>>NORMAN ANDERSON: APA does so many things to support the profession and its members.
We are really the big tent organization for psychology in the United States and really
the largest organization of psychologists in the world.
We do things such as work in an advocacy arena on Capitol Hill to support policies that benefit
the public but also help advance the science and profession of psychology.
>>JAMES BRAY: It was a great honor to serve as the 2009 president and we accomplished
an incredible amount in very difficult and challenging times.
The APA, like the rest of the world, was challenged financially because of the economic downturn,
but in spite of that, we moved forward on our strategic plan.
>>CAROL GOODHEART: The integration of science and practice is fundamental to all of my efforts
this year, including my presidential initiatives.
In addition, I think that strategic partnerships and collaboration are very important for APA,
both within psychology, within our different constituencies and with other disciplines
to advance common goals.
>>NARRATOR: It has been an exciting and productive year for APA.
A year marked with milestone achievements that will help to shape and define the organization
and the field for decades to come.
APA is especially proud of its work on health care reform, helping more Americans get insurance
coverage for mental health issues.
>>NORMAN ANDERSON: A major accomplishment for APA in 2009 was our great work on health
care reform.
APA was at the table on Capitol Hill, heavily involved in discussions that were shaping
the health care reform legislation.
>>JAMES BRAY: The APA spent a tremendous amount of time, effort and energy in promoting psychology�s
part in health care reform.
We were invited into key committees and we made many, many visits to the Hill to talk
with our legislators.
And without the strong, hard work of our staff and the many members who contacted their individual
members of Congress, we wouldn�t have been successful.
>>GWENDOLYN KEITA: The APA led an alliance of over 150 organizations working to end health
disparities and to have that included in the health reform bill.
Our Office of Ethnic Minority Affairs also has produced a major news journal, which communicates
health disparities to every office in Congress.
We feel that also helped to inform Congress about health disparities across the range
of disparities.
>>NORMAN ANDERSON: And we�re very happy that many of our priority areas were included
in the legislation: Things such as the focus on integrative care; a focus on prevention;
a focus on mental health parity where people with mental health disorders wouldn�t have
the same challenges in paying for health care as people with non-mental health disorders.
>>KATHERINE NORDAL: With an emphasis now moving forward on integrated health care, where mental
and behavioral health treatment will be able to be provided in primary care health settings,
it will allow for psychologists to move into those kinds of treatment settings and be able
to work with patients right there in the context of their primary care physician�s office.
>>NARRATOR: Health care reform wasn�t APA�s only milestone accomplishment in the policy
arena.
In February, APA released its report from the 2009 Presidential Task Force to End Homelessness.
>>JAMES BRAY: So what we realize is that to help people end homelessness forever, we need
to provide behavioral psychological services that help people cope with these difficult
times to help them develop the skills that they need, to help them overcome their mental
and behavioral health problems that have gotten them to be homeless to begin with.
>>NARRATOR: Psychology is at the foundation of many other disciplines and APA is building
on these natural synergies, forming partnerships and collaborations with other organizations
to move the field and the discipline forward.
>>CAROL GOODHEART: I think that we are reaching out to partners now beyond what we did a generation
or two ago.
We are reaching out to partners as learning partners and project partners with psychologists
and other disciplines around the globe.
The technology is what allows us to do that now.
APA is investing in technology and using technology and we will go on doing so with even newer
projects on the horizon.
>>STEVEN BRECKLER: One of the big issues for APA is asserting psychology�s position as
a STEM discipline.
As one of the disciplines considered in the core disciplines known as science and technology
and engineering and mathematics, we succeeded in getting Congress to recognize in its authorization
of the National Science Foundation that psychology is an important part of the STEM discipline
and it has been a big victory for us this year.
>>NARRATOR: APA continues to shape the field of psychology through cutting-edge research
published in its 60-plus journals and other publications.
And over the past year, the association published a new, updated edition of APA�s authoritative
style manual.
>>NORMAN ANDERSON: The style manual is very important for the association.
It is one of our signature products.
This is something that really allows us to have visibility with the public, but it is
also a key tool in scientific research.
>>NARRATOR: APA is also on the forefront of educating the public about the role psychology
plays in everyday issues.
A key tool in this effort is APA�s award-winning website.
>>NORMAN ANDERSON: One of the things we like to do as a membership organization is be responsive
to the views and opinions of our members and ever since I became CEO in 2003, one of the
consistent themes was �you really have to do something about your website.�
A few things that I am really proud of on the new website: The first thing a visitor
will initially see is the look and feel of the site.
It is a very welcoming, very inviting look and feel.
The layout of the pages makes it easy to find information that a visitor is looking for.
>>CYNTHIA BELAR: Through our education program, we have doubled the number of online educational
opportunities for our members so that one doesn�t have to come to convention, although
we have a number of excellent programs at convention.
We also have online teaching opportunities for easy access.
>>NARRATOR: Over the past year, APA also kicked off an educational program with the YMCAs
of America to promote the connection between mind and body health and help to combat childhood
obesity.
>>KATHERINE NORDAL: This collaboration and arrangement we have with the Y will allow
for psychologists from across the country to be able to use the Y facilities in their
communities as a forum to provide public education to the members of their community.
>>NARRATOR: APA now has a strategic plan in place�a blueprint for the future of the
organization that will help to move APA and the field forward.
>>NORMAN ANDERSON: 2009 was really a big year for accomplishments for APA and one of the
things I am most proud of is the approval of the first strategic plan in our 118-year
history.
This was a monumental task for the association where we really had to come together as one
to agree on a finite, limited set of highest priority areas and over the course of several
years, we were able to come together as a community to agree on that.
So I am very proud of that accomplishment.
>>NARRATOR: Presidential initiatives are another way to bring the tools of psychology to members
and the public.
Dr. Goodheart�s presidential initiatives include the Presidential Task Force on Advancing
Practice and the Presidential Task Force on Caregiving.
>>CAROL GOODHEART: There is a huge unmet need in this country.
Most of the caregiving is done by volunteer family members and it is under-recognized
in this country.
I think psychology has a great deal to offer to support those caregivers.
They are creating a family caregivers briefcase for psychologists, which presents in one place
APA�s new technology platform, a Web-based compendium of information on the psychological
research, assessment, interventions, community programs, all to help psychologists recognize
the needs of caregivers and intervene.
My Task Force on Advancing Practice is working on two major new kinds of resources: The first
one is a new framework for outcomes for those psychologists who work in health care settings
that better captures the kinds of work that we do as psychologists.
The task force is also creating PsycLINK, the practice wiki, which is also a series
of resources.
Psychologists are changing the way they consume and use information and with the information
explosion, our task force is committed to making sure that they have a way to call and
use what is best of the information out there.
Within APA, we have scientists, practitioners, educators and many people who are committed
to the public interest.
Therefore, I think one of the best ways to engage our members is to recognize the kind
of grassroots advocacy, the strength and the voices of our many diverse kinds of members
that carry our message to Capitol Hill, to the public, to the funders.
We want legislators, funders and the public to recognize psychology�s contribution to
health, productivity, well-being and resilience in individual people, in couples, in families,
in work places and in communities.
>>NARRATOR: Serving members; shaping the field; defining the discipline.
The American Psychological Association continues to advance the creation, communication and
application of psychological knowledge to benefit society and improve people�s lives.