KPA hosts a National Conference on Work Life Balance

Work- Family- Community: Shared Responsibilities is an important national conference to be held at the Kentucky International Convention Center this November 12th under the sponsorship of the Kentucky Psychological Association. The conference will bring together the top experts in the field including:

• Jessica DeGrout, founding Director The ThirdPath Institute who has developed a new approach to sharing care that helps parents negotiate the roles and responsibilities of parenting while balancing commitment to careers and community
• Attorney Joan Williams, Founding Director of WorkLife Law and a prize-winning author whose current work focuses on how work/family conflict affects families across the social spectrum, with a particular focus on how caregiving issues arise in union arbitrations;
• Rosalind Chait Barnett, Director of the Community, Families & Work Program at Brandeis University, who writes extensively about the dramatic changes that have occurred in the lives of men and women and their work over the past 50 years
• Jennifer Swanberg, Director of the UK Institute for Workplace Innovation, who brings expertise in the effects of job conditions on working families, and development of innovative workplaces.
• They will be joined by local experts Adewale Troutman on a model for community engagement, Lyle Sussman on the employer-employee contract, and futurist Nat Irvin on trends in work-family issues through the year 2050.

Why psychologists should attend...

At first glance, psychologists may find the topics interesting but not see the relevance to their daily practice. Regardless of your professional interest areas, in essence we all work with members of families - and because of massive technological, social and economic changes on the horizon, the structure and function of those families will be far different from what we now know. These changes will be accompanied, as change always is, by confusion, stress, anxiety, anger and feelings of loss. Psychologists have an obligation to be prepared to help their clients understand, cope and eventually attain a new balance in response to these changes. In addition, from a perspective of personal growth, all of us could benefit from a fresh view on the issues of balancing work, life and community responsibilities.

This one-day conference is a rare opportunity to hear from the most respected thinkers in this area, and once again, KPA is taking the lead in what is fast becoming a national concern. We hope that you will accept this invitation to attain the knowledge that will help Kentucky Psychologists and other providers be truly superior practitioners in the 21st century.