The American Psychological Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychologists in the United States, and the largest psychological association in the world. It has over 157,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It has 54 divisions, which function as interest groups for different subspecialties of psychology or topical areas. The APA has an annual budget of around $125 million.
A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how individuals relate to each other and to their environments.
Clinical psychology is an integration of human science, behavioral science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and personal development. Central to its practice are psychological assessment, clinical formulation, and psychotherapy, although clinical psychologists also engage in research, teaching, consultation, forensic testimony, and program development and administration. In many countries, clinical psychology is a regulated mental health profession.
Stephen J. Ceci is an American psychologist at Cornell University. He studies the accuracy of children's courtroom testimony, and he is an expert in the development of intelligence and memory. He has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious Lifetime Contribution Awards from the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Association for Psychological Science (APS) as well as many divisional and smaller society awards.
Mary Dinsmore Ainsworth was an American-Canadian developmental psychologist known for her work in the development of the attachment theory. She designed the strange situation procedure to observe early emotional attachment between a child and their primary caregiver.
Cecil Randy Reynolds is an American psychology professor best known for his work in psychological testing and assessment.
Palo Alto University (PAU) is a private university in Palo Alto, California that focuses on psychology and counseling. It was founded in 1975 as the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology and became Palo Alto University in 2009.
James H. Bray is a clinical and family psychologist and a past president of the American Psychological Association (APA). Bray is Professor and former Chair of the Department of Psychology at University of Texas San Antonio (2017-present). Previously he was an associate professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine (1987-2017). He is also Chairman of the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Houston College of Medicine (2023-2024).
Nadine J. Kaslow is an American psychologist, the 2014 president of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the editor of the Journal of Family Psychology. Before her current affiliation with Emory University, Kaslow worked at Yale University. She was recipient of the 2004 American Psychological Association award for Distinguished Contributions to Education and Training in Psychology.
The General Behavior Inventory (GBI) is a 73-question psychological self-report assessment tool designed by Richard Depue and colleagues to identify the presence and severity of manic and depressive moods in adults, as well as to assess for cyclothymia. It is one of the most widely used psychometric tests for measuring the severity of bipolar disorder and the fluctuation of symptoms over time. The GBI is intended to be administered for adult populations; however, it has been adapted into versions that allow for juvenile populations, as well as a short version that allows for it to be used as a screening test.
Eric Arden Youngstrom is an American clinical child and adolescent psychologist, professor of psychology and neuroscience, and psychiatry, at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association. His research focuses on evidence-based assessment, and assessment of bipolar disorder across the life span.
Barry S. Anton, Ph.D., ABPP is an American psychologist. He is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Puget Sound where he taught for 34 years. Anton founded Rainier Behavioral Health, a multi-discipline mental health practice where he practices clinical child and adolescent psychology and neuropsychology. Anton has co-authored, along with Professor Janet Matthews, a clinical psychology textbook, published over 90 articles, and has presented numerous conference workshops, invited addresses, keynote addresses, and panel discussions nationally and internationally. Anton served as the president of the American Psychological Association (APA) in 2015.
Stephen P. Hinshaw is an American psychologist whose contributions lie in the areas of developmental psychopathology and combating the stigma that surrounds mental illness. He has authored more than 325 scientific articles and chapters as well as 14 authored and edited books. Currently, he is Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and Professor In Residence and Vice Chair for Child and Adolescent Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco. His work focuses on child and adolescent mental disorders, clinical interventions, mechanisms of change in psychopathology, and stigma prevention efforts, with a specialization in ADHD and other neurodevelopmental disorders.
Mitchell J. Prinstein is an author and psychology professor. He is the former Director of Clinical Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the John Van Seters Distinguished Professor of Psychology. He is a Fellow of both the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science.
Karen Jill Saywitz was an American psychologist, author, and educator. She worked as a developmental and clinical psychologist and professor at the UCLA School of Medicine and Department of Psychiatry and Development. For more than 20 years Saywitz taught child development and was director of several mental health programs for families. She also developed "non-leading" techniques for interviewing child witnesses and victims, based on cognitive and developmental psychology principles. She died of cancer in 2018.
Sheila Eyberg is a professor at the University of Florida where she is a part of the Department of Clinical and Health Psychology. Eyberg was born in 1944, in Omaha, Nebraska to Clarence George and Geraldine Elizabeth Eyberg. She is recognized for developing parent–child interaction therapy. She is the President and CEO of the PCIT International.
Andres De Los Reyes is a professor of psychology at University of Maryland College Park. He is also the director of the Comprehensive Assessment and Intervention Program Laboratory, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, the official journal of the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, Division 53 of the American Psychological Association. He also founded and remains a program chair of the JCCAP Future Directions Forum, an annual conference affiliated with the journal. De Los Reyes has co-authored over 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles and book chapters, and recently completed a term as a Fulbright Canada Research Chair in mental health at the University of Regina. He is known for his work on psychological assessment, particularly understanding the potential sources and implications of apparent disagreement between different people's perceptions of youth emotion and behavior, as often happens when parents, teachers, and youths are asked separately about the youth. He also works extensively on issues surrounding mentorship and skills-based approaches to early career development. He is the author of The Early Career Researcher's Toolbox: A career development guide that includes strategies for working with mentors, publishing peer-reviewed articles, and interviewing for faculty positions. Career development coaching and activities are also a prominent feature of the Future Direction Forum.
Anna Van Meter is an American clinical psychologist. She is on the faculty of New York University Grossman School of Medicine in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She leads the Investigating Mood Pathology: Assessment, Course, Treatment (IMPACT) Lab. Van Meter and her team conduct research on mood disorders and associated clinical phenomena, including suicide. They focus on innovative, technology-based approaches to improve the rapid identification of symptoms in youth and to facilitate access to evidence-based care.
Bruce F. Chorpita, is an American researcher and clinical psychologist who has worked in multiple academic and government leadership positions addressing youth mental health and improvement of clinical practice. He currently is Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles. He received his Ph.D. in psychology from the University at Albany, State University of New York. He is widely published in the areas of children's mental health services, with funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, the Hawaii Departments of Education and Health, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and the William T. Grant Foundation. He is co-founder and president of PracticeWise, reflecting his commitment to making knowledge and science work better to improve the lives of children and families.
Jessica Henderson Daniel is a psychologist and educator, known for her work on mental health in the Black community, racial trauma, and the effects of stress and violence on Black children and adolescents. Daniel was the first African American woman to lead the American Psychological Association (APA), serving her term as President of the organization in 2018.
