Ateliers de perfectionnement professionnel précongrès

Presented by: Kokhum Beverly Keeshig-Soonias

Program Stream:  Indigenous Peoples’ Psychology
Continuing Education Credits: 6 CE Credits
Language: English
Duration: Full Day – 6 Hours (8:30 – 16:00)

Workshop Description:
The Canadian Psychological Association’s (CPA) response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report, December 15, 2015 recognizes that much work needs to be done within the profession to address psychological assessment with Indigenous clients. This presenter will discuss the medicine wheel as a model of Indigenous assessment. The Medicine Wheel integrates the Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists and Standards of Practice by recognizing and integrating Indigenous principles when serving Indigenous individuals and Indigenous communities. It is an example of participation and collaboration with members of Indigenous communities.

In addition, this workshop considers the experiences of an Indigenous clinician who has worked primarily with Indigenous children, youth, and families over a number of decades. Development of the clinician will be traced from an Indigenous theoretical, historical and philosophical perspective, as they worked with and examined the discipline of psychology with its various constructs. The Medicine Wheel will be considered as an assessment tool. Participants will be introduced to the Medicine Wheel with its cultural historical and philosophical context. All participants will be given an opportunity to do their own assessment using the Medicine Wheel. Use of the Medicine Wheel will be shown as a way to respect and ceremonialize traditional ways of knowing and ways of being.

Learning Outcomes:

• Consider what colonization means in the context of psychological practice.
• Implement the Medicine Wheel as a tool that supports (re)connecting with, (re)opening to, and (re)engaging one’s personal and collective wisdom and medicine for healing;
• Move toward decolonizing and Indigenizing their practice in a good way.

Presenters include Dr. Norman Buckley, Dr. Gregory Tippin, Dr. Eleni Hapidou. Panelists are to be announced.

Program Stream: Clinical Psychology
Continuing Education Credits: 6 CE Credits
Language: English
Duration: Full Day – 6 Hours (8:30 – 16:00)

Workshop Description:

Nearly 8 million Canadians live with chronic pain, including about 1 in 3 Canadians over the age of 65, affecting many aspects of daily life and functioning. Despite this, few psychologists receive formal training in working with clients with chronic pain. The first half of this full-day workshop will introduce attendees to chronic pain epidemiology and theory, psychological factors contributing to chronic pain, foundational psychological treatments, and how to integrate treatment interprofessionally. In the second half of the workshop, attendees will view a film (‘This Might Hurt’) on emerging, neuroplastic approaches to chronic pain treatment. The workshop will conclude with an inter-disciplinary panel discussion from experts in chronic pain treatment where attendees will have an opportunity to discuss and explore the content covered in the workshop in more detail. Note that this workshop is not intended to prepare clinicians to treat chronic pain, but will provide clinicians with a foundation in the key treatment modalities and provide opportunities for further learning.

Learning Outcomes:

Describe the epidemiology, theoretical models, and psychological factors associated with chronic pain, including how these elements influence daily functioning and treatment needs.

Summarize foundational psychological treatment approaches for chronic pain and explain how these interventions can be integrated within an interprofessional care model.

Describe and reflect on emerging neuroplastic approaches to chronic pain treatment, drawing on insights from the film and interdisciplinary panel discussion to deepen foundational understanding and identify opportunities for further learning.

Presented by: Rahul Patel, Dr. Peter Hausdorf, Fiona Burns-Hemmingway, Simran Dhatt, Corey Wood

Program Stream: Industrial/Organizational Psychology Section
Continuing Education Credits: 3 CE Credits
Language: English
Duration: 3 Hours (AM) (8:30 – 12:00)

Workshop Description:

This workshop will prepare attendees to conduct evidence-based employment interviews that predict job success, are both legally defensible and fair. Through a brief presentation, role-playing exercises, and hands-on practice, attendees will learn how to design effective rating scales, rate responses to interview questions, ask effective follow-up questions, and provide evidence-based hiring recommendations. This workshop is designed for academics and practitioners interested in pragmatic, research-supported employment interviewing techniques that can be applied in academic and organizational settings.  

Learning Outcomes:

Design structured, evidence‑based employment interviews that are fair, defensible, and predictive of job success.

Apply effective interviewing skills—including rating candidate responses, using well‑constructed rating scales, and asking targeted follow‑up questions—to improve the reliability and validity of hiring decisions.

