How can we impact society's biggest challenges?

APA President Dr. Rosie Phillips Davis

APA’s strategic plan is named "Impact" for a reason— it’s designed for action. Among other calls to action, it challenges psychologists to "make a positive impact on critical societal issues." And there is no shortage of those: Since APA’s Council of Representatives adopted Impact last February, our society has seen another round of mass shootings, families torn apart by immigration policies and an ever-growing opioid epidemic, to name just some. As we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, I think about how psychologists can make an even bigger impact on one of society’s largest critical issues: our nation’s changing demographics. As more people of color make up the U.S. population, psychologists and other leaders must figure out ways to celebrate the strengths and differences of diverse groups while dealing more intelligently and compassionately with challenges related to intergroup dynamics, poverty, unmet needs and other large-scale problems.

One way psychology can help is to continue diversifying our field. We’re making progress but need to do more. Between 2008 and 2016, the percentage of doctoral degrees awarded to Latinx psychologists rose from 10% to 13%, and to African Americans, from 7% to 10%. But Asian Americans receiving doctorates remained static at 6%, and there weren’t enough American Indians receiving doctorates to be recorded in the 2016 data.

Psychologists are also working to improve our multicultural competence. The immigration crisis, for example, highlights the need to provide services for those who cross the border under traumatic conditions. Yet just 4.4% of licensed psychologists are Latinx, and only 5.5% speak Spanish. At the same time, the demand for psychological services among the Latinx population is projected to rise 30% by 2030, and the need among other groups is also profound.

This challenging time prompts me to think about two recent APA presidents: Melba J.T. Vasquez, PhD, APA’s first Latinx president, who served in 2011, and Antonio E. Puente, PhD, president in 2017. Both were champions in educating Congress about how to better understand and serve immigrants and how to acknowledge their unique strengths. In honor of them and of Hispanic Heritage Month, I call on each of us to creatively envision how we can impact the critical societal issues we face now, which are likely to become even more critical in the years to come.