Presidential Message
SPP Presidential Column – August 2024
Hello SPP! The summer sure has flown by. August marked another great APA Convention in lovely Seattle, and we had a great turnout. Program Chair, Colleen Stiles-Shields, PhD, and Co-Chair, Siddika Mulchan, PsyD, did a wonderful job coordinating the Division 54 agenda. Now as summer winds down, students are starting back to classes, fellowships are beginning, and the smell of fall is in the air.
SPP Business Meeting: As usual, SPP held our business meeting at the APA convention to share information on recent board activities. We honored several board members who are completing their terms this year, welcomed new APA fellows, and listened to two terrific presentations from our APA student award winners, Anissa Ahmed and Allison Fletcher. Treasurer, Gayle Chesley, PhD, provided a financial update, and we announced the signing of a new contract with Sage Journals as our publisher for Clinical Practice in Pediatric Psychology. Many thanks to the journal committee, EDI, and CPPP editor, Christina Duncan, for helping with this decision! APA gave CPPP a great start, and we’re looking forward to the transition to Sage in 2025.
Board Service Awards: SPP board members were recognized at the business meeting and included APA Program Chair, Colleen Stiles-Shields, PhD; Student Representative, Perry Catlin, MS; MAL for Student/Trainee Development, Megan Cohen, PhD, ABPP; APA Council Representative, Terry Stancin, PhD; APA Council Representative, Idia Thurston, PhD; and Past President, Melissa Santos, PhD. Notably, Terry, Idia, and Melissa have each served for the past 6 years in multiple board positions. Our colleagues have volunteered many, many hours in service of SPP, and we thank them for their time and dedication!
New Division 54 APA Fellows: I’m happy to share that four SPP members were awarded APA Fellow status this year. Congratulations to Ethan Benore, PhD; Laura Edwards-Leepers, PhD; Meghan Marsac, PhD; and Ahna Pai, PhD! Fellow status is an important career milestone, and each of these individuals has made unique and significant contributions to our field. A special thanks to the Fellows Committee, who spent hours supporting applicants, reviewing materials, and preparing letters of recommendation to APA. Chair, Ann Davis, PhD, ABPP, and Edward Christophersen, PhD, ABPP, have served many years on the committee and will be rotating off this year. We appreciate their help selecting new committee members from the open call, but they will be hard to replace!
Advocacy Taskforce: The Presidential Taskforce on Advocacy held a second meeting in August to share recent activities and further define our goals. As many of you saw, APA passed several new resolutions related to the role of psychology in artificial intelligence, global human rights for women and girls, a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war, and the need to advocate for restitution for politically inflicted trauma. Idia and Terry were closely involved in writing and supporting many of these measures. In addition, we’re learning more about SPP members who are involved in advocacy efforts at the local, state, national, and global levels. It’s exciting as we plan how to systematically share, coordinate, and support these efforts across SPP.
Middle East Task Force: As I mentioned in the last newsletter, we have been working closely with EPPN to determine how we can best support children and families affected by the war in Israel and Gaza, as well as our colleagues and trainees. Leaders from EPPN have reached out to our AMENA and Jewish Affinity Groups to invite their participation and sharing of resources. We will soon release an open call for others to join a Presidential Taskforce on the Middle East Conflict to coordinate efforts and build a repository of resources. Please consider joining and making a difference.
Workforce Survey: Lastly, Past President Melissa Santos, PhD, has led a committee to revise our workforce survey, and APA has just approved its release for September. Our hope is that this survey will provide valuable data on where and how pediatric psychologists are engaged in work, as well as data on compensation, equity, and advancement. To ensure this information is effective for our own advocacy efforts and negotiations, it’s critically important that all of you participate. Please keep an eye out for the survey link, and thank you in advance for helping us ensure pediatric psychologists are valued and fairly compensated!
I hope you enjoy the start of fall! As always, please reach out to me or the board with any thoughts, suggestions, and questions.
Warmly,
Cindy Gerhardt, SPP President