2025 President’s Column 60 (2)

These are terrifically challenging times for many, and as SAP President, the commitment to helping and serving others and society I have observed in SAP’s members is inspiring. I have profound gratitude for the awesome leadership team that is working hard to deliver value to the SAP membership and to all those who benefit from our informative products and useful services.

The Winter Governance Board leadership meeting was kicked off by an engaging interactive Equity Diversity Inclusion and Belonging (EDIB) training that set the tone for all that followed afterward. One outcome from the meeting that is in process is the revision of the Society’s Mission Statement and Priorities. Much has changed in the past five years, especially currently. This revised Mission and Priorities will reflect these changes. Another outcome from the meeting were decisions to engage in advocacy for key Divisional priorities within APA. Actions aligned with these two goals have taken place and it is anticipated the Society will adopt a new Mission Statement and Priorities this late spring.

By way of providing an overview for what follows, this is the second of four Presidential Columns I will share with you this year, each being the lead article in every issue of the Bulletin and also as the featured article on the website homepage.   Each of my articles will center on one of my four Presidential Initiatives respectively, as highlighted in my July 8, 2024 President-Elect column linked here. See here for my first column as president, linked here.

My second Presidential Initiative is the global cross-fertilization of psychotherapy research, education, practice, and application. The majority of the remainder of this column will feature what each of our seven Domains (in their alphabetic order) have done, are doing, or plan to do as aligned with this second priority. My summary paragraph ends the article.

Diversity Domain

Domain Representatives: Changming Duan, PhD, and Susan Woodhouse, PhD

Committee Chair: Wonjin Sim, PhD

Coordinator of the Advocacy and Mentoring Program for Diversity (AMPD) program: Rosemary Phelps, PhD

Social Justice Chair: Linda Campbell, PhD

• Propose a symposium and roundtable at SPR and APA. Wonjin Sim and Changming Duan are planning to coordinate a structured discussion with the international committee for SPR.
  • Completed – the program has been accepted by SPR 2025

• The Diversity Domain provided mentorship to the AMPD scholars on submission of one Critical Conversation symposium and one poster, both of which were submitted to APA. The Critical Conversation was not accepted as such, and instead both AMPD scholar presentations will be done in August 2025 as poster presentations.

• Do a review of Division 29 membership and do a project to increase diverse members’ involvement and making their contributions visible – that may attract more diverse members to the Division.
  • We completed a brief review of membership, which shows that about 7% of our divisional membership 2025 (1470 in total – including students, fee-waiving and lifetime members) is non-White, 80% White, and 11% no-report.
  • Discussions are ongoing on strategies to attract more diverse members.

• Strengthening the Diversity Committee by attracting committed members (including student members)
  • Efforts are on-going. We’re developing research/service projects that may attract individuals with diverse backgrounds to join our diversity committee. Having them involved in divisional activities may generate snowballing effect for increasing Div. 29 diverse membership 

• A collaboration with SAP student representative and student representatives on the International Committee to support international students in research and training (e.g., applying for internship).
  • We plan on reaching out to the International Committee for this project.

• Possible project: We realized that the multicultural/diversity literature does not adequately address issues related to identity and diversity in psychotherapy outside the U.S. well (sometimes it may cost harm if we blindly apply it in different countries). Initiated by the International Committee, a participatory study is being pursued focusing on “social location” as a concept.
  • Initiated by the International domain, this project is moving forward.  Our diversity domain is participating.

• The Diversity Domain and Diversity Committee will continue to support the AMPD program implementation.
  • Preparation of AMPD program application call
  • AMPD program application call will go out in by May 1, 2025
  • The due date for submission of the AMPD program call will be September 15, 2025.

Early Career Psychology (ECP) Domain

Domain Representative: Yujia Lei, PhD 

Committee Chair: Peter Franz, PhD

• Aid psychologists in expanding the inclusiveness of their clinical practice and increasing competency regarding work with minoritized/marginalized groups.
  • Continue hosting webinars like our recent session on suicide risk assessment for ethnic minorities and expand to include other marginalized groups. One idea is to collaborate with my colleague, Aaron Breslow, whose research focuses on improving access to care for the trans community. Additionally, the ECP committee will apply grants from APA and develop programs for immigrant women of color.

