Clinical & Community Psychology Division (6) 2004 (Beijing) Report

Prepared by Prof. Dr. J. J. Sanchez-Sosa, Division President

The present report builds up from the one submitted to the IAAP Presidency in 2003. Such report described initial progress regarding the Division's participation in five main activities: 1. supporting the foundation of the Latin American Association of Schools and Institutes of Psychology. 2. Preparing a chapter for a book on therapeutic adherence under the coordination of the General Directorship for Non-communicable Diseases of the World Health Organization (WHO). 3. Preparing a chapter on integral professional training in psychology from an international perspective. 4. Collaboration with the Global Higher Education for Sustainability Partnership project (UNESCO). 5. Actions aimed at increasing membership to the association.

1. Latin American Association of Schools and Institutes of Psychology

In May, 2003 the Executive Council of the Union of Latin American Universities (UDUAL by its initials in Spanish and Portuguese) held its meeting at the Federal University of Mato Grosso, Brazil. The council is composed by 16 university presidents representing four regions in Latin America: The Caribbean-Mexico, Central America, The Andean Region and The Southern Cone. The Assembly General of the Union has over 160 university presidents from all Latin American countries.

UDUAL also lodges associations of deans and departmental chairs from its member universities by discipline including economics, nursing, medicine, architecture, systems engineering, dentistry, law, and accounting, among others. These associations are called Cooperation and Study Organizations, within the UDUAL structure.

Up until 2003 the Union did not have an association of deans and departmental chairs of psychology. During the Mato Grosso conference, deans of psychology from universities in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay; made the formal proposal to found the Latin American Association of Schools and Institutes of Psychology. The motion received the key support of IAAP's Division 6 all along the process, including intensive lobbying during previous conferences of university presidents held in Lima, Guatemala, Mexico and Havana. The proposal was unanimously carried and the association now includes deans from all 20 Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries in Latin America.

As a follow up, the Division 6 Presidency, has kept a key supporting role to the newly founded association through the following activities: A) networking research groups, especially in the areas of clinical and health psychology. B) Promoting advanced (professional degree) student exchange among the member schools and institutes. C) Promoting agreement on accreditation criteria and procedures for clinical training programs.

2. Adherence to long term therapies.

After the publication of the English version of the book containing the final report of the group assembled by WHO, the head of the project Dr. Eduardo Sabate has informed IAAP's Division 6 that the book is now being translated into Spanish and will be released shortly. The WHO office for non-communicable diseases is pondering the possibility to translate the report into other languages. In a set of additional actions, the Division's presidency has begun promoting the conduction of research projects on therapeutic adherence by research groups in Costa Rica and Spain, in addition to the ongoing project currently in progress in Mexico's National University.

3. A global curriculum for professional psychology

As a follow up to the conference on Combined and Integrated programs in Psychology, held at James Madison University (Virginia, USA) in January, 2003, IAAP's Division 6 kept in touch with Professors Larry Beutler, Editor of the Journal of Clinical Psychology and Craig Shealy, who hosted the meeting. The president of IAAP's Division 6 was invited to contribute to an article on the combined and integrated approach to clinical training in the international scene. In addition to Dr. Shealy, the article, scheduled to appear in the October issue of the journal is also authored by such distinguished colleagues as Gerald Burgess, Lee Sternberger, Ingrid Lunt, and Pierre Ritchie.

4. Global Higher Education for Sustainability Partnership.

As a follow up to the World Conference for Higher Education + 5 meeting, the group reconvened during the September, 2003 meeting of the Executive Council of the International Association of Universities held contiguously to the 23rd Annual Congress of the European Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Therapy in Prague. During the meeting IAAP's Division 6 formally offered to help disseminate the Higher Education and Sustainability Toolbox and to assist in translating it into Spanish. The toolbox consists of a series of educational materials for different educational levels, aimed at promoting capacity building and education for sustainable development. The main idea consists of offering the toolbox to the deans and departmental chairs of the Association of Schools and Institutes of Psychology of Latin America either through their university presidents or directly to the deans (whatever appears more effective).

5. In order to promote member affiliations to IAAP's Division 6, and the agenda agreed upon in Singapore, we are again sending, jointly with IAAP's President an e-mailed letter. This time it includes all Division members who selected Clinical & Community Psychology as either first or second option in their 2004 IAAP renewal. The original letter was slightly modified and now contains the specific request to our members to remain affiliated and to assist us in recruiting new members. This drive includes other prominent members of the specialty and will soon extend, in a Spanish version, to the deans and departmental chairs of AFEIPAL.

The Division invites all Divisional Presidents, officers and friends of IAAP to contribute suggestions to these actions and to propose new ones in the spirit of both the agenda agreed upon in Singapore and those stemming from the upcoming Beijing meeting. Please address suggestions and comments to: johannes@servidor.unam.mx