Psychologists take on Washington DC: Reflections and Inspiration from APAPO State Leadership Confere
Returning from the APAPO State Leadership Conference always leaves me in an emotional state—exhilarated, exhausted, energized, enthused, and empowered. This year was no exception.
The event started off on a high point of an informal dinner organized by the Committee of State Leaders with the new President Elects from all the SPTAs (State, Provincial, and Territorial Psychological Associations). They are a terrific group with amazing ideas and I am looking forward to seeing all the good work they will do for psychology in each of their states. At the President Elect orientation the following day, these leaders shared ideas about association management, membership recruitment and retention, and advocacy. Whether big states or small, their initiatives were impressive. I came away with an idea or two for Ohio! Similar orientations for Diversity Delegates and Early Career Psychologists were held simultaneously and I heard great feedback about these experiences as well.
One of the themes was coping with membership declines in both the APAPO and in SPTAs. Ideas included a different dues structure for APAPO (i.e., not needing APA membership first before joining APAPO, educating people more about the differences between APAPO and APA, and collaborating with SPTAs to show how the APAPO and state organizations work together. So how are the APA and APAPO different? The APA is a c-3 organization meaning it is primarily for the public good-covering things such as education, science--psychology. APA is well funded through real estate and publishing primarily, with membership dues comprising a small part of budget. The APAPO is a c-6 organization with the power to advocate on behalf of psychologists. The APAPO is funded almost entirely by membership dues and membership decline has significantly hurt its budget. In your states, you may have benefitted from APAPO help with organizational and legislative grants. APAPO is really about supporting the practice of psychology.
Another theme was an emphasis on the new practice models, including integrated care, management service organizations, and population health. APA President Elect Tony Puente noted how we get paid is changing: ppsychologist reimbursement is tied to fee for service now, but it will move to performance and then population health in future. Dr. Arthur Evans, Philadelphia Behavioral Health Commissioner, noted that psychologists are key players in population health--prevention, social determinants, nontraditional settings, evidenced based treatment, program evaluation and outcome measurement. Dr. Katherine Nordal, Executive Director of APAPO noted that early and mid-career psychologists need to be looking outside of direct service as their main source of income and focus more on management, niche specialties, and diverse settings.
I was particularly impressed with the emphasis on issues important to early career and diverse psychologists. Dr. Susan McDaniel presented to Presidential Citations to early career psychologists Dr. Lindsay Buckman and Dr. LeOndra Clark-Harvey which was an amazing moment. In addition, the microaggressions dialogue with Dr. Jessica Floyd, Dr. Dinelia Rosa, and Dr. Antonio Puente was a powerful moment during the conference. In discussing how to increase membership, early career and diverse psychologists are looking for tangibles, individualized services, opportunities to give back, and ease of service. How are we doing giving members what they want at APAPO and in our states?
Advocacy is always the primary theme at SLC. The conference gives psychologists the chance to connect with and hear from legislators who are interested in mental health issues such as Rep Kristi Noem (R-SD), Rep Tim Murphy (R-PA), and former Ohio governor/U.S. Rep Ted Strickland (D-OH).
On Tuesday, hundreds of psychologists headed to Capitol Hill to advocate for mental health access (inclusion of psychologists in Medicare physician definition) and comprehensive mental health reform. Delegations from each state fanned out to their senators and congresspersons offices with their blue APA bags and talked one on one with staffers and legislators about the issues impacting professional psychology. They shared their stories about how legislation can impact patient care and access, and provided data to legislators on these issues.
I’d like to thank every delegate to SLC who sacrificed their weekend, time with their family, and time away from their practice to advocate for psychology. They provided valuable input that represents all the psychologists from across the country that can’t make it to Washington to do advocacy in person. However, if you are interested in becoming more involved in advocacy, here are a few ways to do so from home:
*meet with your Congressperson in their home office
*Use the Legislative Action Center to keep up to date and contact your legislators http://capwiz.com/apapractice/home/
*Advocate on the state level through your SPTA or local meetings with state representatives
*Become a APAPO Pac contributor; http://www.supportpsychologypac.org/
*Renew your APAPO membership http://www.apa.org/membership/renew.aspx?_ga=1.199363302.994269344.1437498172
*Renew/join your SPTA
