Category Archives: Advocacy

APA Responds to ASPPB about the EPPP Part 2 Exam

May 8, 2018

Dear peers,

In late 2017, the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB) released more details about the EPPP Part 2 examination related to content, timing, and costs (details of which can be found here, particularly under “What’s New.”)

While the committees at APA representing graduate students and early career psychologists (APAGS, and CECP, respectively) have been advocating intensely for its constituents within APA, to ASPPB and to other stakeholders since the first announcement of the EPPP Part 2 in Spring 2016, this new information prompted our groups to request APA at large prepare an official request letter to ASPPB. The APAGS committee and CECP thoroughly advised the APA Board of Directors, to which we directly report, on several matters that were raised by our members through listservs, phone calls, and meetings.

On behalf of thousands of graduate student affiliates and early career members, and the field of psychology as a whole, the APA Board of Directors (Board) issued a letter to ASPPB on April 6, 2018. The letter highlighted three areas: The cost of the examinations, the timing of these examinations in the sequence of training, and the potential for their misuse. We summarize the concerns here:

On cost, ASPPB announced that the EPPP Part 2 would cost an up-front fee of $600. The cost of the existing EPPP, which will become Part 1 when Part 2 is implemented, will remain $600, doubling the total examination fee to $1,200. APA in turn advocated for ASPPB to consider the financial burden the test would create for students, postdocs, and ECPs with limited resources. As well, ASPPB was asked to support state-by-state efforts to count pre-internship hours for licensure, which would allow graduates to get licensed and earn a licensed psychologist’s salary sooner.
On timing, ASPPB announced that when the EPPP Part 2 is released, doctoral students from accredited programs who had completed all necessary coursework (not inclusive of dissertation or internship) would be able to take the EPPP Part 1 (the existing examination) prior to graduating. APA in turn advocated that ASPPB develop more clear guidelines about course-completion requirements for taking the Part 1 early, and asked ASPPB to do its own review to determine student eligibility in the cases where doctoral institutions may not be keen to sign off on a student’s eligibility.
On validity and potential misuse of the exam, APA named four concerns. First, APA advocated against the EPPP Part 1 being used as a criterion on internship applications or as penalty for underperforming students by their doctoral programs; no decisions have been made about these issues so our advocacy is proactive. Second, APA advocated for the Part 2 not to be used in disciplinary proceedings. Third, APA advocated the need to ensure that already-licensed psychologists would be universally and indefinitely ‘grandfathered’ in to new states where they seek licensure, specifically by not needing to take the Part 2. Fourth, APA indicated that there may or could be possible bias in test scores worthy of attention. CECP and APAGS raised with APA’s Board our concerns about test pass-rate differences by demographic groups and would like to see a more systemic analysis of the tests by groups.

Please note, APAGS and CECP anticipate that the EPPP Part 2 will be implemented into the licensure process across North America. It is the culmination of years of movement in psychology to assess professional skill and competency. There also does not appear to be momentum to take a holistic review of the EPPP Part 1 in light of the new Part 2. We are doing what we feel has strategic possibility by raising the concerns above, and we are thankful that the APA Board of Directors is working hard on our behalf. We trust that ASPPB will respond in due time, and we endeavor to keep you abreast of any announcements that affect the tests and test-takers. APAGS and CECP openly welcomes your dialogue on these matters.

Sincerely,

Justin Karr, MS, APAGS Chair

Tyson Bailey, PsyD, CECP Chair

Editor’s Note – See previous gradPSYCH Blog posts about the EPPP Part 2:

CARED Perspectives: Ensuring That All Children Have a Seat at the Table When Discussing Gun Reform

This blog post is the first in the series, “CARED Perspectives,” developed by the APAGS Committee for the Advancement of Racial and Ethnic Diversity. This series will discuss current events and how these events relate to graduate students in psychology. If you are interested in contributing to the CARED Perspectives series, please contact Lincoln Hill.

Ensuring that All Children Have a Seat at the Table When Discussing Gun Reform

By Lincoln Hill

In response to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting on February 14th, 2018 where 17 people were killed and many more were injured, student survivors organized and are continuing to develop youth-led protests to advocate for comprehensive legislation towards gun reform. Despite the acuity of the recent traumatic events that impacted their whole community, these students participated in a nationally televised townhall with elected officials just one week after the shooting, publicly challenging these officials to pass gun reform legislation; organized a march with approximately 832 events worldwide to keep children safer in schools just five weeks later; and structured a national school walkout day inviting students across the world to participate.

Many, myself included, have been astonished by what these students have accomplished in such a short amount of time (and with minimal adult intervention) . As a graduate assistant with Loyola University Chicago’s Center for the Human Rights of Children, I view the student led protests as a prime example of tenets from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in action, particularly the child’s right to participate in decision making processes that directly affect them. Additionally, as a Black counseling psychologist-in-training with a focus on the mental health of racial/ethnic minority students, I am primarily struck by the public’s receptiveness to these youth-led protests compared to more critical media coverage of similar youth-led initiatives advocating for the safety of Black youth such as Black Lives Matter and The Dream Defenders. What do these response variations mean from a social justice perspective, particularly when efforts to advocate on behalf of Black youth who are disproportionately impacted by gun violence aren’t viewed as favorably by the public?

