I just returned from the SPIM - SCP (Society of Counseling Psychology, Division 13 of APA) conference in San Diego. This was my second time at a SCP Conference and I would certainly recommend their conferences to practitioners, especially those interesting in consulting psychology, coaching, and individual assessment. This is a small, intimate conference, and everyone was very friendly. The weather in San Diego did not quite cooperate, it was wet and cold, but being from Ohio I know you cannot do much about the weather.
Due to a heavy schedule and multiple commitments, I could not attend as many sessions as I might have liked. However, standouts for me included a dynamic presentation by John Hofmeister (former President of Shell and now President of Citizens for Affordable Energy). Although his talk covered a number of bases, I would nutshell it as “selection of key personnel, especially executives, is critical; make sure you carefully select your top executives.”
Some of my other learning points:
- Distance coaching can work
- Ethics remains an important and complex issue
- People are worried about the economy and the impact it will have on consulting and human resource practice (this comes from both sessions and cocktail hours)
