faculty and student research collaborations, including: Dustin Shepler, PhD (Core Faculty), Doug Callan, PhD, Kenneth Pollock (MA), Andrea Rawat (PsyD 3), Alicia Width, Charles Oliver (PsyD 1), and Michelle Justice (PsyD 1) presented Interrater Reliability on the ASEBA: Implications for Diagnostic Assessment and Sluggish Cognitive Tempo: Clinical and Research Implications from Clinical Data. Other group presentations included Jessica Dluzynski, PsyD (Adjunct Faculty) and Dr. Shepler who presented A Quantitative Assessment of Test Anxiety and Human-Animal Interaction in College Students, Dr. Shepler, Andrea Obah (MA), Alyssa Sacka (MA), Brian Burgoyne (MA), Kristen Suing (PsyD 4), and Brittany Linton (PsyD 4) with the poster Predicting Anti-Transgender Attitudes in Straight, White Adults, and Carmen Cochran (PsyD 2), Andrea Taylor (PsyD 2), and Ashley Craft (MA) who presented two posters Campus Climate and Campus Connectedness as Experienced by Students of Color and Considering Diversity: Examining Ethnic Identity within Groups. MSP also welcomed two posters from students from the University of Michigan: Julia Harris, Meghan Martz, and Laura Cope presented Slow Wave Sleep Disruption in Adolescence: Impulsivity-Reward Responsivity Brain Functioning and Romero Perez who presented Let Me Be Perfectly Queer: We Need Better Media Representation.
After Session Two, the poster judges made their final decisions. President Width was pleased to announce the two winners, Kelly Frazee won the Psi Chi at MSP’s Conceptual Piece Award and Julia Harris was the winner of the Psi Chi at MSP’s Original Research Award, in her concluding remarks.
Michelle Justice, Chair of this year’s Symposium, along with all of the members of Psi Chi at MSP, offer thanks to all of the student and staff volunteers who helped to make the Symposium a success, once again.
