Candidates for APA President
- How would you work to increase diversity of APA council, states' leadership and division leadership?
I am committed to enhancing the inclusiveness and the affirmation of cultural diversity not only of the profession but also of its leadership, and to promoting the multicultural competence of the membership. To be effective, we must make a bold move that would signal to the world of ethnic-minority psychologists that we wish to be inclusive and that we value diversity. Specifically, I propose that discussions be held with the Council of National Psychological Associations for the Advancement of Ethnic Minority Issues, and its constituent groups, in order to determine what form such a bold inclusive move might take.
Government officials and bodies, as well as the general citizenry, need to become more aware and appreciative of the contributions of psychology as a science and practice to their ongoing activities, as well as of our contributions to the promotion of health, education and human welfare. How would you use the media to achieve that goal?
The central theme of my campaign is "make psychology a household word." Many Americans regularly see their dentists, physicians and optometrists. I envision a media campaign that so normalizes psychology that people will come to see us for regular psychological checkups. To accomplish that we have to raise the visibility and perceived relevance of psychology to solving a wide range of personal, health, education and family problems. We also need to include psychology in the "MODVOP" (medicine, osteopathy, dentistry, veterinarians, optometrists, podiatrists) acronym used to designate the health-care professions that are automatically included in health legislation passed by Congress.
