Community Practitioner Spotlight: Shawn Bediako

“I am proud to be both a community psychologist and an applied social/health psychologist.  I love the work I do and respect the colleagues and populations with whom I work. I hope that others can find the same type of fulfillment, zeal, and enthusiasm in their chosen career paths.”

Name: Shawn M. Bediako, Ph.D.
Titles: Assistant Professor of Psychology
Employer: University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Affiliations: Association of Black Psychologists, American Psychological Association, Society of Behavioral Medicine, Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, Society for the Analysis of African American Public Health Issues, American Public Health Association and Emerging Scholars Interdisciplinary Network

“Utilizing Education, Research and Practice to Inspire Change”

Dr. Shawn Bediako is a community psychologist practitioner who is engaged in both community psychology practice and education.

Dr. Bediako is an assistant professor in the Human Services Psychology program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He teaches community and applied social psychology and behavioral medicine and supervises students interested in these areas. His research focuses on adults’ psychosocial adjustment to sickle cell disease. More specifically, he examines how social perceptions about individuals with sickle cell disease are formed by laypeople and health professionals. Dr. Bediako, as a community psychologist, uses his research and advocacy to bring awareness to the need for comprehensive services for this population.

Dr. Bediako’s involvement in the community provides opportunities for him to utilize the skills and competencies gained during training. These skills include incorporating psychological and systems level theory into community projects, contributing to collaborative organizational decision-making, developing social marketing and working with stakeholder groups. For example, Dr. Bediako collaborated with an organization to design a media campaign in an effort to educate persons getting regular blood transfusions about iron overload. He also has worked with a group from a state health department to increase awareness of and knowledge about sickle cell disease and sick cell trait by helping develop its public health strategy. Dr. Bediako is actively involved with a number of empowerment groups that address issues such as manhood development, unemployment and dietary behavior.

Dr. Bediako’s training and personal experiences have played a very important role in his efforts to teach and practice community psychology. Dr. Bediako remembers how his father, a history/government teacher and minister, integrated social justice and empowerment into his ministry. He was exposed to the principles of community organizing and community psychology through church. Dr. Bediako earned his Master’s degree  in Community Psychology from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, a that program emphasized the African-centered approach to systems theory as well as traditional theories and concepts. He was challenged to think about the application of these theories and concepts with respect to historical and cultural context. Dr. Bediako went on to earn his Doctorate in Social/Health Psychology from Stony Brook University. During graduate school, Dr. Bediako took advantage of a number of opportunities, such as, working with the Tallahassee Department of Health and the Center for Health Sciences at the University of Yaounde in Cameroon, which allowed him to utilize the skills learned in graduate school.

Dr. Bediako believes that it is important for budding community psychologists to immerse themselves in the field, connect with mentors and colleagues and identify their purpose for why they do the type of work that they do. For him, clarifying his purpose and asking himself the question, “Have I done something productive to help inspire change in somebody’s life?” keeps him motivated.

Dr. Bediako demonstrates his passion for community wellness by educating students about community psychology and applying community psychology concepts in the communities that he serves.

His entire profile is available on the SCRA website, by clicking here. 

Keywords: community psychology practice, public health, sickle cell research, education, collaboration, African Americans, University of Maryland-Baltimore County

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This profile was written by Kyrah Brown, from Wichita State University.  It is part of a series of community psychology practitioner profiles.  If you have a suggestion for future profiles, please email ComPsychPractice@gmail.com 

Students, Spring is Around the Corner

No, the title of this blog post is not a cheap joke or teaser, it's the truth.  Punxutawney fill guaranteed it earlier this morning.  Spring is coming.  Which not only gives me hope on this bitterly cold winter day, but it urges me to take the next step... summer is coming!

For students, summer offers the unique opportunity to do something different.  Most of us have a brief window of time, around two months, but it's enough.  I urge you to take that time and dedicate it to community practice.

Find a local organization to work with around your university, find a community psychologist practitioner (nationally) who is doing something you want to be doing and ask to help, find a summer internship opportunity and apply now.  Summer, especially for those of us who envision that our community psychology careers will take place out in the community, is the perfect chance to prepare for that vision, and to use the information we've been cramming all semester.

At this point, summer might seem like a distant dream, but trust me, it's not.  If you want to do something different, you need to start looking for that "something" now.

Here are some resources that might be useful in creating a summer experience.  Please feel free to post your own summer plans, or resources you use, in the comments box below.

