Please note that the event date has been updated to March 20.
MPS is sharing the following 3 credit CE opportunity in collaboration with State, Provincial and Territorial Associations in North America.
Antiracism is not an add-on to clinical care—it is a core ethical responsibility. This workshop invites mental health professionals to critically examine how racism and systemic inequities affect diagnosis, treatment access, and client outcomes. Using an antiracist and trauma-informed framework, participants will gain tools to reduce harm, strengthen the therapeutic alliance, and provide more equitable, culturally responsive mental health care. Further, clinicians will learn practical strategies to identify bias, address racial dynamics in the therapy room, and integrate antiracist principles across assessment, diagnosis, and intervention.
Objectives
1. Identify ways racism operates as a chronic stressor and traumatic exposure affecting mental health outcomes across the lifespan.
2. Apply antiracist principles to clinical decision-making, including intake, diagnosis, goal-setting, and termination.
3. Identify signs of racialized stress responses that may be misdiagnosed as pathology.
About the speaker
Jessica M. Smedley, PsyD, is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area. Dr. Smedley holds a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology, a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology, and a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology. Her dissertation work focused on the areas of trauma and spirituality in urban communities. Dr. Smedley holds adjunct faculty appointments at The George Washington University and Howard University. Dr. Smedley provides assessment and treatment to adults, children and families, and highly values growth, cultural awareness, positive racial identity, and incorporating one's unique individual background into treatment. She has found that a strength-based approach has greater, long-term impact, encouraging individuals, families and professionals to hone their strengths and thrive based on a positive belief system.
Questions:
Email MPS.TGauthier@gmail.com or ContEd.MPS@gmail.com
Thursday, March 26, 2026 • 5:30 PM – 10:00 PM
The MPS Board is looking forward to connecting with you at this highlight of the year. We will be celebrating Dr. Jo Ann Unger, MPS Advocacy Director, as she receives the MPS President Award from the MPS President and President’s Award Committee, to honor her exceptional contributions to MPS and the profession of psychology at provincial and national levels. We will also be celebrating this year’s recipient of the MPS Indigenous Student Bursary and the Dr. John Walker Student Research Award.
Doors open at 5:30 PM. The formal portion of the evening is scheduled from 5:45 - 7:00 PM, and will be followed by a member’s social night, 7:00 - 10:00 PM. With more than 85% of Manitoba’s psychologists as members, together with many professional affiliates and student members who are active in the field, the AGM is a great opportunity to strengthen connections with your professional community and catch up with your Manitoba colleagues.
We will gather at Buffalo Crossing, Fort Whyte Alive, with food facilitated by King Cole Catering. We’re excited to share that Winnipeg’s Casati will join after the AGM and provide live music entertainment.
Full Members: $75 CAD, cash bar
Student Members*: $25 CAD, cash bar
Dr. Unger has been an extraordinary force within MPS and the broader psychological community in Manitoba, while also making an impactful contribution to national advocacy efforts. Dr. Unger joined MPS in 2014, fulfilling various roles before serving as MPS President from 2018 to 2024. Over her six-year presidency, Dr. Unger infused MPS with her deep commitment to advocacy. She engaged directly with government partners, championed fair compensation for public health psychologists, advocated for expanding psychology training seats to grow the mental health workforce, and cultivated vital relationships that brought both MPS and the profession to the forefront of key policy conversations. Dr. Unger continues to lead MPS advocacy efforts.
Casati is best characterized as a folk trio with an open mind. Grace Hrabi, Jesse Popeski, and Quintin Bart are formally trained musicians, graduates of the University of Manitoba's jazz studies program. Over the past ten years the trio has released two albums, There Will Be Days (2017) and This Is Just To Say (2019), finding their style in a unique blend of all the music that inspires them: the heartbreak of a country ballad, the vocal harmonies of 1950's and 60's pop, and the instrumental virtuosity of jazz and classical music, creating a sound that is familiar yet original.
To help ensure that we have quorum for the meeting, MPS will share some great Door Prizes with attendees. Don't miss out and register soon! You can find the AGM 2025 Annual Reports and the proposed Slate for the 26/27 Board of Directors here. And here you can find the revisions proposed for the MPS By-Law. If you have any questions, please reach out to Inge Zeldenrust at executived@mps.ca. There are still some openings on the MPS Board and we welcome your involvement. If you are interested, please contact Dr. Woods at president@mps.ca for more information.
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