Division 52 Newsletter – August 2020

COVID-19 Almost Ruined My International Research Project on the Value of Tree of Life Therapy for Traumatized Refugee and Asylum-Seeking Youth

Deborah A. Stiles

An article first presented at the 2019 convention of the American Psychological Association and later published in the 2019 Fall/Winter issue of the International Psychology Bulletin was titled, “The Myriad of Problems Encountered When Conducting Psychological Research with Refugee and Asylum-Seeking Youth.” The article described the three main reasons why researching the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for refugee children and adolescents is especially difficult. https://div52.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/2019-24-IPB-FallWinter.pdf

After the APA Convention, I began tackling the “myriad of problems.” I gained IRB approval, obtained funding, and identified international research sites. Over a period of several months, positive, trusting relationships were built with psychologists, educators, and administrators from four countries. Thirty-one culturally diverse adolescents served as consultants and helped to design the research process and develop the research Instrument. In late 2019, I co-authored an article titled, “Researching the Effectiveness of Tree of Life: An Imbeleko Approach to Counseling Refugee Youth.” The article presented a multi-method study protocol and a plan for using pragmatic, group-randomized controlled trials to examine the effectiveness of Tree of Life. The article included a CONSORT checklist with extensions for pragmatic trials and a Tree of Life flow diagram.

The Tree of Life research project was well-designed and the research plan was all set and ready to go until March of 2020 when COVID-19 turned everything upside down. Suddenly, the “myriad of problems” seemed to multiply. All communications were online or by telephone. Social distancing and face masks were recommended and later required. School activities and summer camps were cancelled, and international travel became nearly impossible. Everything I was counting on seemed to be falling apart.

In July, I reached out to several colleagues hoping to find a way to still do the research project. The most common response was, “Just put the research project online.” I explained that I intentionally selected “low tech” Tree of Life therapy because it is conducive to establishing trust and developing positive relationships with traumatized youth.

I felt that COVID-19 was ruining my research project. I reached out to two more colleagues and they helped me reimagine my research project. They helped me let go of my assumptions about exactly how my research project would progress.  One colleague suggested that I “deputize” mental health professionals to do the data collection and the Tree of Life therapy at my international sites (S. Swayze, personal communication, July 8, 2020). Another colleague encouraged me to consider different international sites such as Singapore, Lebanon, Greece, and Thailand (F. Rami, personal communication, July 9, 2020). As a result of these conversations, I can imagine the possible completion of the international Tree of Life study. If you the reader have any suggestions for me, please email me at stilesda@webster.edu.

United Nations Psychology Day 2020 focused on Multilateralism

Priyadharshiny Sandanapitchai & Harold Takooshian **

On May 27, 2020, the Thirteenth Annual Psychology Day at the United Nations, brought together over 1,271 participants from 104 nations to celebrate the 75^th anniversary of the UN.  This year’s focus was on “UN75: The multilateralism we want: Psychological contributions to building bridges among and within nations.”

This year’s UN Psychology Day (UNPD) was unusual in at least four ways. (1) Sponsorship of UNPD shifted from the American Psychological Association (APA) and its Office of International Affairs to the Psychology Coalition at the UN (PCUN). PCUN is a coalition of psychology NGOs, formed in New York City in 2011 (Okorodudu, 2013), which has been expanding despite a few challenges—and now numbers about 150 psychologists and interns representing nine psychology NGOs (Takooshian, 2020). Many PCUN members recently contributed to volume 1 of a new book series on “Behavioral science in the global arena” (Congress et al., 2020).) [See notes 1,2, 3 below] (2) Virtual. Since New York City is the U.S. epicenter for the coronavirus, the United Nations building is closed. Rather than cancel UNPD, PCUN requested and received APA cooperation to hold the first virtual UNPD, using the “Go To Meetings” platform.  (3) Participants. Instead of 400 participants in one room in New York City, this UNPD enlisted 2,763 registrants, and 1,271 of these were able to participated online from 104 nations. Only 25% of these were in the USA.  (4) Theme. This was the 75^th year of the UN, so the theme focused on the mission of the UN itself: “UN75” and multilateralism. [4]

As in the past, UNPD was kindly hosted by the diplomatic community–this year including the Missions of Palau, Dominican Republic, and Mexico.

