President's Message
Lillian Comas-Díaz
The power of water
The power of resilience
The power of psychologists
These words graced the beautiful poster honoring psychologists who volunteered their services during the 2005 hurricanes. Envisioned by Tammy Martin-Causey, based on Alan Entin’s photograph, and inspired by Jana Martin’s words, the artistic poster was awarded to each of the honored psychologists. This event was a poignant moment and became a resilient metaphor for me.
The Board of Directors had a productive meeting during the APA convention. We reaffirmed our values and visualized new panoramas. Here are some of the vistas:
Advocacy: Many members have asked us to emphasize more advocacy. We heard you. The Advocacy group will continue to examine ways of improving our commitment to maintain the sustainability of our community. The Board of Directors voted to “graduate” the task force into a permanent committee. We consider Advocacy to be a high priority for the Division. Therefore, the Advocacy Committee will be composed of division leaders (President, Past president, President-Elect, and Treasurer) in addition to members outside of the Board.
Membership: As I mentioned in my previous column, most APA divisions are losing members. In response, APA created a governance group solely dedicated to membership issues. We are continuing our proactive approach to make Division 42 the home of all practitioners. Within this context, the Board reviewed a comprehensive proposal submitted by the Membership Committee, chaired by Miguel Gallardo. We approved several strategies geared to increase Division 42 membership. These include the decision to target licensed psychologists who pay the practice assessment, but are not 42 members to join our division. Another strategy was to decide to open our doors to psychologists in independent practice who are not members of APA. The committee’s report revealed that several APA divisions have a non-APA member category. The non-APA member category issue has been discussed multiple times by previous Boards of Directors. However, a firm decision was never made. After a lengthy discussion, the Board voted to consult you whether to invite non-APA members to join Division 42. In order to create a new member category, we need your vote for a change in our bylaws. The new member category will follow APA’s definition of who is a psychologist. Thus, to be eligible, a person needs to hold a doctorate in psychology and be licensed to practice psychology. Psychologists in the non-APA member category will pay the regular dues and receive full services, but will not be eligible to hold elected office in the division or to vote in division elections. Soon you will receive a ballot to vote on granting membership to psychologists who do not belong to our parent organization. The Board has viewed this as an important option for you to consider because there are many early career psychologists and others who cannot afford full membership in APA. They still may value what Division 42 has to offer them and want to join the division. Perhaps, over time, through their Division 42 involvement, they may even see the many benefits of APA membership as well.
Retention: The Task Force on Retention members continued to work hard to sustain our numbers. The members have developed two instruments, a survey on assessing members’ needs and an exit interview. The task force members piloted earlier versions of the instruments during the APA convention. They analyzed the results and incorporated them to increase the instruments effectiveness. The final version of the instruments will be ready in the near future. This task force, co-chaired by Rita Dudley-Grant and Nancy Molitor, is composed of energetic members. I want to thank all of the members and offer a special Gracias to our expert consultant, Laura Froman, for her extraordinary contributions to the task force‘s work.
Services: The Board of Directors unanimously reaffirmed the Division’s goal to serve our members. We explored numerous ways of increasing the benefits of being a member of Division 42. We hope to use the findings from the upcoming needs assessment survey to inform our priority of servicing You. Please continue to provide us with feedback.
Representation: In our dedication to promote the representation of practitioners in the APA leadership, the Board formalized the process of seeking statements from the candidates for APA Presidency to better guide us all in the election process. A series of questions, developed by Jeff Barnett with input from the Executive Committee, was sent to the candidates. The Board of Directors voted to endorse (without ranking them) three professional psychologists: Rosie Phillips Bingham, James H. Bray, and Stephen A. Ragusea. Please be sure to vote in this important election and give these colleagues your top three votes in the order of your preference.
When the Saints Go Marching In:
“I did not know psychologists were saints,” a taxi driver joked with me referring to APA’s annual meeting in New Orleans. The lights were dimmer than before Katrina. “Do you want a hug?” became the city’s official greeting to us. I was thrilled to see so many Division 42 members in New Orleans. Our presence at the APA Convention and our participation in the rebuilding efforts were rewarding. But almost a year after the Hurricane Katrina, the city is still in the initial stages of healing. The paradox of recovery in the midst of devastation permeated many convention sessions and helped to create an aura of rebirth. For me this was an omen. Although the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel may be dimmer, Psychologists in Independent Practice will continue to thrive amidst challenging circumstances. Hope to see you next year in San Francisco for our Silver Anniversary.
Saludos,
Lillian
cultura@starpower.net
