APA 2025 in LA: Walking, Posters, and City Sounds
From May 17–20, I was in Los Angeles for the 2025 American Psychiatric Association conference. My colleagues and I presented two posters — one on racial-ethnic disparities in tobacco treatment referrals, and another on lifestyle change around tobacco use in low-income outpatient settings. Not a lot to say about the conference itself — some good talks and a lot of walking.
What Stood Out
The talks I found most interesting were on lifestyle and integrative medicine. I like hearing people talk about treating illness by looking at the whole person — not just symptoms. Those sessions gave me something to think about.
The City at Night
After full days of talks and posters, I enjoyed walking around downtown LA at night. One night, I had a drink at the Golden Gopher, a bar just across the street from the hotel. It’s been around forever and still has that kind of vintage, downtown feel. Definitely a cool spot to wind down.
Where I Stayed
We stayed at the Freehand Hotel, an old building from the 1920s that’s been redone into a stylish spot downtown. It was clean, really well decorated, and the staff were great. We valeted the car and walked about a mile to the LA Convention Center every morning — a good way to start the day, even if we were up before the sun.
Each night, I slept with the curtains open. I liked hearing the sounds of the city — traffic, voices, occasional music — and the glow of LED lights from nearby buildings lighting up the room a little. It was calming, in a weird LA way.
Back Home
The conference was solid, if a little underwhelming. What stayed with me the most was seeing so many younger folks fired up to help others, and the way more experienced people have clearly done a lot of self-work to keep doing what they do.
Still, the highlight of coming home was getting back to Ms. Lucky, my African grey parrot and housemate. Her chatter beats panel discussions every time.
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