Formulate and communicate evidence‑based hiring recommendations grounded in structured interview data and best‑practice assessment techniques used in both academic and organizational settings.

Presented by: Stéphane Bouchard

Program Stream: Clinical Psychology Section
Continuing Education Credits: 3 CE Credits
Language: French
Duration: 3 Hours (AM) (8:30 – 12:00)

Workshop Description:

Les applications de l’intelligence artificielle (IA) en psychologie proviennent de deux grandes catégories d’IA : (a) l’IA discriminative, qui peut être utilisée pour améliorer notre compréhension des processus psychologiques, ainsi que la détection, la prévention et le traitement des troubles mentaux; et (b) l’IA générative, qui permet des interactions riches avec des programmes informatiques, des personnes virtuelles et des psychologues virtuels. L’IA discriminative a de nombreuses applications pratiques et est utilisée depuis bien plus longtemps que beaucoup ne le pensent. L’IA générative, en revanche, est souvent confondue avec ChatGPT et son cycle d’engouement est actuellement à son apogée.

La présentation explorera l’utilisation de l’IA à la fois sous ses aspects positifs et négatifs. Des exemples d’applications passionnantes et utiles dans le domaine de la santé mentale seront présentés pour illustrer certains de ses points forts. Cependant, l’utilisation de l’IA soulève également des questions pratiques et éthiques qui doivent être abordées. Ceux qui utilisent l’IA discriminative doivent tenir compte notamment des implications en matière de confidentialité, d’explicabilité, d’interactions potentielles avec les caractéristiques cliniques ou des facteurs de risque, et des questions liées au maintien de la confiance numérique. En ce qui concerne l’IA générative, il est important de comprendre d’abord comment fonctionnent les grands modèles de langage (LLM) et pourquoi ils ont été qualifiés de « perroquets stochastiques ». D’autres questions éthiques seront ensuite abordées, notamment celles liées aux inexactitudes et au manque de contrôle des outils d’IA générative, aux préjugés sociaux, aux psychothérapeutes virtuels autonomes, à la modulation du contenu en fonction des troubles cliniques et au risque de dépendance. Nous illustrerons l’utilité de divers LLM pour les applications en psychologie, ainsi que les implications pratiques de la présence sociale, de l’anthropomorphisme et de questions plus larges telles que le désalignement agentique et la technopolitique (l’interaction dynamique entre la politique et les modèles économiques des entreprises technologiques).

Presented by: Presenters include Dr. Norman Buckley, Dr. Gregory Tippin, Dr. Eleni Hapidou

Program Stream: Clinical Psychology Section
Continuing Education Credits: 3 CE Credits
Language: English
Duration: 3 Hours (AM) (8:30 – 12:00)

Workshop Description:

Nearly 8 million Canadians live with chronic pain, including about 1 in 3 Canadians over the age of 65, affecting many aspects of daily life and functioning. Despite this, few psychologists receive formal training in working with clients with chronic pain. The first half of this full-day workshop will introduce attendees to chronic pain epidemiology and theory, psychological factors contributing to chronic pain, foundational psychological treatments, and how to integrate treatment interprofessionally. Note that this workshop is not intended to prepare clinicians to treat chronic pain, but will provide clinicians with a foundation in the key treatment modalities and provide opportunities for further learning.

Note: Registrants wishing to attend both parts of this two-part workshop should register for the full-day workshop. Lunch is included for full-day registrants only

Learning Outcomes:

Describe the epidemiology and theoretical models of chronic pain and explain how psychological factors influence the development, experience, and maintenance of chronic pain.

Identify foundational psychological treatment modalities for chronic pain and discuss how these approaches can be integrated within interprofessional care settings.

Recognize opportunities for further learning and professional development in chronic pain treatment, grounded in an introductory understanding of key concepts, frameworks, and evidence‑based approaches.

Presented by: Dr. Magdalen Schluter

Program Stream: Clinical Psychology Section
Continuing Education Credits: 3 CE Credits
Language: English
Duration: 3 Hours (PM) (13:00 – 16:30)

Workshop Description:

Motivational interviewing (MI) is a directive, client-centred approach to therapy that helps individuals identify and resolve ambivalence about making lifestyle changes. A solid evidence base has developed to show that motivational interviewing is effective in improving outcomes with addictive behaviours. It is associated with greater engagement and less dropout when integrated with other treatments and also has good efficacy when used as a stand-alone intervention. Most recently, MI techniques have been assessed as a supplement to CBT of anxiety and depression with promising results. This skill workshop will provide a foundational overview of the spirit and basic MI techniques, and how they can be integrated into traditional CBT to enhance client readiness to engage in therapy and reduce resistance.

