Member since
1983
What he does
Stagner is a clinical professor in the Texas A&M University department of psychology, where he has worked since 1987, teaching undergraduate psychology and supervising students in the PhD program. He also has a private group practice in College Station, Texas, that he shares with his wife, Karen Belter, PhD. "We have learned to avoid the problems that might be inherent when spouses work so closely together," he says.
And more
His service to the field of psychology doesn't stop there. Stagner is also editor of Texas Psychologist, the magazine of the Texas Psychological Association, where he also serves as director for professional affairs. His legislative advocacy has been recognized several times with awards, including most recently with the APA Div. 31 (State, Provincial and Territorial Psychological Association) Karl F. Heiser Presidential Award for Advocacy in 2012.
Protecting psychology's future
One reason Stagner works so hard on behalf of the psychology profession is because he believes it is under siege. In Texas, he says, psychologists are "getting attacked from both ends."
"Our scope of practice is being encroached upon by lesser-trained allied health-care providers and being challenged by some physician groups." Nationwide, he adds, psychologists haven't done as well as other health professionals.
"Managed care has eaten away at our reimbursement rates. We need a lot more public education and advocacy to safeguard psychology's future as part of an integrated health-care system."
Stagner says psychology could also help address what he sees is a shallowness in today's culture. "There is a pill or an app for everything, so our community life, our cultural life and our inner life have all been marginalized. Our great psychological research shows how important all that is, but it is not valued. The whole person and the person's context have disappeared."
Finding the sweet spot
Stagner says that while he enjoys his full career, at times it can be daunting. "On good days, it really is great, but on bad days, it can be crazy-making," he admits. "My wife and I see it as a priority to find more balance between our personal and professional lives, yet at the same time we want to find different challenges to avoid getting stale."
When his various commitments leave him hungry for downtime, he finds it camping with family or backpacking. Last summer, the Colorado native did a solo 55-mile, weeklong trek in the Rockies.
"It's the sweet spot for me," he says.
— Sara Martin
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