Plan Now to Participate in APA’s 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting

These are unsettling times, indeed. As you have already been notified, the APA Annual Meeting, which had been scheduled for May 1 to 5, 2021, in Los Angeles, has evolved into a virtual conference. Given concerns about COVID-19 and wanting to ensure the health and safety of APA members, the Board of Trustees voted last month to make this move.

So no planes, trains, cars, hotels, or B&Bs to worry about! The bad news is that we will all miss seeing our colleagues, attending our confabs, and enjoying face-to-face moments with attendees from not only all over our nation but also the world. The good news, however, is that we don’t have to forfeit the cutting-edge educational opportunities that the Annual Meeting has long provided. The Opening Session will occur; the Convocation and its William C. Menninger Memorial Lecture will happen. As at previous Annual Meetings, general sessions and poster sessions will be on the schedule.

The meeting will be held over three days in May 2021. The theme I have chosen is “Finding Equity Through Advances in Mind and Brain in Unsettled Times.” The Scientific Program Committee has reviewed over 1,500 submitted abstracts (and counting!). Among the major topics to be discussed are racism, climate change, health equity, technology, COVID-19, trauma, social determinants in community functioning, and generational development. The National Institute of Mental Health, headed by Dr. Joshua Gordon, will once again sponsor a research track, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, headed by Dr. Nora Volkow, will sponsor a mini-track.

Please consider attending the invited sessions, which will be led by renowned experts. The sessions include “Psychology of Racism and Nonviolence” by the Rev. James Lawson Jr., a close friend and teacher of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rep. John Lewis; “Advocacy for Health Equity in Diverse Populations” by Dr. Patrice Harris, immediate past president of the AMA; “Expansion of Equity Through Telepsychiatry” by Dr. Avrim Fishkind; “Asian American Mental Health and Racism During and Post COVID-19” by Dr. Edmond Hsin T. Pi; “The Climate Crisis and Mental Health” by Dr. David Pollack; “Social Justice for People Living With Mental Illness From a Global Perspective” by Dr. Dinesh Bhugra; “Creative Problem Solving in Health Care Service Delivery” by Dr. Eric Vanderlip; “Trauma and Mass Violence in the Community” by Drs. Amam Saleh, Paula Panzer, and Joe Park; and “Racism in the Crooked Room: Navigating Distortions of Black Womanhood in Psychotherapy” by Dr. Constance Dunlap.

In addition, I invite you to join APA’s work toward ending systemic racism by being part of the solution and attending the Presidential Town Hall on Structural Racism.

General sessions will offer you many opportunities to get updates on a breadth of diverse topics, ranging from the practical to the philosophical. These include talks on cultural considerations, psychopharmacology, psychedelics, treatment of an array of disorders, use of different therapies, women’s mental health, ethics, medical student and resident education, advocacy, international medical graduates, structural competency, and treatment guidelines.

Here are other key details about the 2021 Annual Meeting:

As time progresses, we will update you on the logistics and technology related to the meeting and information on registration fees and how to register. In the meantime, don’t forget to submit your New Research posters. The submission portal closes on Thursday, December 10.

The members of the Scientific Program Committee and I look forward to “seeing” you next May! ■