Gerald Koocher

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Gerald Paul Koocher (born March 13, 1947) is an American psychologist and past president of the American Psychological Association (APA). His interests include ethics, clinical child psychology and the study of scientific misconduct. He is Dean Emeritus Simmons University and also holds an academic appointment at Harvard Medical School. Koocher has over 350 publications including 18 books and has edited three scholarly journals including Ethics & Behavior which he founded. The APA's Hoffman Report implicated Koocher for his role in creating memos to justify sexual, physical and emotional abuse of prisoners. [1]

Contents

Biography

Career

Gerald Koocher earned an undergraduate degree in psychology from Boston University in 1968. He completed a master's degree (1970) and Ph.D. (1972) in clinical psychology from the University of Missouri. He worked full-time at Boston's Children's Hospital from 1971 to 2001, ultimately serving as chief of psychology. While at Boston Children's, he was an associate professor at Harvard Medical School. In June 2001 he became a professor and dean of the School of Nursing and Health Sciences at Simmons College in Boston. [2] He later served as associate provost at Simmons, while continuing part-time service at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. [3] He began serving as dean of the College of Science and Health at DePaul University on July 1, 2013. [4] In September, 2018 he began serving as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Quincy College. [5] In August, 2022 he accepted a position as Program Director of the clinical and school psychology graduate programs at Capella University. [6]

Koocher is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and was elected a fellow of thirteen APA divisions. He is the first person to be awarded five specialty diplomas from the American Board of Professional Psychology. In 2006 he became president of the APA. [7] He had previously served on the APA's board of directors as Treasurer of APA for ten years. [2] Koocher is the founder of the journal Ethics & Behavior and served as editor for 26 years. [8] He is a past editor of the Journal of Pediatric Psychology and The Clinical Psychologist. [2]

Children's Understanding of Death and Loss

Beginning in the early 1970s while still a graduate student, Koocher began studying children's understanding of death and loss. He published several papers growing out of his doctoral dissertation research. [9] [10]

Family Coping with Chronic Illness

Ethical Issues in Psychology and the Mental Health Professions

Koocher has developed an interest in the flip-side of the evidence based practice movement by studying discredited mental health theories, therapies, and assessment tools that have come into popular use. He has trademarked the term "Psychoquackery" and is developing popular press materials for the public. His scholarly work on these topics include:

Psychoquackery: Discredited Treatments, Theories, and Tests

Research Ethics

Selected works

Report

Koocher among other psychologists was named in an APA investigation into psychologists' involvement in interrogation at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. [11] [12] [13]

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. ↑ Hoffman, David (September 4, 2015) [July 2, 2015]. "Independent Review Relating to APA Ethics Guidelines, National Security Interrogations, and Torture" (PDF). www.apa.org. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
  2. 1 2 3 "Gerald P. Koocher, PhD". APA Insurance Trust. Archived from the original on January 6, 2014. Retrieved June 23, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Gerald P. Koocher". Simmons College . Retrieved June 23, 2013.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. ↑ "DePaul University Appoints Past APA President as Science and Health Dean". DePaul University . Retrieved June 23, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Quincy College hires first-ever provost".
  6. ↑ https://www.capella.edu/blog/psychology/what-is-clinical-counseling/#:~:text=Gerry%20Koocher%2C%20PhD%2C%20has%20suggestions,of%20Social%20and%20Behavioral%20Sciences. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ↑ "Gerald P. Koocher: 2006 APA President". American Psychological Association . Retrieved June 23, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Gerald P. Koocher, Ph.D. Elected American Psychological Association President for 2006". 2004 SNHS News Archive. Simmons College. Archived from the original on July 13, 2013. Retrieved June 23, 2013.
  9. ↑ Koocher, Gerald (1973). "Childhood, Death, and Cognitive Development". Developmental Psychology. 9 (3): 369–374. doi:10.1037/h0034917.
  10. ↑ Koocher, Gerald (1974). "Conversations with Children About Death". Journal of Clinical Child Psychology. 3: 18–21.
  11. ↑ "mccain anti torture" (PDF). American Psychological Association .
  12. ↑ "DePaul dean prominent in report alleging psychologists' collusion at Guantanamo Bay". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 2015-08-13.
  13. ↑ Miller, Greg (July 10, 2015). "Inquiry: Psychologists group colluded with Pentagon, CIA on interrogations" . Washington Post.
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