Advocacy is becoming central to the field of psychology
- GAB NEWS
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
Psychologists are stepping into leadership and advocacy roles to protect research, access to care, and professional integrity
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Key points
Advocacy work is more important than ever as research funding, training pathways, and access to psychological care come under fire.
Record numbers of psychology practitioners, researchers, and students are stepping up to represent the discipline.
APA and state, provincial, and territorial psychological associations offer a range of ways to get involved.
Last year, the ground shifted for psychology. A significant number of new laws and executive orders posed major challenges to the field’s core priorities, including health equity, access to care, and funding for research and training.
Psychologists in every setting and career phase have been hit by changes to federal health care programs, scientific research funding, and student loan repayment programs, as well as state-level disputes around Medicaid, artificial intelligence, and more.
“2025 has been a sobering year. So much has changed, and it continues to change. The world is spinning very fast and we’re trying to catch up,” said London Breedlove, PsyD, a licensed clinical psychologist and director of professional affairs and policy for the Washington State Psychological Association.
Amid those changes, a rising chorus agrees: Advocacy is no longer optional. Record numbers of psychologists are joining APA’s advocacy initiatives, including meeting with policymakers and responding to action alerts. By the end of September 2025, psychologists had sent more than 110,000 messages to Congress and regulatory agencies, nearly triple the total for all of 2024.
“There’s a hunger for guidance on how to do advocacy work and ways to get involved unlike I’ve ever seen before,” said Duke Han, PhD, a professor of psychology and family medicine at the University of Southern California who started speaking out in 2025 when scientific research funding began facing significant cuts. “Advocacy has always been something I’ve admired and thought about. But it now feels like an imperative.”
Overcoming fear and helplessness
Advocacy may no longer be optional, but for many psychologists, it’s not automatic. Compared with fields such as social work and pediatrics, psychology has not always centered advocacy work, said Amy R. Beck, PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist based in Kansas City, Missouri, who is legislative chair and federal advocacy coordinator for the Missouri Psychological Association. But that’s starting to change, with new efforts to weave a commitment to advocacy into the fiber of the discipline.
Beck and other federal advocacy coordinators, who organize psychologists at the state level to work in alignment with APA’s federal priorities, report seeing psychologists galvanized by misinformation about health and disease; executive orders that dismantle equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts; deep concern about the clinical workforce and training pathways; and the impact of unregulated AI chatbots on mental health. But those newer to advocacy can also become overwhelmed in the current political climate.
“I’m seeing an increased interest in advocacy, but interest doesn’t always translate into action,” Beck said. “People are aware that advocacy is important, but there’s also an equal and competing sense of helplessness and hopelessness.”
Veteran advocates can support newcomers in managing the ups and downs of the work, where rejections far outnumber successes, and build confidence that they are well-suited for it.
“For many psychologists, direct advocacy can feel intimidating or foreign, because we’re often not socialized to see grassroots engagement as part of our role,” Breedlove said. But advocacy builds on qualities inherent to the profession, including deep listening, relationship building, empathy, and the ability to convey messages with narratives and data.
Others want to speak out but fear negative consequences if they do, said Evelyn Burrell, PsyD, a licensed clinical psychologist based in Phoenix, Arizona, and chair of APA’s Advocacy Coordinating Committee. Students and early career psychologists worry that advocacy work could impact their ability to secure an internship or grant funding down the line. Burrell said the field should strive to protect these groups with a mix of formal policies and informal support networks.
Han acknowledged that researchers may fear retaliation for speaking out. “But the alternative is to let the current trends take over—and I believe we have a moral and ethical obligation to act when policies undermine the best interests of science or the public,” he said.
Finding success at state levels
Weaving advocacy into psychology starts with providing adequate education and training. “It has to be taught, not just expected, and we need to equip people with the tools,” Breedlove said.
In addition to offering more opportunities for federal advocacy training, APA Services, the advocacy arm of APA, has boosted its investment in state-level efforts. The goal is to prepare state, provincial, and territorial psychological associations (SPTAs) to tackle issues that are increasingly sent down from the federal level, including matters of social justice and public health.
“We’re focused on strengthening the capacity and confidence of SPTAs to broaden their advocacy efforts beyond traditional priorities and engage—where they choose—on the full range of policy issues that impact psychology and the communities we serve,” said Alix Ginsberg, APA’s deputy chief of state advocacy.
That starts with education about what it takes to build a successful advocacy program. Hiring a lobbyist is just one piece of the pie; equally critical are grassroots efforts, “grasstops” (influential voices within a community network), fundraising capacity, and coalition partners.
Breedlove is building grassroots capacity into the Washington State Psychological Association (WSPA), which hosted a kickoff meeting in September 2025 to demystify advocacy. Members learned how to find their legislative districts, identify their legislators and request meetings, and have conversations that build mutually beneficial relationships. WSPA also launched a prescriptive authority task force, which is developing a series of educational videos for community members, health professionals, and policymakers that explains how prescribing medication helps psychologists provide more complete care.
Because of gridlock in Congress and a lack of federal regulation on AI and other issues, state efforts like these are more important than ever. Legislation that negatively impacts communities in one state can quickly lead to copycat efforts, triggering a domino effect with widespread consequences.
“One of the major ways that you can show up to meet the moment is by joining and contributing to your SPTA,” Ginsberg said. “It’s really important that we have people on the ground watching out for the issues we care about.”
Broadening the ranks
While SPTAs have traditionally focused on practitioner issues, it is imperative that they now proactively welcome researchers and academics into the ranks, Ginsberg said. By broadening their advocacy work to address research funding and to advocate for veteran mental health and other topics, SPTAs can boost their membership and gain important new allies.
Researchers can also participate in APA’s federal advocacy efforts and organize through their department, center, or institution, Han said. Many universities and hospital systems maintain strong government relations offices that welcome participation from faculty and staff.
“These offices serve as powerful allies, because they align individual advocacy efforts with an organization’s priorities, ensure compliance, and help amplify psychology’s voice,” Ginsberg said.
Students should also be encouraged to organize and advocate on issues that affect them, but they may need guidance on how to do so, Burrell said. She is developing a continuing-education series on advocacy for psychology students, focused on how to stay professional, including by approaching leadership with a clear story and a specific request.
One scenario might involve doctoral students raising concerns about recent changes to federal borrowing for postbaccalaureate education. Students could meet with their dean to discuss solutions, such as receiving payment for a practicum to help ease financial strain.
Gaining hands-on experience can help students deepen their commitment to policy work, including at the undergraduate level. At Morehouse College, a historically Black men’s college in Atlanta, the Morehouse Advocacy Reaching Capitol Hill (MARCH) Ambassadors Program selects up to 12 students each year for a semester-long training in federal advocacy. The program, cocreated by Hideko Sera, PsyD, a psychologist at Morehouse, prepares students to research, pitch, and solicit cosponsorship for bills on issues such as prison reform, affordable housing, and food insecurity. Their efforts have already helped turn one bill—the Federal Prison Oversight Act—into law.
“These students leave MARCH with an interest [in] and commitment to doing policy work for the rest of their lives,” Sera said, which shows how building an early commitment to advocacy can help shape the future of psychology.
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