DIVISION 22: ABBEY HUGHES
Abbey's experience in student governance began as a clinical health psychology graduate student at the University of Kansas. While completing a practicum in an inpatient rehabilitation medical setting, she was fortunate to receive mentorship from a rehabilitation psychologist actively involved in APA governance. After joining the Division and attending her first Rehabilitation Psychology Conference that year, she began to collaborate with other students to expand student training and leadership opportunities. As the current Division 22 Student Representative, she has collaborated on two primary initiatives: 1) to help develop and expand the Division 22 Mentorship Program; and 2) to initiate a Division 22 Student Leadership Network to facilitate student-led Rehabilitation Psychology interest groups at chapters across the nation. Abbey notes: "Through my experience in APA, I've met so many students who, like myself, have cross-specialty training and professional goals. I am excited to collaborate with this team to develop the WIHPT as a way of bringing these student leaders together and disseminating training resources."
DIVISION 38: STEPHANIE HOOKER
Stephanie first entered governance as the current
chair of Division 38’s (Health Psychology) Student Advisory Council (SAC). As student chair, she oversaw three committees
(Diversity, Membership, and Communications) and seven SAC members as they worked
towards their goals for Division 38. She noted several primary goals including: (1) to improve
retention of student members throughout graduate school and during the
transition from student to early career status; (2) to increase student engagement
with and inclusion in Division 38; and (3) to promote diversity and minority
representation in health psychology among health psychology students and
trainees. She worked closely with other councils and committees within Division 38
to reach these goals. Stephanie noted: "being a part of this interdisciplinary team to create the
WIHPT has been a truly invaluable experience for me; I hope we will have helped to provide a
resource to students that can be used
across graduate school, internship, and postdoctoral training experiences."
DIVISION 40: CADY BLOCK
Cady recalls her journey into student governance as a very rewarding one. In graduate school, another student and her saw the need for representation of student interests in neuropsychology within their graduate program. With some research and a little bit of luck, they found out that APA has a neuropsychology division that sponsors a national trainee organization, the Association of Neuropsychology Students in Training (ANST). Cady worked to establish an own ANST Interest Group at their program, and it is still thriving today. Much like her fellow WIHPT team, Cady became interested in issues impacting all trainees and wanted to become more involved in governance at the national level. She was elected as the 2013-2016 Chair of the national ANST Committee. OShe also served on the Communications Committee for APA Division 22. Cady notes: " have always hoped to share my excitement and passion with other trainees and create opportunities for others to become more involved."
CO-DEVELOPER: KATIE OSBORN
Katie's journey into student governance began when she organized an student group at her graduate institution in order to enhance the professional development and networking opportunities available within her program's neuropsychology concentration. At an social event during the 2012 APA Conference, she met Cady and Erica Kalkut, former ANST Chair. As Katie recalls, "I remember feeling so encouraged and supported by my interactions with each of them! The experience really enhanced my confidence in my own developing professional identity, which then motivated me to pursue student leadership opportunities on the national front so I could nurture other students’ interests in our field the same way Cady and Erica nurtured mine." Katie later served as the Programming Officer for the national ANST committee, and on the American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology (AACN) Student Affairs Committee. Katie believes strongly that peer support is a vital component of success in graduate school, and she has been passionate about fostering opportunities for graduate students to support one another along their training journey.
CO-DEVELOPER: OCTAVIO SANTOS
Octavio's first experience in student governance was as a member of the APAGS-CEMA, which allowed him to represent and advocate for ethnic minority students. He then joined APA Div 40/SCN and became an ANST Interest Group representative at his doctoral program, UWM, which led to a position at the national level as the 2013-2016 ANST Liaison Officer. He also joined APA Division 52 Student Committee as International Resources coordinator and APAGS-DSRN where he frequently shared information on student opportunities. Octavio's experiences provided him with invaluable knowledge about how these organizations operate, and how students can voice their opinions in discussions that can impact their peers. His advice? "I strongly encourage other students to apply for leadership positions within the different APA divisions or other organizations and contribute to the field."