Vol 2. No. 5

The Board of Directors had a productive meeting during the APA convention. Following are some of our deliberations:

Affiliate Members: We approved several strategies geared to increase Division 42 membership.  These include the decision to open our doors to psychologists in independent practice who are not members of APA.  The affiliate member category will keep us in line with several APA divisions that offer affiliate membership to non-APA members.   In order to create a new member category, we need your vote for a change in our bylaws.   The affiliate 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 affiliate 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 in the Independent Practitioner to vote on granting affiliate 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 and perhaps, over time, they may even see the many benefits of APA membership as well. 

Please vote yes to allow non-APA psychologists become affiliate members of Division 42.

APA Presidential Candidates:  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 Past President Jeff Barnett with input from the Executive Committee, was sent to the candidates.  Based on the candidates’ answers, 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.

Your vote for a practitioner will: 

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 an upcoming needs assessment survey to inform our priority of serving You. Please continue to provide us with feedback.

United Nations’ Psychology Day:  The Board discussed Frank Froman’s proposal for a National Psychology Week.  Russ Newman, Director of the APA Practice Directorate, noted that such an effort might be quite costly at a national level, however, he shared ideas on how we can continue to promote psychology to the general public at both local and state levels, something we plan to do.  During the September 2006 APA Consolidated Meetings, Florence Denmark, APA Delegate to the United Nations, reported that the U.N is exploring the designation of a Psychology Day.   I will keep you informed of this development. Such a U.N. designation could help us coalesce efforts to establish a Psychology Day or Week.

Advocacy: The Division 42 Advocacy Task Force will continue to examine ways of improving our commitment to maintain the sustainability of our community.   We voted to “graduate” the task force into a permanent committee. The new Advocacy Committee will be composed of division leaders (President, Past President, President-Elect, and Treasurer) in addition to several members outside of the Board.

Expanding the Business of Practice:  This Task Force, chaired by Tammy Martin-Causey, developed a brief survey to assess practitioners’ consulting activities to businesses.    The findings will help independent practitioners who are looking to expand their options or new practitioners who are widening their practice focus.   Please provide your input by accessing this survey on the Division 42 website.  You can also click the link directly:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=505042367048  

Gracias,
Lillian
cultura@starpower.net