APA Press Release

August 8, 2008
Contact:
Luana Bossolo
(703)-203-7935
Angel Brownawell
(301)-613-7215

SEN. KENNEDY AWARDED APA PRESIDENTIAL CITATION FOR MENTAL HEALTH PARITY LEADERSHIP

BOSTON—The American Psychological Association will award Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., a relentless advocate for mental health parity legislation, with its prestigious Presidential Citation at the annual APA Convention in Boston.

APA President Alan Kazdin, PhD, will present the award during the convention's opening session Thursday, Aug. 14. Kennedy's son, Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., also a champion of mental health parity, is expected to accept the award on behalf of his father as the senator continues cancer treatment.

"Senator Kennedy has worked tirelessly to push forward legislation that will give millions of Americans better access to mental health care," Dr. Kazdin said. "It is an honor to recognize his extraordinary dedication while the American Psychological Association is gathered here in his home state."

Senate and House negotiators reached a compromise in June on the terms for a final full mental health parity bill. Sen. Kennedy has for more than a decade worked with a bipartisan partnership of senators and representatives, spearheading the efforts that led to the important agreement.

Presidential Citation recipients are selected each year by the APA president and are generally awarded the citation in recognition of contributions to the science and practice of psychology, efforts to improve and expand mental health services, and efforts to promote human welfare.

The American Psychological Association (APA), in Washington, DC, is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world's largest association of psychologists. APA's membership includes more than 148,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 54 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting health, education and human welfare.