APA Program Committee

APA Program Committee

Susan Collins & Megan Kirouac

SoAP (Division 50) co-chairs

2020 APA Convention

We hope you’re having a good start to 2020! It’s been a busy start for the Program Committee, and we are happy to give you an update on the SoAP Programming for the 2020 APA Convention that will take place August 6-9 in Washington DC.

First off, we would like to thank SoAP members for submitting and reviewing our program submissions. This was a big accomplishment because our division had an unprecedented number of high-quality submissions, including 50% more symposium submissions, compared to last year. Additionally, we were informed in December that APA unexpectedly cut all its divisions’ allotted programming hours. Unfortunately, SoAP’s were cut by approximately 30%. Taken together, these points made our selection process highly competitive this year.

The resulting stellar programming includes divisional and collaborative symposia, posters, and skill-building sessions elevating SoAP’s 2020 theme, “50 Years of Harm Reduction: Past, Present and Future,” which was chosen by trailblazing leader in harm reduction research and clinical practice and SoAP’s 2020 President, Dr. Linda Sobell. This year’s programming also emphasizes key APA and Division 50 priorities, including early career and student contributions, diversity and inclusion, collaboration across divisions, and “Deep Poverty.” Throughout the program, we are also proud to prominently feature APA Fellows, a MacArthur Genius Award-Winner, and renowned experts in science, clinical practice and policy, including the Director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products. Here is an initial rundown of our programming.

We were thrilled to work with our colleagues at Divisions 28, 45, 54, 35, 44, 6, and 25 to put together cross-cutting Collaborative Symposia for the main APA program:

-Harm reduction or harm induction? Exploring the current research on e-cigarettes and vaping 

-Innovative interventions with Native Americans through integration of traditional practices

-A collaborative data blitz on sex and gender vulnerabilities in psychological health

-Diverse translational perspectives in the development of opioid and substance use disorders

-The past, present and future of NIH sex as a biological variable policy

-A push and a nudge: Leveraging behavioral economics to improve scientific health

We are excited to feature the following Division 50 scientific symposia:

-Deconstructing “Treatment”: Importance of harm reduction in criminal justice reform

-Paradigm shift: Research on the introduction of harm reduction into diverse settings and populations

-The traditional gender role hypothesis: Alcohol use and other health risk behaviors among Latinas

-Advances in substance use disorder research: Comorbidity and its underestimated implications

-An update on alcohol use disorder: From etiology to treatment

-E-cigarette use among youth: An examination of behaviors, motives and policies

-Ethical considerations of court-ordered treatment

-Mobile assessment and intervention in addiction: Recent advances (sponsored by Division 28)

There will also be exceptional harm-reduction skill-building sessions for clinicians:

-User-driven harm reduction 101: Naloxone, clean works and safer-use strategies

-Loving people who love alcohol and drugs: Harm reduction psychotherapy for family, friends and community

-Integrative Harm Reduction Psychotherapy: Bringing relational, psychodynamic, cognitive, behavioral and mindfulness strategies together in a harm-reduction frame

Early Career Investigators Poster Session and Social Hour

SoAP is proud to sponsor three poster sessions at the Convention, including the Early Career Investigators Poster Session and Social Hour featuring up-to-date research on a broad range of addictive behaviors. This event is cosponsored by SoAP, Division 28 (Psychopharmacology and Substance Abuse) and NIH, and is an excellent way to reconnect with old colleagues, meet new colleagues, and engage in stimulating conversations about addiction psychology. As if all that isn’t enough, there will also be delicious catered food on offer. Join us on Friday, August 7th, 4-6pm!

SoAP Presidential Panel and Business Meeting

Aside from our exciting collaborative programming, symposia, poster presentations, and skill-building sessions, we would also like to draw your attention to our Division 50 Presidential Panel entitled, “Harm Reduction: Over 50 years and future directions.” The Presidential Panel, which will take place from 2-3pm on Friday August 7th, will be led by Dr. Linda Sobell and will feature panelists Drs. Mark Sobell, Katie Witkiewitz, and Susan Collins. The Presidential Panel will be immediately followed by the SoAP Business Meeting and Awards Ceremony, and both events are open to everyone. At the business meeting, we will discuss the past year’s activities of the Executive Board and all SoAP committees, as well as distribute awards to SoAP members who have made outstanding contributions to the field. Please come to hear what we have been up to and to celebrate your colleagues.

Our collaborative partnership with Division 28

As in previous years, we have developed our program in close collaboration with Division 28. They, too, have an outstanding lineup planned, as do many other divisions who will be sponsoring events that will be relevant to SoAP members. Be sure to check out Division 28’s events and all the Convention events that are colisted by SoAP (Division 50) in the APA Program.

Please note that SoAP programming will begin at 8am on the first day of the conference, Thursday, August 6th, so please plan to arrive by Wednesday night so you don’t miss out!

We look forward to seeing you at the 2020 APA Convention in DC!

(P.S. We also hope to see many of you at our Collaborative Perspectives on Addiction meeting in San Diego in April! Check out https://addictionpsychology.org/conventions/cpa/2020-collaborative-perspectives-addiction-meeting for more details.)