A storied past: As APA's oldest clinical division, Div. 12 boasts a rich and long history and has been led by some of psychology's greatest thinkers. The division was founded in 1917 as the American Association of Clinical Psychologists by J.E. Wallace Wallin, PhD, an early advocate of psychoeducational testing and services for those with mental disabilities. Other prominent division leaders have included humanistic psychology founder Carl R. Rogers, PhD, and Rorschach inkblot-test developer Samuel J. Beck, PhD. Early members helped to develop the basic models of psychological practice, such as the scientist-practitioner model and the scholar-practitioner model.
Today, the division remains one of APA's largest, with about 3,000 members, most of them active in clinical practice, research, teaching, administration, scholarship and related areas. The division serves as a kind of parent group for clinical psychologists, many of whom affiliate with their specialty area, such as neuropsychology, rehabilitation psychology or health psychology, and also join the society.
As a testament to the field's ever-increasing diversification, Div. 12 has eight sections. They are clinical geropsychology (Section 2), clinical psychology of women (Section 4), clinical psychology of ethnic minorities (Section 6), clinical emergencies and crises (Section 7), assessment (Section 9) and graduate students and early career psychologists (Section 10). About half of the society's members also belong to a section.
Two sections are societies in their own right: the Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology (Section 3) and the Association of Psychologists in Academic Health Centers (Section 8).
"The size and scope of the [division] allow us to do many innovative things," says society president Terence M. Keane, PhD, who also directs the National Center for PTSD's behavioral sciences division and is a well-known researcher of post-traumatic stress disorder.
A boost for clinical research: One initiative, for example, seeks to bridge the divide between science and practice by guiding practitioners who want help conducting research. The idea emerged when surveys showed that practice members were interested in and appreciated research, "but didn't have the background, the infrastructure, the time or the support system to do it," says society past-president David F. Tolin, PhD, who is spearheading the initiative.
About 40 volunteers have signed up to work directly with practitioners to help shape their research ideas, including members of the division's Section 3 and a cadre of graduate students interested in studying "real world" clinical populations. Tolin assembles a team of three to five volunteers to help with any and all phases of research, including designing studies, conducting literature searches, developing internal review board documents, analyzing data and writing up results. (Interested practitioners can contact Tolin directly.)
Everyone wins from the arrangement, adds Tolin, who notes that three practitioner-initiated research projects (on treatment outcomes for teens who engage in nonsuicidal self-injury; the relationship among chronic pain, traumatic life history and emotion regulation deficits; and prisoners' compliance with naltrexone, a drug used to help people quit opioids) are already underway.
"The students get access to these great populations and atypical research settings, the researchers get to lead a team, and the clinicians get to carry out a research project they wouldn't be able to do otherwise," he says. "And we all benefit from the results of research that wouldn't ordinarily take place."
State-of-the-art webinars: The division also develops educational webinars. Some offer continuing-education credit, including one hosted by Keane on new PTSD assessments and treatments. Some are based on cutting-edge material covered in the division's flagship journal, Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice , while others draw on offerings from the division's book publisher, Hogrefe. An example is a webinar based on the 2014 book "Headache," delivered by authors Todd Smitherman, PhD, and Don Penzien, PhD.
"We wanted to provide a good member benefit in terms of easy access to evidence-based and empirically supported cutting-edge work that members have identified as gaps in their knowledge," says Div. 12 CE Committee Chair and webinar developer Deborah Drabick, PhD, an associate professor at Temple University.
Several other webinars focus on topics of interest to early career psychologists and graduate students, such as landing an internship, applying for postdoctoral fellowships, tapping into the National Institutes of Health's Loan Repayment Program, and building a private practice.
A focus on the future: Meeting the needs of graduate students is a huge priority for Div. 12. Last year, the division hosted its first Graduate Student Summit at Boston University Medical Center, attended by 126 students from most of the clinical psychology programs in New England. The meeting showcased clinical talks by well-known experts including Tolin, David Barlow, PhD, and Lizabeth Roemer, PhD, as well as presentations on such student-centric topics as securing internships and postdocs.
The division is excited about the new directions it's taking, Keane adds.
"We have initiatives for diversity, initiatives for recruiting young people, grad students and early career psychologists, and initiatives for helping clinicians learn to do research," he says. "We're trying to make the division welcoming to everyone, because it's a great place to be."
Further resources
To learn more about the division's initiative to help clinicians become involved in research, email David F. Tolin, PhD. The service is open to all Div. 12 members, who are welcome to pitch ideas or simply express an interest in doing research.
