Div. 47 Public Interest Committee report

Recent activities include monitoring committees of interest, a flyer on being an informed consumer and a paper on concussions

By Scott Goldman, PhD

The Public Interest (PI) Committee explores appropriate opportunities to provide services to organizations and individuals (e.g., with the NCAA). Some of our goals include:

To prepare guidelines for psychologists making public statements about athletes.
To address youth sport issues - how Division 47 can help youth sport coaches and parents.
Maintain and improve communication to the membership and the public through the Division’s web site.
Review and recommend printed materials that explain the Division’s goals and present clearly the manifest content of Exercise and Sport Psychology.

Like in the classic rockumentary, “Spinal Tap,” we aim to turn the knob to “11” because it is “one more.” To illustrate this point, here are some brief descriptions of our most recent activities:

Our committee members became monitors for the following APA Committees: Socio Economic Status (Bader); Women in Psychology (Hayes); Children, Youth, and Family (Blom); and Aging (Vieselmeyer)
We created a flyer titled “How to be an informed consumer” which was distributed at an outreach workshop for parents and youth at the National Coaching Conference and the NCAA coordinated by PI member Lindsey Blom.
PI member Adam Shunk co-authored with Anthony Kontos and David Coppel a PI sponsored paper on concussions that is as an educational resource for psychologists about sports concussion and the psychological sequelae.
We are in constant collaboration with the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA). Our most recent collaboration was an article written by Jennifer Carter on eating disorders and athletes.

Though chaired by Scott Goldman, the true life force of this committee is its members. Our executive liaison is Gloria Balague. Our committee members include Adam Shunk, Wendy Borlabi, Julie Vieselmeyer, Christopher Bader, Lindsey Blom, Michelle Garvin, and Melissa Gollick. These individuals are bright, creative, and have the work ethic of the energizer bunny. We are always looking for individuals who share a passion for our field. Our only request is that you bring ideas to the meeting and that you are willing to be active in making your ideas as well as other’s come to fruition. If you are interested in joining please contact Scott Goldman, PhD.