Please pardon our appearance while we rebuild and re-decorate this site. 

Save the Date

June 2 - 4, 2011

The 2011 Annual Meeting of the SSPC

The Renaissance Seattle

Seattle Washington, U.S.A.

SSPC Mission Statement:

 

The Society for the Study of Psychiatry and Culture (SSPC) is a nonprofit interdisciplinary organization devoted to furthering research, clinical care and education in cultural aspects of mental health and illness.The SSPC promotes integration of culture in psychiatric theory and practice. Areas of interest include: (1) research on social and cultural dimensions of mental illness, comparative studies of psychopathology, and the cultural contexts of psychiatric practice; (2) innovative approaches to incorporating cultural considerations in clinical practice; and (3) training of psychiatrists, other health professionals, and social scientists.

The SSPC aims to promote cultural psychiatry in North American professional groups and to collaborate with national and international organizations in the development of policy and practice. Primarily rooted in

North America, the organization also provides an interface for domestic and international interests of cultural psychiatry and mental health. The SSPC aims to foster exchange among clinicians and researchers engaged in cultural psychiatry, other medical and allied health professionals, and social scientists.

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A Message from the President:

Welcome to the new SSPC website.  We hope you will find it user-friendly and helpful as well as informative. The Society’s 2010 annual meeting was held in

Montreal from April 29 to May 1 and it was our most successful meeting ever!  Visit us often for more news on next year’s meeting.  The organization is growing.  Liz Kramer is now SSPC’s Executive Director, and we have a secretary and webmaster, Zima Khanna.

The Board has established committees.  They are:

• Membership
• Program
• Communications
• Education and Training
• Awards
• Strategic Planning and Succession

Please sign up for a committee and become more active in the organization.  This is your organization; everybody’s input is important! As part of the expanded website, we are developing a resource clearing house.  A bibliography on Southeast Asian mental health for professionals, complete with abstracts where they exist, has been posted on the site and will be updated quarterly or semi-annually, depending on volume.  Patient education materials in both native languages and English will be added, as will hyperlinks to other websites.  If you have something to contribute please send it to Liz at ekramer931@gmail.com.  In addition, Francis Lu’s annotated bibliography on cross-cultural psychiatry will be updated soon, and then we will move on to other topics.All of this growth and activity costs money.  Although to date we have been successful with grants, which we will continue to pursue, we need a far more solid infrastructure.  To that end, we are asking everyone who hasn’t paid his or her dues to ante up now.  Please click here to view/print the membership form.

Regards,

Dr. Jim Boehnlein, President

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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 society efforts in medical and psychiatric education. The Society sponsors 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.

Further information about joining the Society can be obtained by emailing Dr. Jim Boehnlein, President of the Society at boehnlei@ohsu.edu, or calling him at 503-494-6653.