Nnamdi Pole, Ph.D.
Email: npole@smith.edu
Pronouns: he/him
Ph.D., M.A., University of California, Berkeley
B.A., Rutgers University
Deepening Clinical Practice Keynote:
American Psychological Association Clinical Practice Guidelines for Adult Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Applying A Social Work Perspective
Date and Time:
July 31, 2026, 9-10:15 a.m.
CEs: 1.25 for licensed social workers
Course description:
American Psychological Association (APA) Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) follow Institute of Medicine (IOM) procedures for linking the “best” available research evidence to specific treatment recommendations. This has resulted in a biomedical view of psychotherapy rooted in the results of randomized clinical trials (RCT) and emphasizing adherence to specific therapy protocols. Social workers understand that successful treatment outcomes also depend on contextual factors found in a broader biopsychosocial perspective.
This keynote presentation will critically discuss the 2025 APA CPG for adult post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from an insider’s view. Professor Pole served on the guideline update panel and argued for its approval before APA’s Council of Representatives. His keynote address will review the process and outcomes of the APA CPG for PTSD while highlighting its strengths and weaknesses from a social work perspective. It will emphasize that APA’s CPG recommendations for PTSD are only the beginning of a process of treatment planning that must also integrate psychosocial factors such as systemic oppression, complex trauma history, psychiatric comorbidities, client readiness for trauma processing, and therapeutic alliance.
Learning objectives:
After attending the keynote session, attendees will be able to:
- Describe the research evidence necessary to establish strong and provisional recommendation in American Psychological Association (APA) Clinical Practice Guidelines.
- Name the specific therapy protocols that have strong and provisional recommendation from the APA for the treatment of adult PTSD.
- Recognize the contextual factors that argue for deviation from APA’s core recommendations for the treatment of adult PTSD.
- Identify other evidence-based guidelines that can be useful in providing effective psychotherapy to survivors of psychological trauma.
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Nnamdi Pole is a chaired professor of psychology at Smith College and a licensed clinical psychologist. He is also chair of the Smith College Institutional Review Board (IRB). He has taught in the Smith School for Social Work since 2012. His areas of expertise include evidence based practice, psychological trauma, and psychophysiology of emotion.
Outside of the college, he serves as an associate editor of Psychological Bulletin, a leading American Psychological Association (APA) journal and has recently served on the APA Clinical Practice Guideline Update Panel identifying treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that are best supported by rigorous research evidence.