25 AC Sessions
01 Thursday, April 3, 2025 / 9:00 am - 10:30 am
Health Equity & APA Research on Overall Health Equity
Kimberly Boller, PhD
Session description coming soon.
02 Thursday, April 3, 2025 / 11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Student Poster Session
Sarah E Trost, PhD
Student research posters presented by undergraduate and graduate students from across the state. Learn about the latest research taking place in training programs by engaging in interactive discussions with presenters.
03 Thursday, April 3, 2025 / 11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Health Equity: Addressing Barriers to Care in our Rural Populations
Melinda Basterash, MSN, MS, RN, LPC
There has been an increased focus in recent years on various underserved populations, especially for those needing quality, equitable, and accessible care from healthcare professionals. This session will focus on initiatives and interventions in rural communities, including audience discussion, where we see accessibility barriers that intertwine social determinants of health (SDOH), access to quality physical and mental health health care, and limited diversity with health care providers.
04 Thursday, April 3, 2025 / 11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Death, Dignity, and Diversity: The Role of Death Attitudes and Cultural Sensitivity in Providing End of Life Care
Nicole Mathy, PsyD
In this session, participants will explore how individual attitudes toward death shape the provision of end-of-life care, and how integrating cultural sensitivity can lead to more compassionate and dignified care for diverse populations. Attendees will be encouraged to explore their own perceptions of death and how these might impact their care for others. We will review evidence-based therapeutic approaches focusing on addressing the psychological, social, spiritual, and existential challenges faced by individuals nearing the end of life. Special emphasis will be placed on understanding how cultural, religious, and socioeconomic factors influence death attitudes, grief, and end-of-life experiences. Participants will also examine how Western cultural frameworks and minority group membership shape end-of-life care experiences and discuss ways to tailor interventions to meet the diverse needs of patients.
05 Thursday, April 3, 2025 / 11:00 am - 12:30 pm
The development of internalized sexism in young adult women
Kylie Schwabe, PsyD
This presentation will discuss a study that utilized Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis in order to examine the lived experiences of young adult, cisgender women and the development of internalized sexism. Eight participants completed semi-structured interviews focused on their relationships with other women and subsequent views of womanhood. Themes found were (a) womanhood is taught by women throughout the lifespan, (b) women are sexually responsible for men, (c) women are emotional caregivers, (d) there are biological bases of womanhood, (e) women are expected to "do it all" (f) expectations of women are fueled by media portrayal, (g) traditional femininity is seen as oppositional to the feminist movement, and (h) womanhood is a community. The results of the study found that young adult women hold similar beliefs and attitudes surrounding what it means to be a woman. Additionally, young adult women's perceptions of womanhood are similarly influenced by common external factors that stem from society's sexism and misogyny and lead to behaviors of internalized sexism.
06 Thursday, April 3, 2025 / 11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Policing ourselves: Ethical considerations in reporting colleagues and peers for ethical violations
Marina Tierney, PsyD, Brianna Montano, PsyD, Richard Clark, PsyD
In this presentation, we will be discussing the importance of following ethical guidelines in the field of psychology and our obligations when it comes to reporting colleagues or peers who may have violated these guidelines. We will be referencing the APA Code of Conduct and the WI: Chapter Psy 5, as well as exploring various ethical dilemmas that may arise. It is important to note that many of these dilemmas involve navigating competing ethical principles rather than simply choosing between right and wrong. We will also address common barriers that may prevent us from reporting, such as fear of retribution or offending the other professional. Through vignettes and ethical models, we will explore real-life scenarios and discuss appropriate courses of action. Ultimately, it is our responsibility as psychologists to take action when an ethical violation has occurred and this presentation aims to provide guidance on how to do so effectively.
