Sharon L. Berry, PhD, ABPP, was awarded a Presidential Citation for her leadership, service and advocacy to improve the education and training of psychologists and improve the health and well-being of children, veterans and their families.
Berry is committed to ensuring psychologists, students and trainees are actively involved in advocacy on behalf of the discipline and profession of psychology. Her commitment to grassroots advocacy, lobbying and growing the Psychology Political Action Committee, have expanded funding for psychology education and training programs, stipends for trainees and reimbursement for services provided by interns.
Berry currently serves on the American Psychological Association’s inaugural Advocacy Coordinating Committee, on the Psychology Political Action Committee Advisory Board and as a Federal Education Advocacy Coordinator. Berry is the current chair of the Council of Clinical Health Psychology Training Programs, and past-chair of the APA Board of Educational Affairs, the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers and Div. 54 Society for Pediatric Psychology. She has been recognized through numerous awards, including BEA’s Education Advocacy Distinguished Service Award, the Society for Health Psychology’s Cynthia D. Belar Award for Excellence in Health Psychology Education and Training and the Association of Psychologists in Academic Health Center’s Award for Distinguished Achievement in Teaching.
As a director of internship training, Berry’s commitment to her trainees and the future of psychologists in health care, coupled with nearly fifteen years of recruiting fellow training directors to join APA’s grassroots network, have enabled programs to expand opportunities for psychology trainees in integrated care and foster greater access to psychological services through Medicaid reimbursement for services provided by interns. Berry’s dedication to psychology and psychology trainees have had lasting impact on our discipline and profession.