New APA president outlines multi-pronged plan of action

New APA president outlines multi-pronged plan
of action
(February 2009 Issue)

As we begin a new year, the installation of the new American Psychological Association administration has taken a back seat to the changing of the guard at the nearby White House. Still, even as the clouds of change have swept over Washington, and much of the country, the new APA president, James H. Bray, Ph.D., has outlined a multi-pronged plan of action to bring that organization forward.

Bray, an associate professor of family and community medicine and psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine and adjunct psychology professor at the University of Houston, directs the Family Counseling Clinic at Baylor and leads a psychology clinic at the Northwest Community Health Center for the indigent and disabled. He has spent the past year as "president elect" for APA, will spend the next year as president and then finish his three-year term on the board of directors as "past president," or as he jokingly calls the lame-duck year: "president neglect."

Bray outlined a number of goals including: lobbying for more federal funding for psychological research; expanding the role of psychology in medical health care; increasing funding for graduate training; creating incentives to attract young scientists to the field of psychology, increasing the membership of the APA and working with the homeless.

New England Psychologist's Catherine Robertson Souter spoke with Bray about his goals for the APA and how his varied experience will inform his work with the organization.

Q: You have a number of goals listed for your term - are these things that are already happening or are you looking to change course for the APA?
A: Most are things that APA is already engaged in. It's a matter of refocusing on some of them. For example, APA always advocates for more funding for psychological science but I hope to make it even more of a priority during my term.

The homeless issue is new. I've worked with the homeless for 10 years in an organization for street people and one for women and children and now in community health centers and it's something I think we need to address. Many of them are homeless for psychological reasons: substance abuse, addictions, physical or sexual abuse. Help the homeless get the psychological services they need and they often can resume productive lives.

Q: Did you begin your tour of duty in January?
A: If you want to get something done as president, you have to start it as president-elect so I have been very active for over a year. Two of my initiatives are already rolling. One is a task force on the future of psychology practice looking at developing strategic planning. We are going to have a summit on the future of psychology practice in May.

I have also been working on trying some different things at the APA convention. We are having a special set of programming that I call the convention within a convention, a focused set of programming around skill base for practitioners and scientists. For example, there is a whole track on quantitative methods for clinicians to learn the latest evidence-based practice methods.

Another task force I am going to have is on the future of psychology science education. There is a move within all of sciences to be more multi-disciplinary. The task force will look at what kinds of changes we need to do to train psychologists to function in this multi-disciplinary world.

Q: How do you expand psychology's role in health care?
A: The majority, close to 70 percent, of all mental health problems are taken care of by primary care physicians. Most psychologists are trained to work primarily with specialized mental health problems and we are missing the bulk of people who need services. We need to expand where we work and how we work.

Where psychologists can really expand is in thinking of not just mental health care, but health in general. Many of the nation's health problems, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, are all lifestyle issues, fundamentally behavioral issues. In a primary care setting, if somebody is overweight or they have diabetes, they are sent to a nutritionist or a diabetes educator but those professionals are not experts in behavior change.

As psychologists, we are experts in behavior change and we can help people make those lifestyle and behavior changes.

Q: How have your experiences prepared you for this position?
A: I am a scientist practitioner and educator and an advocate and a clinical psychologist. I am an NIH-funded scientist. These areas touch most of what we do in psychology. In the APA, there are sometimes disagreements between scientists and practitioners. Since I do both, I can understand both perspectives.

With the new direction we are headed, since I have been in a medical setting for over 20 years, I can bring that perspective. We have been innovators in primary care psychology at Baylor and so we can show how you can apply this.

Q: Do you think that your goals are possible to do in one year and push through in your "neglect" year?
A: APA is in the process of doing strategic planning and many of the initiatives that I am proposing as president are going to fit within that process and fill out some of the details. The APA will take it on and continue to move forward in years to come. We certainly can't accomplish all of what I want to do in one year, but we can certainly refocus on some things and get the ball rolling.

In some cases, we can do something this year like testifying before Congress about funding for psychology. We can make a stronger case about how the nation is suffering from chronic disease and a lot of that is because of lifestyle problems and psychologists are the people who really understand how to change behavior. We can make a pitch that rather than spend all our money on biomedical research, we need to spend some on behavioral research as well.

Q: You are hoping to increase membership and interest in the APA. You were quoted as saying that many psychologists don't think of it as 'my APA.' Seeing as this publication goes to all licensed psychologists, not specifically those affiliated with a state or national association, what would you like to say to the readers who are not APA members?
A: I'd really like to hear from them about what they think APA needs to do to earn their membership. What kinds of things would they want the national association to do for them so that they felt that being a member was useful?

The other thing, for those who are members also, is that there are many things APA does that members are not aware of. When they ask a question, we can point out where we are doing things that can benefit them.

Q: How can someone contact you with questions or feedback?
A: Get on the APA Web site to the president's Web page and click on "Write the president." They will get a response from me or an APA staff member. We are happy to talk with them about the issues or concerns.