An Overview of the American Psychological Association (APA)

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat Does the APA Do?History of APAThe APA Today

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Table of Contents

What Does the APA Do?

History of APA

The APA Today

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The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest professional and scientific organization of psychologists in the United States. It is responsible for tasks like regulating professional titles and producing the APA style guide for publications. The APA is based in Washington, DC. As of 2023, the APA has over 146,000 members.

Read on to learn more about the history of the organization, what the APA does, and who can join the APA.

What You Should Know About Psychology

The APA serves as a source of guidance for professionals and contributes to the field of psychology in several ways.

Advancing and Promoting Psychology

One of the key roles of the APA is to further psychology as a science. The organization’s mission statement provides some insight into its goals.

The American Psychological AssociationThe mission of APA is to advance the creation, communication, and application of psychological knowledge to benefit society and improve people’s lives.

The American Psychological Association

The mission of APA is to advance the creation, communication, and application of psychological knowledge to benefit society and improve people’s lives.

Regulating Official Titles

Publishing the Official Style Manual

The organization also established APA Style, a set of rules designed for communicating information in the social sciences.APA style is used in psychology and other sciences, including sociology and education.

The writing rules can be found in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, which details how to organize professional journal articles, cite sources, and list references.

APA MembershipThe APA offers membership to professionals at different career levels, from students to affiliates in other fields, such as education. Members enjoy benefits like access to expert guidance, resources, subscriptions, training, continuing education credits, and discounts.

APA Membership

The APA offers membership to professionals at different career levels, from students to affiliates in other fields, such as education. Members enjoy benefits like access to expert guidance, resources, subscriptions, training, continuing education credits, and discounts.

What Is APA Style?

The APA was established in July 1892 at Clark University. The APA had 31 members in its first year, and G. Stanley Hall was the organization’s first president. Today, the APA has 54 distinct divisions that each focus on a sub-discipline or topic within psychology, such aseducational psychology(division 15) andbehavior analysis(division 25).

Some of the past presidents of APA include some of psychology’s most famous thinkers, such as:

What is the Difference Between the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association?The American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association share the acronym APA but are separate organizations.The American Psychiatric Association is a professional membership organization for psychiatrists. It is the publisher of theDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

What is the Difference Between the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association?

The American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association share the acronym APA but are separate organizations.The American Psychiatric Association is a professional membership organization for psychiatrists. It is the publisher of theDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

The American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association share the acronym APA but are separate organizations.

The American Psychiatric Association is a professional membership organization for psychiatrists. It is the publisher of theDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

The Origins of Psychology

Thema S. Bryant, PhD, is the 2023 president of the APA. Bryant is a tenured professor of psychology in the Graduate School of Education and Psychology at Pepperdine University and directs the Culture and Trauma Research Laboratory there.

The APA is currently executing the objectives of its three- to five-year strategic plan. The APA collaborated with people in the psychological community, both APA members and non-members, as well as the public, to create the plan.

The two focuses of the APA’s strategic plan are to prepare for the future of psychology and to strengthen the APA’s voice as a trusted source.

According to the APA, preparing for the future includes diversifying the field of psychology, using new technologies, and making psychology interdisciplinary and collaborative.

Strengthening the APA’s voice means serving as an authority on psychology and being the go-to resource for psychology education andcareers. In its strategic plan, the APA notes that it will use its voice to advocate for social welfare.

A Timeline of Modern Psychology

Apology for Racial Injustice and Commitment to Advocacy

In 2021, the APA issued a public apology for not doing its part to combatsystemic racismand hurting communities of color. The statement included a list of resolutions to advocate for social equality across many areas, including education, criminal justice, and research.

To address racial inequality in the U.S. education system, the APA resolved to:

Regarding racial inequalities in the criminal justice system, the APA resolved to:

To foster racial equality in research, APA resolved to:

Race and Social Justice

COVID-19 Response

DuringCOVID-19, the APA created resources to facilitate the transition to virtual sessions, including an “office and technology checklist” to help clinicians determine whether a patient would benefit from videoconferencing.

The APA called onMedicare,Medicaid, and private payers to provide more comprehensive coverage to ensure that patients could access telehealth services.

The APA also allowed free access to its COVID-related psychological research, as well as educational resources for high school psychology teachers.

COVID-19’s Mental Health Effects

Summary

The American Psychological Association has played an important role in the history of psychology and will continue to have an important influence on the direction of psychological research in the future.

15 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.APA.Membership directory.American Psychological Association.By the numbers: APA at its 125th anniversary.APA.About APA.American Psychological Association.About APA. Chapter IX. Educational affairs.American Psychological Association.About APA style.APA.Join APA.American Psychological Association.APA divisions.American Psychological Association.About APA. Former APA presidents.American Psychiatric Association.APA’s vision, mission, values, and goals.American Psychiatric Association.Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental health disorders.APA.About APA: President.American Psychological Association.Impact.American Psychological Association.Role of psychology and APA in dismantling systemic racism against people of color in the U.S.American Psychological Association.Advancing APA’s strategic priorities within a COVID-19 reality.American Psychological Association Services.APA calls for comprehensive telehealth coverage.

15 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.APA.Membership directory.American Psychological Association.By the numbers: APA at its 125th anniversary.APA.About APA.American Psychological Association.About APA. Chapter IX. Educational affairs.American Psychological Association.About APA style.APA.Join APA.American Psychological Association.APA divisions.American Psychological Association.About APA. Former APA presidents.American Psychiatric Association.APA’s vision, mission, values, and goals.American Psychiatric Association.Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental health disorders.APA.About APA: President.American Psychological Association.Impact.American Psychological Association.Role of psychology and APA in dismantling systemic racism against people of color in the U.S.American Psychological Association.Advancing APA’s strategic priorities within a COVID-19 reality.American Psychological Association Services.APA calls for comprehensive telehealth coverage.

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

APA.Membership directory.American Psychological Association.By the numbers: APA at its 125th anniversary.APA.About APA.American Psychological Association.About APA. Chapter IX. Educational affairs.American Psychological Association.About APA style.APA.Join APA.American Psychological Association.APA divisions.American Psychological Association.About APA. Former APA presidents.American Psychiatric Association.APA’s vision, mission, values, and goals.American Psychiatric Association.Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental health disorders.APA.About APA: President.American Psychological Association.Impact.American Psychological Association.Role of psychology and APA in dismantling systemic racism against people of color in the U.S.American Psychological Association.Advancing APA’s strategic priorities within a COVID-19 reality.American Psychological Association Services.APA calls for comprehensive telehealth coverage.

APA.Membership directory.

American Psychological Association.By the numbers: APA at its 125th anniversary.

APA.About APA.

American Psychological Association.About APA. Chapter IX. Educational affairs.

American Psychological Association.About APA style.

APA.Join APA.

American Psychological Association.APA divisions.

American Psychological Association.About APA. Former APA presidents.

American Psychiatric Association.APA’s vision, mission, values, and goals.

American Psychiatric Association.Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental health disorders.

APA.About APA: President.

American Psychological Association.Impact.

American Psychological Association.Role of psychology and APA in dismantling systemic racism against people of color in the U.S.

American Psychological Association.Advancing APA’s strategic priorities within a COVID-19 reality.

American Psychological Association Services.APA calls for comprehensive telehealth coverage.

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