Volume 39, No. 10 November 2008
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Monitor on Psychology Volume 39, No. 10 November 2008 |
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APA News APA goes greener
On Sept. 19, APA unveiled its green roof garden and labyrinth atop its building at 10 G St., N.E., in Washington, D.C. The project is designed to help prevent pollution in local waterways and give employees and visitors a place for quiet reflection.
"This green roof project is not only environmentally important but is also consistent with our ongoing commitment to being a healthy company for our staff, both physically and psychologically," said APA CEO Norman B. Anderson, PhD, at a reception opening the roof.
APA was approached for the venture by The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, which seeks to help Washington, D.C., cope with water runoff problems created by the city's antiquated sewer system. Last year, about 1.5 billion gallons of water and sewage streamed into the city's Anacostia River. The green roof garden's low-maintenance grasses and other plants will help capture some of that runoff. The garden will also help decrease the building's heating and cooling costs.
The garden's labyrinth is designed to give APA staff and tenants a quiet oasis in which to unwind during the workday, Anderson said. "I am personally a big fan of walking a labyrinth as a mindfulness meditation tool."
Show us your creative side
The Future of Psychology Practice initiative needs a logo for its Task Force and Summit. Put your creativity to work to brand the Future of Psychology Practice initiative by helping us design a logo and tagline.
The contest rules are as follows: Each submission must include your name, address, phone numbers and e-mail addresses. You represent and warrant that the artwork or image you submit is your original work and does not violate any copyrights, trademarks or other intellectual property rights including trade secrets of any third party, and that if this is not your original work, you have received all permissions and releases that may be necessary to secure your use of the artwork or image. The following may be incorporated into the logo you design: Future of Psychology Practice, Future of Practice. You grant APA the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, publish, display, edit, modify, create derivative works and otherwise use the material for any purpose in any form on any media in perpetuity. Should you violate this section, you agree to indemnify APA for all damages and expenses that may be incurred in connection with the submitted artwork or image. The task force will determine, in its sole discretion, if any of the submissions will be used as the logo for the Future of Psychology Practice initiative.
All entries must be submitted via e-mail to Joan Freund by 5 p.m. on Dec. 5. The winner will be notified via e-mail.
Good news: Diversity programs are working
Psychology has aggressively promoted multicultural training, ethnic-minority recruiting and retention. But has it worked? To find out and to focus on improvements that need to be made in the future, APA's Council of Representatives recently reviewed a report that examines whether over an eight-year period (1997–2005), the association's work helped to advance ethnic-minority psychologists.
The report, spearheaded by APA's Commission on Ethnic Minority Recruitment, Retention and Training in Psychology Task Force and the Office of Ethnic Minority Affairs, has found some improvements, including:
• Minority student affiliate membership in APA has increased by 28.7 percent.
• Ethnic-minority participation in APA governance has increased by 41.2 percent.
• The number of ethnic-minority recipients of master's degrees in psychology increased by 90.8 percent.
The report also describes a variety of strategies that helped to bring about such changes, as well as areas of concern where additional effort is needed (such as the recruitment and retention of ethnic-minority faculty in departments of psychology). CEMRRAT2 Task Force Chair Fredrick Leong, PhD, says the report is an important resource as the new APA Center for Workforce Studies continues to refine its mission and activities.
"The progress report provides valuable information to aid in the work of this center as we tackle the challenge of assessing and monitoring the future workforce of psychologists in this country," he says.
To view the report and learn about other objectives CEMRRAT plans to focus on, visit www.apa.org/pi/oema and look for the CEMRRAT progress report.
One-stop shopping for teachers
Need to revive your curriculum? Tap APA's Psychology Department Program, which gives psychology departments access to APA's teaching and advising publications and subscriptions to the Monitor and gradPSYCH for $300 a year.
The 2008–09 program includes the new editions of:
• "Psychology as a Major: Is It Right for Me and What Can I Do with My Degree?" (APA, 2008).
• "Graduate Study in Psychology: 2009" (APA, 2008).
• "Favorite Activities for the Teaching of Psychology" (APA, 2008).
• APA's "Careers in Psychology" video.
