Adelphi to Host International Interdisciplinary Conference on Clinical Supervision

by Cecil Harris

In what has become an annual global meeting of the minds, the Adelphi University School of Social Work will host the Ninth International Interdisciplinary Conference on Clinical Supervision from Wednesday, June 12 through Friday, June 14.

This is the fourth consecutive year Adelphi will host the conference, which brings together educators, practitioners and researchers from across America and around the world. Co-convened by School of Social Work Dean Andrew Safyer, Ph.D., and Associate Dean Peter Chernack, D.S.W., the event will feature symposiums and plenaries that explore such mental health issues as family therapy, addiction and child welfare.

Thanks in part to a grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse, the conference has truly become Adelphi’s event. The previous five conferences were held at the University of Buffalo. In 2005, the first conference included 225 attendees and more than 50 presentations.

“The conference has grown each year, and this year we’re excited about the many very strong international contributions that we have,” said Dr. Safyer, referring to presentations to be given by attendees from Canada, Europe, Australia and South America as well as the U.S.

Before the conference became a yearly event, researchers tended to present their newest findings at their own conferences rather than engage in dialogue with professionals from other disciplines in the field of social work, Dr. Safyer said. And while millions of dollars were spent on the development of new knowledge, the information did not always reach the practitioners who would have benefited from it.

The Adelphi conference serves to fill those voids in an atmosphere that is relaxed and stimulating. The event provides an annual forum for important discourse across different disciplines, a critical examination of the current state of knowledge in those disciplines and suggestions regarding future directions in research.

“We’ve been able to bring to Adelphi some of the most cutting-edge work being done in supervision, research and practice,” Dr. Chernack said. “That information will be enriching to the Adelphi community and to all our national and international participants.”