January 29, 2011 – Chapter Meeting; “Meet and Greet” – Jegna Mixer and Open House

February 19, 2011 – Chapter Meeting: Professional Development Seminar Workshop

March 19, 2011 –  Chapter Meeting (Guest speaker) Call for papers deadline for ABPsi 43rd Annual International Convention

April 16, 2011 – Chapter Meeting: Professional Development Seminar Workshop

May 21, 2011 – Chapter Meeting: BAABPsi Community Health Fair/Juneteenth Celebration/

June 18, 2011 –  Chapter Meeting (featuring a Guest speaker): BAABPsi Annual Awards Brunch

July 16, 2011 – Chapter Meeting; ABPsi 43rd Annual International Convention in Washington, D.C.

August 20, 2011 – Chapter Meeting; (Reports from Convention)

September 17, 2011 – Chapter Meeting (featuring a Guest speaker);

October 22, 2011 - Chapter Meeting; Professional Development Seminar Workshop

We encourage you to stay connected with our chapter, to make use of the benefits and resources designed to meet your individual needs, to be a part of our membership represented at our annual international convention, and to be a part of a team of Bay Area Black Psychologists, mental health professional and educators that wants to make a difference in our community.

Chapter Membership Benefits

• Jegnaship & mentoring opportunities
• Research training
• Professional Development
• Student Development
• Consultation and Referral Services
• Student Circle
• Rapid Crisis Response Team
• Opportunities for Community Outreach

Quarterly and Semi Annual Workshop

Type(s) of membership: Professional $50 and Student $10
Calendar year – January – December (12 months)

You must pay both National and local chapter membership dues in order to be a FULL member. Please see the National Association of Black Psychologists website to join www.abpsi.org

The Bay Area Association of Black Psychologists represents the (5) bay area counties.

Chapter meetings are currently held every 3rd Saturday of each month, from 10:00 am -12:00 noon at the West Oakland Public Library at 1801 Adeline Street, Oakland, CA 94607.

Many of the benefits of being a chapter member come from attending meetings and being active in projects, events, and programs.

Rapid Crisis Response Team (RCR Team)

Through this program, this chapter  (BAABPsi) will be able to respond to the psychological trauma associated with any natural or manmade tragedy (like Katrina, the Haiti earthquake, or the trauma of local school-based massacres like Columbine, or the senseless any day street shootings of innocent children caught up in the drug wars of our inner cities) by immediately dispatching a team of skilled Black psychology trauma specialists within the Bay Area to provide culturally appropriate services, treatment and referrals at no cost.

Monthly Professional Development Training Seminars

Through the year, our chapter offers for the Chapter membership and guest an opportunity to attend our Monthly Professional Development Training Seminars held at each chapter meeting (upon availability of speakers/ trainers). As Black Psychologists and other Black mental health professionals and educators, we should always be open to refreshing and gain new knowledge in how we can identify the issues within our community and ultimately healing our community. An open invitation to both local and international presenters is welcomed and encouraged to present at these seminars. We offer to our membership and welcome guests an opportunity to gain additional knowledge and resources for professional development, in addition, the possibility to earn CEU credits.

Advances in African (Black) Psychology 8-week course

An intensive course in Black Psychology instructed by one of the fathers of Black Psychology, Wade W. Nobles, Ph.D.  This course will be available again in 2011 and will only be available to Bay Area ABPsi members only.

Jegnaship

Accomplished professionals in the social sciences field are linked with students to provide specialized mentorship and guidance.  All Student circle members are applicable.

BAABPsi in the Post: “The Mind and Madness: Healing Thoughts From the Bay Area Association of Black Psychologists”

A monthly discussion about critical issues concerning the Mental Health of the Black Community published in the Post Newspaper.  All members are eligible and welcome to write articles for the column and take advantage of the opportunity to be published in a mass distributed newspaper.  This column is still in the early developmental stage.

Born in the social, cultural and political vortex of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, African American students and professional psychologist founded the Association of Black Psychologists (ABPsi) in San Francisco in 1968. Dr. Wade Nobles of Oakland’s own Institute for the Advanced Study of Black Family Life and Culture, Inc. was one of the co-founders that gave birth to this organization of Black psychologists.

