5th International Congress of the Conference of the Catholic Institutions of Psychology - IFCUP

On April 8-10, 2015, Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California proudly hosted the 5th meeting of the Conference of the Catholic Institutions of Psychology (IFCUP/FIUCUP). The theme of the international congress was: Psychology, Human Experience and Transcendence.

Almost 80 participants gathered from about 20 different nations emanating from the Americas and the Caribbean, Africa, Europe and Asia in order to openly explore and engage in conversations on the meaning of culture, transcendence and human experience. The countries represented included: Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Canada, Rwanda, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Lebanon, India and the United States.

The program comprised over 50 presentations, including 2 symposia on a variety of rich topics including:

• spirituality, culture and its benefits;

• work and organizational issues;

• technology and spirituality;

• psychology and the politics of torture;

• suffering, trauma and healing across cultures;

• culture and therapeutic interventions;

• religion and culture;

• best practices in student affairs division;

• the psychology of immanence and transcendence;

• and pedagogy and educational issues.

Four prominent national and international scholars helped enrich the congress theme:

• Karina Walters, Ph. D., University of Washington (transcending historical trauma in American Indian communities);

• Kenneth Pargament, Ph. D., Bowling Green State University (sacred moments in caring relationships);

• Thomas Plante, Ph. D., Santa Clara University and Stanford University School of Medicine (spirituality and the bio-psycho-social model);

• and Fr. Noel Sheth, S. J., Ph. D., Pontifical Institute of Philosophy and Religion, Pune, India (the integration of Eastern and Catholic approaches to the transcendent).

An additional 30 Loyola Marymount University student assistants and volunteers were part of the team that helped host this congress.