In the US, Black children and adolescents are excessively impacted by gun violence and are four times more likely to die by guns when compared to their White counterparts. Perhaps this stark reality contributes to the extremely high rate of suicide among Black children ages 5-11 years old — a rate that has nearly doubled in the past two decades, while that of White children has steadily decreased. For children and adolescents living in violent neighborhoods and communities, witnessing shootings can lead to a plethora of psychosocial hardships including posttraumatic stress that can impact them into adulthood.

As psychologists-in-training, we have a duty to respond and support all children impacted by gun violence including those commonly left out of discourses pertaining to gun reform. While we take steps as a field advocating for legislative changes protecting the rights of children, we must challenge ourselves to provide platforms that amplify all children’s voices.

We want to hear what you think! Please share your thoughts on this topic in the comments section below.

How well are psychology programs addressing diversity training? National survey reveals results

The American Psychological Association of Graduate Students (APAGS) Committee on the Advancement of Racial and Ethnic Diversity (CARED) and Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity (CSOGD) recently finalized a mixed-methods study that explored the impact of diversity on the program and training experiences of APAGS members. Graduate students from programs across the United States, shared their perspectives on diversity and inclusion issues in their clinical and research training, courses, mentorship, and everyday interactions in their programs. The accompanying infographic presents a snapshot of some of the most relevant findings. The final page provides some additional resources in addition to specific recommendations provided by students for how to improve programs’ diversity training and better support students from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds. For more information on the study, contact J. L. Stewart. Please also view the full results and tables.

APAGS Diversity Infographic_Page_1

APAGS Diversity Infographic_Page_3 APAGS Diversity Infographic

Editor’s Note: This infographic was developed by the following APAGS members (listed alphabetically): Klaus Eickhoff Cavalhieri, Lincoln Hill, Kiet Huynh, J. L. Stewart, Joelle Taknint, and María D. Vázquez.

A note from Dr. Jessica Henderson Daniel on APA Citizen Psychologist

Editor’s Note: Do you know of any doctoral level psychologists – whether an advisor, practitioner, mentor, or leader – who contributes to improving the lives of all through continued engagement in public service, volunteerism, board membership, or other strategic roles not necessarily associated with the day-to-day work of their career? Consider submitting a nomination for the APA Citizen Psychologist!

Dear Colleagues:

The APA Citizen Psychologist^TM initiative grew out of my mantra: Psychology Is Every Day In Every Way.

Almost every aspect of human existence is impacted by psychological science, education, and practice. And almost every social policy can be informed by it. For these reasons, I firmly believe that psychologists and psychology students need to be in more rooms, at more tables, and at the heads of those tables when decisions affecting the public are formulated and implemented.

I would like APA members to be energized and motivated as they discover how to serve as an APA Citizen Psychologist^TM! So I am launching it as my core initiative as 2018 President of APA.

My dream is that the APA Citizen Psychologist^TM concept will be infused into the discipline through education at all levels—from high school to lifelong learning. It is important to me that this concept of service to the public good endures as an integral part of APA’s future.

I will honor the work of APA Citizen Psychologists^TM with APA Presidential Citations, and ask Divisions and State, Provincial and Territorial organizations to not only help me identify worthy recipients, but also sustain recognition well beyond 2018. Please consider nominating a colleague or yourself.

It is rewarding to be in such a dynamic and expansive discipline. I am excited to see where our members will take psychology next.

Sincerely,

Jessica Henderson Daniel, PhD, ABPP

2017 APA President-Elect

Citizen Psychologist Flyer 2017-8-22

Gender & Sexual Diversity: Why ALL Social Scientists Should be Conducting Inclusive Research

Written by: J. Stewart, North Carolina State University, member of the APAGS Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity

lgbtq-2495947_1920 Did you know that the current administration recently eliminated a proposal to include questions about sexual orientation and gender identity in the 2020 U.S. census survey? You may or may not realize that doing so poses potentially serious threats to the rights of many Americans through this powerful form of erasure. Without this data, we will continue to have only rough estimates of the number of LGBTQ+ people living in the U.S.

As stigma surrounding sexual minority identities has lessened over the last few decades, many psychologists and social scientists across specialties are increasingly encountering lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) participants in research conducted in general populations. As researchers who strive to maintain a certain neutrality when collecting and interpreting data, the degree to which we can actively further an equal rights agenda in conducting the research is limited. However, through the small, yet impactful act of prioritizing inclusivity in research practices, social scientists can help to challenge systems of oppression while simultaneously maintaining the integrity of the science.

By merely (yet accurately) recognizing the diversity that exists with regard to people’s sexualities, we can both affirm the identities of people of those experiences and signal to all participants that such experiences are present and valid. This can be accomplished, for example, through the use of inclusive language in surveys and offering more options than just the typical “male/female” and “straight/gay/lesbian” for possible answers to demographic questions. When phrasing questions in binary terms or restricting demographic responses, researchers may inadvertently oppress gender and sexual minority individuals by reinforcing binary conceptions of gender and imposing limited characterizations of sexual orientation.

Dismantling these systems calls for a paradigm shift within every social sphere—including scientific research. Consider the ways in which social science informs public policy. If we do not produce research that reflects the diversity that we know exists in our society, the public institutions that draw upon that research will continue to marginalize that diversity. Given the historical role science has played in oppression, we have an ethical imperative to do better.

Here are ten things that you can do to integrate inclusive research practices into your next study:

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