The Association of Black Psychologists (ABPsi) is international in scope and currently has members in Africa, Europe, Canada and the Caribbean. The ABPsi was formed to utilize the skills of Black Psychologists to benefit the Black community. Specifically the raison d’etre of the Association was to address the significant social problems affecting the Black community and to positively impact upon the mental health of the national Black community through planning, programs, services, training and advocacy.

I am reminded of this quote from Ayi Kwei Armah (The Healers):  “ The work of healers is work for inspirers working along and steadily, in a group that grows over the generations, till there are inspirers, healers wherever our people are scattered, able to bring us together again.”

Within this chapter, we are the healers of the land who desire to make a difference in all of the communities that we serve. Our chapter is one of several local chapters of our national organization, Association of Black Psychologists (ABPsi).  Geographically, our Bay Area chapter supports (Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara Counties), where students and professionals from these areas are welcomed with open arms.  I have watched this chapter grow. Our membership includes students and professionals in the fields of psychology, both research and clinical, education, and various other mental health professions. All of whom express a keen desire to make a difference in their communities.

Where are those communities?  Our chapter has reached out as far as Haiti and as near as the family next door. Last year I was heartened by how passionately our members rallied and responded to the Haiti disaster. I was fortunate to be able to bring all of our membership donations to Haiti for distribution to those families in need.   Following the Oscar Grant incident, we charged in agreement of the need to create a Rapid Crisis Response Team to address and respond to the needs of the community.   We have participated in community health fairs to provide critical information about mental health care, we have formally acknowledged individuals and organizations who have shared our passion for the enlivenment of the Black community, and we have supported the growth and enrichment of students throughout their educational journey.

Looking ahead, I am committed to pushing us even farther as we attempt to help our communities to identify and address the many social and mental health issues that are adversely impacting so many of our Black families.  I also am committed, with your support, to working to address the needs of our members. Including organizing forums that bring together other professional leaders, as a way to provide both networking and learning opportunities.  We need to expand opportunities for our students to attend and present at our national annual convention, as well as to increase the opportunities for our students and professional members to do rigorous research and to have their work published.

We inspire together to heal the land together.

Sincerely,

Rachel Bayard Cooks, M.A.
Psy.D. Candidate, Wright Institute
President, Bay Area Association of Black Psychologists

Below is a slideshow of images we chose to share so you can have a glimpse into the impact the earthquake has had on Haiti but more so, we want you to view the potential to heal and how Africans throughout the Diaspora can assist in the effort.

In 2008, our local chapter hosted the National Convention in Oakland, CA and set new trends for the convention programming such as the adding of the Mbongi, an event in which a particular issue facing the Black community at large is discussed by experts outside of ABPsi, top ABPsi psychologists, along with the entire community of convention attendees to explore and plan solutions.

Also in 2008, the local chapter held our first independently funded Community Health Fair in West Oakland at Defermery Park.

In 2009, BAAPsi partnered with The Berkeley Black Repertory Theatre to host a fundraiser for students by buying out the theatre to show to play “for Colored Girls Who Commit Suicide When the Rainbow is not Enough.” The chapter raised over $4,000 to send students to the National Association of Black Psychologists Convention in Atlanta.

In 2010, BAAPsi hosted the Black Mental Health Achievement Brunch in San Francisco, CA at the African American Art and Culture Center. Special guests included keynote speaker and President Elect of ABPsi National, Cheryl Tawede Grills, and a Jazz Band led by Terence Elliot, a Dean at Contra Costa College and accomplished musician.

In 2010, our chapter has been actively involved in the response to the Haiti earthquake disaster by supplying over $700 of donated toys, clothes, shoes, and health supplies to Haiti earthquake victims and orphans.

Chapter Members Involved with ABPsi Nationally

- Dr. Lawford Goddard has served as the National Convention Chair for the past 3 years.

- Dr. Wade W. Nobles is the co-chair of the Haiti Disaster Relief Task Force, currently charged with rejuvenating Haiti after the large earthquake that shattered Port au Prince.

Click HERE to download Foundational Readings in Black Psychology