• Increase integration of research and clinical practice
  • We can send out a questionnaire to early career professionals to identify the topics of greatest interest to them and create programming specific to these topics. Possible topics include: A webinar on emerging research that can shape clinical practice, such as technology integration in standard clinical practice. A webinar on best practices for clinical supervision, supported by empirical research.
• Improve awareness of career trajectories for Counseling and Clinical Psychologists
  • Roundtable conversation with mental health professionals who work in a variety of settings to help ECPs gain a sense for the career options that are available.

Education and Training Domain

Domain Representative: Erica Marshall-Lee, PhD

 Committee Chair: Melissa Jones, PhD

• Collaborating with other divisions and/or professional societies (e.g., SPR, SEPI).

• Continuing to encourage divisions to promote and sponsor high quality learning opportunities for our members

International Domain

Domain Representative: Xu Li, PhD

Committee Chairs: Changming Duan, PhD & Dana Tzur-Bitan, PhD

• Engagement of SAP Chinese members: 
• The Membership Engagement Committee in China has on a continual basis implemented various member engagement and continuing educational activities, including quarterly Psychotherapy article discussion, running an “Ask an Expert” program, hosting a member interaction platform, etc.
• In 2025, new members of the Membership Engagement Committee will be elected and the work plan for 2025 will be developed.
• Continuing the member engagement activities. With the new leaders on the committee, more initiatives may occur.

Updates:

1. The Membership Engagement Committee has been elected.  They have met and discussed the activity plan for 2025.  Xu Li and Changming Duan attended their first meeting in February.

2. With the approval from SAP president Stewart Cooper, the International Committee nominated Chinese Engagement Committee staff member, Luyao Ma, to receive a presidential citation in recognition and appreciation of her dedicated service and outstanding contributions to the recruitment and engagement of the Chinese members. 

• SAP conference in China (November 2024): This conference featured three keynote presentations and one workshop, attracting a total of 16,000 cumulative viewers and receiving more than 25,000 cumulative views online. It served as a platform for sharing new perspectives on psychotherapy research and practice and fostering cross-cultural interaction and exchange.
• In 2025, we will continue disseminating the conference information by making the speeches as CE-offering home study materials for members and for attracting new members
• In 2025, we will focus more on encouraging Chinese members to submit papers to the Bulletin.  

Updates: After the conference in Fall 2024, the keynote speeches have been made as CE-Offering home study materials for Chinese members.  One of the speeches, pre-recorded in English, will be made available for our US members to use for CE credits soon. 

• International research projects (on-going projects):
  • A collaborative project led by the research subcommittee examines diverse views of mental illness across countries (U.S., Italy, Israel, India, and Argentina). Recruitment for this study is nearing completion. The project is ongoing. Data collection is close to completion. Cross-country data analysis will begin soon. Our committee’s ECP representative Kehan Shen is leading the effort.
• A sub-study exploring cultural differences in psychotherapy expectations is also in the recruitment stages, offering potential insights into culturally informed psychotherapy practices. This study has been presented at SPR 2024 and is in the manuscript writing process.

Other Updates:

1. The international committee initiated a new study that focuses on understanding the role of individuals’ social location in psychotherapy from therapist perspectives. Led by member Adil Qureshi, this will be a participatory study involving participants/co-authors from 6 to 10 countries. Participation from the Diversity domain will be included.
2. The international committee organized 5 panels for SPR in Krakow Poland 2025, involving over 20 participants from several countries. This will make a significant presence of SAP at the conference.   

Membership Domain

Domain Representative: Jairo Fuertes, PhD

Committee Chair: Firouz Ardalan, PhD

• The membership continues to focus on diversifying our offerings and increasing membership. This includes exploring mentoring, reaching out to students, highlighting student grant award winners, offering continuing education credits, test pilot advertising for DIV 29 within regional psychology associations, and finding more effective methods for processing and tracking membership.

Professional Practice Domain

Domain Representative: Amy Ellis, PhD

Committee Chair: Marcy Rowland, PhD

• Mental health professionals’ toolbox. This year we’ll be developing a comprehensive toolbox kit for practicing mental health professionals that will provide practical guidance on the administrative and business aspects of running a practice. The toolbox will include essential resources on setting up private practice, managing finances, navigating marketing strategies, and making informed decisions about office space. Additionally, it will address the unique challenges mental health professionals face based on their practice settings, including working in rural vs. urban areas, balancing clinical work with caregiving responsibilities, and managing part-time vs. full-time practice models. By covering both the logistics of practice management and the diverse, real-world experiences of mental health professionals, this project will equip professionals with the tools they need to succeed in their specific practice contexts.  While this toolbox is focused on U.S.-based practice logistics, it aligns with the goal of global cross-fertilization by incorporating a wide range of professional perspectives, values, and practice philosophies that are increasingly shaped by global conversations. For example, the section on practicing while caregiving draws inspiration from wide-ranging discourses on work-life balance, interdependence, and flexible work models. Similarly, by capturing the experiences of clinicians from varied geographic, cultural, and socioeconomic contexts within the U.S.—including rural, urban, part-time, and nontraditional practice settings—the project reflects voices that parallel the diversity found across global psychotherapy communities.