07 (TWO PART SESSION)
Part 1: Thursday, April 3, 2025 / 1:45 pm - 3:15 pm
Part 2: Thursday, April 3, 2025 / 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Ethical Considerations in Gender-Affirming Care
Brianna Montano, PsyD; Kim Skerven, PhD, ABPP; Alexandria M Luxon, PhD; Madeline Glawe, MS; Nicholas Walkowiak, BS
The first of this two-part session will present didactic information about gender-affirming care and ethical considerations across various areas of practice. This will include definitions of gender-affirming care, ways to integrate it into psychotherapy practice, and considerations in the area of psychological assessment. The second portion will focus on a roundtable discussion of gender-affirming care. This discussion will feature a panel including early career psychologists and graduate students in psychology for an exploration of training and supervision needs in the area of gender-affirming care. Throughout both parts, attention will be paid to ethical aspects of gender-affirming care and how this relates to equitable treatment access for gender diverse people and populations.
08 (TWO PART SESSION)
Part 1: Thursday, April 3, 2025 / 1:45 pm - 3:15 pm
Part 2: Thursday, April 3, 2025 / 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm
You're asking me to be humble? - Understanding the role of cultural humility in equitable, inclusive and socially just care
Angela Zapata, PhD; Leslie Skaistis, PsyD; Tammy Beran, PhD
The field of psychology has a history steeped in discriminatory and oppressive policies and practices that have harmed marginalized populations. The American Psychological Association (APA) has issued apologies for its participation in these practices, which was a beginning to creating healing for the populations that have been harmed. However, much more is needed to create meaningful and sustainable change that can bring about equitable, inclusive and socially just practice. Cultural humility helps us to recognize where and when we have participated in and benefited from these harmful practices, and to be more responsive in ways that heal both the populations with whom we work, as well as ourselves from the hurtful aspects of a field that has, at its roots, colonized foundations. This experiential and discussion-based workshop will help participants better understand how to develop and practice cultural humility, while recognizing the psychological processes involved in doing so.
09 Thursday, April 3, 2025 / 1:45 pm - 3:15 pm
Adult ADHD: Considerations when evaluating women, older adults, and people of color
Jia Jian Tin, PhD, LP, ABPP
This session will discuss the evaluation and diagnosis of adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and understanding of executive functions. In addition, the session will cover considerations for certain populations who may experience additional barriers to diagnosis of ADHD. Specifically, the session will discuss considerations when evaluating women, older adults, and people of color. The presentation will cover the consequences of these disparities and how proper diagnosis of adult ADHD can improve access to treatment for these populations.
10 Thursday, April 3, 2025 / 1:45 pm - 3:15 pm
Advancing Health Equity through Collaborative Community Partnerships
This session explores how community organizations can address wellness gaps in underserved areas through strategic, accessible, and inclusive approaches. Given political challenges to DEI, we'll discuss ways to advance our mission while navigating these landscapes. Participants will learn about collaborative health promotion models in low-resource settings. Case studies will offer actionable steps to expand wellness access and strategically leverage resources for enhanced community engagement.
11 Thursday, April 3, 2025 / 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Understanding Trauma: The importance of Embodiment
Leah Featherstone, PsyD
In this session, we will explore the intricate relationship between trauma and the body, emphasizing the critical role of embodiment in healing. Trauma often resides in the body, manifesting in physical sensations, emotional reactions, and behavioral patterns. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of how unprocessed trauma affects our physical and mental well-being. We will discuss various approaches to embodiment, including somatic practices, mindfulness, and movement therapies. Attendees will learn techniques to cultivate body awareness and release stored trauma, facilitating a pathway toward healing and resilience.
