PRESENTATIONS: BREAKOUT SESSION III
Playing With Difference And Disharmony: A Means Towards Unity
The facilitator will lead a drama and expressive therapy group activity that will underscore preferred self-identity and re-authoring interactions. The process includes: 1) body sculpting narratives stemming from micro aggressive behaviors such as, bias, prejudice, racism, and dominance 2) witnessing personal narratives and 3) transforming those negative sculptural projections into positive meaning. The objective is to play out sensitive issues in a supported, safe environment and to rely on creativity as safe haven.
Myriam Savage, PhD, is a registered drama therapist, board certified trainer who created expressive therapy programs for psychiatric inpatient units (youth and adults). Using expressive therapies, Dr. Savage facilitated a skid row documentary called Game Girls. A recipient of a 2014 Drama Therapy Fund grant and as the SoCal NADTA Chapter President she is a collaborator/instructor for the SEA programs at UCLArts and Healing. Recently, she provided a drama therapy workshop focusing on the African diaspora at Pomona College. Information on her classes and groups: SFEALA.com
E. Janie Pinterits, Ph.D., Assistant Provost for International & Multicultural Initiatives and Associate Professor. Dr. Pinterits’ work focuses on promoting inclusive excellence and intercultural competencies in professional training. As a multiracial Filipina American, her research includes the assessment of White privilege attitudes, systems of privilege and oppression, and social justice advocacy training. jpinterits@alliant.edu
Ron Duran, Ph.D. is associate professor of clinical psychology in the health emphasis area and Alliant’s Associate Provost for Research and Scholarship. He has interests in how people navigate institutions of privilege. rduran@alliant.edu
Power and Privilege: A Difficult Dialogue On Silence, Collusion and Action
Power and privilege underlie societal interactions. They are the flip side of the coin of marginal and disempowered statuses of racism, heterosexism, and so on. We see injustices and may or may not speak out or engage. Perhaps we care but stay silent out of fear, a lack confidence, low energy, or apathy. How might our silences inadvertently support injustice, and run counter to our professed values? What gets in our way of challenging power? How might “picking our battles” be a form of falling back on privilege? What facilitates acting with integrity? Difficult Dialogues are open-ended or structured conversations that promote engaging in discussions on challenging, controversial topics and to hold space for multiple perspectives. The aim of this Difficult Dialogue is to provide a genuine and supportive platform for the participants to examine our behaviors in challenging power and privilege and promoting social justice advocacy. Participants will be asked to maintain confidentiality.
Chaka McAlpin, MA, Chaka McAlpin, MA, LMFT, is a fourth year doctoral student at CSPP Alliant International University, Los Angeles. She has a private practice in the Los Angeles area where she assists couples and singles in resolving relationship issues. Chaka also works as a school counselor at a non-public school where she assists students and staff with managing severe emotional distress. Prior to working as a marriage and family therapist, Chaka was a middle school teacher for several years. Chaka's career highlights include being a featured guest on KJLH radio station and receiving Congressional Recognition for her service as a teacher.
Benjamin Toubia, MA, works at the Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles, a publicly funded mental health facility providing field capable clinical services for older adults in the Greater Los Angeles Area, working primarily with Farsi Speaking clients. Benjamin is a fourth year doctoral student at CSPP Alliant International University, Los Angeles. Benjamin is also currently an American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy Minority Fellow. Benjamin has presented at several conferences and was recently published in the Journal of Systemic Therapies.
Clinical Insights and Adaptations for Working with Diverse Populations: A Panel Presentation
Clinicians from the couple and family therapy PsyD program will present a panel presentation of clinical insights and adaptations for working with diverse populations in therapy. The panel members come from diverse backgrounds and work with diverse clients. Rebecca Bokoch will discuss her clinical work as a Caucasian therapist working with Vietnamese families and explore her clinical insight of gender role reversal in Vietnamese immigrant parents living in America. Matthew Brinkley will discuss his clinical work as a Black gay therapist working with Black gay men. Chaka McAlpin will explore her insight and cultural adaptations as a Black school-based counselor working with emotionally dysregulated Black and Hispanic youth. Benjamin Toubia will discuss his experience as a Persian-American male working with elderly Farsi-speaking clients.
Rebecca Bokoch, MA, works in a school-based counseling program and in private practice with children and families. Rebecca is a fourth year doctoral student at California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant University in Los Angeles, where she has received the Jan Cone Award, Diversity Scholarship, and Dean’s Scholarship Award for her academic, clinical, and professional contributions. Rebecca has experience teaching master’s level marriage and family therapy courses, has presented on several topics, and is the founding director of the Art Therapy Club.
Matthew Brinkley, MA, works both in a private practice and a community wellness based setting with LGBT and ethnic minority populations. Matthew is a fourth year doctoral student at CSPP Alliant International University, specializing in LGBT Human Services and Mental Health. Matthew recently presented at the 20th Annual IVAT Conference hosted by Alliant International University on the assessment and treatment of intimate partner violence in LGBT couples and a workshop on gender expression and intimacy for black gay men and their families at the 2015 Out on the Hill Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C..
Justin Andersen is a fourth year PhD, student at the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University. Justin has been in the medical field for nine years, working as an emergency medical technician in a community hospital in Orange County. His practicum experience includes providing individual and group psychotherapy, psychodiagnostic testing and consultation in a community based setting to adults with severe mental illness as well as youth that are on probation.
