Who they are: Div. 40's neuropsychologist members work in a range of professional settings, including the Department of Veterans Affairs where they treat veterans with traumatic brain injury and other mental health issues, consulting with professional sports teams and conducting neuropsychological testing and assessment in private practice. Many Div. 40 members also work in academe as full-time researchers and in hospitals and community health centers.
The Society for Clinical Neuropsychology (SCN) is the largest APA division with 4,752 members — it's also the largest neuropsychological organization in the world.
"We are riding the crest of the wave of strong academic and clinical interest in neuropsychology," says SCN President Neil Pliskin, PhD, a professor of clinical psychiatry and neurology at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Top concerns: A top division priority is promoting neuropsychologists' involvement in return-to-play decisions involving sports-related concussion in each state. "There is a real lack of information about the role of neuropsychologists in cognitive assessment in return-to-play decisions, even though most of the literature on concussions comes from neuropsychology," says SCN Past President Paula Shear, PhD, a professor of psychology and psychiatry and director of clinical training at the University of Cincinnati.
To help its members advocate in their states, the division recently used a Committee on Division/APA Relations grant to develop a concussion toolkit with advocacy materials on how to talk with legislators about concussion, research on assessment and treatment, and a repository of state concussion laws. The resource, developed with Divs. 19 (Military), 22 (Rehabilitation), 31 (State, Provincial and Territorial Psychological Association Affairs) and 47 (Exercise and Sport), can be found online.
Another division priority is establishing competencies for clinical neuropsychology that define the specific experiences that clinical neuropsychology training programs should offer. In addition, the society is working to educate the public about the health benefits of comprehensive neuropsychological testing. One area where such screenings are particularly valuable, says Pliskin, is in early detection of the cognitive loss that often precedes the development of dementia.
"Early identification and early interventions, especially in individuals who have other risk factors like smoking or high cholesterol, keep people at home and out of the nursing homes longer," he says.
Building diversity: The division tailors much of its professional development training to women and minorities. "Ethnic minorities in particular are horrendously underrepresented in neuropsychology," says Shear. The division's Ethnic Minorities Affairs and Women in Neuropsychology sections host skill-building workshops and seminars at APA's Annual Convention and at the International Neuropsychological Society meeting on such topics as interviewing, advocating for oneself on the job, balancing career and family, and landing a position on an editorial board. Each section also has a popular interactive listserv for networking and job sharing.
The division also puts an early career member on every committee and solicits top neuropsychology researchers for its scientific program at APA's Annual Convention.
"Thanks to our superb program committee chairs, we have had absolutely outstanding scientific programs for years now and we work very hard on that," says Shear.
Engaging students: Grooming the next generation of neuropsychologists happens in one-on-one mentoring seminars and social hours at the APA convention and by investing time and resources in its 500-member student group, the Association of Neuropsychology Students in Training (ANST). "We are a strongly student-oriented division and we have to be — that's our future," says Shear.
ANST has its own website, a 1,500-member listserv, Facebook page and blog where students can discuss training issues, share funding opportunities and learn about upcoming conference events. The organization's university-based student interest groups have swelled from 15 to 50 in five years.
Division leadership encourages faculty members to bring students to the convention and the division tries to follow student members as they transition into their careers, says Pliskin. "We try to identify and pull students in to different committee activities and educate them about APA and then we track them over time," he says.
Students feel the support. "I always feel encouraged and empowered to bring new ideas and the student voice to our executive meetings," says ANST Chair Cady Block, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in clinical neuropsychology at TIRR Memorial Hermann and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. "Our parent organization really fosters student participation, leadership and networking."
Why members stay members: "SCN advocates for neuropsychologists in every sphere — education, training, science and practice," says SCN Secretary Heather G. Belanger, PhD, a member since 2001 and a staff neuropsychologist at the Tampa VA. "No other professional neuropsychology organization has this breadth, or the connection to APA and its resources."
"Simply put, the people," adds Block. "The passion that our students and members have for our profession never ceases to amaze me."
— Jamie Chamberlin
Read more about the research, training and clinical practice issues that affect members of the Society for Clinical Neuropsychologyopens in new window. To join, contact Membership Chair Tanya Diver, PhD.