In my column one year ago, I wrote about psychology’s need to remain forward-looking and to shape trends rather than simply react to them. That message still holds. But as we enter 2026, I find myself facing a harder question: What happens when trends are not just challenges to navigate but pressures that test our field’s fundamental values?
The trends in this issue tell that story. Advocacy has become essential as a shifting policy landscape threatens our ability to deliver ethical care. Communicating effectively with the public is imperative as public trust in science erodes. AI and shifting workplace norms are creating widespread instability. These pressures—political, technological, economic, institutional—are converging from every direction.
And they are forcing a choice: Will we lead proactively and define what psychology stands for, or will we react defensively and let circumstances define us?
Leadership means making difficult choices. It means protecting our commitment to evidence-based practice when ideology threatens it. It means fighting for access to care when policies restrict it. It means holding on to what brought us into this field—our shared desire to improve the human condition—even when doing so is uncomfortable or costly. It means deciding which battles matter most and committing fully to them, rather than spreading ourselves thin trying to respond to everything at once.
These are not simply abstract principles. They are daily decisions about where we invest our energy, what we are willing to defend, and what compromises we will not make.
In 2026, let us rise to the challenge and show the world the full power of psychology to heal, unite, and lead.
