PSY2020: Bringing the National APS conference to you

This year’s National APS Conference, PSY2020, is unique in many ways. This is the first entirely virtual conference that the APS has held. The conference is tailored for the broad membership of the APS, and we have explicitly included representation from the Division of Research, Education and Teaching (DPRET) and the Division of General Psychological Practice, as well as early-career members in the program planning committee. This has produced a really exciting and diverse program of high quality offerings. There will be something for everyone in this conference.

The three international keynotes all speak to the nexus between practice and the science of psychology. We have been incredibly lucky to be able to have these exceptional keynotes. They are three eminent psychologists who represent a broad range of interests in the discipline.

Professor John Cromby will present on the Power Threat Meaning Framework. This novel approach to formulating and addressing psychological problems offers a fundamentally different model of understanding psychological distress based on psychological process and theory rather than the more traditional diagnostic approaches. The approach is likely to be of great interest to practitioners looking to enhance and develop their practice models.

Professor Julianne Holt-Lundstad brings a timely focus on social isolation and loneliness. Even before the COVID-19 crisis, loneliness and social isolation were significant and under-recognised issues, but have truly been highlighted in light of current circumstances. Julianne is an influential and highly cited psychologist in this area and will speak to why social isolation is so important and how we might address it.

Professor Daryl O’Connor will present on Open Science. The future of psychological research and practice lies in the power of psychology as a science and how it directly informs what we do in psychological practice. Open Science is the mechanism that opens the door between science and those who use it. It means that the evidence base of psychological practice and care is made stronger by a more fluid transfer of information. It also means that psychological science will be more accountable and transferable within the research field. The British Psychological Society has successfully championed the uptake of open science within its membership, and Daryl O’Connor will present on this and lessons learned.

To complement these keynotes we will also have some remarkable panels. These will include:

• a panel session on loneliness that crosses boundaries among researchers and practitioners, which will include Professors Alex Haslam, Viviana Wuthrich and Julianne Holt-Lunstad
• a high-level panel on COVID-19 and its psychological impact that will include Professor Michael Kidd, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Australia; Dr Ruth Vine, Australia’s first Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Mental Health, and Professor Jolanda Jetten
• a timely panel on disaster response and recovery with a particular focus on the significant disasters of our current time
• a high-level panel on the current regulatory and policy issues and challenges to psychology as a discipline and profession
• an innovative and exciting early-career panel with well-known podcaster and early-career psychologist Amy Felman, which will include discussions with researchers, clinicians (and others) with tips for surviving the early-career phase.

The program committee has also made the content contemporary, and in many ways the virtual format of the conference reflects this as well. Conference delegates will be able to move between live sessions, network with peers and browse the exhibition with just a few mouse clicks.

Visit psy2020.com.au to find out more.