12 Thursday, April 3, 2025 / 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Cultivating Conversations on Mental Health in South Asian Communities under the theme Psychology and Health Equity: Addressing Disparities and Improving Access for All
Shreya Singh, MS, NCC; Jyotsna Dhar, MA, LPC
Despite being one of the fastest-growing immigrant groups in the U.S. (Voice of America, 2024), South Asians remain underrepresented in mental health research, and their unique needs (Karasz et al., 2000) are often overlooked in mainstream therapeutic practices. By fostering conversations about culturally sensitive care and de-westernization of mental health interventions, this seminar seeks to raise awareness among mental health professionals about the disparities faced by South Asian communities (Prajapathi & Liebling, 2021) and encourage the development of more inclusive, equitable approaches to care. A critical component of this seminar will be a discussion on de-westernizing psychotherapy, which involves challenging the Eurocentric frameworks (Millner et al., 2021) that have historically dominated mental health care and embracing more inclusive, culturally responsive models of care.
13 Friday, April 4, 2025 / 9:00 am - 10:30 am
Family, School, and Community Partnerships to Support Youth Mental Health in Rural Communities
Andy Garbacz, PhD
The purpose of this presentation is to describe youth mental health promotion in rural communities. Family, school, and community systems in rural communities, and partnerships across those systems will be noted as key leverage points to promote youth mental health. Research findings will demonstrate the power of these systems and practical strategies psychologists can use in collaboration with families and other professionals will be highlighted.
14 Friday, April 4, 2025 / 11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Insight Into Effective Facilitation Strategies for a Culturally-Tailored Group Intervention: Case Example of Cultivating Resilience
Sabreet Kaur Dhatt, BS, Norma Reyes, BS, Toriah Haanstad BA, Gabriela Nagy, PhD
Acculturative stress, characterized by challenges caused by the cultural adaptation process when migrating to a new environment, is a critical social driver of health and is associated with various mental and physical health outcomes for Latinxs, highlighting the urgent need to address this stressor in this population. To address this, our team designed a psychosocial intervention, known as Cultivating Resilience, over two years by partnering with community and academic partners. The Cultivating Resilience program is an 8-session coping skills group that aims to reduce stress related to the immigration process and promote mental health and resilience among first- and second-generation Latinx. This presentation explores the facilitation strategies employed in our program to enhance efficacy, such as creating an interactive environment, providing support for participants’ experiences, demonstrating cultural sensitivity, and adapting to the evolving needs of participants. Observers of the program sessions noted high engagement (e.g., enthusiasm to share experiences, lively discussions), demonstration of empathy (e.g., holding space for one another, offering solutions), and willingness to practice learned skills (e.g., problem-solving tools, communication strategies) among participants. This study provides valuable insights into the design and effective facilitation strategies of culturally-tailored interventions for enhancing psychological well-being among first- and second-generation Latinxs.
15 Friday, April 4, 2025 / 11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Healing the Healer: Let's talk about how to stay healthy, Mind-Body-Spirit
Diane Garrison, PhD
We have tough jobs, helping others process their pain on a daily basis. According to an article in Mental Health Weekly in 10/23, 52% of therapist report feeling burnt out. Let's talk about some statistics on the problem, do some nourishing practices together and then share with one another the ways we keep ourselves grounded, positive, and sane.
16 Friday, April 4, 2025 / 11:00 am - 12:30 pm
WPA Advocacy Cabinet Updates
Kim Skerven, PhD, ABPP; Bruce Erdmann, PhD
This session will provide an update on the activities of the WPA Advocacy Cabinet over the past year. Topics to be discussed will include: prescriptive authority, legislative actions, and the licensing of master's level clinicians in psychology. Please join us to learn more about the Advocacy Cabinet's work!
17 Friday, April 4, 2025 / 11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Improving Access to High Quality Care: The Use of Standardized Patients in Counselor Education
David Carroll, PhD; Jessica Lahner, PhD; Terri DeWalt, PhD
This session will describe the use of SPs in multiple courses throughout the Behavioral Health Psychology (BHP) Program at Carroll University. The SP program has been developed collaboratively with the Universitys Theater Department and is focused on formative assignments that build foundational counseling skills in addition to specific clinical competencies. The use of SPs allows for the creation of and the experience of working with case materials that are more diverse than is typically found in role-playing scenarios. The sessions are recorded and detailed feedback is provided by faculty instructors who can monitor and assess student progress over time. The SP training environment also prepares students for working in a virtual clinical environment and allows them to reflect on and learn from their experience before working directly with clients. Anecdotal reports from internship placement sites have indicated that BHP students are unusually well-prepared to step into the real-world of practice, improving access to high quality mental health care. This presentation will also elaborate on lessons learned and opportunities to evolve the use of SPs to improve alignment with national standards, to develop a robust data set, and to expand the diversity of the characters and case scenarios.
