About the American Society for the Advancement of Pharmacotherapy
The American Society for the Advancement of Pharmacotherapy (ASAP), Div. 55 of the American Psychological Association, was created to enhance psychological treatments combined with psychopharmacological medications.
- The division promotes the public interest by working for the establishment of high quality statutory and regulatory standards for psychological care.
- Div. 55 encourages the collaborative practice of psychological and pharmacological treatments with other health professions.
- The division seeks funding for training in psychopharmacology and pharmacotherapy from private and public sources such as federal Graduate Medical Education programs.
- Div. 55 facilitates increased access to improved mental health services in federal and state demonstration projects using psychologists trained in psychopharmacology.
Legislative and Advocacy Activities and Resources
In 2003, APA's Committee on Rural Health compiled the "Prescriptive Authority Sourcebook: A Guide for States," (PDF, 21MB) which includes resources for psychologists involved in legislative action to acquire prescriptive authority for appropriately trained psychologists. This book includes fact sheets for the public, for psychologists and for legislators and policy makers, as well as draft legislation and background material to assist in responding to queries from policy makers and the public. Although the book is dated, many of the questions that are asked of psychologists involved in prescriptive authority initiatives remain largely the same. We think, therefore, that it is timely to provide this work as a resource, with the understanding that while the concepts remain constant, numbers may need to be updated.