It’s been a busy few months! With the support of our executive director Connie Paul, PhD, many board members, and our partner organizations, we hosted a number of town halls, rapid response forums, and launched our SPTA liaison meetings. We had permission to record some of them and you can find them on the Division 31 website. A special thank you to APA staff Alix Ginsberg, MPH, Stephen R. Gillaspy, PhD, Karen Studwell, JD, Leanna Fortunato, PhD, Corbin Evans, JD, and Deborah Baker, JD for leading a number of our programs. I am also grateful to our colleague Alex Siegel, JD, PhD from Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards and Division 31 members from SPTAs from across the country for sharing your insights and best practices. Thank you to Peter M. Oppenheimer, PhD, Rhode Island; Dustin J. McKee, MSW, and Jim Broyles, PhD, Ohio; Ann Marie Frakes, MPA, Pennsylvania; Raymond Folen, PhD, Hawaii; Federico “Felito” Aldarondo, PhD, and Eric Russ, PhD, Kentucky; Michael Changaris, PsyD, California; Elise Oehring, PhD, Tennessee; and Danna Fowble, CCM, IOM, Oklahoma and Florida. Here are all their presentations with links to materials.
Division 31 Town Hall Partnering for Progress: Building Cross-Professional and Interdisciplinary Alliances, conducted by Danna Fowble, CCM, IOM, Oklahoma Psychological Association and Florida Psychological Association; Eric Russ, PhD, Executive Director, Kentucky Psychological Association; and Karen Studwell, JD, APA Deputy Chief Advocacy Officer, Strategy and Operations. June 2, 2026.
Division 31 Town Hall Building Membership: Strategies for Growing Small, Medium, and Large SPTAs, conducted by Ann Marie Frakes, MPA, ED, of PennPA; Raymond Folen, PhD, ED, of HawaiiPA; Federico “Felito” Aldarondo, PhD, President of KPA; Michael Changaris, PsyD, President, CPA; and Elise Oehring, PhD, ED, of TPA. April 28, 2026. View the presentation slidesopens in new window and the reportopens in new window.
Division 31 Town Hall State Advocacy Trends: Advocating for Increased Commercial Reimbursement and Trainee Reimbursement, conducted by Alix Ginsberg, MPH, APA Deputy Chief State Advocacy, and Stephen R. Gillaspy, PhD, Deputy Chief of Health Policy and Healthcare Financing. March 24, 2025.
Division 31 Town Hall State Legislation on AI: Emerging Restrictions and Implications for Mental Health Providers, conducted by Leanna Fortunato, Corbin Evans, and Deborah Baker from APA Services. February 17, 2026. View the presentation slidesopens in new window.
Division 31 Town Hall SPTA Insurance Advocacy: Protecting Your Interests conducted by Dustin J. McKee, Chief Executive Officer and Jim Broyles, PhD, Director of Professional Affairs, Ohio Psychological Association. February 24, 2026. View the presentation slidesopens in new window and OBHPIA Fall 2021-Spring 2022 Reportopens in new window.
Division 31 Town Hall APA’s Model License Act Revision Review of the Draft for Comments, conducted by Alex Siegel, JD PhD and Peter M. Oppenheimer, PhD. January 8, 2026. View the presentation slidesopens in new window.
Earlier in June we kicked off the Division 31 Summer Series — programs designed to support SPTA leaders in strengthening advocacy, building strategic partnerships, and responding to emerging challenges facing psychology. From coalition-building and legislative strategy, to protecting psychological science funding and advancing practice advocacy priorities, these events provide timely information, practical tools, and opportunities for connection with colleagues across the country.
We hope you have attended the ones to date and will join us throughout the summer for these important conversations as we continue working together to advance psychology and support our associations, members, and communities.
Division 31 Summer Series:
June 2 — Town Hall: Partnering for Progress: Building Cross-Professional and Interdisciplinary Alliances with Danna Fowble, IOM, Eric Russ, PhD and Karen Studwell, JD
June 4 — SPTA Liaisons Monthly Meeting
June 12 — Division 31 as part of the Coalition of Psychology Practice Organizations offers: Chiles v. Salazar: Implications for Psychology and Licensing with Steve Smith, JD (presenter) and Nan Klein, PhD (discussant). View the recordingopens in new window.
June 25 — Rapid Response Forum: Protecting NSF Social and Behavioral Science Funding with Krysta Jones and Juliane Baron
July 2 — SPTA Liaisons Monthly Meeting
July 8 — Town Hall: Managing Outside Lobbyists: Best Practices for Building Effective Advocacy Partnerships with Alexandra Ginsberg, MPH
July 30 — Rapid Response Forum: Key Practice Advocacy Priorities for the CY27 CMS Proposed Physician Fee Schedule with Stephen Gillaspy, PhD
We also look forward to seeing many of you at the APA Convention, August 6–8. We have terrific CE programming plus the Karl F. Heiser Awards on Friday, August 7th from 4-5 pm in the Convention Center, Level 2, Room 203, followed by our Annual Awards Ceremony and Social Hour from 5:30–7:30 pm, at the Marriott Marquis, Congress Room (901 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20001).