Resources:

• The SCRA Community Psychology Practice Page Discussion Board
• Inquiries from students are welcome.  Look for someone doing something that you want to be doing.  
• The SCRA Listserv
• Keep an eye out for postings including summer fellowships or work experiences
• Your Local Community
• Lots of great opportunities exist; be willing to OFFER your services in exchange for the experience. 

If you want to go broader than jobs specifically identified as "Community Psychology" jobs....

• US Government Student Internship Opportunities
• Idealist.org (International)
• Volunteers for Peace (International)

Killing Jobs and Winning the Future: The Psychology of Political Speech

    Last week, the House passed the not-so-subtly titled “Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law.” As a piece of legislation with absolutely no chance of making it through the Senate or past the President’s desk, it provided a purely symbolic purpose, and with its title, the creators made sure that the symbolic message was not lost on anyone. With Americans citing the economy and employment as their top concern, conservatives have been liberal in their use of the term “job-killing.” Different people may describe this use as linguistic framing, political rhetoric, or simple lying.

    Regardless of one’s perspective, it underscores the importance of language in shaping and justifying policy and our larger social debates. In Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, Obama re-framed the attempt to repeal healthcare, nesting it in a larger narrative about how we must “win the future.” By focusing his speech on the future, Obama was able to easily paint a picture of GOP attempts to repeal
his signature legislative victory as a contrasting effort to move backward while the rest of the country wishes to move forward.

Image from guardian.co.uk.  Click here to see Obama's "word cloud" compared to those of past presidents.


    Though his key catchphrase shared an odd connection to right-wing media, the focus on the future was consistent with the major themes of his 2008 presidential campaign, which urged everyone to look past the distress of our current times with hope toward the future.

    Community psychologists may not typically think of their efforts in terms of language or political speech, but in our effort to build a more equitable society, language is central. In an article titled “Globalization, Neo-Liberalism and Community Psychology” in a 2009 issue of the American Journal of Community Psychology  devoted to politics, language is described as the central tool in community psychology. In this study, the authors investigated the increasing use of capitalist language emphasizing competition, free markets, and consumerism in Norway, supplanting language emphasizing social equity and support.

    Language, the authors argued, provides the meeting ground between the individual and the macrosystem and the decreasing use of words that translate as “sharing” or “common” in the Norweigian language both signifies and furthers a shift away from a culture that promotes social cohesion to one that is based on individual self-interest. As a member of a country in which even progressive politicians accused of being communists use the language of individualism and competition, it is helpful to reflect on this language. While I am in support of looking toward the future, I’m not quite sure I want to “win” it. I’d rather have a future where everyone can share in its success.

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Post by Gina Cardazone, University of Hawaii 

Community Practicioner Spotlight: Katherine Tyndall

“Community psychology is the realistic lens through which we can view our community, analyze it, and then actually make changes that truly make a difference…. It is a part of who I am. Community psychology fits me like a glove…”

Name: Katherine (Kate) Tyndall, M.A.
Titles: (1) Adjunct faculty member (2) Mental Health Clinician (3) Small Business and Nonprofit Consultant (4) Addictions Specialist (5) Justice of the Peace
Employer: (1) University of Massachusetts at Lowell (2) Twin Consulting (self employed)
Affiliations: International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF), Massachusetts Licensed Additions Counselor, APA Behavioral Social Scientist Volunteer Program , Lowell Women’s Week, World AIDS Day

“ Wearing Many Hats to Promote Healthy Communities”

Kate Tyndall is a community psychologist practitioner who is skillfully making a difference in the lives of people in her community. Kate wears many hats in her community. Interestingly, her work tends to ‘ebb and flow’ as demands present themselves.

Tyndall is the co-founder of the Greater Lowell Equality Alliance (GLEA), an organization grew out of the same-sex marriage equality movement in Massachusetts. This organization provides information, support and visibility for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in greater Lowell. Beginning with no resources and no office, this organization was sparked with a desire to help and improve the health of the LGBT community. Kate is also an adjunct faculty member in the Psychology department at the University of Massachusetts- Lowell. Kate’s approach to teaching stems from her experiences as a community psychologist practitioner, which is in part characterized by her appreciation for her students’ insight and wisdom.

Kate volunteers as a mental health clinician at the Greater Lowell Critical Incident Stress Management. She helps provide services to public safety workers (e.g., police officers, firefighters). As a member of the clinician team, she provides pre-incident education which addresses stress management and tools for dealing with post traumatic stress and assures the workers that the team will be there for them when need arises. Kate’s community psychology practice continues as she also serves as an addictions specialist, a small business and nonprofit consultant and a justice of the peace.

