by Cynthia A. Cotter, Ph.D., 2018 President of the San Diego Psychological Association

Welcome to the first 2018 issue of The San Diego Psychologist, the official newsletter for the San Diego Psychological Association!   SDPA continues to be grateful for the efforts of our talented editor, Gauri Savla, Ph.D. who has done such a wonderful job for the past two years, starting with the design of new online Newsletter that is easy and pleasant to read. The task of the editor is quite challenging as she must develop a theme for each issue, find writers knowledgeable and skilled in the topic area of focus, orchestrate timely submissions of articles, edit each article, and finally format it with graphics for publication.  We so appreciate Dr. Savla’s contribution to our Association and we look forward to another great Newsletter year.

The plan for the year is to publish four issues of the Newsletter, each on a single theme.  The current issue spotlights our SDPA collaborative conference Critical Issues in Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CICAMH) focusing this year on adolescent brain and identity development. We have a superb lineup of speakers this year; Don’t miss it!   The second issue will present articles on the theme of mental health disaster response anticipating our Spring Workshop on this topic.  Speakers for our Fall Conference will provide articles for the third issue on what to do when we encounter substance use in clinical practice.  Finally, a December issue is planned on working with older adults. Please consider writing for one or more of these issues; early submissions to future issues ensure timely publication, so it is never too early to submit an article, propose a topic you may want to write about, or nominate potential contributors.

I am pleased to inform you that our Association is flying high!  The organizational restructure begun in 2016 is now complete.  We have much improved finances, a reorganized, more efficient Board, notable increases in membership and attendance at events, a lovely and efficient new office manager (Tami Magaro), and a new website.  We now average over 600 members and our 35 committees/taskforces carry out our missions to support the profession of psychology and to benefit mental health in San Diego.  The energy and enthusiasm of members is just remarkable!

This year, we will focus on increasing benefits for members.  With our improved finances, we will provide two free large networking events.  The first, our now annual Brew Ha Ha!, will be held on April 8^th .  The second, an elaborate celebratory Winter Gala, will be held in early December.  By popular demand, we are bringing back the Spring Workshop that will be held May 19^th.  The topic, Preparing for the Unthinkable!, is unfortunately timely; how we as mental health providers can contribute when one disaster strikes and more seem to follow, seemingly without relief. The topic of our Fall Conference is also timely, Encountering Substance Use in Clinical Practice.  National speakers will discuss emerging issues related to substance use, particularly opiate deaths and legalization of marijuana.  There will be talks reflecting divergent perspectives on conceptualization, assessment and treatment of addictions to substances.

Our very popular series Dinner Case Conference in Del Mar will continue, and we hope to expand to other areas of the county.   SDPA continues to support many community activities including the NAMI Walk, the Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast, and the Navy SEAL Foundation Impact Forum.  In addition, we have four new committees, Addiction, Geropsychology, Military, and School Psychology.

If you are already an SDPA member, we so appreciate your participation.  If you are not, there is no better time to become a member.  We hope to see you soon!