Advocacy
Learn about the role of advocacy in promoting mental health and well-being. This section offers resources and strategies for psychotherapists to effectively advocate for their clients, the profession, and broader social change.
69 articles found
Pandemics, Prejudice, and Power
As panic due to the current coronavirus pandemic runs rampant, another virus has quietly been spreading in its wake: Xenophobia, targeted toward people of Asian descent. Increasingly, reports and videos have surfaced depicting verbal and physical assault of those who appear to be of Asian descent. While we cannot speak directly to the experiences of […]
Bre-Ann Slay, M.A., L.P.C + 4 more
April 26, 2020
Gay in OK
Be a blank slate, but also be an advocate. Wait, no, not like that. In graduate school, we are taught to hopefully become ethical, effective psychological practitioners. That model pretends that psychology exists in a bubble and is not subjected to the outside world’s judgments, prejudice, and ignorance; psychotherapy is often intended to empower people […]
Tye Stephens, MA
April 21, 2020
“You Gotta Go Where You Wanna Go”
The Ever-Changing Practice Environment Visionary Ken Drude has been on the cutting-edge of psychology’s increasing awareness of the long-term implications of telehealth for the clinician and most importantly, for potential clients. Most recently, he has urged our colleagues to also appreciate the importance of their Continuing Professional Development (CPD) profiles and especially to ensure that […]
Pat DeLeon, Ph.D.
April 21, 2020
The Momentum in Mourning
School shootings seem as American as apple pie. The post-Columbine generation has been preparing to dodge bullets in school since they were learning to tie their shoes. They are fittingly dubbed “generation lockdown.” On Valentine’s Day 2018, such drills became a reality for students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. An active […]
Bre-Ann Slay, M.A., L.P.C + 3 more
October 13, 2019
“Let’s Talk on the Fourth Floor”
Our idea, which three of us came up with nearly simultaneously, was born out of good intentions. We noticed that our most vulnerable students were often reluctant to go to our university’s counseling center. Our idea was to bring psychotherapy services to the place where they felt most comfortable, the floor of the student union […]
Paul Kwon, Ph.D.
September 2, 2019
The Advocate
Advocacy and clinical psychology are inseparable. All good psychologists advocate for their clients’ overall well-being, effective treatment, and access to needed resources. Given that larger societal issues impact the mental health of the individual, it is important that this advocacy role generalizes beyond our therapy offices. Clients enter therapy shouldering an enormous load of struggles […]
Nimi Oduleye, M.A. + 3 more
April 15, 2019
“Come Gather ‘Round People Where Ever You Roam”
Colleagues with Exceptional Vision One of the advantages of being personally involved within the governance of APA, at either the national or state level, is that, over time, one becomes exposed to the wide range of professional issues which each of the nation’s health care professions must eventually address. The recent announcement by Walmart, for […]
Pat DeLeon, Ph.D.
April 15, 2019
Why Join?
When I was in graduate school, the Scientist-Practitioner Model was every clinical psychologist’s ideal. We were trained to appreciate, understand, and actually do research following the lines of the Boulder Model (1949 Conference). In 1973, a new clinical psychology training model was proposed at the Vail Conference on Professional Training in Psychology. The Practitioner-Scholar model […]
Rosemary Adam-Terem, Ph.D.
December 12, 2018
Retirement Myths
By last count I had retired three times—once from the state of Colorado as the mental health director, once from the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, and finally from the Graduate School of Professional Psychology at the University of Denver. You might conclude that it was difficult for me to retire! Retirement is a […]
Thomas Barrett, Ph.D.
December 12, 2018
The Rising Tides—Waves of Change
One of the advantages of serving on the U.S. Senate staff or the APA Board of Directors (especially as President) is that one is systematically exposed to evolving trends within our nation’s healthcare environment and the field of psychology. The position essentially forces one to think creatively beyond personal agendas and previous “comfort” levels. One’s […]
Pat DeLeon, Ph.D.
December 7, 2018
“I Left My Heart in San Francisco”
The more than 12,300 colleagues who attended the 126th annual APA convention in San Francisco were especially fortunate to be gently reminded, especially during the remarkable Opening Session, why we had chosen psychology many years ago. The Keynote address by Attorney Bryan Stevenson provided an emotionally moving glimpse into the lives of those caught up […]
Pat DeLeon, Ph.D.
October 17, 2018
Lessons Learned from Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse
In a previous article, we reviewed the major tenets and goals of community-based participatory research (CBPR). In this article, we’ll explain the lessons we learned from our PCORI-funded project, titled “Facilitating Male Trauma Survivors’ Meaningful Involvement in Research.” Introduction If you do a quick search for prevalence rates of childhood sexual abuse for males as […]
Amy E. Ellis, Ph.D. + 3 more
August 19, 2018