Our Mission

The Society for the Study of Psychiatry and Culture (SSPC) is a not-for-profit association devoted to furthering research, clinical care and education in cultural aspects of mental health and illness. The Society has a diverse international membership and encourages participation of professionals and students from psychiatry, psychology, nursing, and the social sciences who are at various stages of practice, teaching or training. The society focuses attention on the importance of cultural factors in psychiatric care, education, and research through its group and individual efforts. 

The Society meets annually to present the latest research in cultural psychiatry, and to coordinate our efforts in medical and psychiatric education. We sponsor the John Spiegel and Charles Hughes Fellowships, annual travel awards for students, residents, or fellows to attend the annual meeting. The Society also publishes a newsletter twice per year to keep its members informed of group and individual professional activities and initiatives.

For further information or questions about the Society please contact Steven Wolin, President of the Society at stevenwolin@gmail.com., or Liz Kramer, Executive Director, at ekramer931@gmail.com or calling her at (717) 848-2978.

A Message from the President

I am pleased to assume the role of SSPC President for the next three years. and am committed to increasing the visibility and impact of SSPC in the important field of cultural psychiatry To achieve this aim, I have three specific goals for my tenure as president: (1) to produce annual conferences that you look forward to attending, (2) to substantially grow our membership, and (3) to add valuable information and communication tools to an updated website. I hope that each of you will work with me to achieve these goals.

To get started, I would like to introduce you to the structure of our organization, and our officers. We have a 12 member Executive Committee, which conducts the Society's business regularly throughout the year by email and teleconference and a Board of 18 members. (the Executive Committee and 6 elected and appointed Society members) which meets annually on the day before the annual meeting). The Executive Committee is comprised of our officers, executive director, and committee chairs. This year's members are:

Officers

• President - Steven Wolin

• Vice President (and President Elect) - Roberto Lewis-Fernandez

• Past President - Jim Boehnlein

• Secretary - Francis Lu

• Treasurer - Dan Savin

• Executive Director - Liz Kramer

Committee Chairs

• Program - Roberto Lewis-Fernandez

• Membership - Alpna Munshi

• Education and Training- Larry Merkel and Jim Griffith , co-chairs

• Communications - Shannon Suo, newsletter editor.; co-chair to be named

• Awards - Michael Hollifield

• Strategic Planning , Nominations and Oversight - Jim Jaranson

At the 2012 Board meeting some changes were made to the dues structure for 2013, as follows: MD $175, retired and early career MD (within five years after residency) $100, PhD, RN, and MSW $75, residents and other students $75 Members who attend the annual meeting will continue to receive substantial discounts on registration fees. We expect to be using PayPal for processing memberships and meeting registration in the future, and I will explain the process in my August 1st message.

Special thanks to John Onate for the wonderful video he made of the 2012 meeting in New York. You can find it at our website, www.psychiatryandculture.org/conference2012.htm. We hope John receives many awards for it and look forward to another one next year.

The 2013 conference will be held at the Delta Chelsea Hotel in Toronto, Canada from Friday May 3 through Sunday, May 5. Please note that these dates are different from those listed in the 2012 program brochure. The program committee has chosen Shame and Silence: Understanding the Stigma of Mental Illness as the theme for the 2013 meeting. Abstract forms and instructions to authors are currently being revised and will be available on this website on August 1st. The deadline for submitting abstracts for the 2013 conference is November 1st. I hope you will begin thinking about your presentations. In addition to symposia and individual presentations, this year we will be having a major poster session. If you have any questions at this point regarding your contribution to the program, please contact Roberto Lewis-Fernandez at Rlewis@nyspi.columbia.edu or calling him at (212) 543-6512.

We welcome your help and advice on all levels. Please feel free to contact me or any of the able members of our executive committee with your suggestions, opinions, or offers to join one our committees. As already noted, we currently need a co-chair for the Communications Committee, to be web editor and work on the design and content of our website. Finally, I expect to use the website to communicate the news of our Society regularly. Our newsletters will also inform you of the activities of our affiliated organizations in cultural and social psychiatry and psychology. We will contact you by email when new information is on the website. Meanwhile, if you change your email or snail mail address or telephone number, please contact Liz as soon as possible. Thanks.

Best wishes for a good summer.

Steven Wolin, President