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In essence, I have been actively engaged in CPA’s change process for the past 8 years. My investment in the association is strong and my investment in ensuring that CPA continues to thrive well into the future remains stronger today than it ever has. This is indicated by my patience and presence in the association through both times of success and times of struggle.
My personal opinion has always informed my participating in organizational psychology. I believe that if you are going to complain about something, then you should be willing to do something to change it. This has been my mantra for many years and much of the reason why I have remained active and continue to be involved currently. I do not want someone else to dictate my future as a psychologist, nor do I want anyone outside our profession to dictate what OUR profession should look like. You can bet that my commitment extends well beyond the next year or two. I want to ensure that CPA continues to have a well established presence statewide and nationally and will work to nurture and help CPA grow in this way.
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| I have become known as a nationally recognized leader in the field of psychology over the past 8 years. I was recently awarded one of four Presidential Latina/o Leadership Citations for Early-Career Psychologists by the American Psychological Association. My recognition nationally was the result of dedication to the field of psychology and to the leadership positions I have held. I am known as a leader who follows through and creates change. Most important, I have become known as an active and collaborative leader in the field who has bridged gaps between various groups and among individuals. |
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| APA Past- President, Dr. Ron Levant presenting Dr. Gallardo with his award. |
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I believe that we all must work together to be successful. My efforts on the state and national levels are an indication of my efforts to build consensus and work towards progress. I am also known as a visionary, and ultimately, this is why I am running for CPA President-Elect position at this time in my career. I believe it is the time for the association to have an individual like me in this position as I represent for the association sustained effort, continued growth, and assurance of our future as the largest state psychological association in the country. I believe that I represent the face that the CPA can embody to policy making organizations, to the academic world, and to the practice of psychology. I also believe my efforts in CA and my desire to run for the president-elect position falls in line with the evolution happening within the APA and other state associations nationally.
In my various roles within CPA, I have a history of making tough decisions for the association. As Chair of the Services and Benefits Committee (SBC), for two years, I essentially oversaw six committees. These included Continuing Education, Colleague Assistance Program, Disaster Response Network, The Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award, Membership, and Marketing. In working collaboratively with all committee chairs, we made some decisions for the association that yielded positive success as a result. During my tenure as Chair of the SBC, the association was debating the termination of our continuing education workshops and committee. This was not the right decision or answer to the challenges we were experiencing, and we made a decision as a committee to prevent this from occurring. In collaboration with others at that time, ultimately, we prevailed.
We also made efforts to enhance and support our Disaster Response Network. The committee chair and I made decisions to support the DRN in forming coalitions with other mental health professions to work together to support the communities where we live and practice. At that time, no one could have ever predicted the disasters that would follow. As Chair of the CPA Publication Committee, when there was a proposal on the table to significantly reduce the publication of the CP, the committee and I made the decision to ensure that we continued to publish the CP on a regular basis. I fought hard along with others to ensure that we took the time to make the right decision for the members of the association.
What is most significant about my decision making for CPA is that I have always collaborated with others. I hear what people have to say and attempt to work collaboratively to find mutually beneficial resolutions to our concerns. In each case, I believe good solid decisions have been made that were member focused and fiscally responsible.
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| The two most challenging issues facing the profession of psychology |
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I am most concerned about the stigmatized reality of being a psychologist in today’s marketplace. Ultimately, this impacts our roles as psychologists in all practice and educational settings, as well as, in our capacity to fulfill our legal and ethical obligations as practicing psychologists. I am dismayed by the lack of respect that psychologists receive. While some of these perceptions have changed, we are still far from where we need to be. A good example of the inadequate status can be seen in our continued struggle in the implementation of practice regulations from the CAPP v. Rank lawsuit of 1990. Dr. Bill Safarjan has been instrumental in ensuring that, as psychologists, we are given fair and equitable treatment through his efforts to head the Psychology Shield. What is most distressing about this situation is that these current efforts to expand the scope of our practice was the result of a decision that was made in the CAPP v. Rank1990 trial, but were never honored by State hospitals. This is simply unacceptable. Instead of our leadership spending time and energy on current issues facing the field, we are spending our time and efforts in areas where we have already fought hard to resolve. The question that arises for me then is, “How far have we really come?” In addition, in my various leadership roles, I continue to hear from early career psychologists and my more experienced and seasoned colleagues the challenges they face around inadequate compensation. We need to protect and expand the role psychology currently holds statewide and nationally. A good example of what we can do when we come together is our recent victory in protecting and keeping the Board of Psychology from being collapsed with the MFT and Social Worker boards.
Secondly, I have been concerned about the divide that exists between the practice of psychology and academia. For too long, we have existed in different worlds, yet we have continued to be concerned about the same issues – What information is needed to understand individual and group behavior, while affirming human dignity and understanding the person in context. Evidence of this divide can be seen by the recent discussions of Evidence Based Practices and Empirically Supported treatment modalities and their implementation in practice. While we can acknowledge the validity from both perspectives, the need to work collaboratively is highlighted and demanded by circumstances like this. Another good example of these differences is the recent motion that was passed by APA Council recommending that states grant new graduates the ability to obtain licensure immediately following graduation as long as they have the required number of hours. This has eliminated the need for these graduates to postpone the process of licensure and is a process similar to MDs. Many of these students already have the required number of hours to become licensed upon graduation, and a delay in licensure is exceedingly costly.
Additionally, most of my academic colleagues are probably unaware that CPA actively opposed a bill (SB: 5) that would have limited the academic teaching freedom of professors to teach and express their political, religious, or ideological views. Associations like the CPA need to continue to support legislation that affirms the professional responsibilities of more than just the practice community. CPA's decision to support legislation that affirms our academic colleagues in their work is encouraging and I am hopeful that we will continue to work together towards mutual goals. I see many changes occurring and I am optimistic that this will continue in the future.
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| The two challenging issues facing CPA and how will I address these issues |
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Relevance is probably the most important issue facing CPA. While we remain the largest state psychological association in the nation, our percentages of recruitment and retention of a large number of psychologists within the state is low. Most people talk about money as the number one issue for not joining. Yet, every year, as psychologists, we renew our membership in multiple associations across the country. The bottom line is people will pay their dues if what we offer is relevant. We need to investigate how we can work together with local chapters to develop a more cost effective dues schedule for our state psychologists, but we also need to ensure that what we do is worth the money. Our members tell us that the #1 reason they join the CPA is because of our advocacy efforts. CPA is working towards protecting and expanding what we do as practicing psychologists. I was happy to see that this makes CPA relevant to our members, but it does not seem to be enough. I will continue to support our efforts legislatively to protect our licensing law, protect the board of psychology when this bill sunsets (SB 229), and continue to work towards a better healthcare system in which we are honored for the work that we do on a more fair and equitable basis. Moreover, I will continue to look to our members to assess what they want from the CPA. Lastly, we need to ensure that we are relevant to psychologists of diverse backgrounds, including individuals who represent ethnic/racial differences, religious practices, sexual orientation, and disability
Energy: CPA like many other psychological associations survives off the work of few, while many either appreciate the benefits, or complain that we are not doing enough. I believe that the issue of relevancy fits nicely with the idea of bringing new people into the association to serve in leadership positions. We need to find a way to appreciate the work of our current volunteers while cultivating new leaders. Year after year a small group of individuals continues to do most of the work for the entire association. I understand that in a time when we are working harder for less pay, to ask more of our members, may seem unjust. However, with more people actively involved, ultimately, we might all work less and receive more benefits, both within the association and in our professional lives. I will continue to find ways to ensure that the work our volunteers put forth is gratifying and rewarding and that we find ways to ask less, while benefiting more.
If CPA is to continue to grow and thrive, we must find ways to make the association more relevant to all CA psychologists, and we must continue public education and outreach. I have outlined several key areas that I believe continue the work of past leadership, as well as, provide additional ways to move the Association forward. I am committed to asking less from our members and developing ways to give our members and volunteers more.
I do not want members not to join the Association because of financial concerns. In a time when the practice of psychology is being reimbursed at rates that have not increased for at least a decade, we need to develop ways we can support our members financially.
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