Challenges Facing the American Psychological Association (APA)
The American Psychological Association (APA) is a professional organization that aims at advancing psychology study and research to improve people’s lives. Its core operations revolve around the idea of advancing psychology studies to offer relevant solutions to everyday situations bearing that psychology, as a discipline, encompasses several aspects of daily life including social, cultural, and economic interactions. Nonetheless, there are concerns that the organization lacks a strategic position to enable it to participate effectively in the formulation of policies regarding the integration of psychology practice in some important human-interaction levels. Consequently, American citizens are denied the opportunity to pursue an understanding of everyday day situations from a psychological perspective (Johnson and Nadine 29). This work examines the relevance of integrating psychological studies into various disciplines to achieve a better understanding of human interactions to improve lives.
According to Daniel (Para 2), psychology and psychologists face several challenges including the incorporation of psychology into various societal aspects, lack of adequate funding for research at the various career levels, recruitment and retention of members, inadequate compensation for services, and lack of sufficient internship opportunities for students. Consequently, stakeholders at the organizational level find it necessary to push for the collaboration and proper leadership of citizen psychologists. In particular, psychological education, science, practice, and policy are critical in the enhancement of human experiences. As such, psychology needs a bigger role in the establishment and enforcement of policies at various levels.
Daniel (Para 3) also notes that decision makers at local, state, national, and international levels need to recognize the potential contributions that psychology can make towards understanding human behavior. Currently, the APA comprises of over fifty divisions specializing in different psychological aspects. The experts in the divisions commit many hours to studies and research to enhance their knowledge and be in a position to offer relevant information and advice. However, the recognition of psychologists’ efforts is happening at a slow rate thus limiting the access to the benefits of the discipline. For example, practitioners in various health segments such as mental and children health have acknowledged the positive contributions of psychology practice in their understanding conditions affecting their patients. Effectively, the APA realizes the need to push for the inclusion of psychologists in other health segments and healthcare practices (Tasman et al. 18).
Effective participation in roles at various levels requires students to learn about collaboration and leadership (Johnson and Nadine 33). The APA has established measures to sponsor the training of graduate students on leadership, negotiation and collaboration skills enable psychologists at all levels. With such training, individuals will be better-placed to take up leadership roles and lead the campaigns towards the integration of psychological education and practice into other disciplines and aspects of life. The APA can attract and retain participants in their mission by creating excitement about the successes and possibilities that exist in the discipline by acknowledging the contributions of members in various setups. Conversely, the lack of participants to implement the mission will only mean that more Americans will continue to miss out on the benefits presented by psychology psychological knowledge and practice.
One of the most effective ways of integrating psychology into social and health care systems requires the inclusion of psychology studies in the sectors at the various stages. For example, the successful incorporation of the discipline into the health care system needs it to be introduced at all levels of training to enable students to understand the significance of psychology in solving everyday situations. Also, teaching the essence of collaboration between psychologists and experts in other sectors will play a significant role in establishing and sustaining relationships that can help in achieving APA’s objective of improving people’s lives. The collaborations are also critical to the advancement of practice and research through the interactions formed among experts, students, and emerging practitioners in various disciplines.
Tasman et al. (26) note that understanding the idea of citizen psychologists can help students and other practitioners to appreciate the different opportunities that exist for them to apply their knowledge. As such, they will be in a position to help people understand the significance of psychology in comprehending situations that may be difficult to explain based on health or social bases. Also, the collaboration between APA’s associates and other professionals can efficiently raise awareness on the need to incorporate psychological knowledge in other disciplines.
The development of psychologists at the various career levels is an effective way of sharing knowledge to enhance the growth of the discipline. For example, middle-level and senior psychologists can play roles to help juniors and students to understand how the various psychology segments work to form the multifaceted study. Also, the experts can guide emerging psychologists and other professionals on how to develop research topics that seek to enhance the study and improve human perceptions of situations. Therefore, the recognition of psychology as a critical component in managing everyday situations remains a significant objective for the APA (Tasman et al. 40).
The proper compensation of APA members for their services is another component of the greater issue of recognition. According to Johnson and Nadine (43), third-party payers make up a significant portion of the organization’s clients. Therefore, it is necessary to create a reliable set of products that impact people’s lives on an everyday basis. Considering that the healthcare sector functions as a standalone business entity, it is paramount to ensure that psychologists are compensated appropriately for the services they render to the healthcare system. For many years, financial decisions regarding healthcare provision were made by physicians and insurers. However, the APA strategy of creating citizen psychologists is aimed at ensuring that psychologists participate actively in the creation of healthcare financial policies. Consequently, the relations formed with players in the health sector will ensure that all Americans can receive quality care.
The APA encourages its members to form close ties with decision makers in the various levels of health administration (Tasman et al. 44). For example, psychologists serving in local, state, national, and international boards have the opportunity to meet influential policy makers both within and beyond the healthcare sector. As a result, the relations can enable psychology experts to reach the highest policy formulation and implementation committees.
The provision of accredited and certified internship opportunities to students also poses a challenge for the APA. Qualifying as a licensed psychologist requires various resources including time and financial wellness. According to Daniel (Para 12), APA-trained interns and doctoral fellows are not compensated in most instances, unlike master-level psychiatrists and social workers. Consequently, the APA finds it necessary to push for the recognition of its training programs including the compensation of its members for work done.
The APA strives to produce psychologists who can lead scientific-based research that can solve everyday issues at the local, state, and national levels. The creation of policies currently relies on the collection of relevant data among other factors, all of which require adequate funding. As such, there is a need to empower the psychology discipline through the creation of partnerships and its recognition as a central aspect of policy making in many setups.
Works Cited
Daniel, Jessica. “Issues Currently Facing Psychology.” APA Division 42 Psychologists In Independent Practice, 2017, division42.org/endorsements/issues-currently-facing-psychology/.
Johnson, W. Brad, and Nadine J Kaslow. The Oxford Handbook of Education and Training in Professional Psychology. Oxford University Press, 2014.
Tasman, Allan et al. Psychiatry, Set, 4Th Edition. John Wiley & Sons, 2015.
