Members: Vote this month on bylaws amendments
During the 2023 legislative year, APA’s Council of Representatives voted to submit two proposed bylaws amendments for members to vote on in November. One amendment would require a minimum number of three candidates rather than five candidates on the ballot for president-elect, ordinarily with a minimum number of 30 nominations each. The second amendment would require that a formal consultation and discussion with the Council of Representatives occur prior to the Policy and Planning Board sending bylaws amendments to the membership.
The full text of the proposed bylaws amendments is available online. The ballot will be emailed to the voting membership on Nov. 1. Members without email addresses will receive a postcard with voting instructions. To update your contact information, email or call (800) 374-2721.
Social justice: APA launches racial equity fund with $1.1M
APA has reaffirmed its commitment to dismantling systemic racism and achieving racial equity by launching the Racial Equity Fund and seeding it with an investment of $1.1 million. The fund is a long-term commitment that emerged from APA’s 2021 apology to people of color for its role in promoting, perpetuating, and failing to challenge racism, racial discrimination, and human hierarchy in the United States. The fund will support research and initiatives that align with the goals in the association’s Racial Equity Action Plan, which outlines the steps that APA and the field should take to prioritize and operationalize the commitments made in the apology. Read the press release.
Congrats: New division fellows announced
Congratulations to APA’s 132 new initial fellows elected by APA’s Board of Directors and Council of Representatives in August, as well as to the 90 current fellows nominated for 2023. Current fellows are APA members who are already fellows in other divisions, and initial fellows are first-time fellows.
Skill-building: Learn policymaking as a congressional or executive branch fellow
Apply your psychological expertise to public policy through one of APA’s four federal fellowship opportunitiesopens in new window: APA’s Executive Branch Fellowship; APA’s Congressional Fellowship; the Jacquelin Goldman Congressional Fellowship for psychologists with expertise in children’s issues, funded by the American Psychological Foundation (APF); and the new Springfield LGBTQIA+ Congressional Fellowship for psychologists with expertise in LGBTQIA+ issues, also funded by APF. Applications are due Jan. 5.
Read, watch & listen
1: Strengthen Your Self-Care
APA’s new book The Thriving Therapist by Matthew A. Hersh, PhD, provides an integrative, holistic, and developmentally sensitive path to help therapists figure out their unique self-care needs and build sustainable self-care practices that align with their values.
2: Making Clinical Care More Equitable
APA’s new continuing-education webinar series Building a Thriving Practice and Culture of Inclusivity consists of five 120-minute webinars that focus on enhancing psychological safety, developing inclusive policies and practices, facilitating cultural and emotional intelligence, and providing access and equity. The series concludes with a moderated panel discussion on all the content covered. Watch the series as video on-demand.
3: What Do We Gain From Our Relationships With Fictional Characters and Celebrities?
Rebecca Tukachinsky Forster, PhD, and Karen Dill-Shackleford, PhD, talk about parasocial relationships—the relationships that people have with media figures such as actors, celebrity influencers, or television characters—including how these relationships differ from simply being a fan, whether they can give any of the benefits of real-life friendship, what happens when a parasocial relationship goes sour, and how social media is changing parasocial relationships. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
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.