Lunch Friday, April 4, 2025 / 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
APA Council of Representatives Update
Kim Skerven, PhD, ABPP
The APA Council of Representatives (CoR) representative from Wisconsin will provide an overview of the relevant events from the past year and current issues for CoR.
18 (TWO PART SESSION)
Part 1: Friday, April 4, 2025 / 1:45 pm - 3:15 pm
Part 2: Friday, April 4, 2025 / 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Being Known and Knowing Others: How WSPP Took Social Healing to the Nursing Homes
Ben Rader, PsyD; Angela L Zapata; WSPP Students
In this dynamic two-part presentation, practicum students and supervising faculty members outline how the Psychology Center at WSPP adopted an area nursing care facility, providing free mental health support services to residents. This presentation will highlight the epidemic or loneliness that disproportionately affects persons living in nursing care facilities, which has a broad impact across all areas of health and wellness. Presenters will also demonstrate and share ecologically informed treatment approaches that account for holism and intersectionality through client focused strategies at engagement. This presentation also offers a training paradigm that places student clinicians in service positions relative to the broader community, utilizing group supervision and collaborative practices that focus on wellness and recovery as opposed to a medical model focused on pathology. A focus on inclusive practices and a social justice focus will also be outlined.
19 (TWO PART SESSION)
Part 1: Friday, April 4, 2025 / 1:45 pm - 3:15 pm
Part 2: Friday, April 4, 2025 / 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Demystifying CRT: A Discussion of the Ethical and Essential Application of Critical Race Theory in Psychology
Vanessa Hintz, PsyD
The ethical principles and standards of professional conduct which govern clinical practice promote social justice, as well as the responsibility of practitioners to remain cognizant of the influence of identity on relational dynamics (American Counseling Association, 2014; American Psychological Association, 2017). Still, current political discourse continues to foster opposition to the exploration of justice-oriented practice. Most notably, discussions of critical race theory (CRT) have created large-scale tensions, to include those within professional and academic spaces. In clinical practice, disregarding racial identity and lived experiences - whether intentional or otherwise - is no longer within the bounds of evidence-based practice, and can lead clinicians to experience ethical dilemmas and even legal concerns. This presentation will outline an integration of CRT with ethics and professional standards, such that the application of equity-driven praxis is not deemed as supplemental, but essential. Attendees will be introduced to CRT in the context of psychology (PsyCrit), to include potential applications of PsyCrit in both research and practice (Crossings et al, 2024). Moreover, recommendations for multilevel interventions (e.g. internal, interpersonal, organizational, and structural) aimed at promoting racial equity and enacting transformational change will be discussed. A round table discussion will follow the formal presentation, providing attendees with opportunities for further self-reflection and open discussion concerning multitiered mechanisms for transforming racial inequities. In addition, collaborative application of PsyCrit/CRT to specific case examples will be utilized.
