Message from the President

For those of you who were not able to be at the conference, or missed the town hall, I wanted to give you a high-level summary of what we talked about.  And I do mean high-level, or this would be journal-article length.

So that you know a little about me, I shared some pictures: At 16, at 40, and at…present.

First, we gave out a number of awards, including the RHR Award for Excellence in Consultation to our own APA President-elect, Sandy Shullman. Then, we gave the SCP Award for Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Consulting to Bernardo Ferdman.  And we also gave the SCP Early Career Innovation Award to Nicole Gravina.  Congratulations to all of you, these awards were incredibly well deserved.

Second, I spoke about the work that the Society has done over the past four years to clearly define the Purpose of the Society, our Objective, and our Mission:

I then reviewed the four key strategies that the Board and Leadership Council will be focusing on for the foreseeable future to help achieve these aspirations:

• Increased participation and membership.  Increase involvement, and thereby membership, of other psychologists, by increasing awareness with other divisions and graduate programs, and ensuring offerings meet the needs of consultants in diverse settings and subjects.
• Enhance the member experience. Expand programs and services for education and professional development including those delivered through digital as well as in-person means.
• Expand our influence and impact.  Heighten the Society’s visibility both within APA and externally, and increase consulting psychology’s impact within psychology, with the people we serve, and with other professions.
  • Enhance our visibility in the marketplace.  Enhance our ability to communicate our value with coordinated, high-quality marketing materials, digital/social presence, public relations, and external communications.

 Next, I spoke about the two foundational elements of our Society:

• Financial stability.  Manage our income and expenses, and optimize our assets, to ensure continuity and growth for the benefit of consulting psychology.
• Building Our Pipeline.  Ensure we have a three-year pipeline of talent not only for single roles but for development throughout the organization, ensuring continuity and alignment to the Society’s goals and objectives.

 And finally, I spoke of three different initiatives that we will be taking on in 2019.

1. Mark Sirkin, our President-Elect, will be working with a committee (to be identified) to develop a better understanding of the issues around licensure for applied psychology, what APA’s and the ASPPB’s positions are, and what we and our applied colleagues want to say and do about this issue. 
2. I committed to the Society that I will do what I can to increase transparency in and about SCP’s workings.  To that end, I will be conducting a monthly videoconference on the first Tuesday of each month (more or less) to talk about anything anyone wants to speak about.  I will be prepared to talk about finances, initiatives, progress on strategies, issues from the Council of Representatives, and anything else that seems of relevance. The only things will keep confidential are any personnel-type issues, and issues that are confidential within APA. 
3. I have personally become concerned about our own ability to be respectful, open and inclusive within the Society.  Over the past few months, I have become aware of incidents where people have felt uncomfortable due to sexual suggestions (we have not encountered any sexual harassment, fortunately). I have heard stories of gender bias, racial and ethnic bias and bias due to sexual identity.  As I said at the town hall, we want to create a space for all of our members and participants where we can both debate issues and feel safe and respected. These are ethical issues and we have to be able to act consistent with our ethics.  I will be bringing together several people who have volunteered to help with this.  If you want to contribute, please feel free to contact me. 

I am looking forward to my year as President. For me, it is the culmination of several years of strategic thinking and planning, which would not have been possible without input from scores of members all along the way.  Thank you for putting your faith in me, and for helping me continue to move the society forward.

Warmest regards,
Bill Berman