Dr. Leon T. Nicks Identity Dialogue Conferences

Moderator: Jodie Kliman, Ph.D.,

The Identity Dialogue is an annual event at which the public, particularly students and professionals interested in culturally responsive practice, are invited to witness and participate in a conversation between senior professionals (“Elders”) and CMTP interns on a question of personal and professional identity.  Interns serve as a reflecting team responding to the Elders’ remarks, demonstrating the reflective skills that they have developed through the year in the Multicultural Family Therapy Seminar.

2024 – 21st Annual Conference
Dialogue Questions:
1) How have you harnessed your emotions (particularly anger, rage, and shame) to stay motivated in your activism to transform or create new spaces while balancing the pressures of conforming to societal expectations in institutions and maintaining your authenticity?
2) And how have you managed your emotions in academic and other institutional settings without being destroyed or flaming out?
Elders: LAURA ROBERTO FORMAN, PSY.D., NYDIA GARCIA PRETO, L.C.S.W, OTHMAN MOHAMMAD, M.D., RICHARD PINDERHUGHES, PSY.D.
CMTP Interns: Jaylan Abd-Elrahman, Ed.M., Donica Harper, LCPC, M.A., Ellen Ijebor, B.A., Tracie Liu, M.S. Ed, Sushmita Oruganti, MSc, MPP, Razzan Quran, MSc, Aleesia Renta-Ramirez, M.S., Breanna Smith, M.A., Andres Ramos Vega, M.S., Hannah Young, M.Psy., Jin Zhao, M.S.
Date and Time: Saturday, June 8, 2024 9:00am -12:00pm
Location: Virtual Presentation via Zoom

2023 – 20th Annual Conference
Dialogue Questions:
1) How did you get educational mentorship from those who grasped cultural factors in your earlier years of training and professional life - and if you didn’t get that mentorship, how are you trying to pass on what you didn’t get to the next generation?
2) How would you compare your psychological and advocacy work, your struggles in and your relationship with your work, and your curiosity as a multicultural psychologist over time, given the historical changes in our field and society, and your own development?
3) How do you try to decolonize the work that you do, given the intellectual legacy of our field, and how do you incorporate your own cultural practices into your psychological work?
Elders: David Trimble, Ph.D., Brookline, MA | Victoria Acevedo, Psy.D., Cali, Colombia | Pradyusha Tummala-Narra, Ph.D., Danielsen Institute, BU | Phillip Laidlaw, Ph.D., Framingham, MA
CMTP Interns: Layal Al Mosawi, MA | Rojan Bagheri, MA | Nelsie Berberena, MA | Elizabeth Eder-Moreau, M.Ed | Melissa Flores, MA | Hannah Miles, MA | Johanna Milord, M.S.Ed | Monica Santini, M.S. | Darrick Scott, BS | Kalo Sokoto, MA | Sravya Vajram, MS
Date and Time: Saturday, June 10, 2023 9:00am -12:00pm
Location: Virtual Presentation via Zoom

2022 – 19th Annual Conference
Dialogue Question: “How did you address opportunities and obstacles to learning in your training?”
Moderator: David Trimble, Ph.D.
Elders: Connie Chan Ph.D., Rockey Robbins Ph.D., Charlee Sutton LCSW, Silvia Halperin Ph.D.
CMTP Interns: Tahlia Bragg, MA, Jordan Brooks, MA, Bianka Charity-Parker, M.Ed., Pamela Cornejo, M.Ed., Hanan Hashem, MA, Marla Martinez-Parker, MA, Kenedy Ramos, MA, Whit Ryan, MA, Rehan Sheikh, BA, Brandon Tross, Ed.S
Date and Time: Saturday, April 9, 2022
Location: Virtual Presentation via Zoom

2021 – 18th Annual Conference
Dialogue Question: “How has your understanding of legacy changed over the course of your life and career?”
Moderator: David Trimble, Ph.D.
Elders: Kermit Crawford, Ph.D., MaryAnna Domokos-Cheng Ham, Ed.D, Sandra Mattar, Psy.D., Barbara Miller, Ph.D.
CMTP Interns: Samuel Kwame Dance, M.A., Julia Dobner-Pereira. M.A., Bediha Ipekci, M.A., Jessica Lopez-Harder, M.A., Abigail Mariko Martin, M.A., Nekolas Milton, M.S.
Date and Time: Saturday, April 10, 2021
Location: Virtual Presentation via Zoom

2020 – 17th Annual Conference
Dialogue Question: “What is the relationship between your professional training and your experience of your own family?”
Moderator: David Trimble, Ph.D.
Elders: Kermit Crawford, Ph.D., MaryAnna Domokos-Cheng Ham, Ed.D, Sandra Mattar, Psy.D., Barbara Miller, Ph.D..
CMTP Interns: Sindhia Colburn, Anna Koper, Samantha LaMartine, Jeisianne Rosario-Colon, Joelle Taknint, Mimiko Watanabe
Date and Time: Saturday, April 4, 2020
Location: BMC, Menino Pavilion, FGH Building, 1st floor Conference Room, 820 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA 02118

