The Origins of Our Working Group
The CCPPP Working Group Against Racism and Discrimination in Canadian Psychology Training and Practice was formed in August 2020 to meet the commitments outlined in the CCPPP's Statement Against Racism and Discrimination. This working group is composed of psychology students, faculty, and professional psychologists with representation across Canada.
The Future of the Working Group
We would like to create a structure that is sustainable well into the future, beyond the involvement of the current members. We will be discussing these issues in our Fall 2023 meetings. Rather than continuing with the three sub-group structure, we may organize around specific initiatives – individuals can join a specific initiative, rather than committing to the whole group. We will also discuss the pros and cons of creating some formal leadership roles, perhaps with specific terms (e.g., three years), through which members could rotate.
Several of the initiatives above are nearing completion and we will be discussing members’ view on which issues to prioritize next. One potential future initiative concerns identifying support mechanisms for undergraduates from under-represented groups in Psychology. One direction may be to set a system of “virtual office hours” or something similar, where students from equity-deserving backgrounds can access support and advice from a mentor who has expressed interest in that role. It will be important to standardize the process of mentorship so that the process supports safety for the mentee and mentor and otherwise meets the goals of this effort. All other ideas are welcome!
We always welcome new members from across Canada – both graduate students, psychologists in the training community, and practicing psychologists. Bring your ideas, passions, and priorities! All meetings are virtual given that members live across the country. If you are interested in learning more about being involved, or are involved in complementary initiatives and want to connect, please reach out to Cathy Costigan at costigan@uvic.ca or Christiane Whitehouse at chwhitehouse@gmail.com.
Current Members: Rozen Alex, Jacquie Cohen, Fanie Collardeau, Cathy Costigan, Bri Darboh, Jessica Dere, Tasmia Hai, Katherine Kenyon, Wendy Lindstrom-Forneri, Joshua Madsen, Sheri Nsamenang, Drexler Ortiz, Kristoffer Romero, Gillian Stanley, Karen Tang, Debra Torok, Ian Wellspring, Julie Wershler, Christiane Whitehouse, and Michelle Zepeda.