ISPA (International School Psychology) is a major player nowadays in the world audience of educational, as well as mental health concerns. Nowhere else is peer-to-peer activity so important to social and academic concerns than within the schools and school systems.

Last week, we heard from ISPA the need to provide ‘data driven’ decision-making research, and that’s what we saw in the poster, paper, and keynote presentations. The ideals of embracing culture and diversity were so ever-apparent, along with making education ‘available’ for those with disabilities.

Amsterdam was the ‘perfect’ venue for ISPA given all of the public transportation and walking accessible routes, colleagues of mine and I were able to spend ‘quality time’ discussing international school psychology matters.

My presentation “When School Is Just ‘Too Much’ Comes a Positive Outdoor Solution” was wonderfully received by international practitioners unfamiliar with outdoor (aka wilderness) treatment and US practitioners familiar with it. Both RedCliff and Wingate were reviewed, and highlighted was the journal article written by Steven DeMille and myself.

That article appears in July 2015 Journal of Therapeutic Schools and Programs, and was a 1st place award winner in Prague last year in winning the ‘cultural crossover’ category.