20 Friday, April 4, 2025 / 1:45 pm - 3:15 pm
Considering All: Awareness and Advocacy to support Neurodiversity in the Classroom
Marshall Lyons, MS; Alberta M Gloria, PhD
All students are neurodiverse with individual neurodivergence directing the specific and inclusive interactions and needs in the higher education classroom setting. This session addresses a conceptual approach, with practical and reflective processes to understand whole student learning and their clinicians' work with those experiences. In doing so, we will provide a brief foundational overview of language regarding neurodiversity needed within individual and classroom interactions and curriculum development. Next, we will address the person-environment process (i.e., belonging and psychosociocultural dimensions) which centers the individual and collective relationships that instructors have in creating an equitable and accessible learning space for college- aged learners. Specifically, we will present a working concept of Corrective Educational Experiences (CEdEs) as a form of neurodiverse-informed andragogy. In an effort to challenge the frequently-held assumption that classroom settings and students are neurotypical, we'll present a multi-layered teaching approach addressing intrapersonal, interpersonal, curricular, and structural / university levels specific to using CEdEs within the classroom. These CEdEs change processes focus on preparation, implementation, maintenance, and review. In particular, we provide reflection questions and points of application for clinicians in advocating for change with instructors and university systems/structures to hold accountability for educating all.
21 Friday, April 4, 2025 / 1:45 pm - 3:15 pm
Who Am I?: Exploring military identity and how it can lead to underutilization of veteran resources, increased shame, and suicide.
Erich Roush, PsyD, ABPP
This session will focus on the concept of military service and its effect on a person's self-identity. Many veterans struggle with this inner conflict and integrating one’s military service into a stable sense of self. During this journey, many veterans rigidly hold onto military culture or push it away. Insight into this dynamic will shed light as to why some veterans overutilize or underutilize veteran services and bring a new perspective to veteran mental health issues, including veteran suicide
22 Friday, April 4, 2025 / 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Racial microaggressions in the therapeutic space and beyond: Impact and interventions
Mary Baggio, PhD
Racial microaggressions are common, often covert and unintentional, expressions of negative bias that can cause significant harm to individuals from marginalized groups. Despite their pervasive nature, microaggressions are often dismissed, minimized, or altogether overlooked by clinicians. Moreover, clinicians, even the most well-meaning, can be the perpetrator of microaggressions towards their clients. These situations can result in missed opportunities for healing, therapeutic ruptures, barriers to treatment, and at worst, harm by the therapist. This presentation aims to highlight the existing literature to promote clinicians’ understanding of racial microaggressions as well as self-reflection and ability to address microaggressions if they occur. The presentation will also highlight the literature on 'microintervention' strategies that can be used by the therapist and taught to clients to combat the harmful effects of microaggressions as they occur.
23 Friday, April 4, 2025 / 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Ethics and the Impact of Racial Bias on Treatment and Decision-Making in Black Mental Health Care
Anwuri Osademe, PsyD
This session will explore the pervasive effects of clinician racial bias on treatment outcomes and clinical decision-making processes for Black mental health patients. We will examine how implicit and explicit biases manifest within clinical interactions, influence diagnosis, and affect therapeutic approaches, often leading to disparities in care. Attendees will gain insight into the ethical implications of racial bias in mental health and explore strategies to improve clinical decision-making. The session will also address systemic approaches for reducing disparities and fostering equitable, inclusive care in line with the ethical standards in psychology.
The Trust Virtual Session Saturday, April 5, 2025 / 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Sequence XIV: Ethics and Risk Management of Navigating New Frontiers in Psychological Practice
Dan O Taube, PhD, ABPP
In today’s swiftly changing landscape, psychologists are witnessing a surge of fresh opportunities and possibilities. These emerging frontiers not only broaden the scope of professional activities for aiding clients and patients through innovative methods, but also off er avenues to enhance and support practice in ways that were once unimaginable. However, these new territories also come with their own set of unique challenges, unforeseen risks, and uncertainties. Workshop XIV is dedicated to exploring the ethical considerations and risk management strategies essential for effectively maneuvering through these novel domains in psychological practice. Specific topics include: necessary considerations for expanding one’s practice into new areas, psychedelic assisted therapy (PAT), the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in psychological practice, issues related to digital security, new understandings of PSYPACT and interjurisdictional telepsychology (IJTP), and effectively managing transitions in one’s practice (e.g., new employment, retirement, disability/illness, professional wills).
