June W. J. Ching, Ph.D., ABPP
Chair, APA Presidential Endorsement Committee
The Division 42 Board of Directors held its annual meeting in Denver on August 6. After careful consideration of all materials submitted by those candidates who requested our division’s endorsement for APA President, the Board voted to endorse Dr. Jessica Henderson Daniel. The Board determined Dr. Henderson Daniel to understand and represent the needs of our Division as well as those in professional practice.
Dr. Jessica Henderson Daniel is in part-time practice and is a psychological consultant to Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH) Child Protective Team. She serves as associate professor of psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. At BCH, Dr. Henderson Daniel directs the APA accredited psychology internship and serves as associate director of the Leadership Education in Adolescent Health Training Program in the Division of Adolescent Medicine.
Dr. Henderson Daniel is a Fellow of Division 42, having been a member since 2003. She has held numerous APA governance positions, including the first African-American elected as member-at-large on the APA Board of Directors (BOD), member of the Committee for the Advancement of Professional Practice, the Council of Representatives, and the Finance Committee. Dr. Henderson Daniel served as President of the Society for the Psychology of Women (D35) and chaired the Massachusetts Board of Registration of Psychologists. She was senior member of the Early Career Psychologist Task Force and chaired the APA Presidential Centering on Mentoring Task Force.
Dr. Henderson Daniel views vital areas facing independent practice of psychology as promoting the concept of citizen-psychologists and engaging participation by psychologists in their respective communities to educate the electorate about the importance of incorporating psychological science and practice into decisions about policies and programs, thus having powerful impact by joining key boards and committees. She wants to assure full inclusion and appropriate reimbursement for psychological services by third party payers, re-invigorate the APA Practice Organization with a steady stream of products and revenues, implement quality integrated healthcare, and as citizen-psychologists, form collaborations and be in the room when key decisions are made about health care finances.
Please read Dr. Henderson Daniel’s responses to the questions posed by the D42 Board for a more complete review of her activities, position and plans for APAPO viability, improved transparency of the APA BOD, views on Professional Practice, and plans to address post Hoffman issues. Additionally, the endorsed candidate was invited to write an article of interest to practitioners which is included in this issue’s Independent Practitioner. You will also find her responses on the D42 website at [PUT IN THE URL FOR D42 WEBSITE HERE] . The D42 Process for Endorsement for APA President as well as the D42 Policy for Endorsement for APA President are also included here.
It is our hope that all D42 members will vote in this election so that professional practice maintains a strong voice in APA.