Sandy's Take on APA Graduate Student Voting Privileges
Question: Should APA Graduate Student members be given the privilege to vote on all association matters within APA after one year of membership? Sandy's Response: Graduate students have important voice to contribute to APA. I value their contributions and support their voting and representation. Voting is an opening invitation that can lead to greater engagement in APA, but we must couple voting with opportunities for leadership training/development; meaningful ways to giv
Sandy and International Psychology
Question 1: What are your goals, as APA President, for APA’s international engagement and for infusing an international perspective into APA’s own vision, activities, and initiatives? In its 2009 vision statement, APA aspired to be “a principal leader and global partner promoting psychological knowledge and methods to facilitate resolution of personal, societal, and global challenges…” Yet, the 2009 implementation of the strategic plan reflected no international perspective
Sandy on Board Certification, Mental Health Parity, and Neuropsychology
Question 1. How do you view specialty/subspecialty psychology practice and board certification in professional psychology? The APA Ethics Code notes that all psychologists can practice within their area of competence, thus allowing each psychologist to describe their own scope of practice. However, training in a recognized specialty and the board certification in that specialty acknowledges that the practitioner has been recognized by their peers as following the expected g
Question 4: According to its 2009 vision statement, APA aspires to be “a principal leader and global
Sandy’s Response: Addressing global challenges such as health, poverty and geopolitical violence requires globally aware partners working side-by-side. US psychology must broaden its global perspective. We could Define global partnership as central in APA’s strategic plan Integrate multicultural and cross-cultural methodology, training and practice throughout APA Encourage international psychologists to join APA Take action steps to develop paths for practica/internships ou
Question 3: How do you think APA should address the scientific process of developing, updating and
Sandy’s Response: We should, as a discipline and profession, take a significant role in developing and updating clinical guidelines, based on our best science, and establishing psychology as a meaningful part of interprofessional, evidence-based healthcare. We must also be diverse and inclusive scientifically if we want guidelines to be maximally helpful and effective for the public. For example, we can encourage use of mathematical optimization models with multiple variable
Question 2: How do you see APA’s role in providing assistance toward addressing the opioid epidemic
Sandy’s Response: The opioid epidemic presents a critical societal challenge where psychology can contribute both uniquely and significantly. We bring deep scientifically-based expertise regarding behavioral, non-pharmacological interventions for pain management and related conditions. We bring a bio-psycho-social perspective to opioid abuse treatment, identifying earlier co-existing conditions and developing more targeted strategies for treatment, respectful of specific po
Question 1: What is the single greatest challenge or opportunity facing the discipline of psychology
Sandy’s Response: Our ability to clearly define for the public the multiple roles of psychologists and psychology’s societal contributions—locally, nationally, globally—is key to our future. We need to build broad public support for our science, health and other applied psychology services. Why? An informed public becomes the psychologically-minded society of tomorrow--what is good for that informed public will be good for psychology. Psychology can embrace disciplinary and
Why now? Why APA President?
APA is at an inflection point—a critical moment of transformation. We need to listen and learn from each other so we can build a real community of psychologists, supported by the strength of our diversity, far beyond our current fragmentation. Our society needs the resources and solutions that psychology can provide. As a unified, dedicated organization, we can lead and contribute to resolution of key national and global issues such as healthcare, poverty, violence, and immig
