Candidates for APA President
Q1: What will you do to address the challenges of membership composition, growth and participation in APA?
The complexity of APA matches the diversity within the discipline. This complexity interferes with getting the message out to members and other psychologists about what APA is doing, however. Targeted delivery of messages based on personal preferences can improve this situation, but ultimately growing the membership will require making participation in APA important for one's growth as a psychologist. I have some ideas about how to make APA an exciting place for researchers, clinicians and academics. You can find them on my Web site.
Q2: What concrete ideas do you have about how APA can better serve our early career psychologists?
The No. 1 problem faced by ECPs is the discrepancy between starting salaries and debt levels. APA must focus on enhancing opportunities for research funding and improving insurance coverage for the activities of psychologists in health care. The former involves better education of society and legislators about the various ways psychology will be able to enhance people's daily lives, through better decision-making, increased happiness and reduced distress, etc. The latter involves continuing support for increased involvement in and greater influence on the structure of the health-care system.