• Understanding APA’s changes on Master’s-level therapists. We’ll be focusing on a series of articles describing APA policy changes regarding Master’s-level therapists and how these shifts impact the field of psychotherapy. The articles will explore the evolving role of Master’s-level clinicians and how these changes affect all levels of psychotherapists and provide information on how to navigate the changing landscape of mental healthcare. We will also be examining how these changes are implicated in a broader global context considering other countries’ structure of their mental health workforce and how this may help the U.S. in our service delivery, workforce diversity, and the overall accessibility of psychotherapy.  

Science Domain

Domain Representative: Patricia Spangler, PhD

Committee Chair: Harold Chui, PhD

• Science and Scholarship continues to encourage psychotherapy scientists from across the world to apply for our grants. Request for proposals for the Charles J. Gelso, PhD., Psychotherapy Research Grant and the Norine Johnson, PhD., Psychotherapy Research Grant for Early Career Psychologists were announced in the Psychotherapy Bulletin, with proposals due May 1, 2025.

• The domain representative, Patricia Spangler, and committee chair, Harold Chui, continue to work with grant applicants and recipients ongrant administration issues.

In addition to our above Domains, our Publications areas will also have a focus on this second initiative.

• Jesse Owen, Psychotherapy Editor, has committed to two related special sections/features:
  • Spiritual and Religious Competencies (with a focus on training)
  • Culturally and Structurally Responsive Training in Psychotherapy

• Zoe Ross-Nash, Editor of Electronic Communications and Bulletin
  • For the second year, Zoe has invited a monthly call for submissions, recruiting topics on various areas of psychotherapy and intersecting identities. Authors are welcome to submit articles on any topic at any time, however, may use these calls as a form of inspiration to diversify the content in the Bulletin and website. Click here for more information!

January	New beginnings
February	Romantic relationships
March	Women
April	Religion
May	Military
June	LGBT+
July	Politics in psychotherapy
August	Humanitarian work
September	Fee setting and business practices
October	Older adults
November	Gratitude
December	Termination

• Zoe has also started an SAP “Who’s Who”, the features psychotherapists who are members of Division 29 and would like to share their career accomplishments. Zoe encourages all members to be featured! Send an email to editor@societyforpsychotherapy.org to express interest.

• Amy Ellis, Publications Board Chair, is focused on bringing more diversity to the Publications & Communications Board. She is working to involve more students and diversify the committee with members who bring a wide range of personal and professional experiences. Amy also strongly supports Drs. Owens and Ross-Nash’s efforts to publish articles that explore identity and culture. She is working to build a stronger connection between these two publication outlets, aiming to reach both professionals and community members. Amy is committed to increasing diversity in both the content and authorship of publications, ensuring that diverse voices and perspectives are represented. Her goal is to help position SAP’s publications as foundational educational and skill-building resources for understanding and incorporating identity and culture into psychotherapy.

I am excited about what the Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy has achieved the first quarter of the year and look forward to what we will accomplish this second quarter. I am grateful for all the Board members’ initiative and actions. I want to do a shout out to members of the Society’s Executive Committee (EC) who meet monthly. Members of the EC are President-Elect Joshua Swift, Past-President Tony Rousmaniere, Secretary Astrea Greig, Treasurer Ken Critchfield, our two Council of Representatives members, our Publications & Communications Chair, Amy Ellis, and as ex-officio members, our two Council of Representatives Libby Williams and Jeff Younggren. These EC meetings are essential to set the Society’s directions, respond to emerging needs, and to take actions. I also appreciate our Domain Representatives who, as voting members of the Board, bring in critical voices and make important decisions on a regular basis. Finally, I want to express deep thanks to our 2025 Convention Chair, Alice Coyne. She has put in immense time and effort to develop a vibrant and powerful convention program. The 2025 APA Annual Convention is set for Denver CO and will take place on August 7^th – 9^th. Don’t miss it!!! 

Stewart Cooper, PhD, ABPP

SAP President