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Globe-Trotting with the Heppners
Puncky Paul Heppner and
Mary Athens, Greece: Delivering the
The International Associateion of Applied Psychology (IAAP) is the oldest international organization of applied psychology in the world. The IAAP holds regular conferences every four years, called the International Congress of Applied Psychology. In 2006, a historic event occurred with the creation of Division 16, Counseling Psychology, within the IAAP. In essence, this event recognized Counseling Psychology as one of the important specialties of applied psychology worldwide. Thus, the international congress in Athens, Greece in 2006 marked the first time that counseling psychology had a formal voice as an organized entity in the IAAP. Prof. Puncky Heppner was very honored to provide the sole keynote address for the new Counseling Psychology Division. His speech, entitled Problem Solving and Human Adjustment: Twenty-Five Years of Empirical Research, was well attended by not only counseling psychologists but a wide range of other psychologists. The conference provided an excellent opportunity to exchange research information with applied psychologists from around the world, as well as learn more about professional psychological organizations around the globe. Osaka, Japan: Delivering a joint keynote address at the annual conference of the Japanese Association of Clinical Psychology, September 2006. The Japanese Association of Clinical Psychology is one of the largest professional psychological associations in Japan, having over 8,000 members. Their annual conference is typically very well attended; this year their attendance was around 2,000. This year, for the first time, international speakers were invited to give keynote addresses, including Puncky Heppner and Mary Heppner. Of seven international invitations, there was only one other scholar from the United States in addition to the MU Professors--a Japanese scholar based at the University of California. Their presentation, entitled Stressful Life Events: Recommendations from the Problem Solving Literature and Implications for Training, was attended by around 125 participants, almost filling the room to capacity. In essence, the conference was an excellent opportunity to exchange information with Japanese colleagues about how people in our respective cultures cope with stressful life events. The conference was also an opportunity for Professor Heppner to present his long-term research on applied problem-solving to Japanese scholars. At the same time, the Heppners learned much about applied problem-solving and coping with stressful life events as seen from within the context of Japanese culture. They also walked away with a greater understanding of the psychological profession in Japan, such as graduate training, professional organizations, applied psychological practice, in addition to meeting some of the local leaders in the field of counseling and clinical psychology. Padua, Italy: Conducting joint workshops at the University of Padua, October 2006. Over two days in October, Professors Puncky Paul Heppner and Mary Heppner conducted two back-to-back, full-day workshops at the University of Padua with advanced Masters students working in applied settings. The topics were Problem Solving and Stressful Life Events: Implications for Counseling Interventions and the Impact of Gender on Career Development. The workshops were to be capped at 20 participants, but nearly double that number (38) attended. The workshop format provided an excellent opportunity for the Heppners to share information from their research over the last 30 years, as well as learn more about coping and gender role socialization in Italian culture. Professor Heppner's problem-solving inventory was applied, allowing them to learn how people cope with stressful life events in Italy. They also spent some time discussing a wide range of problem-solving interventions, and problem-solving training in particular, with professors from the University of Padua. As a result, plans for research collaboration, as well as other professional cooperation, are currently being developed. Professor Puncky Heppner is also co-founder of the Bi-directional Cross-Cultural Immersion Program, an international exchange program between MU and the counseling psychology department at National Taiwan Normal University.
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