Division 18 is proud to welcome our 2023-2024 President, Dr. Tallie Armstrong. Dr. Armstrong rose quickly to leadership following her role as Senior Editor for The Gavel, the Criminal Justice Section’s newsletter. Through this position, she brought topical issues related to public service psychology in correctional and forensic settings to the forefront. Dr. Armstrong brings significant cross-divisional expertise, as exemplified through her current work at the Office of Forensic Services in Virginia’s Department of Behavioral Health. We look forward to her leadership and direction! Read Dr. Armstrong’s welcome message and vision for the next year below.
Hello and welcome to our new website! I hope you will take the time to peruse all that we have to offer here: dates for upcoming webinars; section specific content pages; resources for professionals and students; and the various committees we sponsor, to name a few. Public service psychologists comprise a significant portion of the psychology workforce, and I am excited we have a website that reflects the diversity of our division and the importance of the work we do.
I am honored to serve as the Division President for the coming year. I hope to spend my term addressing some core issues that I have heard my public sector colleagues and section Chairs share in 2022 and 2023: psychologists in public service are feeling burnt out; they are not feeling supported by their administrations; and they do not feel as though they receive appropriate recognition for the enormous burdens they bear and responsibility they hold in their current positions. Through my presidential term, I plan to do my best to harness the support and recognition from APA that the Division deserves, foster connections and among our Division sections and across APA Divisions to gather resources (e.g., how to garner administrative recognition and support), and to sponsor a special issue in our flagship journal, Psychological Services, about professional burnout in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and behavioral healthcare’s hard pivot into telehealth/telepsychology.
If you are a current member, then I hope you will sincerely consider involvement in one of our many committees or sections so that your voice can make a difference. If you are not yet a Division member, I sincerely hope you consider joining and contributing your perspective and skill set here.
Please do not hesitate to reach out to me at president@publicservicepsych.org, or other members of the division leadership team, if you have any questions.
Dr. Tallie Armstrong with immediate past-President Dr. Ashley Batastini and APA CEO (and fellow Division 18 member) Dr. Arthur Evans at the 2023 APA Convention in Washington, D.C.
