Julian Rappaport

 Julian Rappaport received his PhD from the University of Rochester. He is a professor in the Clinical/Community and Social-Personality-Organizational divisions in the Psychology Department at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His primary interest spans the broad domain of community psychology, a field that he first conceptualized in 1977 with the publication of Community Psychology: Values, Research and Action (Holt, Rinehart, & Winston) and most recently with the Handbook of Community Psychology. Rappaport’s general interests span multiple levels of analysis, including social policy.  His empirical research has been concerned with alternatives to professional care, particularly for those who are outside the mainstream of economic and social power. Substantive topics of his include juvenile justice, empowerment, self and mutual help especially for people with a history of serious mental illness, and school consultation and community organization with attention to the education of poor and minority children. Some of the theories and methods that he applies to his current work include collaborative and qualitative research, empowerment and narrative theory, and identity in the context of personal and social change.

Session I- Community Narratives and Personal Stories: A Framework for Thinking About the Art of Social and Individual Change

 Narratives and stories have powerful effects on memory, meaning, emotion and identity, including possible selves. These effects have been known and used throughout history, often in the form of artistic representation of community narratives. Historical and contemporary examples will be presented, with an eye toward how those concerned with  redeeming difficult hope may make use of this powerful phenomenon for both understanding and action.  Research examples from a contemporary church community, a mutual help organization for the seriously mentally ill, and a public elementary school will be discussed.

Session II- The Mutual Help Alternative for People with a History of Serious Mental Illness

Research findings from a collaborative longitudinal study of people with a history of serious (chronic) mental illness will be presented.  Data from both quantitative and qualitative research is provided to help understand how an organization, run entirely by former mental patients, without benefit of  professional training or control, is able to provide support for their peers.  Illustrations include data to support the notion that people who engage in mutual help (with its narrative of shared responsibility) are likely to experience themselves and their problems in living differently than those who engage in (excellent) professional help with its bio-medical, individual responsibility narrative.  

REDEEMING DIFFICULT HOPE:

HELPING SPECIAL POPULATIONS

The Fuller Graduate School of Psychology offers this two-day continuing education conference as an important part of its 40^th anniversary celebration. Both conference and anniversary celebration share the theme Redeeming Difficult Hope.  Conference workshops will focus on community psychology: specifically, the practice of psychology within a diversity of local cultures where hope is sometimes difficult to find.  Attendees will come away with a better understanding of the relationship between individuals and communities in the restoration of persons to wholeness.

This conference will be beneficial to

·        Clinical psychologists

·        Therapists at all levels of experience

·        Social workers

·        Other healthcare professionals

·        All who work with special populations

A total of 9.5 units of continuing education credit are available with either prior or on-site registration.

Fuller Theological Seminary Graduate School of Psychology is approved by the American Psychological Association to offer continuing professional education for psychologists. Fuller Theological Seminary Graduate School of Psychology maintains responsibility for the program.

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2006

8:30 a.m.      PLENARY SESSION WITH JULIAN RAPPAPORT                 Community Narratives and Personal Stories: A Framework for Thinking About the Art of Social and Individual Change 1.5 CE Units

10:00 a.m.    CONCURRENT SESSIONS                                                              1 CE Unit

Risk and Resilience: Enhancing Competency Amidst Adversity for Vulnerable Young Children in the 5^th Largest City in the U.S.

John Fantuzzo, Diana Riklis Professor at the University Pennsylvania and Director of the Penn CHILD Research Center

This workshop will present a conceptual framework for advancing mental health science and practice for vulnerable young children in a large urban city. Population-based research will illustrate why strategic early childhood intervention is critical for the social adjustment and academic achievement of low-income urban children.

The Problem of Pain Revisited: Some Insights and Implications for

Practitioner-Scholars in the New Millennium

Rich Butman, Professor of Psychology, Wheaton College

This presentation will synthesize key themes evident in the interdisciplinary literature with insights offered by those going through agonizing struggles. In today’s world it is imperative that those who offer comfort to others in difficult times have a solid understanding of accumulated wisdom--and can translate that into practical counsel.

11:00 a.m.    CONCURRENT SESSIONS                                                              1 CE Unit

Tending our Agonizing Seeds: A Re-examination of Cultural Resilience in African-American Families

Howard Stevenson, Associate Professor, Applied Psychology and Human Development Division, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education

Derek McNeil, Professor of Psychology, Wheaton College

This presentation will discuss and demonstrate the use of cultural resources to enhance resilience in African-American families, particularly in marital, parent-child, and youth-youth interactions.  Psychological interventions must encompass cultural values to improve the healthy functioning of these families.

