Valbona Treska, PhD, was awarded a 2022 Presidential Citation for her extraordinary leadership in developing the Order of Psychologists of Albania and using their established platform to advance human rights.
Treska is an experienced forensic psychologist and has served as President of the Order of Psychologists of Albania (OPA) for more than five years. During her tenure, she has overseen regulation of the profession, supporting the passage of a national law that establishes criteria for who is able to call themselves a psychologist. During this time, OPA has also gained recognition from the European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations, which accepted OPA as its 38th member in 2017, and from other key psychological organizations. On behalf of OPA, Valbona signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the American Psychological Association (APA) in 2020, committing to “identify projects and activities in which (APA and OPA) may work together, assist or support one another, or otherwise cooperate for the betterment of psychology and the public interest.”
Not content with establishing psychology as a discipline in Albania, Treska has applied psychology to help the public and vulnerable populations. For example, in 2017, she led OPA in providing psychological support to communities who suffered a devastating earthquake, and in 2020, in banning psychologist participation in so-called “conversion therapy,” supporting the health of sexual and gender diverse adolescents.
In recognition of her role advancing and applying psychology in Albania, I am pleased to present Treska with this Presidential citation.