SPOTLIGHT ON CONSULTING ISSUES: 
  Psychologically Healthy Workplace Update
  Virginia Mullin, Psy.D, ABPP/SCP Member-At-Large

At the last Midwinter meeting I was asked:  “What exactly do you do regarding the APA’s Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award (PHWA)?”  The most important answer regarding SCP/Div. 13 is that this topic was assigned to me as my Member-at-Large specialty by then-President Debra Robinson because 1) supporting the PHWA program was one of her key initiatives and 2) I had been serving as a member of the PHWA Steering Committee for 3 years.  The PHWA Steering Committee is part of the APA Practice Directorate’s Business of Practice Network (BOPN), which is a network of psychologists charged with implementing the PHWA program at the state, provincial and territorial level.  

The PHWA Steering Committee, along with other BOPN Representatives meets in Washington every March as part of the APA Practice Organization’s State Leadership Conference.

At this conference we hold meetings with the state BOPN Representatives, since the PHWA award is granted at the state level, and we provide updates about award winners, discuss current research about psychologically healthy workplaces, and last year initiated the first recognition of APA’s national award winners – exciting!

In addition, we, as a Society/Division, should be very proud that we have been instrumental in helping the Practice Directorate set up the most comprehensive review conducted to date as to what a psychologically healthy workplace really IS and is not.  Division Member Dr. David Munz of St. Louis , who heads a work research lab at St. Louis University , connected us with Dr. Matt Grawitch and team who have enthusiastically undertaken this project as research consultants to the Practice Directorate. Our researchers have published an article on the Psychologically Healthy Workplace in the latest Consulting Psychology Journal.

We hope to hear an update on their activities at the next Mid-winter meeting, so stay tuned.

Because I have been working on the PHWA concept on the national level and as a liaison for our society, I had not been involved with local state activities until this past summer when I was fortunate to be part of an evaluating team for a site visit.  The site visit is an important component of the award process, in which a small group visits the finalists for the state PHWA and meets with leaders and staff – and the site which I visited was declared the Illinois winner for 2006!  Businesses and organizations have commented favorably about their experience with the PHWA site visit and the PHWA concept in general.  Following are some comments from past winners:

“The…award process provides very valuable feedback for any company that understands the tremendous value of transforming the workplace into a truly great place to work.” Paul Grundy, MD, MPH, Well-Being Director, IBM Global Well Being Services and Health Benefits 

“The Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award was an excellent process, which provided us with invaluable information that will greatly assist us in moving forward with our initiatives in health, wellness, and safety. The bonus was that we won the award!” Josie Ryan, Director of Health and Wellness. Northwoodcare, Inc. and Northwood Homecare, Ltd.

PHWA winner quotations reprinted with permission from the APA Practice Directorate. More information about the Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award program is available online at www.phwa.org.

Virginia Mullin, PsyD, ABPP, is a member of the Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award Steering Committee of the BOPN (Business of Practice Network), a standing committee of APA.  She is a newly-elected Member-At-Large for the Society of Consulting Psychology (Div. 13) and is past Treasurer of this organization.  Dr. Mullin is President of Mullin and Associates, a small Chicago-area consultancy specializing in individual and organizational development at the local, national, and international levels.