Live Webinars

Presenters: A. Jordan Wright, Ph.D., ABAP, ABPP  Overview:   The presentation will be focused on shortcomings of current psychological assessment practice, including its adherence to positivist models seeking ‘truths’ about individuals. A framework of queer theory will be utilized to conceptualize how the practice of psychological assessment has started transforming already (with evidence based models related to situating test data within a clearer understanding of clients’ lived experiences), as well as how it needs to push forward. The program content is consistent with evidence-based models of clinical psychological assessment discussed across the research literature.

Learning Objectives:

1. As a result of this presentation, participants will be able to identify three foundational tenets of queer theory that are applicable to psychological assessment.
2. As a result of this presentation, participants will be able to describe two ways to alter psychological assessment practice to align with queer theory values.
3. As a result of this presentation, participants will be able to discuss benefits of aligning psychological assessment practice with queer theory tenets.

Presenter Bio:

Jordan Wright, PhD, ABAP, ABPP is a Clinical Associate Professor, Director of the PhD Program, and Founding Director of the Center for Counseling and Community Wellbeing at New York University. He has published widely in the fields of psychological assessment and social justice in psychology, including the Handbook of Psychological Assessment and the forthcoming Essentials of Culture in Psychological Assessment.

Presenter:  Patrick H. Finan, Ph.D. Patrick H. Finan, Ph.D. is the Harold Carron Professor of Anesthesiology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. The Finan Lab focuses broadly on explicating psychological and neurobiological mechanisms of chronic pain. Within that broad domain, Dr. Finan’s team specifically seeks to identify how emotions and pain interact, who evidences characteristics of emotion-related risk and resilience, and when changes in emotions facilitate or inhibit the experience of pain. They employ intensive longitudinal methods to assess behavioral and objective correlates of pain in real time (e.g., sleep; emotions; opioid use; cannabis use), and utilize laboratory-based experimental methods to understand factors influencing pain perception (e.g., sleep deprivation; quantitative sensory testing; fMRI; pharmacological challenge). Additionally, they develop and test novel therapeutic interventions that engage affect- and sleep-related mechanisms to ameliorate pain and mitigate problematic opioid use. Dr. Finan is currently leading clinical trials examining the effects of Savoring Meditation and psilocybin administration on pain and emotion-related outcomes among patients with chronic pain. Overview:          This talk will review the evidence supporting the notion that sleep and pain are bidrectionally related, and review the foundation for developing interventions that aim to treat sleep as a means of reducing pain. The Sleep-Reward-Pain theoretical model will then be introduced to review the evidence that has identified positive emotions and reward processing as mechanisms and possible novel intervention targets of the association of sleep and pain.

Learning Objectives: Intended Audience: Intermediate

1. Demonstrate understanding of how sleep and pain are related.
2. Identify mechanisms that underly the association of sleep and pain.
3. Explain treatment options for patients with comorbid chronic pain and insomnia.