by Annette Conway, Psy.D.

It has been an honor and privilege to have served as the 2017 President of the San Diego Psychological Association. I can say with conviction that this has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my professional life, and one that seemed to begin and end in the blink of an eye. I extend my gratitude to the current and past Board members for their consistent support and encouragement.

In this year, we continued the tradition of the SDPA to host important events and meetings for the benefit of our members and the community at large. Together, we hosted the highly successful Fall Conference, that that received recognition throughout the San Diego psychological community, held several networking and social opportunities at no or little cost to the members, educated the public with 30 committees and task forces, collaborated with other professional organizations such as San Diego CAMFT, the Psychiatric Society, UCSD, and the San Diego Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. We also sponsored and co-sponsored nine Continuing Education courses.

Credit: Instagram

We established a new, user-friendly website complete with a comprehensive member referral directory, and continued to implement the structural re-organization of the Board of Directors and office staff. We improved the fiscal statements and increased the bookkeeper’s role, thus providing better overall financial documentation.

I am especially pleased to report that we received the Award for Outstanding Chapter from the California Psychological Association this year. Our advocacy efforts remain strong; the Government Affairs Committee engaged in several proactive events in support of the California Psychological Association by participating in the Leadership and Advocacy Conference in Sacramento, contributing financially to the Political Action Committee (PAC), and by hosting a legislative Meet and Greet in San Diego.

It is an important time for our Association as we continue to adapt and grow in this period of global change. The Disaster Psychology Committee’s collaboration with the Red Cross in responding to the mental health needs of residents in Houston, Mexico, Florida, Puerto Rico will continue to thrive and educate the mental health community as well as the public about how to care for themselves and others before, during and after disasters. In this last issue of 2017, the San Diego Psychologist highlights some of this important work conducted by our intrepid colleagues.

With the help of you, our members, we have accomplished our most important goal this year, i.e., to actualize the SDPA Mission Statement, “To create a community for psychologists, to promote the profession of psychology, and to serve the public.”

I am excited for Dr. Cindy Cotter and her 2018 Board of Directors, and know that with your ongoing support, they will take SDPA to even greater heights. Best wishes for a successful year!

Dr. Conway is a clinical psychologist in private practice and the President of the San Diego Psychological Association.