5 Multicultural Conferences to Attend in 2025
It’s the end of the year and you know what that means….time to budget for the new year! Why not add a conference or two to your goals for 2025? Conferences are wonderful opportunities to network with other like-minded individuals, learn new approaches/thinking patterns, and collect those CEUs (*whispers* and travel 😊 ). I’ve combed the interwebs for a list of 5 (five) conferences that may pique your interest around multicultural development. Take a look!
Psst: I practice what I preach - I’ve already budgeted for the Hampton University one!
Black Decolonial Psychology Conference - February 6-8, 2025; Hampton University, VA
Mission - To foster reconciliation, reassurance, and healing for Black communities globally by advancing black centered, decolonial, and spiritual perspectives/paradigms and international collaboration in psychology
2025 Theme - Enacting Liberation: Advancing Decolonial Black Psychology and Spiritual Paradigms in the 21st Century
Selected Topics -
How do neurological, psychological, cultural, and spiritual dimensions of trauma shape individuals’ (i.e. marginalized, minoritized populations) experiences and responses to trauma?
What cultural and spiritual resources contribute to resilience in the face of trauma with marginalized, minoritized populations? How can these resources be leveraged in therapeutic settings?
How can psychology intersect with cultural and spiritual practices to empower individuals across the African diaspora and indigenous communities?
What novel approaches can challenge colonial legacies within therapeutic settings and promote culturally responsive care for individuals across the African diaspora and indigenous communities?
How can trauma interventions be tailored to honor and address the unique experiences and histories of Black/indigenous individuals and communities?
How can non-traditional and homeopathic healing methods empower African communities across the diaspora and indigenous populations?
What strategies and interventions effectively integrate healing practices with socio-political resistance and advocacy to empower African communities across the diaspora and indigenous populations?
What are some contemporary decolonial and innovative teaching methods and approaches?
How can Black-centered and decolonial research amplify marginalized voices, challenge colonial narratives, and center Black needs, lived experiences, and perspectives in research?
International Society for Trauma Stress Studies (ISTSS) 41st Annual Meeting - September 17-20, 2025; Baltimore, MD
Mission - A global forum for professionals and researchers dedicated to understanding and addressing the impact of trauma. By bridging the gap between research and practice, ISTSS aims to improve the lives of those affected by traumatic stress worldwide.
2025 Theme - Frontiers in Traumatic Stress: Global Perspectives and Creative Solutions
Sample Sessions from 2024 Conference -
Enduring Amid Mass Violence: Addressing Mental Health and Psychosocial Needs of Populations Affected by Ongoing Armed Conflict
Translating Research to Practice for Marginalized Communities with Trauma and Oppression-Based Stress
Expanding Criterion A to Acknowledge Oppression as Trauma vs Pathologizing Distress in Response to Oppression: Implications for Treatment
Harnessing Psychedelics for Treating PTSD: Does the Science Support All the Hype?
Uncertain Futures: Exploring the Social, Psychological, and Forensic Dimensions of Asylum Seeking in High Income Nations
Addressing Intergenerational Trauma During the Perinatal Period in Diverse Global Settings
The Road Not Traveled: Realities, Challenges, and Translational Implications of Biopsychosocial Psychiatry Research in Refugee Populations
Innovations for Reducing Racial Disparities in Trauma Treatment: Improving Care Engagement and Outcomes
Exploring STAIR Narrative Therapy in LGBTQIA+ Communities: Enhancing Trauma Treatment Efficacy
Society for the Study of Psychiatry and Culture (SSPC) 46th Annual Meeting - April 3-5, 2025; Albuquerque, NM
Mission - Seeks to explore the intersection of cultural understanding and mental health care on a global scale
2025 Theme - Bridging Cultures in Mental Health: Local Insights, Global Implications
Examples of Topics and Domains -
Explore the impact of colonization on indigenous healing practices, their potential revitalization, and their integration into modern healthcare systems. Topics of interest include indigenous mental health frameworks, decolonizing mental health, cultural responsiveness and humility, and case studies of integrated care models.
Highlight the role of rural and community-based approaches to mental health care. Emphasize interdisciplinary care models and partnerships with community leaders, individuals with lived experience and their caregivers, and religious, spiritual, or wellness communities. Topics of interest include community mental health initiatives, persons with lived experience, community advisory boards, culturally tailored interventions, collaboration with traditional healers, and the role of religious and spiritual mentors in mental health.
Address the mental health needs of migrants, refugees, and forcibly displaced populations, with a focus on culturally attuned and trauma-informed care that may also be political in nature. Topics of interest include refugee mental health, trauma-informed care, cultural and contextual adaptation of mental health services with temporary or migrant communities, and policy implications for displaced populations.
Identify methods, approaches, and interventions that can be adapted to new settings and implemented effectively, reducing the prioritization of Western ideals and colonized practices. Topics of interest include cross-cultural research collaborations, global mental health innovations, participatory models that center minoritized and intersectional voices, ethical dilemmas and solutions, reciprocal learning models, and the adaptation of interventions to diverse cultural contexts.
APA Division 45 Multicultural Summit: Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity, and Race - August 7-9, 2025; Denver, CO
Mission - To advance psychology as a science and to promote public welfare through research, to apply research findings toward addressing ethnic minority issues, and to encourage professional relations among psychologists with these interests.
2025 Theme - TBD
Sample Topics from 2024 Conference -
Asian American Allies for Palestine: Journeys and Action
Child Mistreatment with Black and Indigenous Families in the Post-Pandemic Era
Nurturing Futures, Preserving Legacies: Black. youth and Elder Community Mental Health Initiatives
Asian Americans in a Post-COVID world: Meaning Making, Resistance, Radical Healing, and Social Action
Role of Religious Affiliation on Help Seeking, Coping, and Mental Health for Arab/MENA Americans
Intersectional Discrimination Requires Intersectional Support
American Muslim Mental Health: Coming Together for Current Needs and Future Directions
Asian American Psychologists’ Experiences of Navigating racism in Clinical and Training Settings
APA Division 27 Biennal Conference: Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA) - June 17-21, 2025; Michigan State University
Mission - To exchange ideas and resources, forge new collaborations, re-connect with old friends, and deepen one’s knowledge and skills in topics of interest.
2025 Theme - TBD
Sample Topics from 2023 Conference -
Wellbeing of LGBTQ+ Homeless and Runaway People: A Systematic Review
A Community Psychology for No Borders and Migrant Justice
Organizing for Social Change Across Social DifferencesL Developing an Intersectional Solidarity
Putting Principles into Practice: Implementing Anti-Racist, Community-Engaged Research Methods
Exploring Neighborhood and Community Factors in the Lives of Minoritized Populations
To Whom Are We Responsible? Critically Examining Who is Centered in Our Work, How, and Why
Evaluation Practices that Promote Equity and Justice: Lessons from the Field
Incorporating Our Existence: The Availability of Community-Based Suicide Interventions for BIPOC Communities
(Re)Imagining the Consciousness Raising Process by Centering Black and Latina Youths’ Ways of Knowing
The Role of Short-Term Diasporic Cultural Immersion Experiences on African American Identity Development and Processes
How Communities are Addressing Racial Inequities in Homelessness
Justice for the Justice-Involved: Dismantling Systems and Organizational Barriers to Sustained Well-being
Coloniality and Somatics
Embodied Liberatory Practices
#QTNA. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
What are some of your favorite conferences? Which ones do we need to add to this list?
Have you attended any of these conferences before? What was your experience?
What topics or themes do you hope will be addressed at these conferences?
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Culturally relevant wellness programs to prevent burnout and honor the emotional labor we carry.
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