“E IHOWA ATUA”
This has been a fascinating spring. To celebrate our 50th anniversary, my wife and I decided to visit New Zealand. We arrived slightly after the Christchurch tragedy and were extraordinarily impressed by how the entire nation responded. There were vigils of silence, including one on our ferry out to see the incredible glow worms. The Prime Minister’s call for a ban on almost all semiautomatic weapons was overwhelmingly supported by the politicians and electorate. Unlike the public discourse in the United States, there were thoughtful discussions regarding the adverse impact of global warming, the increasing pollution of the oceans, and the critical importance of the environment. Simply stated, New Zealand and their concerned citizenry were absolutely refreshing.
Just prior to departing for New Zealand, I once again had the opportunity to attend the annual APA Practice Leadership conference Advocacy and Leadership, which is always the highlight of my psychology year. Dan Abrahamson estimated that 400 of our colleagues from across the nation participated. Jared Skillings’ visionary Welcoming Remarks: “These are exciting – and challenging – times for APA and for our discipline; there are a lot of changes going on… and it’s up to us – all of us – to make the most of the opportunities that are here now. At APA, we’re committed to moving the profession in a proactive way toward the things that will make us most successful as practitioners. That means looking forward and thinking creatively about how we can have a positive impact in the world. Transformational change. I don’t just mean change within the practice community. The world around us has changed – society, the business marketplace, health care, technology. They’re all going to keep changing. We must respond. We must figure out not only how to adapt but thrive. The leadership roles you hold are crucial in this regard. Our diversity is one of our greatest strengths. And from where I stand, the future of our profession – the future of the this association – looks very promising, not in spite of the changes we face, but because of them. Change is inevitable. The impact we can have depends on you.”
Given the intense national debates on immigration within the United States, one of the most personally moving presentations was the workshop on “Building Bridges and Tearing Down Walls: A Model for Empirically-Based State and Legislative Advocacy on Immigration,” highlighting psychologists making a difference in the lives of real people. Lest we forget the past, Shirley Ann Higuchi discussed the way our nation shamefully treated Japanese-American citizens during World War II; incarcerating many in 10 camps from California to Arkansas, including at wintery Heart Mountain in Wyoming where her parents were incarcerated.
Yale University Associate Professor Manuel Paris: “Our report, Vulnerable But Not Broken: Psychosocial Challenges and Resilience Pathways among Unaccompanied Children from Central America, provides an overview of the myriad issues facing unaccompanied children from Central America apprehended at the Southwest border of the United States. It highlights these children’s ability to overcome challenging histories and adapt to the changes in familial and social environment that life in the United States presents, and identifies some of the key supportive resources that can help them to do so. The psychosocial aspects of this humanitarian crisis are reviewed, outlining priority areas for future research and providing recommendations for culturally and developmentally informed practice, programs, and legal advocacy.
“The overarching goal of the report is to shed light on the plight of unaccompanied children from a mental health perspective and to provide insights borne out of research and the clinical experiences of the authors. It is important to discuss and highlight the obstacles faced by this vulnerable population, but more importantly to focus on their resilience processes and what can be done to support them. This includes a ‘call to action’ effort – essentially providing pertinent information that can be used to assist in advocacy efforts. To champion the rights and needs of unaccompanied children effectively at the local, state and federal levels, legislators and other stakeholders need evidence-based information and scientific support for their positions. The report is structured so that specific sections can be utilized to provide targeted, strategic messaging depending on the advocacy needs and issues to be addressed. Ultimately, only with effective working alliances among advocates, researchers, legislators, clinicians, law enforcement, and attorneys can we find a viable approach to alleviate the suffering unaccompanied children experience at different points during their journey towards safety and stability and provide the resources to foster the healthy development to which they are entitled” (Giselle Hass, Georgetown University Adjunct Professor of Law; Cristina Muniz de la Pena, Cofounder & Mental Health Director of Terra Firma Healthcare and Justice for Immigrant Children, Michelle Silva; Charles Baily, Claudette Antuna, and Tejaswinhi Srinivas).
Former APA President, and also a Yale University faculty member and 2019 Gold Medal recipient, Alan Kazdin has constantly been urging our profession to appreciate the global importance of insuring that psychology’s efforts are getting to the people in need (not only clinicians who only see a tiny fraction of those in need) and as part of that, people especially not likely to receive any care (e.g., children, older individuals, single parents, individuals of ethnicity, victims of violence, and it goes on). “I love academia (it is my life) but the hedging that is done when real people can be helped or harmed is (for me) inexcusable. What ought to be our criteria for deciding when we have enough to act when it is virtually always the case that we do not have complete answers? Many of the advances are coming from other disciplines, such as public health, law, social policy, business, and industry.”
Dan Abrahamson and Susie Lazaroff (who makes the conference “work”) have always been open to inviting students from the Uniformed Services University (USU) from both psychology and nursing to participate at the national level. One of the foundational concepts of President Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the development of interprofessional team-based integrated care. What better way for these two professions to appreciate their common contributions than exposure at the graduate student level?
“We attended the APA Practice Leadership Conference which was focused on advocacy and leadership. It aimed to inspire psychology’s leaders to join together with colleagues and advocate for change in health care policies related to billing, licensing regulations, and practice technologies. We were able to meet and network with psychologists around the country. On Sunday, David Wasserman used humor and statistics to provide an overview of the history and current state of the political environment, including how President Trump won the White House. He emphasized the importance of voting in primary elections as well as general elections at the state and national levels because legislative leaders at all levels impact state and federal law.
“During the breakout session titled ‘Psychology of Issues Advocacy: Maximizing Your Impact with Lawmakers’ we learned about advocacy at the local, state, and national levels. The talk began by talking about social justice versus diversity. Diversity showcases representation across races, while social justice is a collaborative approach to equity across all races. The presenter highlighted the need to identify – What is the issue that is going to be raised and how is it best raised? Aaron Bishop, Director of the APA Public Interest Government Relations Office, uses the ‘Rule of Three’ to engage with elected officials. First he emphasized the importance of relationship building through multiple visits to help you be remembered prior to making a request. It is helpful to first describe your issue, share information, and create a reason to maintain contact. Offering them something such as an article or data can help bring their attention to an issue without making a request. The second contact is a follow-up in 1-2 weeks with information about an issue. And the third contact is when to make a request. We broke out into small groups to talk about how to further engage with elected officials. Our group identified the need to understand the opposition that the elected officials face in order to be prepared to defend our positions. Other groups identified the need to create an army of experts, send thank-you notes because elected officials like them and don’t receive them very often, and be a resource for the Members of Congress. We concluded the meeting by talking about the staffers. Staffers get the job done and getting to the Chief of Staff is key. Bring personal stories to pull them into the issue.
“At lunch many state psychological associations were recognized for their influence at the state level. Overall this event offered us the opportunity to learn about our role as healthcare advocates for our profession and patients. Many of the speakers emphasized the importance of integrated social aspects of care with practice issues. We were able to network with each other and people in the psychology field which helps us to better understand the issues surrounding their practice. We definitely noted similarities between the interactions that psychology has with psychiatry, when compared to nursing and medicine. The conference was a great opportunity for learning and relationship building” (Joseph Leondike, Tonya Spencer, and Theresa Bedford, Daniel K. Inouye Graduate School of Nursing, USU). Aloha, [New Zealand National Anthem – Maori language].
Pat DeLeon, former APA President – HPA – May, 2019