To find out about the latest Div. 12 webinars, visit Div. 12opens in new window. To pitch ideas about new ones, send an email. Real-time webinars that allow question-and-answer with presenters are available for CE credit; they are $15 for members and $50 for nonmembers. Archived webinars are free for members and $10 for nonmembers, though they are not yet available for CE credit. However, the division is investigating a way that would allow APA members to receive CE credit for watching them.
Visit Div. 12's new websiteopens in new window .
Other division highlights
Div. 1 seeks nominations for 2016 honors
Div. 1 (Society for General Psychology) seeks nominations for its awards and distinguished lecture:
- The Arthur W. Staats Lecture for Unifying Psychology is a talk at APA's 2017 Annual Convention in Washington, D.C., by a psychologist who has made outstanding contributions toward integrating the diverse subfields for the integration of psychology. The winner receives a certificate, a medal and $1,000 at the presentation. The award is sponsored by the American Psychological Foundation and coordinated by Div. 1.
- The Anne Anastasi General Psychology Graduate Student Award recognizes two outstanding students — one in the first two years of graduate work and one who has completed two years of graduate work. Nominees must submit a vitae and research plan, plus a supporting letter from the student's adviser. Each winner receives $300.
- The William James Book Award honors a recent book that brings together diverse subfields of psychology and related disciplines.
- The Ernest R. Hilgard Award for a Career Contribution to General Psychology recognizes an individual who has made significant contributions to the Div. 1 ideals and mission.
- The George A. Miller Award for an Outstanding Recent Article in General Psychology recognizes a recent paper that contributes to the division's ideals and mission.
Winners of the James, Hilgard and Miller awards give an invited address at the 2017 Annual Convention and receive a certificate, a medal and $1,500. Nominations and supporting materials are due Feb. 15. Self-nominations are welcome. For criteria and nomination information on each award, visit APA Division 1opens in new window.
Div. 15 announces new fellows
Div. 15 (Educational Psychology) has selected seven new fellows: Avi Kaplan, PhD, Carol Connor, PhD, Robert Klassen, PhD, Ron Astor, PhD, Stephen Thoma, PhD, Steve Graham, PhD, and Jeffery Smith, PhD. A full list of all fellows is onlineopens in new window. For information on applying for fellowship status in 2016, go to Division 15opens in new window.
Check out the new Div. 22 website
Div. 22 (Rehabilitation Psychology) has redesigned its websiteopens in new window. The revamped site includes the first installment of the division's new podcast series, featuring psychologist Tessa Hart, PhD, on "The Active Ingredients of Rehabilitation Psychology." Visitors can also follow RSS feeds on rehabilitation psychology research and the division's Twitter account.
Div. 22 to host annual conference in February
"Rehabilitation Psychology across the Spectrum of Care" is the theme of the Div. 22 (Rehabilitation Psychology) annual conference set for Feb. 19–21 in Atlanta. The meeting will offer programming for rehabilitation psychology practitioners, researchers and educators on amputation, cardiac care, critical care medicine, oncology, pain management, pediatrics, psychiatric rehabilitation, trauma, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury and more. For more information, visit ABPP.
Div. 37 presents Student Poster Prize
Div. 37 (Society for Child and Family Policy and Practice) has presented its Student Poster Prize to Northwestern University graduate student Mara Gustafson for her APA 2015 Annual Convention poster "Predictors of Caregiver Engagement in Family Preservation Services over Time." Gustafson's advisors are Zoran Martinovich, PhD, and Neil Jordan, PhD, of the Mental Health Services and Policy Program in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine. Find application information for next year's prize at Div. 37opens in new window.
Div. 38 changes its name
Div. 38 has changed its name to the Society for Health Psychology. For more information on joining Div. 38, go to Health Psychologyopens in new window.
Div. 43 changes its name and will host gathering on Nov. 6
Div. 43 has changed its name from the Society for Family Psychology to the Society for Couple and Family Psychology to bring the division into alignment with its associated academy, the American Board of Couple and Family Psychology, and its new division journal, Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice. The division's Vice President of Science Galena Rhoades, PhD, will host a gathering for Div. 43 members in Denver on Nov. 6. For more information, email Rhoades.
Div. 2 is digitizing its history
Div. 2 (Society for the Teaching of Psychology) is digitizing and archiving all of the division's documents from the last three decades, including meeting records, agenda books, task force reports, presidential addresses, correspondence, email discussions, photographs and other historic records. The searchable archives will be finished in January. The division is also sending the documents to be included in the Center for the History of Psychology in Akron. To contribute materials or get more information on the project, contact Ted Bosack.
