Traveling as APA president allows me to see firsthand that psychologists around the globe have similar concerns, although the cultural expression and politics surrounding them are different. They are troubled about climate change and natural disasters, and the struggle for funders to recognize the relevance of behavioral research. They are concerned about increasing access to mental health services and enhancing the well-being of all people. They are concerned about health and mental health disparities, and how different cultures interact with dominant treatment paradigms. My travels have left me wondering how psychologists can position themselves to better address these priorities. Here are a few thoughts based on my experience representing APA:
Leadership should be central to our identity as psychologists. We must develop and maintain leadership knowledge and skills throughout our training and our careers. We need to use our listening skills to tap diverse perspectives, then make our decisions with courage and integrity. We need to develop, study and learn about collaborative forms of leadership more appropriate for our complex age.
Systems theory and interventions should be essential skills. Psychologists need to learn not only about individual human behavior but also about how people fit together, functionally or dysfunctionally, and then how to work together on teams. We must embrace systems theory to understand population health and implement a framework that includes biological, psychological and social/cultural determinants of health and behavior. These competencies are best learned in graduate interprofessional seminars followed by interprofessional training experiences.
Our commitment to human rights and social justice must be explicit. At the August Australian Psychological Society meeting, Pat Dudgeon, an aboriginal psychologist, described the mental health disparities of her people versus the majority population. In response, the Australian Psychological Society formally apologized to the aboriginal people for failing to meet their mental health and wellness needs.
Recently, the European Federation of Psychological Associations announced it will develop an international human rights curriculum for graduate psychology students. APA will participate in this work. In addition, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights has called for psychology to incorporate an explicit commitment to human rightsopens in new window: "My appeal is for a more deliberate bringing together of human rights and ethical standards, with human rights serving as the ultimate measure of the appropriate treatment of persons interacting with mental health providers, including psychologists," he said.
These three broad principles can lead to competencies necessary for success in the future for all psychologists—regardless of specialty, culture or history.