Over the past several months, Division 31 has been actively advancing programming, advocacy, and leadership initiatives that support our state, provincial, and territorial psychological associations (SPTAs). I am deeply grateful to our executive director, Connie Paul, PhD, and the Division 31 executive committee members who are working so diligently on behalf of our community to develop programming and services that support our state, provincial, and territorial psychological associations and strengthen our division. Their leadership has helped ensure that Division 31 continues to serve as a vital hub for collaboration, advocacy, and professional development.
Division 31’s town halls—currently free and open to the entire psychology community—address pressing issues and response strategies related to pending legislation and practice concerns affecting our states, provinces, and territories. These sessions explore broader implications for the field while offering advocacy training to support effective state-level engagement and SPTA leadership. We have hosted several excellent town halls this year and have many more planned.
On January 8, we hosted “APA’s Draft Model License Act: Implications for the Future of Professional Psychology Practice in the States and Territories.” Peter Oppenheimer, PhD, and Alex Siegel, PhD, previewed the draft APA Model Licensing Act and the changes being proposed. The goal was to help SPTA leaders understand the context of these changes and respond with comments that reflect the concerns and interests of their members.
On February 17, 2026, we held a Rapid Response Forum on State Legislation on AI: Emerging Restrictions and Implications for Mental Health Providers, led by Deborah Baker, Leanna Fortunato, PhD, and Corbin Evans from APA Services. This timely discussion highlighted how critical strong state, provincial, and territorial leadership is in shaping responsible policy. We were grateful for the strong interest in this important conversation with over 220 colleagues registering for this session.
On February 24, 2026, we hosted a town hall on SPTA Insurance Advocacy: Protecting Your Interests, featuring Dustin J. McKee, chief executive officer, and Jim Broyles, PhD, director of professional affairs at the Ohio Psychological Association. We are grateful to them for sharing their valuable insights into insurance advocacy and practical strategies for protecting the financial interests of psychologists.
We look forward to continuing the series with additional town halls on March 24, April 28, and May 28.
The March 24 town hall, “State Advocacy Trends: Advocating for Increased Commercial Reimbursement and Trainee Reimbursement,” will feature Alix Ginsberg, Stephen Gillaspy, PhD, from APA’s advocacy team. They will discuss how policy developments at the federal level are influencing legislative activity in the states, emerging challenges and opportunities for psychology advocacy, and strategies for effective engagement.
Division 31 also held its annual Board of Directors Mid-Winter Meeting on February 5 in Washington, DC. This meeting provided an opportunity to hear updates from our committees and engage in thoughtful discussion about the legislative and policy issues affecting our state, provincial and territorial associations. We were pleased to be joined by APA staff including Katherine McGuire, Alix Ginsberg, Deborah Baker, and Stephen Gillaspy, PhD, whose work and partnership continues to be critical and invaluable to our work.
As in past years, the Division 31 midwinter meeting was held in conjunction with the 2026 Practice and SPTA Leaders Conference. This year’s conference theme, “Maximizing Reach, Relevance, and Readiness,” reflected the dynamic challenges and opportunities facing psychological associations today. The return of concurrent sessions—following a hiatus during the pandemic—created space for rich dialogue and the exchange of innovative ideas among association leaders.
I would like to extend special thanks to Alix Ginsberg and the APA team for organizing a conference that thoughtfully addressed key legislative and advocacy priorities while also focusing on the organizational leadership challenges facing SPTAs. Division 31 members played an important role in the program, with numerous members presenting sessions on topics ranging from licensing board consolidation and advocacy messaging to succession planning, membership engagement, interdisciplinary collaboration, and leadership development.
It was also my great privilege to present two Division 31 awards during the conference. Danna Christie Fowble received the Outstanding Achievement by a Psychological Association Staff Member award, and the Iowa Psychological Association received the Outstanding State, Provincial, and Territorial Psychological Association award.