On May 27 at 11 am, the 130-minute forum was welcomed by its two hosts: Drs. Leslie Popoff, the President of PCUN and UN representative for the International Council of Psychologists,, and Rashmi Jaipal, head of the APA team at the UN.

The first of two 45-minute panels was moderated by Dr. Walter Reichman, Chair of the PCUN Program Committee, who introduced his two speakers, and moderated a lively Q & A. The second panel was moderated by Dr. Maysa Akbar, who introduced her two speakers, and moderated a lively Q & A. The four experts’ presentations appear below.

In the final 20-minute Q & A, all six experts fielded several online questions from colleagues and students from as far as Nepal.

A video recording of the entire 130-minute UNPD is now available online [5], as are recordings of past UNPDs in 2019 [6] and 2018 [7].

PCUN President Leslie Popoff noted that especially in 2020, the hosting of UNPD required the coordination of many dedicated volunteers. She thanked the speakers and moderators, the nine cosponsoring groups, the team at the APA (Sally Leverty, Juliana Mayhew, Jung-Yun Min, Drs. Gabriel Twose, Amanda Clinton, Nelida Quintero), the three UN missions (Palau, Mexico, Dominican Republic), the PCUN program committee (Drs. Walter Reichman, Maysa Akbar, Comfort Asanbe, Rashmi Jaipal, Sonia Suchday, Michelle Bell, Vera Araujo Soares, Laura Lopez-Aybar, Ayorkor Gaba, Cynthia Grguric, Carmen I. Vazquez), and outreach team (Priyadharshiny Sandanapitchai, Harold Takooshian, Elaine P. Congress).

Click here to read the full article: https://www.dropbox.com/s/9d0b3plp2f9p29b/UN%20Psych%20day-%20Division%2052.pdf?dl=0

The Pandemic Seminars:

by Luca Tateo, Pina Marsico and Falu Rami

The recently constituted Div 52 taskforce on Covid-19 has become a productive arena of discussion about the role of international psychology in the major global crisis that affect mankind, such as the SARS COVID-19 pandemic, and that are likely to occur in the future, due for instance to the environmental crisis. In this context, a need for a space of reflection and debate, beyond contingency, has emerged. For this reason, we have created a new cycle of webinars, called “The pandemic series”, where invited lecturers, from all the continents, will propose innovative theoretical understandings of the psychological aspects of global critical events. Psychological sciences have been dramatically challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic and by its psycho-social consequences, revealing the effects of social, racial and economic inequalities.We need a serious theoretical and epistemological reflection, seeking advancements in the way psychology understands human psychic experience outside the Western-centric way of life.

The webinars will take place every month, starting June 26, 2020, and will be free and open also to non-members, in order to foster the dialogue with scholars and professionals worldwide expanding the Div 52  community. The complete list of webinars is available at https://div52.net/index.php/activities/webinars

APA Virtual Division 52 Hospitality Suite Programming

• Theory and Practice of Psychology in Kenya: Opportunities and Challenges – VIEW PRESENTATION HERE
• Mental Health, Forgiveness, and Trauma Impacted by Ethnopolitical Conflict and Natural Disasters – VIEW PRESENTATION HERE
• Mental Health and Barriers to Treatment: Application of International Psychology – VIEW PRESENTATION HERE

We hope everyone has an amazing APA Virtual 2020! Please email us with any reflections, stories, or other APA Convention news/updates  to IPBDiv52@gmail.com. The next issue of IPB will be disseminated will be the October/November 2020 issue. We aim to provide a Division 52 recap of this years unique Virtual Convention.

Psychologists engaged in international and global work truly understand the importance of connection and relationships, please continue to submit your important work and recognition that will support the IPB in (1) connecting members of Division 52 through announcements of upcoming events run by Division 52 as well as its members, (2) highlighting member activities and accomplishments, (3) highlighting international partnerships and projects, and (4) informing members of upcoming workshops and conferences. You can submit your pieces for the October/November issue into the Google Form link below: https://forms.gle/ydVvQnwnMoDEPKrY6

We hope you and your families are staying well during this time, best wishes to all!

Steve and Joyce