GGSE SpA 07

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March 13, 2007
For immediate release

Faculty and graduate students from the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education at UC Santa Barbara presented seven papers/posters and took part in two symposia at the 2007 Society for Personality Assessment Annual Meeting in Arlington, VA, March 7-11. The scholars and researchers from the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology presented the latest findings on topics such as trauma psychology, diversity issues in personality assessment, and the personality characteristics of adults with nonverbal learning deficits.

“The Society for Personality Assessment (SPA) is the leading international organization dedicated to the research on, and dissemination of, empirically supported personality assessment methods,” says Dr. Steve R. Smith, Supervisor of the Gevirtz School’s Psychology Assessment Center. “Clinical assessment is one of the cornerstones of applied psychology and the annual SPA conference brings together researchers and clinicians from around the world to discuss these important topics. Selection for presentation is a competitive peer-reviewed process and this number of accepted presentations signals a high degree of both research productivity and quality.”

The Psychology Assessment Center (PAC) is a clinical and research resource of the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology. It is a service of the Ray E. Hosford Clinic, located on the UCSB campus. PAC provides psychological assessment services for the measurement of disorders that affect psychological, emotional, academic, and occupational functioning. These include: attention-deficit / hyperactivity disorder; learning disabilities including dyslexia; depression and anxiety; neurocognitive disorders including nonverbal learning disabilities; psychosis and thought disorders; and, personality disorders. Testing is comprehensive in nature, consisting of multi-method assessment of personality, contextual, neuropsychological, and intellectual factors.

The Society for Personality Assessment (SPA) was founded in Essex County, New Jersey by Bruno Klopfer and a group of his students. The Society is a collegial organization dedicated to the advancement of professional personality assessment, to the development of procedures and concepts for personality assessment and to the ethical and responsible use of these techniques. Incorporated as the Rorschach Institute, Inc. in 1938, the Society was renamed in 1971 to reflect its interest in the entire spectrum of issues present in contemporary personality assessment and to focus the Society as a special interest group, concerned with promoting exchange of ideas and information about personality assessment in research and in practice.

[Presenters from the Gevirtz School are available for interviews; contact George Yatchisin at 805 893 5789]

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