Harbingers of spring

By Raymond D. Fowler, PhD
APA Chief Executive Officer

Spring in Washington, D.C., is always unpredictable, and El Nino has made this year harder to predict than ever. In March, cherry blossoms and daffodils were coaxed out early by balmy days in the mid-70s, and then frozen two days later when temperatures plummeted into the 20s. For APA, however, spring brings a predictable, and welcome, influx of members who contribute to the work of the association by participating in a whirlwind of meetings including consolidated committee and board meetings and the State Leadership Conference (SLC).

A strong tradition

The SLC, which met the first weekend in March, has become a major participant in the traditional APA spring meetings. Organized by the Practice Directorate, this year?s SLC brought together 355 leaders of state and provincial associations (SPPAs) for four days of intensive workshops, presentations and information exchange. The conference addressed leadership skills and a number of timely and pressing issues including marketing and media strategies, the most effective ways to seek legal advice, and how to apply business concepts to carve out new markets. (See articles beginning on page 20.)

The first SPPAs began around 1930 as small informal groups of volunteers. In 1946, there were 14 state associations and by 1954, there were 46. Since their beginning, state associations have been concerned primarily with psychology?s relationship to the outside world and especially with events at the state level. Originally comprised primarily of faculty members and researchers, their membership composition shifted to practitioners with the rising importance of licensing laws and employment issues. As the states turned to issues of concern to practice, the academicians and researchers turned more to the regional associations and to APA.

The size of the SPPAs varies greatly: 13 have fewer than 250 members while seven have more than 2,000. Over the years, they have grown significantly in size, scope of mission and level of sophistication in dealing with the challenges posed by legislative and marketplace issues. All have executive directors, and some have additional staff as well. State psychological associations have been key players in the passage of important legislation such as the mental health parity law, and taken collectively, they wield an enormous arsenal of power. For example, the 59 affiliated SPPAs (50 states, six Canadian provinces and two U.S. territories) have 52,000 members and a total budget of more than $11 million.

Volunteer associates

APA and the state associations have had a long and interesting relationship. Unlike the APA divisions, which are an integral part of APA, the SPPAs are independent entities that voluntarily associate themselves with APA. APA and the SPPAs have established a strong bond based on mutual trust and support. As the SPPAs have grown into complex professional organizations, they have continued to work closely with APA. Through grants from special assessment funds, consultation and national coordination, the Practice Directorate, guided by APA?s Committee on the Advancement of Professional Practice, has accelerated the evolution and helped create a powerful national network.

I became an active member of the Alabama Psychological Association soon after I joined the University of Alabama faculty in 1956. During my year as president, I drafted the state?s first licensing law (we couldn?t afford a lawyer) and still hold Alabama license #4. I have always felt that the state associations have an important role to play in representing psychology to the public, and that academicians and practitioners have a lot to offer each other at the state level.

In recent years, many SPPAs have been reaching out to academicians to encourage their involvement. In a future column, I will describe efforts in California, Illinois and several other states to find common causes with academicians. Increasingly, practitioners know that sound research is important to their practices. Similarly, scientists want their research to be relevant to practice.

I attend the state leadership conferences every spring and enjoy seeing the state leaders, many of whom will find their way into APA leadership, as well. The state leaders I have met are idealistic and committed, and optimistic even in the face of current problems in the health-care market. They tend to be young and relatively new to organized psychology. They are mostly practitioners, but they value their scientific training and see themselves first of all as psychologists. They are enthusiastic about APA and high on psychology. They are an important part of a new generation of APA leaders. I believe that they, along with the new leaders emerging from the academic community, want to see that APA and the SPPAs continue to represent all kinds of psychologists.