A Valentine for Practice from APA COR*

What did you do for Valentine’s Day? Attending APA’s Council of Representatives (COR) may not be high on your bucket list, but it was a pleasure to represent CAPP as Vice Chair at COR this weekend.

There were a number of issues relevant to practice. Council passed the depression guidelines, resolutions on physical discipline of children and child and adolescent health, and updated policies on training for psychopharmacology. They also accepted the report on accreditation of masters programs in health service psychology. It was a full agenda, and I have to say I was impressed with the substantive content items and general civility and efficiency of the meeting. I appreciated the diversity training on “Interpretive Power” with Dr. Stephanie Fryberg which was thought provoking and set a good framework for the rest of the meeting. Kudos to APA President Dr. Rosie Davis Phillips, the Council Leadership Team, and staff for a well-run meeting.

The new APA Strategic Plan was also passed by a healthy majority. There is a strong focus on breaking down silos, informing the public about psychology, using psychology to solve real-world problems, and preparing psychologists for the future of the profession.

Of interest as well, Dr. Jennifer Kelley provided an update on the Advocacy Coordinating Committee. You’ll remember that the ACC will act as a unified advocacy governance body for Practice, Science, Public Interest, and Education and replaces CAPP advocacy function for the former APAPO (now APA Services Inc/APAPI). The ACC met in January for the first time, and is working on a survey to gather input from members about advocacy priorities. Make your voice heard and take the survey today:

https://apamr.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_ekAfu45Oxq09QOx?fbclid=IwAR2SOBFnCG1Va7B5fmR0GNqhTWeJWoWBWzeZ7oY4ridvnl5sYOQzR-vfPMc

Importantly, there was an update on the CAPP transition plan on Saturday afternoon. Dr. Jared Skillings (APA Chief of Practice) and Dr. Lindsey Buckman (CAPP Chair) led a discussion along with helpful input from Dr. Bob Franks (BPA Chair). The Transition Steering Committee has been working to first describe CAPP duties beyond federal advocacy (which the new ACC will complete) and then find logical homes for these CAPP activities within existing APA governance and has generated a “Crosswalk” document for feedback. Stay tuned for more information. CAPP and BPA will have the opportunity to provide feedback and will be meeting together to discuss transitions at APA Consolidated meetings at the end of March. Most vital is that the CAPP activities so important practice will continue to be supported such as state organizational development grants, Practice Leadership Conference, Legal & Regulatory advice and products, communication tools such Good Practice and the Practice Listserv.

I look forward to seeing many of you at Practice Leadership Conference March 9-12, and will keep you updated on news from this as well as CAPP’s last in-person meeting March 29-31.

*This blog is not an official APAPO or APAPO CAPP message, but my personal take on APAPO/CAPP news.