The package also includes three free student affiliate memberships to APA, as well as subscriptions to the Psychology Teacher Network, and The Educator PDP-NEWS, an online news source for psychology faculty and students.
For more information, visit www.apa.org/ed/pcue/psydeptprog.html.
Ethics Committee welcomes new members, associates
APA's Council of Representatives has elected three new members and the Ethics Committee has appointed two new associates.
The new committee members, who will serve three-year terms, are:
• Nancy A. McGarrah, PhD, a private practitioner specializing in child and adolescent psychology and forensic practice in Atlanta. She is the public education chair for the Georgia Psychological Association.
• Lynne T. Porfiri, JD, of Arlington, Va., public member, who co-authored a volume in APA's series "Law & Mental Health Professionals: Virginia" (APA, 2000).
• Susana P. Urbina, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of North Florida, Jacksonville. She is a past chair of APA's Committee on Psychological Tests and Assessment as well as the Committee on Professional Practice and Standards.
The new committee associates, who will serve two-year terms, are:
• Cyndie M. Buckson, PsyD, a practicing psychologist in Maryland and Massachusetts. She is principal consultant and a clinical/forensic psychologist for the CLINFORE Group, a clinical, forensic, research, training and program evaluation practice group in Bowie, Md.
• Melanie M. Domenech Rodriguez, PhD, associate professor of psychology at Utah State University, Logan. She is an intervention researcher and focuses her work on Spanish-speaking Latino families.
Two APA groups publish sexual orientation lesson plans
APA's Committee of Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools and Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns have published "The Psychology of Sexual Orientation," a lesson plan for high school teachers that features activities and resources on sexual orientation.
It has four lessons: terminology and historical perspectives on sexual orientation; sexual identity development; lesbian and gay family relationships; and social factors and their influence on mental and behavioral health of lesbian, gay and bisexual populations.
Copies are available at www.apa.org/ed/topss/unitlesson.html, and hard copies are available upon request.
Graduate students: Apply for 2009 ethics prize
The APA Ethics Committee and the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students (APAGS) seek applicants for the eighth annual prize for a graduate student paper on psychology and ethics.
"Psychology and ethics" is defined broadly to include any empirical or theoretical paper that examines psychology and ethics in relation to science or research, practice, education, public interest or theory of ethics. The paper must indicate why its particular focus is worthy of attention.
The honoree will receive $1,000, a round-trip ticket to APA's 2009 Annual Convention in Toronto, plus three nights of hotel accommodation.
Submissions must be written in APA style and may not exceed 25 double-spaced pages (including tables and references). Submissions may not have been previously published or submitted for publication. While it is expected that authors will receive assistance from faculty advisers, such assistance must not be sufficiently extensive for the faculty member to merit authorship on the paper. The student author must be able to claim sole authorship. Applicants should submit two copies: One copy should have no identifying information. The second copy should indicate name and contact information, including an e-mail address and telephone number.
Please submit papers to: APA Office of Ethics, Attention Ethics Prize, at the APA address, or to Student Ethics Prize. Papers must be received in the Ethics Office by Dec. 1 to be eligible.
The winner will be announced by Jan. 31. Questions about the prize should be submitted to Stephen Behnke under the subject heading, "Student ethics prize."
Plan to attend psychology's regional meetings
Mark your calendars for the 2009 regional psychological association meetings:
• Southeastern Psychological Association, Feb. 18–21, New Orleans, www.sepaonline.com.
• Eastern Psychological Association, March 5–8, Pittsburgh, www.easternpsychological.org.
• Southwestern Psychological Association, April 2–4, San Antonio, www.swpsych.org.
• Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, April 16–18, Albuquerque, N.M., www.rockymountainpsych.org.
• Western Psychological Association, April 23–26, Portland, Ore., www.westernpsych.org.
• Midwestern Psychological Association, April 30–May 2, Chicago, www.midwesternpsych.org.
• New England Psychological Association, Oct. 9–10, Worcester, Mass., www.nepa-info.org.
Nominate journal editors
APA's Publications and Communications (P&C) Board has opened nominations for the editorships of Developmental Psychology, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, and Psychological Review, for the years 2011–16. Cynthia Garcia Coll, PhD, Annette M. La Greca, PhD, and Keith Rayner, PhD, respectively, are the incumbent editors.