2019 – 16th Annual Conference
Dialogue Question: “What is the relationship between your professional training and your experience of your own family?”
Elders: Patrick Latham, Ph.D., Elaine Pinderhughes, LICSW, Marcos Rosenbaum, LICSW, Catherine Vuky, Ph.D.
CMTP Interns: Neha Agrawal, M.A., Elizabeth Louis, M.A., Adriana Peña, M.A., James Scholl, M.A., Chantal Sowemimo-Coker, M.A., MSC, Jenny Zhen-Duan, M.A.
Date and Time: Saturday, April 13, 2019
Location: BMC, Menino Pavilion, 2nd floor, Conf Room 2A

2018 – 15th Annual Conference
Dialogue Question: “What were the effects of your professional training on your position in your family?”
Elders: Lara Guzman-Hosta, Psy.D., Kim Nghiem, Psy.D., Susan Powell, Ph.D., Dennis Tyrell, Ph.D.
CMTP Interns: Cortney Beasley, M.S., Beatriz Bello, M.A., Lindsay Emery, M.S., Shin Ock George, M.A., Viola Valcin, M.A., Thomas Vance, Jr., M.A., LPC
Date and Time: Saturday, April 14, 2018
Location: BMC, East Newton Pavilion, 88 East Newton Street, 2nd floor, Conf Room C/D

2017 – 14th Annual Conference
Dialogue Question: “How Did You Make Sense of the Relationship Between Gender and Power Over the Course of Your Career?”
Elders: Jessica Henderson Daniel, Ph.D., ABPP, Michael Melendez, MSW, Ph.D., Shyamala Venkatamaran, Ph.D., Martha Vibbert, Ph.D.
CMTP Interns: Daniel Camacho, M.S., Ed., Kevin Foster, M.A., Ashley Parker, M.A., Hiram Rivera-Mercado, M.S., Hazel Rosette, M.A., Seth Young, B.A.
Date and Time: Saturday, April 29, 2017
Location: BMC, East Newton Pavilion, 88 East Newton Street, 2nd floor, Conf Room C/D

2016 – 13th Annual Conference
Dialogue Question: “In the course of your professional training, how did your understanding of legacy shape        
your experience?”
Elders: David Haddad, Ed.D., Lloyd Sheldon Johnson, Ph.D., Lionel Joseph, Ph.D., Psy.D., Olivia Moorehead-Slaughter, Ph.D., Ester Shapiro, Ph.D.
CMTP Interns: April Brooks, M.A., Alexandra DeGrange, M.S., David Farnsworth, M.A., LPC, NCC, Chakira Haddock-Lazala, M.A., Erika Noriega-Pigg, M.A., Jessica Pierre, M.A., Ed.M.
Date and Time: Saturday, May 14, 2016
Location: BMC, East Newton Pavilion, 88 East Newton Street, 2nd floor, Conf Room C/D

2015 - 12th Annual Conference
Dialogue Question:  “As you prepared for a career in psychology, did you find safe havens in
which to sort out difficult questions of identity?”
Elders: Janet Anderson, Ed.D., Mari Bennasar, Psy.D., Linda Daniels, Psy.D., Kim Nghiem, Ph.D.
CMTP Interns: Natasha Holmes, M.S., Oswaldo Moreno, M.A., Viviana Padilla-Martinez, M.S., Nirmeen Rajani, M.A., LPC, Le’Keldric Thomas, M.Ed., Elizabeth Trent, M.S., Twyla Wolfe, M.A.
Date and Time: Saturday, March 28, 2015
Location: BMC, East Newton Pavilion, 88 East Newton Street, 2nd floor, Conf Room C/D

2014 - 11th Annual Conference
Dialogue Question: “How did you come to experience yourself as an effective professional?”
Elders: Alice LoCicero, Ph.D., ABPP, MBA , Shani Dowd, B.A., LCSW, Modesto Jesus Hevia, Psy.D.
CMTP Interns: Vasudev Dixit, M.A., Maria Espinola, M.S., Melvin Hampton, M.Div., Michelle Parisot, M.A., Avy Skolnik, M.Phil., Kip Thompson, M.A.
Date and Time: Saturday, March 29, 2014
Location: BMC, Menino Pavilion, 850 Harrison Avenue, Conf Room B/C

2013 - 10th Annual Conference
Dialogue Question: “In your training, how did you learn to manage the unspoken or invisible aspects of your identity?”
Elders: Khawla Abu-Baker, Ph.D., LMFT, Gonzalo Bacigalupe, Ed.D., MPH, Ferdinand Jones, Ph.D., Jodie Kliman, Ph.D.
CMTP Interns: Devin Atallah-Gutierrez, M.A., Amber Hewitt, M.A., Shavonne Moore, M.A., Hannah Richardson, M.A., Michaela Smith, M.A., Crystal Taylor, M.S., Vincenzo Teran, M.A., Sucheta Thekkedam, M.S.(R)
Date and Time: Saturday, June 1, 2013
Location: BMC, Menino Pavilion, 850 Harrison Avenue, Conf Room B/C