The following is a note from Dr. Jessica Henderson Daniel, 2018 APA President, regarding APA’s new Citizen PsychologistTM initiative:
I have long been committed to recognizing psychologists for their contributions to, and leadership within the communities in which they work and live. I also believe that psychologists must be in the room, at the table and at the head of the table where decisions are made, whether in healthcare, federal and state policy, community enrichment programs, or elsewhere. My longstanding interest in diversity underlies my strong belief that inclusion at all levels adds to the richness and diversity of all communities.
The APA Citizen PsychologistTM initiative grew out of my mantra: Psychology Is Every Day In Every Way. I would like APA members to be energized and motivated as they discover how to serve as an APA Citizen PsychologistTM! So I am launching it as my core initiative as 2018 President of APA.
Goals:
Overall, the initiative seeks to establish the ongoing importance of the Citizen Psychologist movement as part of the education of each new generation of psychologists, and bring the science of psychology into decision making on community programming, legislation, and other processes that have the potential to improve the lives of all members of society. There are three short-term strategies in the Citizen Psychologist initiative:
- Recognize Citizen Psychologist leaders through APA Presidential Citations. You can read more on that below.
- Develop and disseminate learning objectives for attaining the competencies required for becoming a Citizen Psychologist at all levels of learning: High school, undergraduate, graduate, internship, postdoctoral, and lifelong learning. That effort is underway and will include a working summit in April at the APA building.
- Obtain baseline survey data for the frequency and roles that psychologists are currently engaged in nationally as Citizen Psychologists. The survey will launch to all APA members this month, so stay tuned.
Defining the concept:
Being a Citizen Psychologist means demonstrating engagement in your community. Engagement can be at any level—from just beginning to explore opportunities in one’s neighborhood that might benefit from a psychological lens, to sustaining meaningful connections with civic and public sector partners on a project of several months or years, to delivering impactful change through exceptional leadership. Roles are as varied as being a long-term volunteer for community programs such as Meals-on-Wheels or Habitat for Humanity; being a state delegate for a political party; participating in your church ministries; volunteering as a content expert speaker for a non-profit organization, such as the local Alzheimer’s Association; fund raising for a charity of your choice; and so on. Showing leadership as a Citizen Psychologist, one might begin and sustain a mentoring program for a vulnerable population in the community; be elected to a community position such as the School Board or the City Council; be appointed to the Executive Committee of a local or national non-profit or professional organization; and so on.
Nominate yourself and others for a presidential citation:
Exceptional leadership activities of Citizen Psychologists will be recognized specifically by me this year with APA Presidential Citations. There are six criteria for our selection process for an APA Presidential citation. Nominees must be a member of APA; hold a doctorate in any psychology subfield; have sustained activities in improving their communities; bring psychological science or expertise to these activities beyond their day-to-day work as psychologists; and at least one of their community roles must be as a leader, demonstrating exceptionality in said leadership role.
Although I will award citations throughout 2018, planning began last fall for opportunities to deliver these citations, and nominations are being reviewed every week. One’s best chance of getting recognized in the 2018 calendar year is to prepare a nomination as soon as possible. If you nominate someone as a group, please list the group that made the nomination under the nominator’s institutional affiliation (e.g. “Division XX executive board”). Whereas the application portal will remain open through early July 2018, do not delay—prepare a nomination now. We have a printable nomination-prep guide and we encourage questions via email to Presidential Citation Working Group Chairs Sharon Bowman, PhD and Cynthia de las Fuentes, PhD.
In closing:
My dream is that the APA Citizen PsychologistTM concept will be infused into the discipline through education at all levels—from high school to lifelong learning. It is important to me that this concept of service to the public good endures as an integral part of APA’s future.
It is rewarding to be in such a dynamic and expansive discipline—and I am excited to see where our members will take psychology next.
Sincerely,
Jessica Henderson Daniel, PhD, ABPP
2018 APA President