by Ryan Stubblefield, Psy.D.

The year 2025 has been a bizarre year to be alive. It follows up a series of bizarre years, a sequence that tests the mind’s capacity for reality testing. Did that just happen? That thing I read on Reddit, that thing my patient told me about, that Tweet or that TikTok, was that actually real? What did I just see and hear? Perhaps in an attempt to cope or make meaning, my mind has recently been repeating a familiar refrain from Game of Thrones:

Winter is Coming.

The irony of reaching for a fantasy world to make sense of real-world events is not lost on me. The threat no longer feels singular or even entirely identifiable. The ubiquity of the assaults on our safety, sanity, prosperity, and capacity to think threaten to collapse even the most resilient psyche. And it is for that reason that we must continue to congregate, continue to organize spaces to think together, ground each other, and preserve our own minds, bodies, and souls, that we might continue our work of providing that most elusive opportunity for our patients: a protected space to think and feel.

In NCSPP organizational news, the end of 2025 brings us to the end of the term for our esteemed Past-President, Dr. Candice Turner, Psy.D., and our Secretary, Dr. Catherine McGovern, Ph.D. Candice has been leading the organization, holding everything together, and working to enliven and build out NCSPP’s future. We will miss her leadership on the Executive Committee. She will not be going far, as she will be transitioning to the chair of the Program Committee in charge of our Annual Lecture event. We have several big upcoming keynote events in store for 2026, so please keep on the lookout for them as they are announced.

Come join us in community for the annual NCSPP Holiday Party, to celebrate and commiserate, to think together and drink together, at Ramsess Art Garden in Oakland on December 12th from 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm.