Society of Counseling Psychology President's Welcome
Welcome to the Society of Counseling Psychology (SCP), Division 17 of the American Psychological Association. Throughout the history of our organization, SCP has been grounded in addressing issues of equity and justice. More recent years have seen counseling psychologists, including recent SCP Presidents, operationalize our commitments with clarity: SCP strives to dismantle racism and white supremacy, move toward decolonization, and transform psychology in the service of liberation. These commitments are codified in our new SCP Values, which now include (among others) We welcome you to join our community and to work together toward a more just and equitable world. The strengths and values of counseling psychology are needed now more than ever: We are living in an age of trauma, polarization, and a growing threat of fascism that is creating intersectional oppression-based harm at an increasing pace. Further, the need to come together as a community is greater than ever; we as counseling psychologists are among those who chose to shepherd and care for people harmed by oppression and violence, but we, too, are living through it and being harmed by it. I believe that when we center our values and work together, we have a lot to offer psychology, society, and one another in this difficult and fractured time. I am honored and humbled to have the opportunity to lead SCP at this time, and following several incredible SCP presidents who led the way in re-grounding counseling psychology in liberation, critical consciousness, uprooting anti-Black racism, and the importance of joy. My presidential theme this year is Advancing a Critical Counseling Psychology. Our focus will be predominantly in the realm of education and training, given that our training programs are the primary source of the foundations we have as professionals. Our goal this year is to advance our collective critical consciousness, transform education and training toward a critical counseling psychology, and strengthen our advocacy work. We are working closely with the Council of Counseling Psychology Training Programs (CCPTP) to revisit the Counseling Psychology Model Training Program and the CCPTP Diversity Statement. We are planning a Critical Psychology webinar series focused on raising critical knowledge and critical reflection. With the help of APA, we are planning a multi-part federal advocacy initiative that will highlight the importance of reinvestment in higher education and the social safety net if we wish to have a next generation of health and public service professionals. These are just a few of the plans under development—and I will update this page as we go along! It is an honor to lead an organization of such incredible people who have long led the way. I look forward to working together toward a more critically conscious, antiracist, anti-oppressive psychology. As we do, I hope that we also hold closely in our hearts the importance of joy and rest, reminders that Dr. Neville and her team gifted us during her presidential year. Without hope, nothing is sustainable; without rest or joy, white supremacy wins. Let’s honor the threat but lead with hope. Let’s lift each other up and support each other not just in the fight, but in joy and in rest. In solidarity, Melanie M. Wilcox, Ph.D., ABPP (she/her) |
