International Conference on Clinical Supervision

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Mental-health professionals representing a variety of fields will gather in Buffalo on June 1-3 for the Second International Interdisciplinary Conference on Clinical Supervision, an interdisciplinary conference devoted to clinical-supervision theory, practice and research.

The conference will provide psychologists, social workers, nurses, marriage and family therapists, psychiatrists, substance-abuse counselors and other mental-health professionals the opportunity to learn about current issues, practice and research findings related to clinical supervision of students and practitioners.

To be held in the Adam's Mark Hotel, it will focus on core issues in clinical supervision that cut across professional disciplines, as well as issues specific to particular fields.

Co-sponsors of the conference are the School of Social Work; the Graduate School of Education; School of Nursing; Counseling Services; Research Institute on Addictions, and departments of Counseling, School and Educational Psychology; Psychiatry; Family Medicine, and Social and Preventive Medicine, all at the University at Buffalo.

The conference will begin at 6:30 p.m. June 1 with the opening session plenary, "Complex Trauma: Implications for Supervision," presented by Nancy J. Smyth, Ph.D., associate professor and dean of the UB School of Social Work.

The June 2 schedule includes a morning session on "Subtleties in Clinical Supervision," presented by DiAnne Borders, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Counseling Development, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, as well as abstract presentations and "Hot Topics in Clinical Supervision and Training," a series of roundtable discussions coordinated by Michael V. Ellis, Ph.D., professor and director of the Division of Counseling Psychology, University at Albany.

The June 3 schedule will include a workshop, "Clinical Supervision: The Parallel Process," presented by Lawrence Shulman, Ed.D., UB professor of social work and co-chair of the conference, and Alex Gitterman, Ed.D., professor of social work at the University of Connecticut; abstract presentations, and the closing plenary session, "Supervision Fostering Reflective Practice," presented by Rodney Goodyear, associate dean for faculty, professor and director of the Counseling Psychology Program in the Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California.

The conference will be preceded by three workshops to be held June 1:

* "Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): An Experiential Approach to Behavior Changes," to be presented by Robyn Walser, Ph.D., a psychologist at the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System and Trauma and Life Consultation Services, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

* Grant Writing Workshop, to be presented by National Institutes of Health agency staff, 9 a.m. to noon.

* Supervision Researchers: Networking and Collaboration to Advance the Science and Practice of Clinical Supervision, 1:30-4:30 p.m.

Selected presentations from the conference will be included in a special issue of The Clinical Supervisor Journal, and participants will be eligible to receive continuing education credits from a number of professional associations.

The conference is appropriate for practitioners, clinical supervisors, educators, doctoral students and researchers.

For more information, go to http://www.socialwork.buffalo.edu/csconference or contact Erin Bailey at 716-829-3991 ext. 140, or email eedb@buffalo.edu.