Biography
What were you thinking when you nominated me for APA president a third time? I'm not sure, but I respect your judgment; thank you for this third chance. You may have nominated me because I'm an advocate for licensure equality. Licensure equality means that all psychologists are given a fair shake with potential employers and not automatically excluded simply because they didn't have an APA-accredited internship. You may have nominated me because I believe that government agencies should use the same qualifications for hiring as those required for participation in Medicare; any state-licensed psychologist should be able to apply. You may have nominated me because you know I'd trade away winning this election for winning the right for all psychologists to work at our largest employer in a heartbeat. I've now run for APA president three times to bring a voice to psychologists who've become marginalized within APA culture: psychologists who didn't have APA-accredited internships. You can help; learn how onlineopens in new window.
You may have nominated me because of my work on APA's public education campaign as Ohio's public education coordinator. I also serve on the Ohio Psychological Association's board in this role. Your nomination may have been influenced by the knowledge that APA has spent the last three years training me to work effectively with the media and to speak to the public in a meaningful way about psychology.
You may have nominated me because you know I don't want to spend your money pursuing prescription privileges. You probably know that this has become especially critical now that our advocacy budget has become so tight. My dissertation was related to prescription privileges and I had a concentration in psychopharmacology. However, I now believe that medication is usually less meaningful than psychological services. You've also probably seen that it's a lot easier to access a pill than to access psychotherapy. I believe our advocacy efforts have been misspent and too large a percentage of members' money has gone to RxP while neglecting our own psychological services and psychological science. You may have nominated me because I don't believe RxP should be our priority or the cup-of-Christ that our advocates try to prove their worth searching for. Prescriptive authority is only a placebo for what ails psychology. I believe we need meaningful, innovative solutions that don't put us in the same role as nurses or once again subordinate us to physicians.
You may have nominated me because I'm an independent practitioner or because in 2012 I stood before the APA Council of Representatives and said "we can do better." In 2012, I proposed the theme "Advancing Psychology through Innovation," and we need innovative thinking now. You may have read some of my past proposals onlineopens in new window. You may have also nominated me because I'm a candidate who stands for something. Regardless of why you nominated me, thank you. I'll appreciate having your vote this September. You can find me at https://twitter.com/DrFinnerty; email or call me at (330) 495-8809.
Finnerty's candidate statement
So two psychologists walk into a bar. The bartender says, "Before I let you come in here, you have to tell me if you had an APA-accredited internship or not." The first psychologist says "yes" and he bellies up to the bar. The second psychologist says "no," and she has to turn around and leave because they don't serve psychologists who didn't have APA-accredited internships.
There is nothing funny about automatically rejecting psychologists who didn't have APA-accredited internships. The many survivors of the internship crisis who pursued their passion to help others in need and who matched to non-APA internships aren't laughing now either. Too many psychologists have come to feel demeaned and devalued due to APA's policies and communication surrounding people who didn't have APA-accredited internships. It's not surprising that APA's membership has been trending downward; members are tired of feeling like the butt of the joke.
I'm an Irish-American and when my ancestors came to this country they were met with inappropriate jokes and signs that said, "No Irish Need Apply." Now, everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day. I'm looking forward to a day when the many survivors of the internship crisis aren't met with job ads that say they're unwelcome and that they need not apply because their internship wasn't APA-accredited. I believe requiring an APA-accredited internship does not set a high standard and does not protect the public. This is because it's not a valid, evidence-based criterion for employment selection. In this day and age it cannot be supported. Our state psychology boards do a fine job and when two psychologists walk into a bar together with the same psychology license they should each be given a fair and equal chance based on their own merits and all of their individual qualifications. Visit the Todd Finnerty websiteopens in new window.