Applications of Errorless Learning for Psychiatric Rehabilitation: The Cure for the Common Flaw

Robert Kern, Associate Research Psychologist, UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, and Department of Veterans Affairs Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC)

This course will provide an overview of the scope and severity of neurocognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia, present findings about how these deficits are related to key areas of functional outcome, and illustrate how this knowledge can be applied to developing innovative training interventions.

1:00 p.m.      CONCURRENT SESSIONS                                                              1 CE Unit

Asian Americans: Mobilizing the Adaptive Features of Interdependence

Gordon Nagayama Hall, Professor of Psychology, University of Oregon

A major cultural difference between Americans of East Asian origin and other American ethnic groups is an emphasis on interdependence. The goal for effective interventions with Asian Americans may be to emphasize interdependence and integrate individuals into their ethnic community, which can take many forms.

Patients with Chronic Neurological Disorders: A Community Population Desperately in Need of Clinical Psychology

Gail Murdock, Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California

This workshop will focus on identification of the unique emotional and psychological needs of a neurological population, specifically addressing Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, and epilepsy.  Psychological and family treatment options for patients with neurological disorders will be explored.

2:30 p.m.      CONCURRENT SESSIONS                                                              1 CE Unit

Reconciliation and Healing of Persons in L’Arche Communities for the Developmentally Disabled

Kevin Reimer, Associate Professor of Graduate Psychology, Azusa Pacific University

This interactive workshop will focus on the reconciliation and healing of persons through a simple candle ritual of the L’Arche communities. We will discuss how artifacts can serve as external scaffolds for collective problem-solving and meaning, and how this helps a community equalize religious experience for disabled and caregivers alike.

Overcoming Unintentional Racism in the Helping Professions

Charles Ridley, Professor of Counseling Psychology, Indiana University; Associate Dean, University Graduate School

This seminar sets forth a different approach to racism—conceptualizing it in terms of its consequences, not its causes. Helping professionals must identify their individual and institutional practices that unwittingly result in deleterious consequences for minority consumers—and once identified, change their interventions.

3:30 p.m.      PLENARY SESSION WITH JULIAN RAPPAPORT  

     The Mutual Help Alternative for People with a History of Serious Mental Illness       1 CE Unit

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2006

9:00 a.m.      CONCURRENT SESSIONS                                                              1 CE Unit

Effective Therapy with the Family of a Special Needs Child

Ross Porter, Clinical Psychologist and Founder, Stillpoint Resources

A family with a special needs child encounters unique and potentially destructive stressors.  This workshop will present the latest empirical findings related to the emotional life of these special families, and how to most effectively intervene at each level of the family system in order to facilitate healing and growth. 

Mental Health and Spirituality in the San Carlos Apache People: Redeeming Hope through Postcolonial Practices

Thea Wilshire, Clinical Coordinator, San Carlos Apache Wellness Center

This presentation will discuss the history of American policy leading to genocide and cultural annihilation of Native Americans, with focus on the experiences of the San Carlos Apache people.  Practical applications will be explored to redeem hope among Native Americans through postcolonial counseling and incarnational ministry. 

10:00 a.m.    CONCURRENT SESSIONS                                                              1 CE Unit

The Struggle to Find Hope for Street Children in Lima, Peru: The Possibility of a Resilient Identity for Society’s Most Despised

Danielle Speakman, Clinical Psychology Intern, the Danielsen Institute, Boston University

This course will address the challenges facing street children in Lima, Peru, in particular pertaining to the obstacles street children face as they seek to establish their identity and sense of self.  The course will also examine how the self-identities of street children relate to their ability to be resilient within their communities.

To Protect and Serve: Role of a Mental Health Professional in Law Enforcement

Luann Pannell, Police Psychologist, Los Angeles Police Department

This workshop will examine the role of mental health professionals in police departments, including the many ways of adding value and influence to the organization, the community, and the individuals who police our streets. It will offer an overview of the police population and the relationships between police, community, and media.

11:00 a.m.    CONCURRENT SESSIONS                                                              1 CE Unit

Keep Your Head Up: All Grown and Living with Perinatal HIV/AIDS in Harlem

Ezer Kang, Staff Psychologist, Department of Pediatric Psychiatry, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center and Harlem Hospital Center

This workshop will provide a historical review of perinatal HIV in the U.S. and discuss how the evolving field of developmental psychopathology offers an integrative framework to guide our understanding of development among adolescents living with perinatal HIV—looking at socio-emotional functioning, peer relationships, and family relations.

Do Mental Health Services Have Value in Indigenous Communities?

Catherine Koverola, Professor and Chair, Department of Psychology, University of Alaska Fairbanks

This presentation will consider whether western mental health systems have anything to offer to a people largely decimated by Euro-American influences. The presentation will draw upon Dr. Koverola’s experience as service provider and clinical researcher with Canadian Aboriginal communities and Alaska natives. 

For more details on the learning outcomes of each session, please visit www.celebrating40year.com.