Earlier in June, we launched the monthly SPTA liaison meetings. Thank you to Dr. Peter Oppenheimer for spearheading and leading these meetings. The intent is to engage and support SPTA Board members and help them grow their connections with one another, as well with the division. All are welcome! Together, we can continue building strong, connected, and effective advocacy leadership across psychology.
In other news, the Division 31 Executive Committee is delighted to announce that Division 31 is a founding member of the newly formed Coalition of Psychology Practice Organizations (CPPO). CPPO is an alliance of practice-oriented psychology organizations dedicated to supporting the well-being, professional development, and sustainability of psychologists and doctoral level psychology trainees. Learn more about the CPPOopens in new window.
The members of the Coalition are working together to identify and address shared challenges in practice by developing practical resources, professional development opportunities, and forums for connection. In addition to Division 31, founding members include the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP), APA Division 42 (Psychologists in Independent Practice), and the National Register of Health Service Psychologists. We have also welcomed the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB) and the Canadian Register of Health Service Psychologists (CRHSP) as liaison members.
This partnership will enhance our collective ability to support you and the broader psychology practice community, but our first step in this process was to listen. Wanting to hear from the practice community about challenges and opportunities facing psychologists, we held our first listening session in April where upwards of 70 psychologists participated. We plan to hold additional sessions this summer to learn how a group of member-driven practice organizations can better support your work.
On May 20th, CPPO offered our first free webinar to our constituents, “Clinical Record Keeping, AI and New Technologies: A Cautionary Note,” and on June 12th we held our second one, “Chiles v. Salazar: Implications for Psychology and Licensing.” Over 1000 psychologists attended one or both of these free webinars. Both are available for viewing on the CPPO websiteopens in new window.
Congratulations to our incoming President-Elect Diana Prescott, PhD, Secretary Jeanne Slattery, PhD, and to Julie Wolters, PsyD, on being re-elected Member-at-Large. I am also so grateful that Shannon Goecke-Watson, PsyD has graciously agreed to fill the remainder of Diana Prescott’s Member-At-Large term once she steps into her new role as President-Elect in January. It will be an honor to work with all of you. Thank you to everyone who stepped forward and ran for a leadership position within the division. I appreciate your time, dedication, and commitment to advancing state, provincial, and territorial psychological association affairs. We will find roles for you to remain actively involved in our committees and initiatives!
I am so grateful to the Division 31 board and committee chairs and members for all your work to support the division’s mission of providing political advocacy, leadership resources, and vital support to State, Provincial, and Territorial Psychological Associations (SPTAs) within the American Psychological Association’s governance structure.
Our work is guided by three core priorities:
Advocacy and governance: Representing SPTA interests within APA governance so local regulatory, practice, and legislative issues are elevated and addressed at the national level.
Facilitating communication: Connecting professionals, executive directors, and members across states, provinces, and territories to share resources, best practices, and solutions.
Recognition and development: Highlighting outstanding SPTA initiatives and supporting leadership and advocacy development, including for students and early career psychologists.
For more than a decade, Division 31 has worked to keep dues stable while continuing to support and represent SPTAs. During that time, we absorbed rising operating costs to minimize financial impact on members. Recently, several long-standing APA subsidies have changed. Beginning in 2025, divisions are responsible for costs associated with attendance at the Practice and SPTA State Leadership Conference (PSLC), as well as expenses related to the APA Convention social hour that were previously subsidized by APA.
After careful review and discussion, Division leadership believes a modest dues increase is necessary to ensure we can continue our advocacy, leadership development, and representation on behalf of SPTAs. We remain committed to responsible stewardship of Division resources and will continue to closely assess our budget, spending, and priorities.
Current Dues
2026 | 2027 | |
Member | $50 | $55 |
ECP | $25 | $30 |
Student | $10 | $10 |
Affiliate | $15 | $20 |
APA lifetime dues exempt | $20 | $25 |
Very small SPTA | $44 | $50 |
Small SPTA | $76 | $85 |
Medium | $148 | $175 |
Large | $213 | $250 |
Very Large | $350 | $400 |
Thank you for your continued engagement and support of Division 31. We welcome collaboration with our members and SPTAs to tailor programming, strengthen communication, support student and early career development, and advance advocacy efforts that meet your SPTA’s needs.
Anne Klee, PhD
Division 31 President