At its first meeting of the year, APA’s Council of Representatives overwhelmingly embraced a new and forward-looking strategic plan for the association that not only will strengthen the psychology field but also will ensure that psychology plays a leading role in addressing society’s most important challenges.
This new vision enables APA to strategically invest our resources to maximize our impact. Specifically, the plan calls for APA to:
- Utilize psychology to make a positive impact on critical societal issues.
- Prepare the discipline and profession of psychology for the future.
- Elevate the public’s understanding of, regard for, and use of psychology.
- Strengthen APA’s standing as an authoritative voice for psychology.
This plan serves to transform the way APA operates. Going forward, all our work will be aligned with and focused on advancing these strategic priorities. To do this, we will need to employ multiple methods. This includes developing new partnerships to reach broader audiences. This means calling upon psychological science to inform the implementation of the plan, in such areas as change management and team building. This means establishing metrics and gathering and analyzing data to make sure our work is successfully advancing our strategic priorities and allowing us to amend our direction as needed. We will tap the expertise of our members and rely on the breadth of our field’s knowledge to ensure psychology reaches its full potential to help create a better world.
One reason I’m excited about this new plan is that it was co-created by our members and other stakeholders. We developed a highly inclusive process that allowed every member to provide input and even gave nonmembers the opportunity to weigh in. Through surveys, focus groups and in-depth communications, our members told us about their priorities and hopes for both APA and psychology. Scientists emphasized their need for more research funding and effective channels for disseminating their findings. Practitioners voiced their concerns about scope of practice and reimbursement. Applied psychologists called on APA to enhance the public’s understanding of the contributions they make across settings. Educators told us they wanted to bolster support for graduate education and diversify the psychology pipeline. And a consistent, strong theme we heard from psychologists of all backgrounds was the need to apply psychological knowledge to address large societal challenges, like the opioid crisis and gun violence.
As we implement the plan, we must continue these conversations. Thank you in advance for your engagement. I couldn’t be more energized by the opportunities that lie ahead for APA and what we can accomplish together.
To read the full strategic plan, go to www.apa.org/about/apa/strategic-plan.
