Candidates for APA President
In a continuing effort to provide members with information on president-elect candidates' views of pertinent issues in psychology, APA's Election Committee has asked each candidate to answer two questions each for the June, July/August and September issues of the Monitor.
ALICE F. CHANG, PhD
How will you advance the science and practice of psychology and how will you advance the education of the general public about the value of psychology?
I will use the APA presidency to work to convince federal policy-makers, legislative and executive, as well as the private and non-profit sectors, of the importance of supporting behavioral science research.
I will encourage expansion of APA's public education campaign to increase public understanding of the vital role professional psychology can play in improving life for individuals and our society as a whole.
Not being inclined to reinvent the wheel or insist that every wheel bear my name, I would support ongoing efforts to facilitate science/practice collaboration. Clearly, the science and practice of psychology will best advance together.
How will you advance the protection of the doctoral standard and address the supply and demand issue?
As I have said in many ways and many forums, we must create demand and anticipate emerging needs rather than react from crisis to crisis. There are numerous opportunities to apply our skills, knowledge and methodologies in the fields of health, mental health, forensics, learning and development.
Opportunities also abound in all aspects of our changing national demography. In addition to developing culturally appropriate services and research, we should be looking toward unmet needs across the life span, especially among children and seniors.
Vigorous public education and advocacy must continue to promote the doctorate as the necessary minimum standard of care.
GERALD C. DAVISON, PhD
How will you advance the science and practice of psychology and how will you advance the education of the general public about the value of psychology?
The APA president must be able to represent to the public and to appropriate governmental agencies a deep understanding of the broad sweep of psychology--its scientific accomplishments and its applied achievements.
Above all, we must explain the singular manner in which psychology straddles other social sciences, the humanities and neuroscience and applies a unique and essential level of analysis to enhancing our understanding of complex human problems in their social contexts.
The remarkable advances in cognitive, affective and behavioral neuroscience must be understood within the framework of current and evolving social-behavioral methods for studying the human condition.
How will you advance the protection of the doctoral standard and address the supply and demand issue?
APA has grappled for many years with the issue of master's-level graduates from psychology programs.
Given the increasing complexity of our discipline and the expanding need for postdoctoral education, we have to explain and commit to the proposition that proper training in what we do best--psychological science and empirically-based applications--requires doctoral education.
It is challenging to produce doctorates in psychology who have been properly prepared for independent scientific and applied work. To achieve this goal, APA needs continuously to evaluate the degree to which its oversight of psychology programs demands the best that academic settings can offer.
STANLEY MOLDAWSKY, PhD
How will you advance the science and practice of psychology and how will you advance the education of the general public about the value of psychology?
I support a budget philosophy that funds programs in science and practice and grows net worth slowly. The Summer Science Institutes and the Decade of Behavior must be funded.
I support lawsuits against managed care; continuance of the State Leadership Conference and its emphasis on inviting minority members to become involved in APA; parity of mental and physical health; patient protection legislation; marketing of psychologists; prescription privileges for qualified psychologists. I will work to make our (c)(6) companion organization flourish.
I strongly support the public education campaign. I'll ask the council to double its commitment.
How will you advance the protection of the doctoral standard and address the supply and demand issue?
As a member of Committee for the Advancement of Professional Practice (CAPP), I've been a strong advocate of protecting the doctoral standard from the attacks coming from subdoctoral groups. Lowering standards lowers the quality of our profession, diminishes its income and prestige and keeps us forever subordinate to other professions.
Battles will be fought at the state level: Keeping state associations strong and vigilant is CAPP's mission and mine. Career opportunities for doctoral psychologists will continue to draw students into doctoral programs. APA must continue to find ways to expand market opportunities.
I'll increase public education efforts toward recognizing the value of doctoral psychologists in all settings.
GEORGE P. TAYLOR. PhD
How will you advance the science and practice of psychology and how will you advance the education of the general public about the value of psychology?
I will seek protection of academics and fuller funding of pure and applied research, and for graduate students. I will support the Decade of Behavior initiative.
I will seek prescription authority and primary-care status for practitioners, appropriate managed care regulation, increased funding for students, and increased funds for APA's public education campaign.
I will seek increased support for the Advertising Council spots and for the public education campaign. I will ask our media department to develop broadcast media spots that highlight advances in science and practice, and will support the distribution of appropriate "give useful psychology away" materials.
How will you advance the protection of the doctoral standard and address the supply and demand issue?
The noun "psychologist" must be reserved for doctoral-level licensure. I will seek appropriate funding for that protection. I will not oppose other groups' establishing their own status, provided they do not seek to be called "psychologist."
Supply and demand involves full, accurate disclosure to prospective students and of expanded practice opportunities. I will request that training programs provide complete, fair description of the future practice outlook, so students can make rational choices.
I will seek expanded practice roles (prescription and hospital privileges, primary-care provider status) and encourage using new technologies in speeding the tooling/retooling processes.
PHILIP G. ZIMBARDO, PhD
How will you advance the science and practice of psychology and how will you advance the education of the general public about the value of psychology?
Good science is the basis of good practice; good practice enriches good science.
My presidency will energize greater respect for, and appreciation of, the vital contributions research makes in distinguishing psychology as the science of mind and behavior, as well as the unique contributions our practitioners make to healing suffering.
New strategies will be explored that increase both research support and resources for the demands for practitioners' services.
As president, my mission will be to promote positive, powerful images of psychology's breadth and depth through supporting APA's Decade of Behavior initiative, facilitating new directorate initiatives and encouraging responsible media coverage.
How will you advance the protection of the doctoral standard and address the supply and demand issue?
The integrity of psychology as a discipline must be sustained through the quality and accountability of all our doctoral education and training programs, requiring APA to validate those standards via sensitively monitoring new and traditional programs.
With our Board of Directors, I will articulate a vision of psychologists as leaders in the health-care movement, through new interdisciplinary involvement in all health-care services. I support legislation giving mental health parity in insurance with physical health.
My focus will be on increasing treatment "demand" by making treatment more accessible to millions needing but not getting therapy, as the Surgeon General's Report revealed.
