WICS: 3rd Annual Summer Symposium

The Summer Symposium is an annual event that addresses Health, Mental Health and Access from an Ecological Perspective. The theme for the 2024 Summer Symposium is: Culturally Responsive Integrated Care as a Social Justice Issue. The Symposium seeks to establish a diverse, supportive professional community which contributes to the growth and development of mental health professionals who work with underserved communities. We seek to recognize, share, and celebrate the educational and clinical efforts of our students, as well as those of our clinical partners and professionals in various interdisciplinary fields. Through the Symposium, WICS scholars at Webster and grant recipients at SIUE have an opportunity to come together to share the lessons they are learning from their experience in the field of health and mental health care for the high-need communities in the St. Louis metro area. Their presentations include educational sessions, clinical case study presentations, and poster presentations. The Symposium also includes panel discussions with subject matter experts who have knowledge and practical experience pertaining to topics of significance to our region. 

The event also provides networking opportunities with site supervisors, community partners, and nearby HRSA-BHWET grant recipients. The Summer Symposium will provide a CEU opportunity for site supervisors, faculty, local counseling professionals and other HRSA-BHWET grantees at no cost.

Key sessions will be streamed live at www.webster.edu/live for those outside the greater Saint Louis region.  We highly encourage those who reside in the Saint Louis region to attend the event in person. A light breakfast and lunch will be served.

The Summer Symposium is a collaboration between Webster University through the Webster Institute for Clinical Scholarship and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville's HRSA-BHWET Scholars Program and is made possible by the generous support of Chiron Community Giving Foundation. 

*The Webster Institute for Clinical Scholars (WICS) was developed after Webster University was awarded the Health Resources and Services Administration - Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training (HRSA-BHWET) grant which aims to increase the supply of culturally competent behavioral health professionals in order to promote access to quality behavioral health services. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit HRSA.gov.

Vetta Sanders Thompson is the E. Desmond Lee Professor of Racial and Ethnic Diversity and served as Associate Dean for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at The Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. Her research focuses on the health and well-being of diverse communities, particularly the African-American community. Sanders Thompson seeks to support community capacity to improve health and well-being through education and opportunities for action. Her scholarship addresses racial identity and socialization, implications of experiences of discrimination and socio-cultural determinants of disparities. She teaches courses in human diversity, disparities and mental health. Sanders Thompson currently leads the development of the Siteman Cancer Center Plan to Enhance Diversity. She is the former -Director of the Institute for Public Health’s Center for Community Health Partnership and Research. She is also a faculty affiliate of the Department of African and African American Studies. As a licensed clinical psychologist, Sanders Thompson is active in professional associations. She serves on the Editorial Board of Preventing Chronic Disease, has served as an associate editor for the APA journal PsycCritiques, is a past Chair of the State Committee of Psychologists, past President of the Missouri Psychological Association and has been honored by the St. Louis community, as well as her peers in the profession.