Marlene Gonzalez, MA, is a fourth year PhD Clinical Psychology student at CSPP, Alliant International University, Los Angeles. Marlene has a special interest in working with underserved children and providing culturally competent interventions. Currently, Marlene is completing her third practicum placement at Kaiser Permanente, where she provides individual psychotherapy, group psychotherapy, and psychodiagnostic assessment to diverse children, adolescents, adults, and families. Marlene also provides consultation services to psychiatrists, physicians, and residents.
Consultation and Grant Writing for Community Agencies: Graduate Students Journey to Grant Success
Our presentation will highlight the consultation experience as graduate students and the benefits of working with outside agencies. Presenters will discuss how to create a consultation group/organization, the importance of developing strong group cohesion, maintaining effective communication across technical platforms, and the grant writing process for an outside community agency. We will emphasize our consultation services for Cypress College, the services provided to this agency, and the SaVE Bill and the Innovation Fund.
Dominique Remaker, MS, MA, is a fourth year PhD student at California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University. Dominique has a research interest in family cohesiveness for families with incarcerated loved ones. She trains at Ventura Youth Correctional Facility, where she provides individual psychotherapy, group therapy, and treatment summaries for Board and Discharge hearings for Wards. She also works in private practice in San Pedro providing services for children and adults.
Presenter: Dr. Jason Platt is Program Director of the
Counseling Psychology Program & Immersion Program at Alliant International University-Mexico City Campus.
Link: Theatre of the Oppresed
Street Level Learning: Community Dialogues & The Theater of the Oppressed
Join us for an experiential presentation on using street theater in order to engage the local community your in dialogues. The Theater of the Oppressed was established in the early 1970s by Brazilian director and Workers' Party (PT) activist, Augusto Boal. This participatory theater fosters democratic and cooperative forms of interaction among participants. Dr. Platt will be demonstrating how he and his students use the these principles in their counseling psychology work. This method of generating public conversations uses theatrical techniques to construct collaborative and communal dialogues and to empower those experiencing oppression. Dr. Platt will also be sharing information on the CSPP Mexico City Spanish Language Class and Cultural Immersion program.
Do You Bring Your Whole Self to Work? Drawing on our Multiple Identities to Experience and Practice Inclusion
It can sometimes seem as if we need to be one person at work or school and a different one in our personal life. This session will focus on how to be our best and “whole self” at work or school so that we can better harness our full power and truly benefit from diversity. How we connect and collaborate across identities influences how well we contribute to and accomplish our collective mission. Participants will look at the choices they make regarding how much and which aspects of themselves they bring to work or school, and learn about inclusion as a multi-level system. Through this individual and collective exploration, participants should emerge with greater clarity regarding how they can proactively create more inclusion and empowerment for themselves and others at work, in that way contributing to making their groups and organizations more than the sum of their parts.
Bernardo M. Ferdman, PhD, is Distinguished Professor in the Organizational Psychology Program at CSPP-San Diego, and a leadership and organization development consultant with three decades of experience. He consults, writes, speaks, teaches, and conducts research on inclusion and diversity, multicultural leadership, Latinos/as in the workplace, and bringing one’s whole self to work, and recently published Diversity at Work: The Practice of Inclusion (Wiley, 2014), providing a state-of-the-art understanding of inclusion and how to systematically create it, foster it, and navigate its challenges.
New Frontiers in Sexual and Gender Diversity
Current concepts of sexual and gender diversity are rapidly expanding, such that “LGBT” is no longer inclusive of the wide range of sexualities, relational practices, and gender identities inhabited by clients. It is therefore imperative for diversity-minded clinicians to broaden their knowledge of these emergent, and often stigmatized, identities and practices in order to provide culturally competent care. This presentation by the co-chairs of RISA, a Los Angeles campus-based student organization dedicated to promoting and advancing knowledge and acceptance of sexual and gender diversity, will address this need by briskly reviewing recent research and relevant clinical implications for a broad selection of lesser-known and frequently marginalized sexual, relational, and gender diversities, as well as some important intersections between them. A sex-positive theoretical approach will be applied throughout to guide clinical recommendations for working with sexual, relational, and gender-diverse clients. Recommended resources for further learning will also be provided.
Allie P. Laurie, Jr. is a third-year Ph.D. student in multicultural clinical psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University in Los Angeles, where he is co-chair of the Rockway Institute Student Affiliate (RISA). A researcher, writer and presenter, Allie is interested in LGBT issues, issues related to ethnic minorities, sexuality (particularly sexual minorities, and male sex workers), same-sex relationships, masculinity issues, and mindfulness.
Ryan G. Witherspoon, MA, is currently a third year Ph.D. student in the clinical psychology program and co-chair of Rockway Institute Student Affiliate (RISA). He also holds a Masters degree in psychology from Pepperdine University. An active researcher and speaker, Ryan has published and presented widely on relational diversity, alternative sexualities, sex-positivity, and other topics. You can read more about his work at his website: www.RyanWitherspoon.com.
Evelyn Shieh is a Ph.D. student at Alliant International University: California School of Professional Psychology – Los Angeles. They are a bisexual, fluid, genderqueer, transperson of color, and sociopolitical activist for sex and body-positivity, queer and trans-inclusive feminism, and environmental justice. They believe that all oppressions, though experienced differently, are bonded together with the rope of intersectionality. Their hope is to create a progressive, significant change in the status quo that will outlive them. (They/Their is a preferred gender pronoun).