Candidate Statement

APA is a 150,000 member organization of some of the most able minds in the world. We have the power to lead the world toward peace and humanity through the science, education, and practice of psychology. I want us to realize that power through drawing a circle that includes all of our practitioners, all of our scientists, all people of color, all international psychologists, all state and regional associations, all genders, all religions, all with disabilities, all gays, lesbians, bisexuals, all orientations, all ages, all ethnicities-all psychologists.

We must bring together the best minds from our science, education, and practice communities to solve problems that matter . We must solve problems of managed care and prescription privileges. We can use our science community to bring power to the fight that practitioners are having with insurance companies and legislators who do not understand what it takes to bring quality care to the mental health needs of our society. Further, we need those same bright minds to support necessary changes in the current reciprocity/mobility efforts by ASPPB, the National Register, and ABPP as licensing laws change. We need scientific data to substantiate the practicality and rationality of license portability so that we can support our case to those who have questions.

We must bring together the best minds from our practice, education, and science communities to implement the Science Directorate agenda, PSY 21, a plan to set scientific priorities in APA. We need help with Institutional Review Boards. We need practitioners to be in the science circle so that our practice can strengthen our scientific research and help those in influential places understand the essential place of psychological science in the building and flourishing of our society.

We must include in our powerful circle the best minds from education, science, and practice so that we can solve pipeline issues. Who will be the next generations of psychologists? We are aging and we must get more psychologists who care about the issues that matter. We need to focus on pre-K/12 because if those who build prisons can determine the future need for prisons by the number of African American males in 3 rd and 4 th grade, then we must deliver strong prevention interventions that will not let that happen. I strongly support evidence-based practice and interventions that ensure we will use the best available science and practice to interrupt practices that are harmful to individuals and, in the long run, destructive to society.

We must include practitioners, scientists, and educators who can help us implement the diversity guidelines. We live in a multicultural world and in a world where many groups are oppressed . Psychology can help to change that because we are behavioral change experts . WE must apply what we have learned as evidenced by the Multicultural Guidelines, the LGBT Guidelines, the guidelines for Women and Girls, as well the other initiatives. We must implement the recommendations from the Presidential Task Force on Enhancing Diversity within APA. We have groups doing that now, and if we deliberately pull together a powerful group of scientists, educators, and practitioners we can speed up that implementation process by years.

As you can see I am a strong advocate of inclusion. Within APA we have too many factions and fractures and far too many groups and individuals feel disenfranchised. When we have factions and fractures, our power is diluted and we do not HAVE THE ENERGY TO take on the major issues of our time. I have been especially saddened by the tensions between science and practice. I plan to establish a task force that will be charged to bring back action-based solutions for strengthening the science-practice collaboration within APA and within the profession. I will use my discretionary monies to help us build models of that collaboration that can be used to take on major problems within APA and within society. I would like to see us host a summit that is structured as a practice/science collaboration that is problem-based and solution focused. The problem could be "Managing Managed Care: Insuring that Psychologists Can Earn a Living" or it could be "Funding the Science of Psychology." The team of psychologists would determine the problem (focus or issue). It is the duty of the President to present the larger picture and then ask our colleagues to bring their time, talent, and treasure as practitioners, educators, and scientists to help us specify the problems and find the methods that direct us towards a solution.

I want psychology to be a powerful household word because then we can speak on big issues that matter. APA really ought to be making a statement about the destructiveness of war. I do not mean that we need to take sides, but we ought to be reminding the world that killing children will not bring peace to the world. Our science and practice can help to show the world the way to peace. But only by coming together as a powerful and inclusive organization can we lift a voice strong enough to be heard by anyone who can make a difference.

I plan to continue to support the very fine work of our recent Presidents and I absolutely will support the work of our four directorates and the work of the Council of Representatives. I just want to move us further along in our quest to get back to those lofty ideals that led us all to become psychologists in the first place-the dream to make the world a better place . If we include all of us, if we make each and everyone of us feel welcome, if we encourage groups to be a part of us rather than walking out, if we say" you belong", then we can have a powerful organization that makes our original dreams today's reality. WE must draw a bigger circle because Inclusion is Power.

I want to be your President. Please give me your number 1 vote.