By the end of the workshop, participants will be familiar with the MI approach and basic MI principles and techniques and will understand how they can integrate with cognitive-behavioural therapy interventions to enhance readiness to engage in therapy and reduce resistance.

Learning Outcomes:

Describe the core principles, and basic techniques of Motivational Interviewing (MI) and explain how these elements support client engagement and reduce ambivalence.

Demonstrate foundational MI skills that can be applied within therapeutic conversations to enhance client readiness for change and decrease resistance.

Integrate MI techniques with cognitive‑behavioural therapy (CBT) interventions to improve client engagement, strengthen therapeutic alliance, and support more effective treatment outcomes.

Presented by: Stéphane Bouchard

Program Stream: Clinical Psychology Section
Continuing Education Credits: 3 CE Credits
Language: English
Duration: 3 Hours (PM) (13:00 – 16:30)

Workshop Description:

Applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in psychology stem from two broad categories of AI: (a) discriminative AI, which can be used to improve our understanding of psychological processes, as well as the detection, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders; and (b) generative AI, which enables rich interactions with computer programs, virtual people, and virtual psychologists. Discriminative AI has many practical applications and has been in use for much longer than many people realise. Generative AI, on the other hand, is often confused with ChatGPT, and its hype cycle is currently at its peak.

The presentation will explore the use of AI from both its positive and negative sides. Examples of exciting and useful applications in mental health will be presented to illustrate some of its strengths. However, the use of AI also raises practical and ethical concerns that must be addressed. Those using discriminative AI must consider, among others, the implications for privacy, explainability, potential interactions with clinical characteristics or risk factors, and issues relating to the maintenance of digital trust. As for generative AI, it is important to first understand how Large Language Models (LLM) work and why they have been called ‘stochastic parrots’. Additional ethical questions will then be discussed, including those relating to inaccuracies and lack of control of generative AI tools, social biases, autonomous virtual psychotherapists, content modulation according to clinical disorders, and the risk for addiction. We will illustrate the usefulness of various LLMs for applications in psychology, as well as the practical implications of social presence, anthropomorphism, and broader issues such as agentic misalignment and technopolitics (the dynamic interplay between politics and the business models of tech companies).

Learning Outcomes:

Differentiate between discriminative and generative AI and explain their respective applications, strengths, and limitations within psychological research and mental health practice.

Evaluate practical and ethical considerations involved in using AI in psychology—including privacy, explainability, digital trust, social biases, risks of addiction, and concerns related to LLM accuracy, autonomy, and technopolitics.

Assess real‑world examples of AI tools and LLM applications in mental health and psychology, and articulate their potential benefits, challenges, and implications for clinical, academic, and organizational settings.

Presented by: Panelists are to be announced.

Program Stream: Clinical Psychology Section
Continuing Education Credits: 3 CE Credits
Language: English
Duration: 3 Hours (PM) (13:00 – 16:30)

Workshop Description:

Nearly 8 million Canadians live with chronic pain, including about 1 in 3 Canadians over the age of 65, affecting many aspects of daily life and functioning. Despite this, few psychologists receive formal training in working with clients with chronic pain. In the second half of the workshop, attendees will view a film (‘This Might Hurt’) on emerging, neuroplastic approaches to chronic pain treatment. The workshop will conclude with an inter-disciplinary panel discussion from experts in chronic pain treatment where attendees will have an opportunity to discuss and explore the content covered in the workshop in more detail. Note that this workshop is not intended to prepare clinicians to treat chronic pain, but will provide clinicians with a foundation in the key treatment modalities and provide opportunities for further learning.

Note: Registrants wishing to attend both parts of this two-part workshop should register for the full-day workshop. Lunch is included for full-day registrants only

Learning Outcomes:

Describe emerging neuroplastic approaches to chronic pain treatment, including how these approaches conceptualize and target pain mechanisms.

Discuss key insights and perspectives from interdisciplinary experts on chronic pain treatment, integrating themes from the panel discussion to deepen foundational understanding.

Identify avenues for continued professional learning related to chronic pain management.