Kate’s practice work is certainly diverse and calls for skills she gained in graduate school. Kate earned her Master’s degree in Community Social Psychology at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. Kate’s graduate training has enhanced her ability to examine social change through a systems perspective and to address issues on multiple levels in research. Her training has prepared her for community organizing, evaluating programs, grant writing, applying multiculturalism and designing prevention/intervention programs. One of the most important aspects of Kate’s graduate training was the opportunity to interact with and learn from her professors who were applying the guiding principles and values of community psychology in their community work. Kate remembers the impact of professors like Bill Berkowitz, Anne Mulvey and Meg Bond. Throughout graduate school, she was encouraged, guided and expected to pursue her primary interest, which was HIV/AIDS among women.

Kate’s strong desire to make a positive difference in her community, coupled with her training and experiences in community psychology, has impacted the lives of many people. She has demonstrated that the ability to wear many hats is certainly an advantage when working in communities.  Read Katherine's full interview here.

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This profile was written by Kyrah Brown, from Wichita State University.  It is part of a series of community psychology practitioner profiles.  If you have a suggestion for future profiles, please email ComPsychPractice@gmail.com

Katherine graduated from the Community Psychology Masters program at University of Massachusetts Lowell.  Find out more about their graduate program here.

What's your wish for Community Psychology?

I had the pleasure of asking a myriad of Community Psychology academics, practicioners and students questions about their experiences in community psychology.

Their responses were rich and varied.  Here's a great example from Rhonda Lewis-Moss:



GJCPP Interview: Rhonda Lewis Moss from GJCPP on Vimeo.

More profiles in in Community Psychology videos are available HERE and will be added to that channel as well as the GJCPP (Global Journal of Community Psychology) in coming issues. 

What's YOUR new year's wish for Community Psychology?  Let us know by leaving it in the comments here, or by emailing it to ComPsychPractice@gmail.com.  Feel free to use photos, video, etc in your responses.  

We will compile the responses and put them together in a blog post for January 2011.  

Happy New Year!

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Post by Dyana Valentine

Los Angeles, CA

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year?

For most of America, Thanksgiving week signals the beginning of the holiday season: food, fun, family and friends which last well through New Years.  For students, however, the holiday fun is often delayed; the bounty of Thanksgiving brings with it term papers, exams, and research deadlines.

Now, this isn't a "woe-is-us" post.  Many jobs place increasing demands on their employees this time of year.  The stress for students, however, comes with the sprint to the end of the semester.

The increased focus on academic tasks can be especially challenging for students of Community Psychology and other related, applied fields.  We chose these fields because we wanted to help DO something to better our communities; however, it's hard to stay motivated when all you are "doing" is studying.

Students: 

• How do you keep from falling into the grad school "black hole"?
• What future applications/jobs keep you motivated when you're burning the midnight oil?

Post-Students (Those of you who have been here, and lived to tell the tale): 

• What advice do you have for current students struggling to find balance this time of year?

Please share your responses in the comments box below....  

... and just for fun. (click on the cartoon to enlarge image)

Image from PHDComics - Copyright Jorge Cham.

Superman, Dumbledore, and Community Action: The Motivating Power of Film

Say what you will about critic’s darling “Waiting for Superman,” a film about the state of public education in our country.  One thing is for certain: it has got people talking, and it’s even got some people motivated to act. This is no secret to the makers of the film – their website includes a “Take Action” section which encourage the film’s fans to write their local school board and join efforts to create policy change.

Savvy social change agents have taken advantage of the powerful potential of documentary film, sometimes with the help of community psychology practitioners.

In 2008, PBS launched “Unnatural Causes", a highly praised 7-part documentary series exploring inequities in health. (See excerpts from each episode at their website).  Like “Waiting for Superman,” the website for this series comes complete with its own action center which offers a variety of options for viewers to get involved, from linking to their website to using “Unnatural Causes” in community work. For those interested in the latter, the site offers a detailed “Action Toolkit,” which was created with resources from the CPP-run Community Tool Box.

Unnatural Causes Website

Documentaries can be particularly powerful tools for change, but the power of fiction can also be harnessed for public good. Combining fantasy with real-world action, 31-year old Andrew Slack has motivated 100,000 would-be members of Dumbledore’s Army  to join the Harry Potter Alliance. On their site, they ask “Did you ever wish Harry Potter was real?” and answer “Well, it kind of is.” 

What are some of the inspiring films that you've seen and how do you think they can be leveraged to improve our communities? Please post answers in the comments below. 

Post by Gina Cardazone, University of Hawaii