Crazy

I was going to write an entry about the Community Psychology conference that I attended in Washington this past weekend, but, since I had to write a synopsis of it anyhow, I've decided to just post the paper. Enjoy! This is riveting stuff! ;)

Having never been to a psychology conference, I was unsure of what to expect when our car pulled in to the parking garage of the Washington-Bothell campus. However, when we walked in to the North Creek Events center, I was pleasantly surprised by the informal and supportive atmosphere that greeted us. I carefully perused the day's program, and struggled to choose only three presentations to attend, as everything seemed so interesting. My choices were Ethics and Community Psychology: Creating Space for Dialogue about Graduate Training and Research with Vulnerable Populations, Responding Creatively to Cultural Diversity through Case Stories, and Community Art and Music for Health. I then spent the next few minutes observing and discussing the poster presentations, until the opening ceremony was prepared to begin.

Immediately following the morning introductions was the VERA Project's presentation. I was completely blown away by the mission and business model of this organization, which I had never previously heard of. V.E.R.A. is an acronym for Veri Et Recti Amici, which translates to “true and sincere friends.” Ten years ago, it was the goal of Shannon Stewart and James Kablas to create an all-ages music venue; an extention of the VERA Project that they had seen while attending college in The Netherlands. The Seattle-based installment of this program was an effective counter to the Teen Dance Ordinance, which outlawed the “mixing of people of different ages where there is dancing or music” (www.theveraproject.org). This organization encourages all-ages participation at every business level – administration, event coordinating, concert execution, recording, marketing, and finance. Despite the fact that the founders of the project were not community psychologists, the VERA Project impliments many of the goals and ideas therein, including action research, qualitative data, quantitative data, focus groups, community empowerment, and observation/participation. One of the most difficult issues faced by this organization is ageism/adultism, because the cultural norm is often to assume that adults know more than children, and children have less to offer. I asked them how they handle this problem, and they seemed excited to describe their techniques, which included one-on-one conversations, integration workshops, and a preexisting supportive, unbiased environment. The VERA Project's presentation was well organized and very informative. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about their efforts, and, as a former musician, I appreciate the VERA Project's community contributions, and I wish an organization like this one had existed in my hometown.

After lunch, I attended a workshop which was created by five Portland State University graduate students, titled Ethics and Community Psychology: Creating Space for Dialogue about Graduate Training and Research with Vulnerable Populations. Fortunately for me, but unfortunately for them, I was the only attendee. This, of course, meant that I was able to spend more time asking them questions about their experiences, positive impressions, and negative attitudes regarding PSU's graduate program. The purpose of the workshop was to read a hypothetical story of a grad student who is having trouble balancing her roles and responsibilities, and then answer questions regarding ways in which she and her advisor could make her experience less stressful. Through listening to the others' answers, I was able to learn valuable, honest information about issues, such as: the awkwardness and ethical struggle of seeing your participants in 'real world' settings; the time factors involved in changing your focus once you are already committed to a project; the stress of balancing the roles of student, teaching assistant, research partner, and student advisor; and learning to negotiate with professors when you have to miss classes to conduct research. Having this sort of informal setting to discuss these issues openly and honestly was extremely beneficial to me. Because of this workshop, I now feel far more confident in my abilities regarding my educational future.

The next workshop I attended was titled Responding Creatively to Cultural Diversity through Case Stories, and was conducted by Dr. Diane Gillespie and five graduate students from the University of Washington. In this group, we were asked to read the case study of a young woman named Abby, who, inspired by her psychology professor, confronted her racist family during dinner. In the study, Abby's debate with her kind, strongheaded uncle came to an abrupt halt when he stormed out of the house, leaving both Abby and her mother distressed. Abby's inner conflict between pride for addressing her uncle's bigotry head-on and her guilt over creating family strife caused her to blurt out her story in the middle of class the next day, interrupting another student who had been sharing a painful anecdote about her Latino family's unfortunate living situation. Because of this outburst, Abby was not provided the support that she had craved, but, rather, was ostracized by her teacher and fellow students. This case study provided our group the opportunity to address each character in the story individually. We analyzed the strengths of the uncle, the mother, Abby, the professor, and the classmates. One of the highlights of the group discussion was when Dr. Gillespie leaned over to me and said, “Isn't it interesting that the list of strengths is longer for the uncle than any other character? I wonder why that is?” That question, more than anything else in the discussion, really helped to expand my understanding of the benefits of learning through case studies.

Finally, I attended a presentation of two papers regarding Community Art and Music for Health. The first paper/powerpoint addressed the up-and-coming field of Expressive Art. This field is fundamentally different from art therapy for one important reason: no psychological training is needed in order to practice it. Patients are not diagnosed and prescribed specific artistic goals to assist their needs, but, rather, are encouraged to express their feelings through any form of art that feels comfortable to them. This can include, and is not limited to, painting, music, sculpture, cooking, knitting, and acting. Expressive art is mainly used to assist patients who are recovering from chemical dependencies, and patients have the freedom to decide whether or not their work will be made public (most art pieces are kept confidential). Participants are also encouraged to keep a journal, in which they should record their own deep thoughts and feelings for three days, at least 20 minutes per day. This technique has been medically proven to increase health and healing for individuals. The second paper addressed music therapy, specifically within the Bailey Boushay House, which is a group home for HIV patients. The house contains 35 patient beds, and also provides a day health program, which can treat upwards of 200 patients per day. The Bailey Boushay House uses music as a social participation tool, to address some of the issues that AIDS patients face – e.g., social isolation, dementia, discrimination, and depression. The music therapist, David, learns a multitude of songs (in various languages) so that he may engage each resident on a personal, emotional level. Some of the patients prefer only to listen, but he attempts to involve each individual through techniques, such as sing-alongs, sing-and-respond, and “teaching” (in which the resident teaches him one of their favorite songs). I wanted to attend this presentation, because when I first decided to persue psychology, music and/or art therapy seemed the natural choice, as that was my previous career. I quickly moved away from that focus, but I am still extremely interested in the fields, as I have always felt art to be the best method for emotional catharsis.

I am incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to attend the Northwest Eco/Community Psychology Conference. The amount of knowledge gained and professionals met were irreplaceable. I learned a multitude of interesting facts, perspectives, and facets of community psychology, and, as an undergraduate, I gained the opportunity to speak informally to professionals and graduate students in my chosen field. Next year, I fully intend to attend this conference again, and I am excited for the opportunity to, potentially (hopefully), share my own research there.