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Rosie Phillips Bingham, PhD, ABPP

2019 APA President

Presidential Initiatives

Rosie Phillips Davis, PhD, ABPP

Bingham’s  Initiative on Deep Poverty used psychological science as a catalyst to help change perceptions of people living in deep poverty, stop victim-blaming and focus on changing structures that cause deep poverty.  

Bingham focused on three areas to change how we understand deep poverty:

  1. Collaboration with experts in the psychological science of poverty to better understand the structural links between poverty and behavioral, mental and physical health challenges.
  2. Raising awareness with key stakeholders — in Congress, in corporations and in communities of what psychological science tells us about deep poverty and attitudes toward those living in deep poverty.
  3. Elevating the role of psychology in addressing societal issues rooted in poverty by reshaping the narrative surrounding it and the policies that contribute to it.

Take the APA 5-Week Deep Poverty Initiative Challenge to learn more.

Take the Challenge

Injecting psychological science into the discussions around deep poverty can make a difference in the way we talk about this issue and how we write legislation to end deep poverty.

To support this effort, Bingham convened a working group of psychologists to develop resources for psychologists, policy makers and the public so they can take concrete actions that will help to move the needle on deep poverty. Items include summaries of bodies of knowledge relevant to attitudes toward the poor including: the myths of meritocracy; “othering” low income people; serious consequences of poverty; and scarcity.

Bingham’s second initiative, PsycShorts, improved the communication of psychological science to the public. She called on members of the psychological community to accurately and creatively explain a concept or finding from psychological science, in a form that the public understood, and presented it in a two-minute video. Select videos were promoted broadly.

Bingham invites psychologists and students to use the science and the power of psychology to continue to make these initiatives a success.

APA President Rosie Phillips Davis on Gun Violence

In this video recorded Thursday, Aug. 8, at APA 2019 in Chicago, APA President Rosie Phillips Bingham, PhD, ABPP, counters arguments that mental illness is a prime cause of gun violence, terming that view "simplistic and inaccurate." Bingham had hoped to share this and other points about the role of psychology in prevention of gun violence at CNN's town hall on the topic on Wednesday, Aug. 7. Unfortunately, thunderstorms prevented her from flying to New York City for the town hall, where she was an invited participant.
Biography

Rosie Phillips Bingham, PhD, ABPP, is a professor of counseling psychology at the University of Memphis, where she has worked for more than 30 years. Previous roles include serving as the vice president for student affairs, assistant vice president for student affairs/student development and director of the Center for Student Development.

A former member of APA’s Board of Directors, Bingham has held many leadership roles within the organization, including on the governing Council of Representatives, the Finance Committee, the APA Foundation Board, the Board of Professional Affairs and the Board of Educational Affairs.

She is a former chair of the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors, former president of the International Association of Counseling Center Service and past president of APA’s Div. 17 (Society of Counseling Psychology). She is also a past chair of the Div. 17 Committee on Ethnic Minorities.

Bingham’s scholarship has focused on the power of inclusion, multicultural vocational psychology, ethics and living well in a diverse society. She has served on the editorial boards of several journals, including currently on the Journal of Career Assessment. She is the author of numerous articles and book chapters on career counseling and has co-edited two books. She is a co-founder of APA’s National Multicultural Conference and Summit, which takes place every two years.

The fifth of 12 children, Bingham was born to sharecroppers in Mississippi who, in search of a better life, moved to Memphis when she was a young child. She was the first person in her family to attend college and earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology and education at Elmhurst College, a master’s degree in counseling and guidance and a PhD in counseling psychology, the latter two from The Ohio State University.

The focus of Bingham’s presidency is to address the problem of deep poverty, where a household’s annual income falls below 50 percent of the poverty line. The goals of the initiative are to change public attitudes and perceptions about deep poverty, re-frame negative attitudes toward poverty to garner political support for an effective safety net and build the capacity of organizations to access and use psychological science to more effectively promote and implement evidence-based antipoverty programs and policies. She is a founding board member of the Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis, whose mission is to help women break the cycle of poverty through philanthropy, leadership and collaboration.

Bingham’s professional awards include the Janet E. Helms Award for Mentoring and Scholarship, the Authur S. Holman Lifetime Achievement Award, the Charles and Shirley Thomas Award, the Dalmas A. Taylor Award, APA Award for Distinguished Contributions to Institutional Practice, the APA Society for the Psychological Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues mentoring award, the Tennessee Psychological Association Len Handler Award for Distinguished Research Psychologist and two APA Presidential Citations.

Presidential Citations

2019 APA President Rosie Phillips Bingham, PhD, ABPP, presented Presidential Citations to outstanding psychologists. View the 2019 Presidential Citation awardees.

Presidential Statements
Date created: 2019