The mission of Div. 18 is to advance the science and practice of psychology in public service settings to promote health and wellbeing. Established in 1946, Div. 18 has a long legacy of being an advocate for public service psychology. While a diverse division, representing psychologists who work in a variety of public service settings and academic institutions, we are unified around our common goals of disseminating evidence-based practices for public service settings, social justice advocacy, and supporting public service psychologists.
We offer seven sections that welcome psychologists and psychology students with interest in a broad array of topics and fields associated with psychologists in public interest. Specifically, we have the following sections: Community and State Hospitals, Criminal Justice, Police and Public Safety, Psychologists in Indian Country, Serious Mental Illness—Severe Emotional Disturbance, Student, and Veterans Affairs. I encourage you to review information about each of our special interest sections on our website and join as many sections as you’d like. There are no fees for section membership.
Our division’s success and continued growth and productivity depends on our membership and the work of our leaders—our executive board, our committee chairs and committee members, and our task group chairs and members. We strive to have each of our sections, committees, and task groups include a balance of senior, mid-career, and early career psychologists, as well as student members. We also strive for inclusion of individuals from marginalized groups.
As one of many membership benefits, members have access to our division’s listserv, PUBSERV, for regular updates on the division’s activities, APA announcements, CE offerings, job announcements, and other discussions. I encourage you to join our listserv, if you have not already done so. You can submit your request to our membership chair.
Our division is becoming increasingly active on social media:
- Twitter: @APADiv18: Please follow us on Twitter, and we will link to our members who are active on Twitter.
- Facebook: Psychologists in Public Service: Please follow us on Facebook, where we post more frequent updates of our activities, and utilize this platform as a means of communication and connection with our division.
We are very proud of our journal, Psychological Services, which is edited by Patrick DeLeon, PhD. He is joined by an outstanding group of associate editors: Lisa K. Kearney, PhD; Jacqueline S. Gray, PhD; Philip R. Magaletta, PhD; Femina P. Varghese, PhD; and Anne Klee, PhD. Our division newsletter, Public Service Psychology, provides updates and articles on topics of interest three times each year. We also have a podcast series, Public Service Psychology Now, to keep members informed of current events. It is easily accessible through your favorite podcast platform.
Div. 18 (Psychologists in Public Service) is proud to recognize the outstanding achievements and contributions of psychologists who work in these settings through APA fellow status in the division as well as through the various awards that we offer each year for distinguished public service, education, service to specific groups of individuals served in public service settings, and to students. Please consider nominating colleagues or yourself by contacting the Fellowship Committee or the Awards and Recognitions Committee.
As the 2021–22 president of this division, I welcome your interest and active engagement. If you are a Div. 18 member, we are happy to have you as part of our family! I look forward to connecting and working with you. Please reach out to me if you are interested in becoming involved in our division’s activities or if you have questions, suggestions, or comments.
If you're not a member, join us! Only $49/year supports everything that we do to advance psychology in public service. For you personally, it provides opportunities for interacting with colleagues with similar interests and passion in professional development activities, professional service, and advocacy, as well as a copy of our journal.
I look forward to hearing from you,
Tiffanie Fennell, PhD, ABPP
President, 2021–22