Happy summer, 55! With over half of 2021 now behind us, this year has proven to be extremely busy for the division. Your Board of Directors has continued to meet every month to discuss the pressing issues that are relevant to clinical psychopharmacology, the RxP movement, and to the division itself. In addition, the APA 2021 virtual convention is fast approaching, which will be full of Div. 55 programming, including our annual business meeting, awards ceremony, and social hour. Our schedule of convention programming has been distributed on the division listserv and division Facebook page. We hope to see you there!
As always, let me offer some highlights of the Board of Directors’ ongoing projects. As previously reported, the Div. 55 Board of Directors submitted an initial “brief proposal” to the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) to create a new ABPP specialty board. This proposal was approved out of committee and then went to the full ABPP Board of Trustees for a vote on June 19, 2021. Marlin Hoover and I gave a presentation on our proposed specialty to the Board of Trustees, but unfortunately our proposal failed to pass by the smallest possible margin. Please know that we have not given up and plan to resubmit an application as early as 2022. More information will be forthcoming.
Based on feedback from our members, we are moving forward with creating three chapters (special interest groups) of Div. 55: pediatric, geriatric, and international. These chapters are in the process of organizing and will be formally voted on by the Board of Directors soon. Stay tuned for how to join!
Div. 55’s application to renew our APA CE sponsorship approval was denied. We have received positive feedback regarding how to improve our application and are looking into hiring a consultant to assist us with our next CE application.
Div. 55 is in very good financial health! Particularly due to the pandemic’s forcing us to be more virtual, we have had very few expenses in the past 16 months. We are currently exploring ways to invest some of our assets to ensure our long-term financial health.
For at least the fifth year in a row, our membership is at a record high! Current membership is at 830, up from 737 in 2020, which is a nearly 12% increase. Over 200 of our 830 members are student affiliates, indicating a very healthy influx of the next generation. We will continue to make our membership a top priority.
As always, I want to express my sincere thanks to everyone who works tirelessly on these and other projects for our division. I also invite other members to become involved as well to help further our movement. Please stay well and I hope to “see” you soon APA 2021 convention!
Derek C. Phillips, PsyD, MSCP, ABMP
2021 President, Div. 55 (Society for Prescribing Psychology)