- [Narrator] The APA Council of Representatives
set a bold course
for the future of APA and psychology in 2019.
Even as the world changed around us,
the council's visionary plan remained relevant and powerful,
offering psychology a clear path forward.
To elevate the public's understanding of, regard for,
and use of psychology,
To stand as an authoritative voice for the field,
To make a positive impact on critical societal issues,
To prepare the discipline and profession for the future.
And across the board,
APA is using our Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Framework
to create an evidence-based approach
to infusing EDI into everything we do.
APA is leveraging members' expertise
to expand our current leadership efforts
and setting the foundation to develop new opportunities
to better support a more diverse psychology workforce.
APA is ensuring psychologists across the field
have the tools they need to be successful,
like a growing catalog of continuing education
designed to keep practitioners on the cutting edge,
like better resources
to help researchers and scientists have impact,
like ever-evolving digital learning tools
that highlight the breadth of the field
for students and educators, and like continuing efforts
to reduce the burden of debt on psychology students,
including increasing
public service loan forgiveness approval rates.
We're helping the field adapt to emerging challenges
and capitalize on new opportunities.
APA has shifted its focus within healthcare financing,
now both responding to cuts
and proactively identifying areas
where we want psychology to be.
These efforts have resulted
in improved reimbursement for psychologists
and the increased value of health and behavior codes
as equivalent to that of psychotherapy services.
Using a population health framework,
we're committed to improving
the collective health of the many communities we serve,
and we're seeing more organizations around us
adopt a similar approach using strategies
informed by psychological science and public health.
And APA continues to elevate the quality and use
of its standards and guidelines.
APA's Journal Articles Reporting Standards,
which enhances scientific rigor
in peer review journal articles,
has been adopted by 97% of APA journal authors.
And APA has begun the multifaceted work
of turning council's historic apology last year
to people of color,
into reconciliation, repair, and renewal.
More and more, psychologists are being invited to the table
and psychological science
is being included in policies and policy recommendations.
APA was cited multiple times
in President Biden's State of the Union address.
APA's recommendations shaped the Department of Education's
school reopening guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic.
And both Medicare and Optum Health, the nation's largest
managed behavioral healthcare organization,
adopted an APA guide that helps payers
develop policies for psychological
and neuropsychological testing billing codes.
A louder voice means increased funding
for APA's Minority Fellowship Program
for graduate psychology education,
and via an agreement from CMS,
to cover telehealth and audio-only services
beyond the pandemic emergency.
In addition to advancing the field,
APA's Council of Representatives
is driving transformation in the world.
We're helping communities
more effectively address critical societal issues.
As the nation confronts its own history around race,
we're supporting families in having positive conversations
about racism and racial justice
through a partnership with "Sesame Street"
reaching 150 million children
with psychology-informed content.
As gun violence increases
at an alarming rate in the United States,
we're demanding that psychology be central
to the way we understand this issue,
leading others to the table
to raise our collective voices to Congress.
As the nation navigates
what the future of work will look like, we're helping CEOs
invest in the wellbeing of their workforce
by fostering psychologically-healthy workplaces.
We're transforming the way national and global leaders
regard and use psychological science.
APA was the only organization invited to speak three times
to President Biden's Health Equity Task Force.
APA was invited by the Surgeon General
to provide psychological science
for his Youth Mental Health Advisory,
and the United Nations has asked APA
to provide literature reviews and materials
on global issues.
And we're improving the public's understanding of psychology
in their daily lives.
Psychologists are being elevated in news outlets
at record rates.
APA made 1,631 referrals of reporters to members last year.
Our flagship podcast, "Speaking of Psychology,"
is bringing psychological science to the public
with more than nine million downloads
since its relaunch in 2017.
Because hundreds of members lent their expertise
to the "Monitor on Psychology,"
it was named the number one association magazine
in the country, earning a prestigious Excel Gold Award
from the association for media and publishing.
The strength and reach of psychology's impact and influence
has only continued to grow in the last 130 years
because our research is needed today more than ever,
because our expertise is needed today more than ever,
because you are needed today more than ever.
As APA President Dr. Frank C. Worrell said,
"There are times
when the world needs soldiers and diplomats.
Today, the world needs psychologists.
Let us all answer the call."