APA confronts its racist past
APA has issued an apology to people of color for the association’s role—and the role of the discipline of psychology—in contributing to systemic racism through both actions and inactions. APA’s Council of Representatives passed this resolution unanimously on Oct. 29, 2021, along with two other resolutions: one delineating APA’s and psychology’s role to help dismantle systemic racism and another pledging to work to advance health equity in psychology. The apology and other resolutions are available on APA’s website along with a historical chronology on psychology’s contributions to systemic racism and a summary of the listening sessions that informed the apology. The apology is only the first step in the work needed. APA will next develop a long-term plan for achieving the goals identified in the resolutions to be presented to the Council of Representatives by its meeting in August 2022.
Email questions to APA’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Office.
APA’s new president: Frank C. Worrell, PhD
An introverted child named for a famous Barbadian cricketer, Frank C. Worrell, PhD, always preferred reading to sports. A native of Trinidad and Tobago, he spent his youth buried in fiction from the Hardy Boys to the original Dune novels. If his parents insisted he get outside, “I would throw a book out of the window and collect it and proceed to go to the park to read,” said Worrell, still a devourer of literature and now director of the School Psychology Program at the University of California, Berkeley, and one of the world’s leading school psychologists. Here is a quick look at Worrell’s life and priorities, in his own words.
- First job: Secondary school teacher. Trinidad had a shortage of teachers, so the Ministry of Education hired students who had passed their A-level subjects. I taught English language, English literature, and history for one year before beginning my undergraduate degree.
- Why you chose to study education: My mother taught Infant 1, or kindergarten, in Trinidad for 30 years, so I grew up with someone passionate about education. Psychology was a happy accident on my path to becoming an English teacher when I discovered I liked research.
- Person you would love to meet: Barack Obama. I study hope and other positive time constructs as protective factors, so his book The Audacity of Hope made him the person I would most love to have a conversation with.
- Favorite food: Mine are all from Trinidad and include bake and shark, crab and callaloo, pelau, pholourie, and roti—followed up with sweetbread and washed down with rum punch.
- If you weren’t a psychologist: I’d be an anthropologist or a conductor. One of the things I took away from all my reading is a love for understanding other cultures. And I’ve conducted the youth choir at my church and amateur groups, and when I taught at Penn State, I audited the intermediate and advanced conducting classes to match some skills to the passion I had developed.
- Where psychology is most needed today: It is perhaps a cliché to say this, but almost everywhere. We are needed to address vaccine hesitation, political polarization, educational inequities, climate change, and social influence, among so many other issues.
- What you’d like to achieve this year: Council just passed a historic set of resolutions about racism and discrimination. If I can help put in place structures that help institutionalize the association’s responses so that this work continues far into the future, I will feel that I have accomplished something very worthwhile.
I Am Psyched! Virtual
APA has partnered with the Cummings Center for the History of Psychology and the Smithsonian Learning Lab to create a virtual version of APA’s I Am Psyched!opens in new window traveling multimedia exhibit, which explores the history and contemporary contributions of women of color in psychology.
Read, listen & learn
1. Pandemic stress continues to take a toll
APA’s latest Stress in America survey revealed that 1 in 3 Americans are so stressed about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that they are struggling to make basic decisions in daily life.
2. Mental health and our changing climate
A new report from APA and ecoAmerica details the impact of climate change on Americans’ mental health, the latest research on climate change, and guidance and resources for individuals and communities. Read the reportopens in new window.
3. Can animals help heal us?
Psychologist Maggie O’Haire, PhD, of Purdue University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, discusses her research on animal-assisted therapy on APA’s Speaking of Psychology podcast—including what science has to say about how animals can improve our mental health. Listen at Apple, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Listen at Apple, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.
APA’s new president-elect
Members have elected Thema S. Bryant, PhD, of Pepperdine University, as APA’s 2023 president.
How to reach us
Answers to many of your questions may be found on APA’s website; for phone service, call (800) 374-2721; for story ideas or comments, contact Editor in Chief Trent Spiner.