Update from SCCAP Representatives to APA Council

Update from SCCAP Representatives to APA Council

By Stephen Hupp, PhD & Mary Louise Cashel, PhD
SCCAP Representatives to APA Council

By Stephen Hupp, PhD & Mary Louise Cashel, PhD
SCCAP Representatives to APA Council

SCCAP Representatives Mary Louise Cashel and Stephen Hupp attended the APA Council Meeting (just prior to the APA annual convention) on August 5-6, 2025, in Denver, Colorado. At the meeting, the Council of Representatives voted to approve the following items:

• Licensed Practice for Master’s Health Service Psychology Professionals: Operational Principles. According to the APA, these principles are “intended to provide needed parameters to inform current and future actions related to inclusion of master’s professionals in the practice of health service psychology. These actions include the development of a defined title and scope of practice and licensure pathway for master’s-trained psychology professionals to be included in APA’s Model Act for State Licensure of Psychologists. The principles state that M-HSP practitioners should have a scope of practice that ensures they are competitive in the marketplace with other behavioral health master’s level practitioners outside of psychology. M-HSP practitioners should be able to provide some services, independently without supervision and within a defined standard appropriate to the master’s level of education, training and supervision, including psychotherapy and diagnostic intake” (Council of Representatives: Actions Taken in August 2025).
• Policy Statement on the Benefits of Inclusivity to Psychology and Higher Education. This statement highlighted challenges caused by recent federal reductions in funding research, recent attempts to stifle academic freedom, and other inclusivity-related challenges facing higher education.
• Policy Statement on Disability Inclusion: Combating the Stigma and Discrimination of Ableism. This statement recognizes disability as part of diversity, discourages use of the deficit-based model, and serves as a call-to-action for psychologists to promote inclusivity.
• Policy Statement on Reconciling Traditional Wisdom and Psychological Science. According to the APA, “this statement encourages the integration of traditional wisdom from around the world (e.g., spirituality among Native Americans, Confucian philosophy among some Asian cultures, cosmology among First Nation Canadians and Africans) with psychological research to create a more inclusive, culturally relevant approach to understanding human behavior and well-being” (Council of Representatives: Actions Taken in August 2025).
• The council also updated its Resolution on Psychological Needs of Children Exposed to Disasters and its Guidelines for Psychology’s Role in Pediatric to Adult Health Care Transition.

Our next meeting will be held in Washington, DC, February 20-21, 2026.