Candidates should be members of APA and should be available to start receiving manuscripts in early 2010 to prepare for issues published in 2011. Please note that the P&C Board encourages participation by members of underrepresented groups in the publication process and would particularly welcome such nominees. Self-nominations are also encouraged.
Search chairs have been appointed as follows:
• Developmental Psychology, Peter A. Ornstein, PhD, and Valerie Reyna, PhD.
• Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Norman Abeles, PhD.
• Psychological Review, David C. Funder, PhD, and Leah L. Light, PhD.
Candidates should be nominated by accessing APA's EditorQuest site on the Web at http://editorquest.apa.org. On the Home menu on the left, find "Guests." Next, click on the link "Submit a Nomination," enter your nominee's information, and click "Submit."
Prepared statements of one page or less in support of a nominee can also be submitted by e-mail to Emnet Tesfaye, P&C Board search liaison. The deadline for nominations is Jan. 10.
Tell us about your innovative practice
APA's 2009 Presidential Task Force on the Future of Psychology Practice urges association members to tell us about innovative practices that might serve as models for the future of clinical/counseling and applied practice of psychology. The two members with the best ideas will receive Best Innovative Practice Awards and will be invited to be delegates to the APA Summit on the Future of Psychology Practice, May 14–17 in San Antonio.
The task force is charged with identifying innovative models for future practice in all settings to meet the needs of our diverse public. Applied psychology practice includes all practice applications of psychology, such as executive coaching, consulting, applied experimental practice and others. Some psychologists may engage in a combination of health service and applied practices.
Submissions should follow these guidelines: No copyrighted information can be used in submissions, unless the submitter owns the copyright or has written permission to use the copyrighted material. You grant the American Psychological Association the right to reproduce, distribute, publish, display, edit, modify, create derivative works and otherwise use the material for any purpose in any form on any media in perpetuity. Proposals are limited to three typed, single-spaced pages. Use Arial or Times 12 font with at least a one-inch margin on both sides and at the top and bottom of each page. Appendices/attachments are acceptable as long as these are not simply an extension of the proposal. Examples of acceptable appendices are references, publications on the practice, supporting documentation of effectiveness, etc. You may submit more than one proposal, but each must be submitted separately following the guidelines.
Each proposal should be formatted using the following section headings:
• A description of the innovative practice, including the time required to fully administer the practice.
• The need addressed, including target population.
• Training requirements to ensure the innovative practice is delivered in a competent manner.
• Number of individuals who have received this innovative practice and results (outcomes) obtained. (Rigorous methodology is not expected here, but we are interested in any information you have been collecting to demonstrate success, regardless of how formal or informal. Data can be provided in an attachment.)
• Number of practitioners employing the innovative practice.
• Major obstacles encountered in practicing innovatively and how the obstacles were overcome.
• Successful marketing of innovative practice.
• Resource requirements.
• How the service is funded/reimbursed.
Entries must be submitted via e-mail to Joan Freund at APA by 5 p.m. on Dec. 5. The winner will be notified via e-mail. The Task Force on the Future of Psychology Practice will determine, in its sole discretion, the winner of this contest.
APA addresses 'Society's Grand Challenges'
APA is taking the initiatives of APA President Alan E. Kazdin, PhD, to the next level by publishing two booklets that address how psychology can fight global challenges.
The booklets, distributed in August, address "Society's Grand Challenges," which include prolonging vitality and addressing global climate change.
Executive Director of APA's Science Directorate Steve Breckler, PhD, said the booklets will be especially useful for policy advocates.
"We are now better positioned for a congressional hearing, for example, by showing concretely what psychologists have to say about these issues, and how we can contribute," he says.
A third booklet on the reduction of disparities in health care is planned for release later this year.
For more information, visit www.apa.org/science/GCBooklets.html.
Dues waiver available for members who sustained serious hurricane damage
On a by-request basis, APA is waiving 2009 dues as well as Practice Assessment and Division fees for members and affiliates in Texas and Louisiana whose homes, practices or businesses had substantial hurricane damage from hurricanes Ike or Gustav.
To request the waiver, contact APA at (800) 374-2721 and (202) 336-5580.
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