Professional Organizations

[Jon4PsyD]

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For resume purposes as well as to have conferences in which you can submit your work....it is good to join professional organizations. My question is:How many is enough?APA...Your states Psychological association, regional Psychological association (eastern, southern, southeastern, northeastern...) is it worth joining all organizations that hold events/conferences in your region along with your state..?Just curious, hope it is not a silly questionJon

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

It depends who you want to support. I give money (through membership fees) to organizations that I believe are working in my best interest. It is a nice entry into networking (if you take advantage of it), though it only works if you put in some effort.

 

[positivepsych]

Depends on what you want to get out of them (networking for academia, clinical work, continuing education units, etc.).

However, I feel that politics and personal ideology should also play a role. Considering the APA's stance (or lack of stance) on certain issues, I feel the NAPPP is worth joining if you're only going to join one:
http://www.nappp.org/index.php

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I'd say NAPPP and your state APA org. I have avoided re-upping with APA because I've been pretty disappointed in their glacial pace in some issues, and also the 2nd class citizenship it shows practitioner members. I want to re-up with Div 55, which I think req. me to join the general org....boo.

 

[xlittlemissalix]

I've actually been told that after my interview my POI is going to look and see if I'm a member in these things! I just joined APA for that reason and planned on joining my state's psychological association - I just don't want to join something that's not actually the real thing. www.masspsych.org sounds about right though...but it says you HAVE to be either a student or a doctor. :-/ You need to submit transcripts. I graduated in 2006 and am applying to PhD programs now so I guess I can't join? Does anyone know if this is really MA's psych association?

 

[edieb]

actually a classmate from LSU went to school in Massachusetts and I'm sure she joined the Mass Psych ***'n as an undergrad. You may want to call and tell them that you're still in undergrad, or that you have just graduated undergrad, and that you want to join.

I will ask her and let you know what i find out!

 

[xlittlemissalix]

actually a classmate from LSU went to school in Massachusetts and I'm sure she joined the Mass Psych ***'n as an undergrad. You may want to call and tell them that you're still in undergrad, or that you have just graduated undergrad, and that you want to join.

I will ask her and let you know what i find out!

Haha! I just messaged you about this. 🙂 Please let me know what you find out.

 

[Ollie123]

Depends what your goals are.

I'm in APA less so because I think they're doing a good job (they're not), and moreso for the benefits like free/discounted journals, discounts, malpractice insurance, etc. I got $400 off a laptop, so I figure that alone justifies quite a few years of membership🙂

I'm not a big fan of the state and regional organizations. Though you see some good stuff at their conferences, alot of it ends up being "stuff we don't think can get in a big conference". Exceptions exist, without a doubt, but I know my experiences at EPA consisted of a whole lot of disappointment with the quality of work there and not many networking opportunities since most of the big names don't go. If I'm going to a conference I want to make sure I'm getting the best bang for my buck, so to speak, and make sure I have the most opportunities to see relevant, quality work.

I join speciality groups. Society for Research in Nicotine and Tobacco. Society for Psychophysiological Research. etc. Different APA divisions are also a good option.

Of course it depends on your career goals too. Psychophys is obviously almost purely research-oriented. There are more practitioner-oriented national groups though, ABCT and the like. I don't mean to discourage you from state or regional stuff since I think its great, but I just find the specialty ones to be more helpful.

 

[psy86]

I feel that politics and personal ideology should also play a role.

Nice to see this issue being raised; this is also the reason that I've avoided joining APA.

 

[layleh]

Nice to see this issue being raised; this is also the reason that I've avoided joining APA.

Is it pathetic that I haven't joined the APA when I work for them? 😕 Honestly though, while I qualify for an associate membership now (and APAGS again this fall), I haven't been a member since my undergrad years. General membership alone at a student level basically gets you benefits, a magazine, a teeny tiny voice in a mega-organization, and something to put on your C.V. For some of us, the cost outweighs the benefits, but if you can afford it, it doesn't hurt to join. On the otherhand, I found that division membership was a pretty awesome resource for networking within my interest (military psychology).

 

[DynamicDidactic]

Bringing this thread back to life.

For graduate students, I would love to hear some more opinions on organizations you have joined and if you find them useful (excluding APA).

anyone a part of Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology?

 

[Ollie123]

Mine hasn't changed much since a few years ago.
APA, APS, SRNT and SPR still. I've joined some APA divisions (28, 50), and that includes SSCP which is probably one of the only facets of APA I still have respect for. Their listserv can be a bit narcissistic at times, but is entertaining😉

I've contemplated RSA, ABCT, Society for Neuroscience, and College on Problems of Drug Dependence, and a handful of others but I can't afford them all and the present list has served me well. AAAS would be great too, but I can't keep up on the readings in my own field right now let alone such disparate areas🙂 I may pursue a student position in either one of the APA divisions or SPR, partly for networking and partly just for interest. In terms of utility, I think it really depends on what you do with it. I'm not sure joining any society is inherently useful, but if you get free journals that you like to read, go to conferences, get involved, etc. I think it can be useful. Listservs can be interesting.

 

[cara susanna]

My favorite is ABCT.

 

[Shatani]

ive joined organizations associated with the work im interested in doing and people im interested in associating with/learning from. i dont know that its possible to join too many because for me its all about interests. plus i dont konw that they all NEED to be put on the CV.